Wednesday, June 10WATCHFUL EYE

Popular

Fmr. Smyth County School Board official pleads guilty to child porn production
Crime, News, Popular

Fmr. Smyth County School Board official pleads guilty to child porn production

Todd Stewart Williams, a 54-year-old former Smyth County School Board official, has pled guilty to four federal child pornography charges and is awaiting his sentence. Williams admitted he coerced boys across numerous states to produce pornographic material between 2021 and 2024. He relied heavily on services, such as Snapchat and Telegram, to communicate with the boys and paid them through a variety of means, including CashApp, PayPal, in-app purchases, and, in at least one case, mailing a debit card, federal documents revealed. Authorities tipped off A 15-year-old in Oklahoma put Williams on authorities’ radar by reporting him to the FBI in September 2022, federal court documents show. The teen explained he meet Williams in a Snapchat group for gay teenagers. They began chat...
Police negotiate peaceful surrender of armed man barricaded in Caroline
News, Popular

Police negotiate peaceful surrender of armed man barricaded in Caroline

On Thursday, authorities spent hours trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution with a Ruther Glen man who allegedly barricaded himself in a home after shooting at a woman. Around 1 a.m. that morning, a “frantic” woman called 911 and claimed amid a verbal altercation with 45-year-old Shane Stevens, she fled to her vehicle and tried to leave, and he fired a handgun at her, Caroline County Sheriff’s Office reported. The woman, who wasn’t named also reported that, in addition to being armed, Stevens was wearing a bulletproof vest. When deputies arrived at the residence on McBryant Road, Stevens was reportedly barricaded inside, and CCSO reported said he made statements to deputy M. Wilcox confirming he was armed and would not surrender peacefully. The home was secured, a perime...
4 teens charged in Spotsylvania shooting killing 3, wounding 3
Crime, Popular

4 teens charged in Spotsylvania shooting killing 3, wounding 3

Four teens have been charged for a Spotsylvania shooting that killed three people and sent three others to the hospital, including one of the suspects. Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office said information about the shooting came in around 5:30 p.m. yesterday (April 9). When officers arrived at the scene near Olde Greenwich Circle in a townhouse complex, they found multiple people shot. Three individuals were dead, including two 18-year-olds from Spotsylvania, Chase and Alonzo Goffney, along with a 20-year-old, whose name is being withheld pending confirmation from the Medical Examiner’s Office. Names weren’t provided for the three people transported to the hospital, but Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office revealed one of them is a 16-year-old suspect who was shot during what police believ...
Identity released for man killed by James City County Police
News, Popular

Identity released for man killed by James City County Police

The man shot and killed by James City County Police officers on March 30 was identified as 57-year-old James Andrew Evans of Dehaven Court in Williamsburg. According to JCCPD, around 4:30 p.m. that day, patrol officers responded to a report of a fight involving a potentially armed male suspect in the 100 block of Dehaven Court, but the suspect was gone before they arrived. Boost Your Security w/ Byrna: A Non-Letal Self-Defense Weapon JCCPD said they determined the suspect was in a green Nissan truck and used the Flock camera system to identify the vehicle traveling toward Olde Towne Road. Two patrol officers spotted the vehicle and followed it into the Food Lion parking lot on Richmond Road. Evans allegedly “exited the vehicle with a long rifle.” JCCPD didn’t say whether Evans ...
Police seeking Eagle Rock man for attempted murder & woman he allegedly assaulted
News, Popular

Police seeking Eagle Rock man for attempted murder & woman he allegedly assaulted

Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s assistance locating an Eagle Rock, VA man facing a list of charges, including attempted murder, and a woman who may be with him against her will. According to BCSO, Arieanna McDorman, on March 23, a 32-year-old Clifton Forge woman, contacted her mother claiming she was in a dispute with her boyfriend.  The mother, who wasn’t named, and her partner, also unidentified, went to the location where McDorman was, a residence in the 20000 block of Botetourt Road in Eagle Rock. BCSO said when they arrived to pick up McDorman, a suspect, later identified as 34-year-old Joseph Bray Lee, of Eagle Rock, was restraining McDorman by the arm. As the mother attempted to intervene, Lee allegedly shot at her. SIGN UP for WALMART ...
Fairfax runaway who closed all Fredericksburg schools ARRESTED out of state
Popular

