Lewis County Herald - Serving Hohenwald, Lewis County Tennessee Since 1898

by Amanda Curtis,

Staff Reporter

At approximately 10 p.m. on March 8, a patron using the charging bench at the Lewis County Library heard glass breaking across the street. Once the patron realized what was happening, they made a call, and soon after, Hohenwald Police Department officers David Sublett and Kalum Halfacre arrived on the scene of Last Chance Market on North Park.

Immediately, the officers noticed the front door busted on the store closed for the day, and upon further inspection, the store owner confirmed large amounts of vapes and candy were missing, among other things. The witness described the suspects as wearing hoodies in all black, and upon patrolling the area, officers spotted two individuals matching the description walking with backpacks. The two allowed a search of their backpacks which revealed them to be full of vapes and candy. The suspects, a 17 year old male and 15 year old female, confessed to the theft, and the next day were charged with vandalism, burglary and theft and remanded to DCS custody. "The juveniles admitted to selling the vapes in school," said Investigator Brent Bridges. "With the amount of vapes being confiscated from students everyday, it's a real epidemic in our school systems, so I'm thankful the witness called, and we were able to keep these out of the hands of our young people."

Chief Kevin Carroll agrees, "These cases are normally solved and/or prevented because of citizens being alert to their surroundings. If you see something, say something, and I'd like to thank the citizen that called in suspicious activity that night. Also, I'm very impressed with the swiftness with which this was handled. I am appreciative of how Judge Hinson dealt with it, as well as the officers involved. While we've had some instances like this in our community lately, I hope this gives business owners peace of mind.