Man charged in checks forgery

Man charged in checks forgery

A man faces forgery and theft charges after checks were taken from mailboxes and cashed, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

A caller reported a theft from a Hixson mailbox March 18, according to a news release. Deputy Mickey Rountree identified James Brett Huckabee as a suspect after finding out where the checks had been cashed and discovering Huckabee had forged his name on the stolen checks, according to sheriff's office spokeswoman Janice Atkinson.

Huckabee was an independent contractor delivering newspapers for the Chattanooga Times Free Press at the time of some of the thefts, according to the news release. His contract was terminated March 8, newspaper records show.

Deputies located Huckabee at 1553 Dallas Lake Road on Thursday. In an effort to draw authorities away from his residence, Huckabee placed a false call on a disorder with a weapon occurring at another address, Atkinson said. She said the ploy didn't work and that officers found Huckabee hiding under the kitchen sink.

Huckabee faces three counts of forgery, three counts of criminal simulation, two counts of theft under $500, one count of resisting arrest, one count of filing a false report and one count of misuse of 911, according to the news release.

One killed in I-24 Monteagle crash

A Kansas woman was killed and six were injured in an early Thursday morning crash that blocked the eastbound lanes of Interstate 24 atop Monteagle Mountain, TDOT officials say.

Rebecca Tucker, 24, of Manhattan, Kan., died after a tractor-trailer struck the car she was in, ejecting her from the front passenger seat.

Tucker's vehicle was stopped on the side of the road after the driver, Jason Tucker, 24, of Manhattan, Kan., fell asleep at the wheel, police said. The driver of the tractor-trailer couldn't see the stopped car and crashed into it, injuring Jason Tucker and four other Manhattan, Kan., residents.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Christopher D. Wardrip, 51, of Hudson, Ky., was also injured. All the injured were taken to Erlanger and McFadden hospitals.

The crash at mile marker 129 was reported shortly after 6 a.m. EDT, and the highway was reopened a few minutes before 11 a.m. EDT, Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn said Thursday.

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