Public Safety

Several consumers in Western Virginia have been contacted by loan modification companies offering services in direct violation of Federal Trade Commission regulations, according to an alert from the Better Business Bureau.
While there are many reputable mortgage relief companies, these particular companies have requested advance fees and have violated several FTC rules.

HILLSVILLE — A small-time criminal cracks a safe, steals gold bars and runs off to a tropical island, becoming a fugitive from justice.
It sounds like the plot of a pirate movie or an Elmore Leonard crime novel, but that’s what local police say are the details of a 2012 burglary.
Two Carroll County deputies recently made a trip to Hilo, Hawaii, to bring back a 28-year-old suspect in the Dec. 27 grand larceny of a large amount of cash, collectible coins and small gold bars from a Hillsville residence.

WOODLAWN — A two-vehicle accident on Drew Ridge Road lead to serious injuries for one of the drivers on March 8, according to a Virginia State Police report.
The accident occurred at about 7:45 a.m., about two-tenths of a mile south of U.S. 58, when Richard Kilby Hall, 55, of Woodlawn drifted into the opposite lane, according to Trooper K.D. Blackburn.
The 1994 Ford F150 struck a 2004 Toyota Celica, driven by Samantha Leath of Woodlawn.
Leath was transported to the hospital for treatment of serious injuries, according to the report.

INDEPENDENCE — The Grayson County Sheriff’s Department is searching for a man they characterize as a potentially dangerous fugitive. On March 7, the department issued an alert for Randy Lee Anders, warning that the “subject is possibly armed with a shotgun and a knife and has made threats toward law enforcement.”