(more…)

(more…)

(more…)

Click photos to enlarge.

 

 

 

(more…)

(more…)

(more…)

Two men who were stopped by Arkansas State Trooper Clayton Moss, near Lacey Wednesday, went before Monticello District Court Judge Ken Harper, Friday for first appearance bond hearings. (more…)

(more…)

(Photo taken at intersection of S. Main and E. Bolling)

According to Lt. Jason Akers of the Tenth Drug Task Force, Task Force Agents and Monticello Police arrested two local residents, as well as a Pine Bluff man, on drug charges Monday afternoon.

(more…)

(more…)

(more…)

Monticello Police Dept. Lt. Steven Stain led a class of law enforcement officers and visitors who work in related fields in proper procedures for the use of the police dept.’s new Taser units.

Class topics included safety, effects, dept. policies, documentation, and removal of darts. 

Under the topic of “effects” all MPD officers present lined up to have the taser used on them.  This was done so that each individual officer would be able to use proper discretion in decisions about when to use the new taser unit.

Greg Johnson, shown above, was one of the first to take his turn.

Carlos Garcia, who used the unit on Johnson, was next in line.

The taser shoots two small darts into the person being restrained, followed by sending 500,000 volts of electricity into them. 

The muscles between the two darts are the only muscles that are directly affected, but that effect is enough to bring anyone to the ground, and eliminate any physical confrontation.

A total of 25 men including Monticello Police, some Drew County Sheriff’s deputies, a DTF agent, a SouthEast Emergency Services employee, and myself, felt the “knock-down” of the taser.

Mark Grant, who carried the new unit later that night, is shown here, being assisted to the ground by nearby officers.  

When the taser’s darts hit it’s target, the shock immediatlely begins, and the person is unable to control their actions, so the mat was used as a safety factor, with other officers being stationed close to prevent the upcoming fall to the ground.

More photos and information are in the following article.

Monticello Police Chief Robert Rosegrant also took part in the class, including receiving the effects of the taser.

Like the rest of the officers, Chief Rosegrant also went down quickly.

The X-26 model, shown here, is issued by Taser International, and is the model that was chosen by Monticello police.

Monticello School’s resource office, George Strain is shown here, taking his turn.

The 500,000 volts are more than anyone there could take, and remain standing.

MonticelloLive.com’s Joe Burgess, who was recently elected to serve as constable of Marion Township, closed out the class.

Burgess describes the taser’s shock as, “the most pain I’ve ever felt in five seconds.  You can’t move or do anything, except fall down, right were you are.”

A total of 25 men in law enforcement and related fields left Friday’s class with a greater respect for the tool that will provide them with a safer working environment, by reducing the risk to officers and citizens when the threat of physical confrontations can be replaced by simply using this new tool that should virtually eliminate having to fight with suspects.

As of Friday night, the tasers were in use, on the streets of Monticello.

MonticelloLive recently received a news tip about an investigation taking place in regards to unaccounted for money in the Monticello District Court.

(more…)

(more…)

(more…)

(more…)

(more…)

Doug Knight was born in Springhill, LA, but his family moved to Drew County when he was 2 years old.  Doug grew up in the Plantersville area, and graduated from Drew Central High School.

Doug continued his education by taking industrial electricity classes at Pines vo-tech in Pine Bluff.

(more…)

Around 1 a.m., Sunday morning, law enforcement officers on patrol on Old Warren Road, noticed a downed power pole near the running track just east of Monticello High School.

Upon entering the school’s parking lot, a wrecked GMC truck was found (see photo).

The student in question was taken to the County Detention Facility for a BAC test.

Witnesses at the scene indicated that he had been drinking, and was attempting to enter the school’s “safe prom”, which is being provided to prevent drinking and driving.

The truck left the scene of the wreck, and was parked near the area where last week’s “DWI Wreck Re-enactment” was held.

The student’s mom told MonticelloLive, “the last thing we told him before he left was don’t be drinking and driving.”

(more…)

(more…)

Sgt. Larry Smith, a detective with the Monticello Police Department, has recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  Larry had recently told another employee of the police department that one thing he’d really love to do, would be to fly over Lake Monticello, and of course, go fishing.

Several of his friends knew of someone who had a plane that he used for business trips.

By now, you can see where this story is leading. 

Wednesday morning, Larry’s wish came true, when Ward Rabb took him for an aerial view of Lake Monticello and the surrounding area.

The photos above show Larry in the plane, waiting for take-off, taking off, and landing.  Larry’s expression shows how much he enjoyed the ride.  When asked how everything looked, Larry simply said, “Small.”

Shown here are Drew County deputy, Larry Smith, Jr., Monticello Police Dept. members, Jerald Clark, Larry Smith, Eddy Deaton, and Trish Harvey.  Also shown are Ward Rabb, and Chief Robert Rosegrant.  Not shown are Game & Fish officer John Paul Greer, MPD’s Ginger Norris, and Shelly Rabb.

Special thanks to Ward and Shelly Rabb for making this possible.

Oh, yeah, I forgot something.

Larry is shown here crappie-fishing in Gail Hyatt’s pond, later on in the day.

Although these fish were caught in Alaska, last year, I put them in because Larry said if he didn’t catch many, to find a good picture. 

Well, that’s Larry for you.

(more…)

Last Thursday, Drew County Sheriff Mark Gober and 10th Judicial Drug Task Force Special Agent John Carter arrested Keith Tenner, of Monticello, with a large amount of what appeared to be crack cocaine.

(more…)