Franklin County churches robbed; suspects caught

Six Franklin County churches, three of them members of Franklin Baptist Association, were burglarized and vandalized in a five-day span in mid-July. Within a week of the crimes, three young men were arrested and charged with a multitude of theft, burglary and criminal mischief counts. All three — Jeremy Ray Hargett, 19, and Kevin Pounders, 18, of Russellville and James Michael Dixon, 21, of Sheffield — have confessed involvement in the crimes, officials said.
   
Franklin County Sheriff Larry Plott attributed the three arrests to “God’s grace and the prayers of the people.”
   
The churches hit were Waco Baptist, Spruce Pine Baptist, Rockwood Baptist, Isbell United Methodist, First Free Will Baptist and First Church of the Nazarene, all in the Russellville area. Waco Baptist was also vandalized in February. Plott said the same three men were believed to be responsible. 
   
At Isbell Methodist, the altar was desecrated and urine was found on the floor in the church office. Among the items taken from the churches were computers, sound equipment, appliances, small amounts of cash and small musical instruments. 
   
“They broke in our side door and took some equipment,” said Jim Poss, pastor of Spruce Pine Baptist. “We didn’t have any real vandalism.” 
   
Almost all the items were recovered after officers executed a search warrant at two local residences. Officers also found documents related to Wicca, a pagan religion, and other occult-related documents. 
   
Poss said despite the crimes, the men would be welcome to worship at Spruce Pine. “Would they be welcome? Absolutely,” he said. “[T]here but for the grace of God go I.”