A Cookeville man was caught trying to pass fake $100 bills in the area on Veteran’s Day.

According to a report from Overton County Sheriff’s Department, Blake Aaron Ortlepp, 20, of Benton Young Road, Cookeville, had tried to pass counterfeit money at the BP gas station in Byrdstown, and Pickett County Sheriff’s Department had called ahead to tell OSCD to be on the lookout for his vehicle.

The report by OCSD Sgt. Tim Porter said Pickett County authorities advised Ortlepp was driving a silver SUV with no tag and was heading into Overton County.

“Upon arrival on Byrdstown Highway, I did locate the vehicle in question at the top of Big Springs hill,” Porter said in the narrative of his report.

After stopping the vehicle, Porter said he ordered Ortlepp to shut off the vehicle and hand over the keys.

“I put the keys on top of the vehicle and asked Mr. Ortlepp if he knew why I was stopping him, and he stated yes, it was because he tried to pass fake money in Byrdstown,” Porter’s narrative said.

At that time, Ortlepp allegedly handed Porter seven $100 bills that the deputy described as “obviously counterfeit,”

Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Neil Matthews then arrived on the scene to help in the investigation, the report said. According to the narrative, Ortlepp gave officers consent to search the vehicle at that point, and Matthews found a pack of rolling papers, and a cigarette pack with a “green, leafy substance believed to be marijuana” in the driver’s door. The report said OCSD deputies Johnny Cyrus and Shane Barlow assisted in the search of the vehicle.

Upon checking Ortlepp’s record, the narrative said officers found his license had been suspended for failure to satisfy past citations.

Pickett County Deputy Elbert Conner reportedly came on the scene of the search and took possession of the counterfeit bills, which the report said were used to try to purchase $30 in gas.

Ortlepp was issued a citation for driving on a suspended licence, simple possession, and possession of drug paraphernalia, and was taken into custody by the Pickett County Sheriff’s Department, according to the report.

He is due in court there on Tuesday, December 11.

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The office of Swallows Insurance Agent Lisa Moody is in shambles after an SUV crashed through it Wednesday morning, November 7.

According to the official crash report from Livingston Police Department Officer Jonathan Storie, the 2008 Lexus RX350 driven by Barbara M. Dancy, 65, of Livingston, crashed through the wall of Moody’s office as Dancy was trying to park in the Swallows lot on West Main Street in Livingston. The crash report narrative said Dancy told Storie she thought her gas pedal stuck while attempting to park. The collision caused in excess of $400 in damage to the building, according to the report.

WLIV radio personality Roger Ealey said he was in the news room at the radio station’s studio across the parking lot from Swallows Insurance when he heard a crash he assumed was a fender-bender in front of First National Bank’s West Main branch. When he got to the parking lot, he said he saw the hole in Swallows’ wall next door and realized that was what he had heard.

Moody was in the office when the SUV came barging in. She said her back was turned, so she didn’t see it coming. She said she didn’t think anything hit her, though she said the Lexus bumped her desk before rolling back down the pile of rubble to the outside of the building.

According to multiple Swallows Insurance staffers on the scene, Dancy formerly worked for the agency.

In addition to LPD, Livingston Fire Department and Overton County Ambulance Service responded to the scene. Dancy was transported to Livingston Regional Hospital for treatment of any possible injuries sustained in the crash.