Gladewater man indicted on indecency with a child charge

BY PHILLIP WILLIAMS

GILMER--The Upshur County Grand Jury on Thursday returned 17 indictments, four of them sealed, and no-billed three cases, said District Attorney Billy Byrd.

Defendants, charges and bond information in the open indictments was as follows, Byrd's office reported:

Patrick David Thompson, 18, of Gladewater, indecency with a child on July 23, 2012, $35,000 surety bond  

James Mitchell Roland, Jr., 44, of Big Sandy, possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) with intent to deliver on April 30, $35,000 surety bond

Jeffery Mark Watson, 54, address unknown, burglary of habitation on April 15. He remained in county jail under $10,000 bond.

Richard Anderton, III, 46, of Gilmer, driving while intoxicated; subsequent offense--repeat offender on Feb. 16, $5,000 surety bond

Tony Michael Floyd, 60, of Mt. Pleasant, driving while intoxicated; subsequent offense on Jan. 28, $10,000 surety bond

Jose Carmen Aguilar, 54, of Hughes Springs, driving while intoxicated; subsequent offense on March 4, $10,000 surety bond

Jonathan Craig Strait, 31, of Gilmer, possession of methamphetamine on Aug. 23, 2012, $10,000 surety bond

Priscilla Darlene Pessink, 23, of Bullard, possession of cocaine on Aug. 6, 2012, $2,500 surety bond

David Bernard Hodge, 38, of Ore City, assault--family violence with previous conviction on March 20, $3,500 surety bond

Billy Lee Aultman, 34, of Gilmer, burglary of building on Feb. 23, $75,000 surety bond

Matthew Howard Baldwin, 52, of Pittsburg, burglary of building on Feb. 23. He remained in county jail under $75,000 bond

Glenn Earl Hamilton, 49, of Gilmer, possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver on Aug. 5, 2012, $35,000 surety bond

Phyllis Ann Ellis, 50, of Diana, posession of methamphetamine on July 18, 2012, $10,000 surety bond

The sealed indictments were for unlawful possession of a firearm by felon, possession of methamphetamine, retaliation: habitual offender, and aggravated sexual assault of a child, Byrd's office reported.

40-year-old man arrested for online solicitation of minor

40-year-old man arrested in Gladewater for Online Solicitation of a Minor, a Second Degree Felony

According to Farrell Alexander, Gladewater Chief of Police, on May 8th at around 10:00 am the Gladewater Police Department was contacted by a concerned parent. They discovered that a 40 year old man their family knew from church had attempted to contact their daughter via Facebook message with some inappropriate comments and requests.

Permission was obtained from the parents for Detective Sergeant David Burrows to take the phone and answer the suspect and play the role of their 13 year old daughter. During this time conversing with the suspect, Sgt. Burrows was able to obtain a felony arrest warrant for Shawn Christian Glidden of Kilgore TX W/M Date of Birth, 10-29-72, 40 years of age.

During the course of the conversation Shawn Glidden agreed to meet and pick up, (who he assumed was the 13 year old daughter), in his truck at around 5:30pm Thursday, May 9, at the Bodacious BBQ Parking lot for the purposes of sexual intercourse. 

The area was heavily staked out by plainclothes police officers located inside Bodacious and the Tumbleweed Restaurant with other officers standing by. As Glidden arrived in a white Ford pickup he was surrounded by officers and immediately taken into custody. Shawn Christian Glidden was arrested and charged with Online Solicitation of a Minor, a Second Degree Felony. Bond was set at $75,000.00. The investigation is still in its early phase and much will more will be done to follow up on this case.

Assisting Sgt. Burrows in the investigation and who were also present for the arrest is Detective Kevin Brownlee, who is in charge of the Cyber Crimes Unit of Longview Police Department, and the United States Secret Service. 

The Gladewater Police Department will aggressively pursue and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law any sexual predator that would try to harm the children of our community. We are thankful for the attentiveness of involved parents, and officers who are committed to protecting the innocent and serving the community. 

The raw video of the arrest is posted onhttps://www.facebook.com/gladewaterpolicedepartment?ref=hl

Upshur Commissioners make major cuts to avoid budget shortfall

BY PHILLIP WILLIAMS

GILMER--Seeking to avoid a projected shortfall of nearly $1 million which Upshur County Judge Dean Fowler said threatened to shut down the entire county government, a sometimes-testy Upshur County Commissioners Court on Monday approved two budget amendments cutting the current county budget by more than $973,000.  

The court said the reductions will cause no layoffs, furloughs, nor salary cuts, and while "It's not a happy situation, it's the best we can do," Fowler said. 

