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Public Safety

  • Carroll schools want to step up security measures

    HILLSVILLE — County officials have mentioned concerns about safety in Carroll Public Schools in the wake of the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., so what new measures are under consideration?
    School leaders have requested $4.45 million under the capital improvement project line item from the Carroll County supervisors for fiscal year 2013-2014.
    Most of that, if budgeted, would get earmarked for the replacing the aging heating and air conditioning system at Carroll County High School.

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  • Murder charge filed against suspect

    UPDATED FEB. 12 — The 30-year-old Woodlawn man and suspect in the Feb. 8 shooting case now faces charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm, according to the Carroll Sheriff's Department.

    Jesse James Owens was formally charged Tuesday after a Monday autopsy of the victim, according to sheriff's office personnel. Deputies expect to file an additional charge involving the attempt to hide the body.

    The autopsy revealed the cause of the victim's death was a shot to the head.

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  • Plea for help is a scam in disguise

    If you receive an e-mail from a friend who says they were mugged on a vacation trip, you are actually the one being shaken down for money.
    The Galax Police Department reports that scam e-mails are circulating that claim they are from friends who have lost everything on a trip to the Philippines.
    The scammers are using real names of your friends and real e-mail addresses, police caution. But, the situation is false.

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  • Pedestrian hit in Cana

    CANA — A pedestrian who was on scene at a vehicle accident on U.S. 52 Wednesday suffered injuries after she stepped into traffic, according to Virginia State Police.
    Angela Jones, 47, of Cana and her husband received a call from her son, saying that he had been in an accident Wednesday morning, according to investigating Trooper S.M. Phillips.
    The couple found an accident at the intersection of U.S. 52 and Flower Gap Road.
    (It turned out that this incident was not her son’s accident.)

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  • Carroll man wanted for malicious wounding

     

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  • Police foil bank robbery plot

    INDEPENDENCE — Police say they put the brakes on a plan to rob a Grayson National Bank branch last week.
    Grayson County Sheriff Richard Vaughan said that on Jan. 24, Grayson Investigator Todd Perkins received information from Smyth County Investigator Chip Shuler that individuals from Smyth County might be planning to rob the GNB branch in Troutdale.

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  • Don't fall for tax refund scam

    A phone scam related to the new Virginia tax refund debit card has been reported by the Virginia Department of Taxation.
    The department has received reports of phone calls being made to individuals, telling them that their “Way2Go” prepaid MasterCard is “locked for security reasons.”
    The automated caller then tries to get the listener to divulge personal information.
    This is a phone scam. The department said it never makes automated calls and never solicits personal information in this manner.

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  • Water rises and recedes quickly

    Parts of the Twin Counties saw water both rise quickly and then fall again Wednesday and Thursday after 24 hours worth of rain ceased, but levels in the New River are troubling Wythe County officials.

    Carroll County saw significant flooding of roads and homes, 25 families were evacuated from the Givens Street area of Galax and camprounds near the New River in Grayson County were under water.

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  • Mink Motor Sales larceny suspect arrested

    Galax police arrested Billy Dean Caldwell, 54, of Galax, on Jan. 24 and charged him in connection with a burglary at Mink Motor Sales.

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  • Salem men charged with GHS vandalism

    Matthew Robert Mays, 19, and Seth Alexander Criner, 19, both of Salem, were arrested by Galax police on Jan. 20 and charged with vandalism that caused approximately $3,000 worth of damage to buildings and vehicles at the Galax High School, according to Police Chief Rick Clark.
    A school employee discovered evidence of vandalism at the school the day prior to the arrests and reported it to the Galax Police Department.
    The following day, police officers Terry Woods and Trevor Jefferson arrested Mays and Criner.

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