A man who fled from authorities, and later broke into a church and stole a van was sentenced last Wednesday, January 18, for the crimes. Kenneth Adam Wright, 41, of Vandergriff Hollow Road, Dowelltown, pled guilty aggravated burglary, burglary, and auto burglary, and received a total sentence of five years. He must also pay restitution and was given jail credit of 450 days.
According to Sheriff Patrick Ray on the evening of April 3, 2022, a deputy spotted a man at DeKalb Market, who he thought to be Wright. Store video surveillance later confirmed that the man was Wright. Knowing that Wright had active warrants against him for failure to appear and was to be held without bond, the officer drove into the parking lot of DeKalb Market to speak to Wright, but he jumped in his vehicle and fled. The deputy then activated his blue lights and sirens and began a pursuit of Wright’s vehicle on Nashville Highway which reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour with Wright, at times, traveling on the wrong side of the highway almost hitting several oncoming automobiles. Wright stopped at Wilder Hollow in Dowelltown before abandoning the vehicle and fleeing on foot.
Three days later, Dry Creek Baptist Church in Dowelltown discovered that the church van was missing and that the church building itself had been broken into and vandalized. It appeared someone had entered the building through the return to the central heat and air unit. Sheriff Ray said investigators believe the break-in and theft had actually occurred sometime on April 5, 2022.
Three hours after the church burglary and theft were reported, an Alexandria Police officer spotted a van behind a church in Alexandria, which turned out to be the one stolen from Dry Creek Baptist Church. Two detectives from the sheriff’s department responded and upon arrival saw someone fitting Wright’s description. As the detectives approached, the man tried to flee on foot, but they caught up and placed him in custody.
Wright admitted to stealing the church van, valued at $8,500, breaking into the church, and vandalizing the heating and air system causing over $1,000 in damage.
In the aggravated burglary case, Wright was a co-defendant with three others charged with breaking into a Liberty home in May, 2020.
Sheriff Ray said deputies responded to a complaint of a prowler around a residence on Old Highway 53 in Liberty and discovered the burglary upon arrival. Detectives were notified and started an investigation, which revealed that the foursome had broken into the residence twice on May 29, 2020 and stole several items with a total value of $7,395 including an Xbox 360, large red craftsman tool box, record player, paint rollers, 2 trail cameras, plastic tool box, a jump box, samurai katana, DVDs, tea set, hunting blind, Holy Bible vinyl record, shop vac, solar battery charger, antique oil lamp, pots and other miscellaneous items.
Others sentenced in Criminal Court were:
Tara Rhiannan Treadway, 33, of Smithville, pled guilty to conspiracy to possess in excess of .5 grams of methamphetamines. She was sentenced to 10 years in the Tennessee Department of Corrections to serve 30 percent.
Phillip Joe Potter, 29, of McMinnville pled guilty to conspiracy to possess in excess of .5 grams of methamphetamines. He was given eight years suspended sentenced, concurrent with a case in Warren County. He will also forfeit any property seized during the investigation.
Amy Lynn Hall, 45, of New Hope Road, Alexandria, pled guilty to conspiracy to sell a scheduled II drug meth over .5 grams. She was sentenced to eight years all suspended to probation, and fined $2,000.
Dustin Sullivan, 27, pled guilty to one count of burglary and was sentenced to two years suspended to supervised probation.
Marcie Alsobrooks, 49, pled guilty to reckless driving and was sentenced to five months, 29 days all suspended to supervised probation.
James Allison, 59, pled guilty to DUI second offense and was sentenced to 11 months, 29 days, suspended after serving 45 days. He also lost his license for two years.
Dickie Bain, 54, of Dowelltown, pled guilty to sale of a schedule II drug meth, and was sentenced to 11 years to serve at 30 percent. He was given 324 days of jail credit and fined $2,000.
Tabitha Batey, 39, of McMinnville, pled guilty to fraudulent use of a credit card over $2,500, and was sentenced to two years all suspended to supervised probation, and restitution of $3,631.50.
Deviyon Quawnyah Johnson-Griffin, 24, of Gary, Indiana, pled guilty to two counts of theft over $1,000. He was sentenced to two years suspended to supervised probation.
Dustin Nichols, 30, of Woodbury, pled guilty to burglary and was sentenced to two years to serve concurrent with a sentence in Cannon County.
