'Four arrested in home invasion' and other Chattanooga region news

Four arrested in home invasion

CALHOUN, Ga. - Calhoun police arrested four people they say were involved in a Sunday home invasion that sent two people to the hospital.

Officers charged Marcus Harris, 22; Ransen Hawkins, 27; and an unidentified juvenile with armed robbery and several other offenses Sunday. On Monday, they arrested Deana Papp, 26, and charged her with two counts of party to a crime. Police said she gave the suspects information about the victims.

The victims told police that two men forced their way inside an apartment on Springdale Drive about 12:15 a.m. Sunday. One of the men slapped a victim on the head with a gun and threatened the others, according to a news release. When police arrived, they found the two men inside, but one of them fled.

Eight hours later, police said, officers arrested two more people. They said one of them was the other man who broke into the apartment, and they arrested the youth because he or she tried to derail the investigation.

Two of the victims went to the hospital, one because of injuries suffered during the robbery, the other because of a heart attack, the release states.


2 sheriff's officers resign after DUIs

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Two officers with the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office have resigned after separate DUI arrests.

According to The Daily News Journal, one of the officers was charged with misdemeanor possession of a weapon while under the influence. He is Ronnie Pugh, 41, who was a detention officer. Pugh was arrested Saturday by a state trooper.

The arrest warrant on Sgt. Trent Thomas Givens, 37, states a Rutherford County deputy saw him driving through people's yards early Monday. He performed poorly on field sobriety tests and smelled of alcohol, the deputy said.

Pugh also has been suspended as a volunteer firefighter with the Rutherford County Fire and Rescue Department.


Two residents face drug charges

STEVENSON, Ala. - The Jackson County Sheriff's Office charged two Stevenson, Ala., residents with drug possession in a Walmart parking lot Monday.

Christopher Allen Kerr Jr., 32, and Kandace Jordan Thompson, 23, were charged with possession of marijuana and a controlled substance.

Officers tried to pull Kerr over on Veterans Drive in Scottsboro, Ala., according to a news release. Instead, Kerr drove into the Walmart parking lot at 24833 John T. Reid Parkway -- where sheriff's officers and the Scottsboro Police Department stopped him.

Inside the car, officers say, they found hydrocodone and marijuana that was packaged to be sold.

Thompson was released from the Jackson County Jail after paying her $6,000 bond. Kerr is being held without bond because of a probation violation, officers said.

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