The sheriff's department arrested a 39-year-old man and charged him with aggravated assault after he allegedly flattened the tires and broke the windows out of a vehicle before closing the door on a woman’s hand.
According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, Cecil McKinley Ketchum was charged after a deputy was called to Ketchum’s Dedmon Hollow Road home in Liberty on March 28.
Upon arrival at the residence, the officer reportedly found a vehicle with broken windows and three flat tires. Ketchum and a woman were reportedly inside the home, engaged in a verbal argument.
Ketchum allegedly told the deputy that he disabled the vehicle with a knife and axe to keep the woman from leaving.
Ray said the woman was injured when Ketchum shut one of the vehicle’s doors on her hand.
Ketchum was determined to be the primary aggressor and he was taken into custody. His bond was set at $5,000, and he will appear in court on April 14.
Meanwhile, 28-year-old Stephen Hunter Pugh was charged with a second offense of driving under the influence on March 18. He was also cited for driving on a revoked license, failure to maintain his lane of travel, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Ray said a deputy spotted Pugh traveling east on Highway 70 near Snow Hill. Pugh allegedly left his lane of travel several times, and nearly crashed into a westbound  DeKalb County school bus.
The bus driver reportedly swerved out Pugh’s path to avoid a collision.
The sheriff said that Pugh turned onto New Home Road and stopped at a business, and the deputy made contact with him. Pugh’s speech was allegedly slurred, and he was reportedly unsteady on his feet.
Ray said Pugh submitted to, but performed poorly on, field sobriety tasks. He also consented to a blood test.
Pugh allegedly admitted to taking several drugs the night before the incident, and reportedly told the deputy that he was going to the scrapyard to get money for his grandparents.
A computer check apparently revealed his driver's license to be revoked, and drug paraphernalia was also allegedly found on his person.
His bond was set at $3,000, and he will appear in court on April 10.
Dustin Matthew Perry, 28, of Hickman was charged with driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license on March 22.
Ray said that a deputy responding to a Dale Ridge Road traffic accident just before 1:30 a.m. made contact with Perry, who was unsteady on his feet. Perry's speech was allegedly slurred, and he reportedly had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person.
Perry allegedly admitted to drinking three-four beers earlier that night. He reportedly submitted to, but performed poorly on, field sobriety tasks.
Ray said Perry told the officer that he did not have a valid driver's license, and a  computer check confirmed that his license was suspended for failure to satisfy citations in Smith County.
His bond was set at $3,000, and he will appear in court on April 17.
Jerry Lynn Merryman, 46, was charged with driving under the influence on March 28.
Ray said a drug detective responding to reports of a vehicle driving recklessly on Highway 70 west in Liberty spotted a Dodge flatbed truck driving erratically near College Street. The officer reportedly activated his emergency equipment, but the truck continued to travel to the intersection of Highway 70 and Dry Creek Road in Dowelltown.
After pulling the truck over, the detective allegedly found Merryman to be the driver.
Ray said that when Merryman exited the vehicle, the detective noticed that the man’s pants were wet, and that he told the lawman that he had urinated on himself.
Merryman was allegedly unsteady on his feet, had a strong odor of alcohol on his person and his speech was slurred. After performing poorly on field sobriety tasks,  Merryman reportedly refused to do any more, but did submit to a blood test.
His bond was set at $1,500, and he will appear in court on April 24.