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Pedestrian struck
Tool man hit while walking to work
By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff Writer
TOOL–A Tool man is in critical condition in a Tyler
hospital after being struck by a truck Saturday on State Highway 274.
Ernest Aldridge, 50, was airlifted to East Texas Medical Center-Tyler around
8:30 a.m. Saturday.
He had been walking northbound along SH274 when he was struck by a
northbound white Isuzu delivery truck near the Paradise Bay Motel, where he
was staying.
Police didn’t know why Aldridge was walking, or where he was going, but he
loved to walk and walked to his job at the M&M convenience store on the
corner of SH274 and Jess Hinton Road
Tool police officer Jason McCurdy worked the accident. McCurdy identifed the
driver as Alexander Krone, a Gun Barrel City resident.
Krone was making a delivery in the area.
“The case is still under investigation,” Sgt. Kendel Wellman told The
Monitor.
“It’s not known why the truck left the roadway,” he said.
No charges were filed, pending the investigation, he said.
Family sources report that Aldridge loved the Lord and attended First
Baptist Church in Tool.
Man shot in back
By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff
Writer
KEMP–A man is in serious condition following a
shooting Sunday.
The Kemp Police Department responded to a call at 11:17 p.m. made from a
residence at 203 Main Street in Kemp, Police Chief Richard Arnold told The
Monitor.
Dustin James Streetman, 18, was airlifted to the East Texas Medical
Center-Tyler with a gunshot wound to his back.
Arnold said Tuesday he was waiting to hear back from the hospital on the
recovery of the slug, to see if it matched the pistol recovered by police.
Officials identified Colby Wilcotts, 19, as the shooter. Wilcotts’ driver’s
license lists a Lubbock address, but he is probably a former Kemp resident,
The Monitor learned.
Arnold speculated that three or four young adults were in a vehicle driving
on Business 175 in Kemp when the .22-caliber pistol was discharged.
“Everything is still under investigation. We really don’t know anything for
certain, yet,” Arnold said.
Bicyclist dies crossing bridge
Body fished out of lake by Tom Finley Park
 Monitor
Photo/Pearl Cantrell
Officials await transport for the body of Dennis Davis
at the boat launch at Tom Finley Park in Gun Barrel City Friday. Davis had
tried to cross the State Highway 334 bridge on a bicycle at about 11:30 p.m.
the night before when he was struck. His body was found the next morning.
By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff Writer
GUN BARREL CITY–A Harbor Point resident is dead after being struck by
a truck while bicycling across the bridge between Big Chief Landing and Tom
Finley Park.
Dennis Wayne Davis, 52, was wearing dark clothing while riding a bicycle
shortly after 11:30 p.m. Thursday, April 12.
It was reported Davis was meeting friends at Cedar Isle Restaurant and Club.
He is also believed to have been traveling in the eastbound lane, facing
traffic.
Gun Barrel City police officer Dennis Wehland said Davis was struck close to
the center line of the eastbound lane, and that the driver didn’t see him at
all until he hit his truck and the windshield.
Robert Lee Ries Jr., 33, of Gun Barrel City was on his way home in his 2002
Ford F-150 crossing the bridge when he struck Davis.
Those who knew Davis said he rode a Mongoose bicycle that was equipped with
head and rear lamps.
Following the collision, the bicycle was almost unrecognizable.
Some speculate that Davis, seeing the oncoming truck, decided to cross to
the other lane to avoid being near the truck, but misjudged the closing
distance of the approaching headlights.
From the side view, the bicycle would have been practically invisible.
Wehland estimates the impact sent Davis 75 feet over the bridge on the north
side.
“It’s not unusual for someone in an accident like this to be thrown that
far,” Wehland said.
The impact and sudden stop caused two other cars to rear-end each other
behind the truck, and officials closed the bridge until 4 a.m. while they
cleared the roadway and searched for Davis.
Davis’ body was located about 9:40 a.m., and Henderson County Precinct 2
Justice of the Peace Dale Blaylock pronounced him dead at about 11:30 a.m.
“It’s not safe to cross these bridges as a pediestrian or on a bike,”
Wehland said.
Davis was described as kind, happy and interested in others. He worked at
the Bait Shop at Chief’s Landing and the recently opened Sand Bar.
The investigation is still underway, Wehland said.
Knife & Tomahawk
competition
 Monitor
Photo/Kerry Yancey
Wearing buckskins and a homespun shirt, 2003 Malakoff High School graduate
Anna Reed, now a Huntsville resident, lets fly a knife during competition at
the 8th annual Knife & Tomahawk throwing competition at Malakoff City Park
Saturday. The event drew a record number of throwers, 54, despite cold and
blustery weather.
Kemp names
Teachers of the Year
 Monitor
Photo/Kerry Yancey
ABOVE: Kemp teachers Tracy Carter (left, High School), Jennifer Tadlock
(Intermediate School) and Randal Forguson (Junior High) hold plaques naming
them as the campus “Teachers of the Year” during a recognition before the
Kemp School Board Tuesday. Not pictured is Primary School teacher Kathie
Skaggs. AT RIGHT: Carter, the Kemp High School boys varsity basketball
coach, was recognized as the school district’s “Teacher of the Year”
Tuesday, and will go on to compete for the Regional “Teacher of the Year”
honors.
Former deputy arrested
Monitor Staff Reports
KAUFMAN–Former Kaufman County Sheriff’s deputy Michael
Johnson, 37, was arrested April 12 and charged with theft over $1,500 and
under $20,000 by a public servant.
County officials took him into custody, according to a press release from
the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Department.
Johnson was released the same day on a personal recognizance bond.
The offense took place in the Forney area, and Johnson used his identity as
a sheriff’s deputy to take money away from an individual, Sgt. Richard
Gaddis said.
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