Drunk man attempts to bribe offi

A Sweetwater man was arrested Friday after driving under the influence and attempting to bribe a law enforcement officer.

Loudon County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Austin Parton saw a Nissan Quest speeding on Clay Hollow Road. Parton followed the car onto Blue Springs Road and turned on the blue lights of his patrol vehicle. The car turned into a driveway and sped to the end.

After the pursuit ended, Parton confronted Ricardo Cruz, 45, as he exited his car. Parton could not see Cruz’s hands, and Parton told him to put his hands up. Cruz put his hands in his jacket pockets instead. Parton then told Cruz to place his hands on top of his car. He complied briefly before putting his left hand back in his jacket pocket.

Parton pushed Cruz against the car, forcing his hands on top of the vehicle before Parton performed a pat down. Cruz told Parton he did not have a driver’s license after asked. Parton asked Cruz if he had anything to drink. Cruz said he hadn’t had enough to drink, Parton wrote in a report.

Parton told Cruz to put his hands behind his back, and he refused. Parton pulled Cruz’s hands behind his back, but he resisted and tried to put his left hand back in his pocket.

After Parton cuffed Cruz, he placed him in the back of his patrol car. On the way to the jail, Cruz told Parton he could pay him money if Parton took him home and released him. Parton told him he wouldn’t do that.

Cruz then threatened Parton, telling him he would find him when he gets out of jail. Cruz then said he was going to get out of the handcuffs. Parton could hear him trying to break free in the back seat.

Cruz was charged with bribery of a public servant, resisting arrest, retaliation for past acts and driving under the influence and released on $17,500 bond.

Local teen in drive-by shooting

A Lenoir City teen was arrested Thursday for a long list of crimes committed earlier in the month.

Lenoir City Police Officer Jonathan Yates responded Feb. 12 to a home on Finley Drive to investigate reports of a house and vehicle struck by gunfire. The property owner’s house, awning and 2007 Hummer H3 were hit by shotgun pellets, according to a report.

Yates found several pellets hit the house and windows where occupants were sleeping. There were five people in the house at the time of the shooting.

After investigating and reviewing evidence, Yates learned Julian Alejandro Zavala, 19, was mad at one of the male occupants over an ex-girlfriend. Zavala contacted a witness on the night of the shooting to find out where the man lived.

In video surveillance, Zavala’s Dodge Durango can be seen at the house at the time of the shooting, and Zavala turning his headlights off as he approached the home.

Loudon County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Zach Frye went Feb. 18 to a home on Hines Valley Road where Zavala was found and arrested.

Zavala was charged with five counts of aggravated assault, five counts of reckless endangerment and three counts of vandalism and held on $111,000 bond.

Feb. 16

• Eric Leigh Abney, 34, Lenoir City, was charged with two counts of failure to appear and held on $19,000 bond.

• Brigitte Michelle Bowers, 39, Loudon, was charged with violation of probation and released on $2,000 bond.

• Kathleen Nicole Cambell, 29, homeless, was charged with public intoxication and simple possession/casual exchange and held on $2,000 bond.

• Darrel Lebron Crouch Jr., 38, Lenoir City, was charged with simple possession/casual exchange, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving on a revoked/suspended license and held on $7,500 bond.

• Christi Lhea Cullen, 46, Greenback, was charged with driving under the influence and released on $1,500 bond.

• Terry Lee Jaynes Jr., 37, Loudon, was charged with simple possession/casual exchange, possession of drug paraphernalia, violation of probation and use of a stolen/lost vehicle license plate and released on $9,000 bond.

• Kellie Brooke McGraw, 27, Loudon, was charged with theft of property and violation of probation and held on $8,000 bond.

• Christopher David Sledge, 43, Sweetwater, was charged with aggravated assault and domestic assault-misdemeanor and released on $10,000 bond.

Feb. 17

• Thomas Joshua Bowers, 31, Sweetwater, was charged with three counts of violation of probation and held on $5,000 bond.

• Jessica Kay Calderon, 32, Seymour, was charged with simple possession/casual exchange and violation of probation and released on $4,000 bond.

• John Thomas Garland III, 25, Tallassee, was charged with three counts of theft of property and held on $19,000 bond.

• Delonte Jerome Gray, 36, Oliver Springs, was charged with violation of probation and released on $4,000 bond.

• Christopher Lloyd James, 34, Lenoir City, was charged with capias-municipal court and held without bond.

• Amber Jenne Oakes, 31, Knoxville, was charged with theft of property and violation of probation and held on $4,000 bond.

• Tracy Lynn Schmucker, 37, Vonore, was charged with failure to appear and released on $1,000 bond.

Feb. 18

• Joshua Allen Bradley, 25, Loudon, was charged with public intoxication and held without bond.

