Casey Thomas, standing left, Barry Burbank and Jeremy Mulkey stand before McMinn Sessions Court Judge James Watson as he sets bond on the three men Tuesday in Athens, Tenn. They are accused of throwing an object from an Interstate 75 bridge onto a tour bus carrying Lee University students along with other incidents.ATHENS, Tenn. – Three men charged with tossing items off Interstate 75 overpasses in McMinn County and $100,000 in vandalism to construction equipment at the new Cleveland airport in Bradley County had a busy day in court Tuesday.
Casey Thomas, 18, of Athens; Barry Burbank, 20, of Sweetwater; and Jeremy Mulkey, 19, of Athens, appeared Tuesday in General Sessions Court arraignments in both counties. All three have been in the McMinn County Jail since their arrests.
In their first court appearance of the day, the three had their bonds reduced by McMinn County Judge James Watson.
The three were arrested Dec. 28 after three incidents in McMinn in which objects were thrown from roadway overpasses onto vehicles on I-75. In one incident, a fan motor hit a bus carrying Lee University students, injuring the driver.
In connection with the bus incident, Mulkey originally was charged with 18 counts of attempted reckless homicide, one count of criminal conspiracy to commit reckless homicide, three counts of reckless endangerment and two counts of felony vandalism. On Tuesday, his bond was reduced from $956,000 to $23,000, with charges reduced to one count each of attempted reckless homicide and conspiracy to commit reckless homicide, three counts of reckless endangerment and two counts of felony vandalism.