Fire ripped through the one story pole barn garage belonging to Ken Tirjan on Hightower Road last Friday morning, March 29, with the loss estimated in the thousands.

“When we arrived at the scene around 10:30 a.m. on Good Friday,” said Lafayette Fire Department Assistant Chief Troy Brawner, “the structure was fully involved, with the roof falling in shortly after we got to the site of the blaze.”

The structure was a total loss and Mr. Tirjan said there was a car, ski boat, 4-wheel drive pickup truck, four wheeler, as well as countless tools and play equipment that was all destroyed in the flames.

Brawner says they had to cool the house and protect another garage to keep the fire from spreading. Sixteen firefighters were fighting the fire and four were on stand by. Fireman David Cross was in charge of the scene and the department returned to the fire hall around 12:30 p.m.

Responders were the Lafayette Fire Department, Macon County EMS, Macon County Sheriffs Department, and the Macon County Chronicle.

Trooper Gerald Carter answered an injury accident call on Highway 10 South, near the Rock Crusher, on Friday afternoon, March 29.

Shawn Hickman, 47, of Lafayette was behind the wheel of a 2002 Kia traveling north on Highway 10 South, when his back wheel dropped off the shoulder of the road. “When he overcorrected he shot across the highway and careened down an embankment near the edge of Goose Creek,” stated Trooper Carter.

Macon and Trousdale County Rescue squads were dispatched to the scene to get the three individuals out of the wrecked vehicle.

Hickman wife, Layna, was on the front passengers side and Frederick Paul Patterson, was unrestrained in the back seat.

Mrs. Hickman was loaded into a waiting ambulance and carried to Macon County General Hospital and Life Flight flew Patterson to a Nashville hospital. Mr. Hickman, who was deeply upset about the condition of his wife and passenger, refused medical treatment.

First responders were: Macon County Sheriffs Department, Macon County EMS, Macon & Trousdale County Rescue squads, Trousdale County Sheriffs Deputy, Tennessee Highway Patrol, and the Macon County Chronicle.

The Macon County Sheriffs Office was called to Reed Bray Lumber Company, at 411 Carthage Road, in Red Boiling Springs, on Thursday morning, March 21, to investigate a theft.

According to Randall Bray, who reported the crime around 6:45 a.m., the first thing he noticed was the 1990 Chevy pickup was missing and after he started checking around, he realized that other property was also gone.

“The vandals broke a window to gain entry into the office,” Bray said, “and the room was trashed. I also discovered that the back door of the storage trailer had been broken.”

Bray says that chain saws, copper wiring, a nail gun and other items were unaccounted for, with an estimated value in the thousands.

“They stole a GE Camera I had in the office,” said Secretary Vickie Hudson, “that had pictures of my late mother on the card.”

Mr. Bray said that neighbors recall hearing a loud vehicle around midnight. There was a trail of copper down Collins Road, up to Hudson Road and then Wooten Park.

The Jackson County Sheriffs Department said a road crew discovered the truck on Scaggs Branch Road around 7:00 a.m. that morning and Macon County was notified.

It seems the vehicle ran out of gas and the culprits run it off an embankment. Randall Bray went to the scene and retrieved the pickup. “It had a busted grill, several dents and the muffler was torn off, but we were actually able to drive it back to Red Boiling Springs.”

“I would like to have my SD card returned that was in my camera,” said Vickie. “It has irreplaceable pictures of my deceased mother.”

Detective Daryl Taylor and Deputy Kyle Petty are still investigating the crime. If you have any information involving this case please contact the Macon County Sheriffs Office.

The Macon County Sheriffs Office received information on Friday, March 22, that cocaine was being brought into the county.

According to Sheriff Mark Gammons, Detective Crawford, Detective Taylor, Sgt. Michael Veatch, and K-9 Gordy followed through on the case and were waiting for the vehicle to come into Macon County with the cocaine.

“There were two different locations that the vehicle was believed to be entering the county,” said Sheriff Gammons. “We were able to pull the 1999 Chevrolet automobile over at Hillwood, in Red Boiling Springs, where officers found cocaine and money. The car was also ceased at the scene.”

Two plastic bags were found with white powder that field-tested to be cocaine.

Detective Donnie Crawford arrested Guillermo Masedo Aviles, of Red Boiling Springs and Linda Gail Aviles, of Glasgow, Ky. and charged both with possession of Schedule II drugs.