Fairfax runaway who closed all Fredericksburg schools ARRESTED out of state

All five Fredericksburg City Public Schools were closed Friday, March 21, due to a wanted 16-year-old from Fairfax. Fasihullah Safar, who lives in Alexandria, was reported missing by his family on March 17, according to Fairfax County Police Department. On Wednesday, March 19, a school resource officer saw him at James Monroe High School in Fredericksburg. The school system said when the SRO approached him, he fled. A search was conducted in the area but he wasn’t found. In an update, Fairfax PD noted that when the Fredericksburg SRO saw Safar he was “behaving suspiciously.” “We believe there are potential safety and security concerns with this individual’s mental state. In an abundance of caution, Fredericksburg City Public Schools were closed Friday, March 21st,” a statement ...
Murder charges announced for James City County suspects
Popular

Murder charges announced for James City County suspects

Second degree murder has been added to the list of charges for the man and woman accused of killing 67-year-old Jose Medellin in James City County. On January 31, shortly after 2 p.m., JCCPD officers responded to Diascund Reservoir Road for a report of an assault in progress and reportedly found a woman outside the residence with visible injuries. Inside they found Medellin unresponsive. JCCPD said officers immediately began lifesaving measures until medical units arrived, but by 3 p.m., Medellin was pronounced dead. Less than four hours later, JCCPD said investigators determined the death was linked to a robbery and assault that occurred the night before, January 30, in the same vicinity, and Harley James McClure Hutchins, 29, and Amber Nicole Johnson, 28, were arrested. Both...
Big Stone Gap cop killer gets 2nd 100-year sentence
Crime, News, Popular, Trending

Big Stone Gap cop killer gets 2nd 100-year sentence

Michael Donivan White, the South Carolina man who pulled the trigger and killed Michael Chandler, a Big Stone Gap police officer, just got sentenced to another 100 years in prison. A fatal call Chandler was killed on November 13, 2021. Around 4 a.m. that morning, he responded to a welfare check at a place known locally as “the red house.”  Virginia State Police said it was well known to law enforcement for civil disturbances, warrants, welfare checks, overdoses, assaults, and drug activity. When Chandler arrived, he parked on the street, walked up to a car in the driveway, and knocked on the window with his flashlight. White, who was in the passenger seat, told his girlfriend, Misty Ward, to pull off because there were drugs in the car, and he wasn’t going back to jail. Wa...
Claytor Lake State Park resumes normal operations after months of Helene cleanup
Popular

Claytor Lake State Park resumes normal operations after months of Helene cleanup

The job required modular barges, tugboats, and excavators, not to mention time, but the post-Hurricane Helene debris removal at Claytor Lake State Park in Dublin is complete, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced this week. Claytor Lake was one of nine Virginia State Parks DCR closed in 2024 due to severe damage from Hurricane Helene. Claytor Lake after cleanup (Photo: DCR) “The cleanup of Claytor Lake is a testament to the resilience and dedication of our federal and state agencies, park rangers and community members,” said DCR Director Matt Wells. The department noted that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), FEMA, Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Friends of Claytor Lake, and DCR contributed to completion of the mission to get park c...
Unanimous: VA lawmakers want to limit sheriffs using shackles on children in court
News, Popular

Unanimous: VA lawmakers want to limit sheriffs using shackles on children in court

Virginia lawmakers have had enough of sheriffs abusing the ability to use shackles on children in court. Now, the question is whether Governor Glenn Youngkin will sign a bill into law that limits the practice. “Virginia law currently allows indiscriminate shackling of children in court. Children are forced to appear weighted down by handcuffs, leg irons, and belly chains,” Senator Lamont Bagby told colleagues in the Committee for Courts of Justice. He acknowledged that the overwhelming number of jurisdictions do not shackle youth at all. But there are about four jurisdictions across the state that shackle every child, he told members of the committee. “The goal of this is remedy the challenge of jurisdictions abusing the ability to shackle children in courtrooms,” he said. Babg...