Each week, the Campbell County Sheriff’s Department sends the arrest reports to news outlets. Recently WLAF News found some intriguing  statistics from the past six weeks of arrest reports.

Out of 66 people in those reports, the average age was 31.7 years with each person having been arrested an average of 7.3 times.  Of those 66 people, 20 told law enforcement they work while seven were listed as disabled and 39 or 59 percent of that total were unemployed.  Combine the disabled and the unemployed totals, and that category jumps to 70 percent.

Campbell County Sheriff Robbie Goins is quick to point out “We get all types that fall into all categories.  It’s across the board, and about anything can be tied to it.”  Some people who can’t find employment are convicted felons, and it’s difficult and not fair, in some cases, for those folks, he said.  “Then there are those who are substance abusers, and it’s nearly impossible for them to hold down a job,” the sheriff said.

From the sampling, there were a few numbers that stood out above the rest.  The three following individual’s statistics are based on jail records:  Aaron Coleman Crowley, La Follette, is 28- years- old.  In his 10 years since turning 18, he has been arrested 19 times averaging almost two arrests annually.  Anna Michelle Murray, Jacksboro, is 41- years- old and has been arrested 36 times over a span of 13 years.  Since Murray’s first arrest in 2006, she is averaging nearly three arrests a year.  William Thomas Poston, La Follette, is 41- years- old and has been arrested 47 times over a stretch of 21 years.  In 1998, Poston was first arrested and has averaged a just over two arrests a year since.

“There are lots of people who just make a mistake.  Some people become addicted, to opioids in particular, whether they want to or not,” Goins said.  (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 05/01/2019-6AM)