Four arrested on drug counts and news from the region around Chattanooga

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo From left: Kenneth Hardric, 58, Dakota Guess, 21, Ernest Hampton, 33, and Barnett Dozier, 20, face drug charges in Jackson County, Ala.

Four arrested on drug counts

JACKSON COUNTY, Ala. - Four people were arrested on drug charges in a pair of busts Thursday in Jackson County, according to a news release.

The first came in Bridgeport, where the Jackson Sheriff's Office Narcotics Unit and Bridgeport police served a warrant at a house on Brummel Road.

Dakota Guess, 21, was charged with second-degree possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to the release. She was released on a $1,000 bond.

A separate search at a house on Aldhouse Avenue resulted in three arrests:

Kenneth Hardric, 58, was charged with possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia as well as a firearm he was not supposed to have. No bond has been set.

Barnett Dozier, 20, was charged with second-degree possession of marijuana and released on a $500 bond.

Ernest Hampton, 33, of South Pittsburg, Tenn., was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and released on a $2,500 bond.

Officers seized about a quarter-ounce of marijuana, five handguns and a shotgun from the Aldhouse Avenue home, the release stated.


West Nile cases up in Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Authorities said a half-dozen people in Alabama have been diagnosed with the West Nile virus this year.

Alabama public health officials told The Tuscaloosa News that it's the highest number of cases in the state in three years.

The virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, causes symptoms such as fever, body aches, joint paints, vomiting, diarrhea or rash in about one out of every five people who are infected.

Authorities said most people infected with the mosquito-borne virus won't get sick. Symptoms include headache, high fever, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness and paralysis.


Animal rescuer killed by dog

DECATUR, Ga. - Police outside Atlanta say a college student who took in abandoned animals was attacked and killed by a dog.

DeKalb County police told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that 23-year-old Rebecca Carey was killed at her Decatur home sometime over the weekend.

Authorities said Carey had five dogs living with her at the time of her death. They included a pit bull she had owned for six years. Other dogs included a boxer mix she had taken in and a Presa, a large Spanish breed. Authorities said she was also dogsitting another Presa for a friend.