The problem came to public light Friday when Fowler said County Auditor Janice Tucker had told him four days earlier that she projected a $995,000 negative fund balance by Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.    

Fowler said Tucker had not halted spending of funds which weren't directly under the court's control, and that she should have brought the financial situation to the court's attention earlier. She in turn charged she had repeatedly told Fowler the county was having financial problems because of the county budget he was in charge of preparing, and that he was "unwilling to listen" until now.

On Monday, Fowler told this newspaper that Tucker gave the court "bad numbers" for the 2011-12 fiscal year budget showing a $1.8 million reserve that did not exist. He noted he was not on the court then (because he had been suspended from office for misdemeanor charges, of which he was later cleared). 

And on Monday, Pct. 3 Commissioner Frank Berka chastised both Tucker and County Treasurer Myra Harris during a special meeting of the court which was continuing that afternoon after almost four hours in two separate sessions. (Fowler said commissioners were through except for signing some documents).   Berka and Harris disagreed on whether she gave him certain information. 

The court finally approved one amendment authorizing $222,765.10 in certain departmental and non-departmental budget cuts before enacting another amendment stripping $750,967 from the Road and Bridge Department budget.   

On Friday, Fowler said he planned to recommend an $800,000 cut in the road and bridge budget which would reduce that department to merely mowing and cutting down dead trees for the rest of the fiscal year. But Road and Bridge administrator Andy Jordan, who discussed the reductions in his department Monday with the court before it voted, said his workers would do more than that.  

Jordan said the reduction will affect road "maintenance," but pledged that roadways won't "fall apart."   

Joining Pct. 4 Commissioner Mike Spencer in praising Jordan, Pct. 2 Commissioner Cole Hefner said the court didn't like making the budget cuts, but that commissioners "don't have a lot of options."   

At the outset of Monday's meeting, Fowler said "over the past several weeks, it has become apparent to me we have a cash problem in our current budget" because "we thought we had reserve funds we didn't have."   

He said the court must remove funds from various departments and put them in a "contingency line item."  

Jim Bowling, who was interim county judge when the 2011-12 budget was approved, told the court Monday he was "disappointed in the reliability of the complicated management information system that I had to rely upon when tasked with proposing" that year's budget.

Union Grove Fire

Union Grove Fire ...
Area firefighters battled a house fire in Union Grove Thursday evening, which from US 271, appeared to be at the school. That prompted area residents to rush to the scene, along with firefighters from Gladewater, East Mountain and other area agencies.

City/School Elections Results

Saturday, May 11, 2013 Election Results

City Council:
Sonny Anderson - 262
Mark Carpenter - 181

Unopposed:
Delbert Burlison - 258
Scott Owens - 289
J.D. Shipp - 331

GISD School Board:
Garth Cockerell - 291
William "Slim" Matthew - 186

Unopposed:
Jon Rowe - 333
Rickie Blackman - 323

Arrests Made by Gladewater Police

On Friday May 3, 2013,

The Gladewater Police Department received a call of a suspicious vehicle parked behind Truman Smith Children’s Care Center on West Highway 80. Upon arrival officers located 1996 Dodge Truck and 4 other individuals, 2 males and 2 females. While identifying them, one of the men gave a false name. When that name did not check out and the officer determined what his true identity was, he took off running north into a heavily wooded area. He was identified as Jeremy Clint Hadaway W/M 30 years old. The other persons were identified as Wesley Denton W/M 40 Years old, April Knight W/F 34 Years old, Precious Ford W/F  20 Years old.

It was determined that the Jeremy Hadaway had a Parole Violation Warrant for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. A tracking dog was called from Gregg County Sheriff’s Department and in a short while the suspect was located hiding under a brush pile. Hadaway refused to surrender and come out of the brush pile so the K-9 entered and extracted him from it.

Meanwhile, after additional officers arrived, and during the course of this foot chase and ultimate arrest of Hadaway, a “sawed off” semi-automatic shotgun was located in the vehicle. The barrel and stock had been shortened making it a Prohibited Weapon. Drugs were located in the possession of Wesley Denton.

Wesley Denton was arrested and charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Interfering with the Duties of a Public Servant.

Jeremy Hadaway was charged with Failure to Identify/Give False Information, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, and Evading Arrest or Detention.

The females were released and as the investigation continues there is a possibility that more charges could be filed depending on the outcome of the full investigation.

The initial call came in from a Care Center employee and officers arrived in less than a minute to the back parking lot. It is still unknown as to why the suspects were there.

The Gladewater Police Department takes seriously any danger that might exist to our most vulnerable citizens and employees at the Care Center, and are relieved that no one at the Center was hurt or endangered, and our officers responded quickly and professionally in taking these suspects into custody.