Pike County, Ky – The Pike County Sheriff’s Office says deputies intercepted a truck stolen out of Wolfe County in a case believed to be tied to recent auto thefts in Pikeville. Sheriff Rodney Scott says he was alerted on January 25 that the stolen vehicle might be headed to Pike County, and deputies later spotted it in the Island Creek community and tried to stop it. The driver, identified as 42‑year‑old Josh Burchett of Fords Branch, allegedly fled, at one point throwing a shotgun out of the window before running from the vehicle on foot. He was caught by deputies, taken into custody, and transported for medical treatment. Scott says the incident is connected to an ongoing Pikeville Police auto theft investigation and that charges are pending.

Inez, Ky – Martin County Sheriff John Kirk says he spent Saturday night trying to keep a homeless man from freezing to death as snow fell and temperatures plunged in Inez. He was first called to the Brookeshire Inn, where the man, who had nowhere to go, had settled in the lobby and refused to leave. A short time later, the man went into a nearby ambulance building through an unlocked door, heated up a frozen dinner and ate it, then moved on and tried to get into other closed businesses around town, repeatedly refusing offers of a ride to a warming shelter. Kirk says deputies have seen the man around Inez for months. After the man was nearly hit by a snowplow when he stopped in the road to pick up his belongings, Kirk had him placed on a medical hold for evaluation, then, when he was released, convinced him to go to a warming center and got him dry clothes.

Pike County, Ky – A Louisville man accused of bringing several pounds of meth into Pike County has now been indicted in federal court. Andrew Billingslea, 33, is charged with possessing more than 500 grams of meth with intent to distribute. He was arrested November 16 after Pikeville Police received a tip he would be transporting the drugs into the city. Officers spotted his vehicle and a suspected “trail car” on U.S. 23, a tactic investigators say traffickers often use to avoid detection. When both vehicles stopped at a gas station, police arrested Billingslea and the second driver, Jonathan Jones, 35, also from Louisville, and recovered 3.2 pounds of meth between the two cars. If convicted, Billingslea faces 10 years to life in prison, while Jones still faces state of meth trafficking and persistent felony offender charges in Pike Circuit Court.

Martin, Ky – A Martin man is facing federal drug trafficking charges after troopers say a raid at his home turned up meth, marijuana, guns and cash. Forty‑four‑year‑old David Lee Ousley is accused of conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of meth, possessing 50 grams or more with intent to distribute, and having a gun in furtherance of drug trafficking, charges that could bring at least five years and up to life in prison if he is convicted. State police say a January 15 search at his Right Fork of Sunny Road home uncovered about 11.7 ounces of suspected meth, seven pounds of marijuana, pills, 31 firearms and roughly 5,400 dollars, and that Ousley admitted trafficking for years and selling drugs in ounce quantities around Floyd County.