• Milea Breanne Effler, 18, Lenoir City, was charged with theft of property and released on $1,000 bond.

• Rusty Allen Fagg, 42, Loudon, was charged with violation of probation and released on $25,000 bond.

• Chase Alexander Hollifield, 21, Madisonville, was charged with two counts of simple possession/casual exchange and held without bond.

• Russell Brad Hutsell, 39, Sweetwater, was charged with failure to appear and released on $5,000 bond.

• Dawson Steaven Miller, 19, Lenoir City, was charged with theft of property, public intoxication, liquor/alcohol offenses and misuse of 911 emergency system and released on $8,000 bond.

• Victor Shandale Shofner, 31, Loudon, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and held on $75,000 bond.

• Traci Renee Smiddy, 41, Lenoir City, was charged with capias-general sessions and held without bond.

Feb. 19

• Christopher Shane Dailey, 38, Loudon, was charged with failure to appear and released on $1,000 bond.

• Brandon Luke Fine, 18, Lenoir City, was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, public intoxication, manufacture, sale, delivery, resale of a Schedule VI substance and possession of drug paraphernalia and released on $8,000 bond.

• Christopher Bradley Hensley, 32, Loudon, was charged with assisting other agency and held without bond.

• Mary Doris Jones, 44, Lenoir City, was charged with violation of probation and held on $10,000 bond.

• David Charles Martin, 44, Madisonville, was charged with driving on a revoked/suspended license and released on $3,000 bond.

Feb. 20

• Alvin Bart Barron, 67, Lenoir City, was charged with theft of property, criminal trespass and capias-municipal court and held on $1,000 bond.

• Justin Trevor Lemmons, 36, Loudon, was charged with capias-criminal court and released on $1,000 bond.

• Thomas James Organek, 35, Kingston, was charged with domestic assault-misdemeanor and released on $1,000 bond.

• Shanda Michelle Patterson, 37, Kingston, was charged with violation of probation and held without bond.

Feb. 21

• Anthony Jake Boruff, 52, Knoxville, was charged with simple possession/casual exchange and possession of drug paraphernalia and held on $4,000 bond.

• Ethan Andrew Winfield Estenoz, 44, Loudon, was charged with domestic assault-misdemeanor and held without bond.

• Mark Eugene Hill, 41, Knoxville, was charged with simple possession/casual exchange and driving on a revoked/suspended license and released on $4,000 bond.

• Donna Denise Howard, 44, Knoxville, was charged with simple possession/casual exchange and possession of drug paraphernalia and held on $4,000 bond.

• Elizabeth Marie Johnson, 48, Lenoir City, was charged with capias-municipal court and released on $200 bond.

• Melanie Georgette Robertson, 43, Knoxville, was charged with public intoxication, simple possession/casual exchange, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of legend drugs and held on $8,000 bond.

• Christopher Lee Worsham, 35, Knoxville, was charged with theft of property, simple possession/casual exchange and possession of drug paraphernalia and held on $6,000 bond.

Two men involved in the 2019 robbery of La Lupita Mexican store-restaurant in Lenoir City are facing long jail terms and deportation.

Juan Sanchez, 24, of Mexico, was sentenced Feb. 3 to 288 months in prison by Judge Thomas A. Varlan in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Tennessee, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney J. Douglas Overbey’s office. Varland also sentenced Emanuel Trejo, 22, of Mexico, in November to 192 months in prison.

Under an agreement, Trejo and Sanchez pleaded guilty on three counts of Hobbs Act Robbery, which criminalizes robberies of businesses of people in interstate commerce, and three counts of brandishing and discharging a firearm in relation to the robberies.

Sanchez and Trejo committed armed robberies in Loudon, Blount and Knox counties.

The La Lupita robbery in Lenoir City took place June 29, 2019.

“Both subjects entered the building, one with a handgun, and robbed the clerk at the cash register,” Don White, Lenoir City police chief, said. “Inv. (Brad) Brown and (Jason) Smith responded from the police department to the scene and at that particular time we did not have any true identifiers on the individuals, so as they were working through their investigation — the timeline I think was about seven to 10 days after our robbery — there was a robbery in Blount County in Maryville. ... Brown and Smith followed up because the robberies seemed to be similar and then at the end of the day it was the same individuals and we got federal prosecution because of the firing of the weapons.”

The two were taken into custody in July 2019 by Blount County Sheriff’s Office.

Sanchez and Trejo’s criminal indictment was a result of BCSO and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force.

“We’re just happy that we were able to identify the two individuals and make the arrest and get them successfully charged and sentenced,” White said. “They were both obviously dangerous individuals that were frequenting our community and creating a threat for our citizens and visitors.”