Bristol Blotter

By: TriCities Staff | TriCities.com
Published: August 12, 2009

Bristol Virginia
Police Department
Aug. 6
* If one would prefer to avoid being reported to the police, kindly asking witnesses not to call is one way to go. An apparently intoxicated woman, clad all in black and strolling along the 800 block of Commonwealth Avenue, unsuccessfully tried that tactic when she stopped a passer-by.
* It was a busy day in the lobby of the police department. First, a woman stopped in seeking advice on handling her unruly 11-year-old daughter. Then another woman came in because her ex-boyfriend is incessantly calling her.

Aug. 7
* After discovering a tent filled with clothes and a giant knife on his lawn, a Lynwood Drive man told police he suspected he had a squatter on his hands. Police found no such squatter.

Aug. 8
* Several inanimate objects got in the way of a drunken blonde outside the Roadrunner on Old Airport Road around 3 a.m. An onlooker called police to say they watched the woman walk into a handful of stationary fixtures before retiring to her white Ford Taurus, where she remained for a lengthy period of time.
* A Robin Circle woman escaped the emergency room with an IV still attached to her arm at 8 a.m.

Bristol Tennessee
Police Department
Aug. 7
* Driving down Interstate 81 on their way to the jail at 1 a.m., officers happened upon a brown Ford van “drifting” from lane to lane, in and out of traffic, fluctuating in speed from 55 mph to 80 mph. Because they were out of jurisdiction, the officers contacted the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, and intended to merely monitor the van until proper law enforcement arrived. But then, a car tried to merge onto the interstate, and the van refused to budge from its lane, forcing the car to skid onto the emergency shoulder. Next, while still being trailed by the police vehicle, the van attempted to pass a tractor-trailer, “nearly colliding” with it. Officers decided enough was enough and pulled the car over.

Aug. 8
* Forgetting to close out your bar tab can be a very serious offense. A man was arrested at the Stateline Bar & Grille for public intoxication and theft under $500 when the bar reported that he was causing a disturbance. Police found him to be “very intoxicated” and tacked on the theft charge after discovering he was trying to leave without paying for his drinks.

Neighborhood Watch
* Anyone interested in starting a Neighborhood Watch in Bristol, Va., should contact Nicole Slagle, crime prevention coordinator with the Bristol Virginia Police Department, at (276) 645-7281.
* Anyone interested in starting a Neighborhood Watch in Wise County should contact Sgt. Chuck Stapleton, crime prevention officer with the Wise County Sheriff’s Office, at (276) 328-3566.