Paintsville, Ky – A Johnson County woman is facing charges of child endangerment and public intoxication. On May 5, Paintsville Police Officer Michael Bell was called to Paintsville ARH Hospital on a report that a woman with two juveniles appeared intoxicated. He says he found 45‑year‑old Amy Wells Thelma, talking fast and slurring her words, and she admitted using meth before coming to the hospital with the children. Bell wrote that Wells had left two other children at home and showed no concern for any of the juveniles due to her impairment. The children were placed with a family member, and Wells was lodged in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center on charges of public intoxication and four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor.

Martin County, Ky – What started as a routine eviction in Debord ended with a houseguest in jail on terroristic threatening charges. Martin County Sheriff John Kirk says family members of an elderly homeowner filed to evict 50‑year‑old Kristi Lynn Kadar of Akron, Ohio, who had moved in after meeting the woman on TikTok. When Deputy Zach Waller served the eviction, Kadar allegedly became belligerent, claimed to be a federal and CIA agent, and was arrested for impersonating a peace officer. On the way to the courthouse, Kirk says she then threatened to kill President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, triggering a first‑degree terroristic threatening charge and a federal investigation. Kadar was lodged in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.

Johnson County, Ky – A Johnson County man is facing felony charges after a deputy disarmed him as he reached for a handgun. On May 5, Deputy Darvin Marsillett says he found 43‑year‑old Jesse D. Blair walking in the roadway on Lower Twin Branch and appearing extremely nervous, intoxicated, and repeatedly putting his hands in his pockets. When Blair suddenly reached toward a pocket, Marsillett says he began to pull a handgun, but the deputy grabbed it and took him into custody. A search turned up suspected meth, various pills, and Blair’s vehicle in a ditch, and with prior felony convictions, he was lodged in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center on DUI, wanton endangerment, handgun, drug, resisting, contraband, and traffic charges.

Paintsville, Ky – A Johnson County man is back in jail, accused of setting fires in the lobby bathrooms at the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center just hours after his release. Deputies say 21-year-old Dillon Smothers, of Boons Camp and Inez, was arrested the night of May 7 for public intoxication after a Staffordsville resident reported a suspicious man on her porch. Jailers say after his release early May 8, Smothers returned, started fires that filled the lobby with smoke, and damaged the bathroom sink. He’s now charged with second-degree criminal mischief.