Three additional people have been charged in connection to receiving stolen property from Hopkinsville.
On Monday, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department reports deputies were patrolling on Oriole Drive, due to citizen complaints of suspicious activity, when they encountered a golf cart being operated on the roadway. During a roadside investigation, it was determined the golf cart had been reported stolen days earlier in Hopkinsville. The driver, 41-year old Phillip D. Merritt, Sr., also known as Pac-Man, was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property under $10,000; possession of methamphetamine; and drug paraphernalia, as well as numerous traffic offenses.
As the investigation continued, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant Wednesday for property nearly 11-miles south of Eddyville off of KY 93 South. Deputies, along with Kentucky State Police Troopers, arrested 42-year old Paula J. Hunter and 43-year old Matthew E. Hawkins for multiple offenses related to the search.
Hunter was charged with first-degree firearm enhanced trafficking in a controlled substance – methamphetamine; firearm enhanced trafficking in marijuana; possession of drug paraphernalia; and receiving stolen property – firearm. The recovered firearm was reported stolen from Henderson.
Hawkins was charged with two counts of receiving stolen property under $10,000, as it pertained to two stolen golf carts and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
As we previously reported, Caldwell County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 50-year old Johnathan Milstead Wednesday, in connection to a stolen golf cart from Hopkinsville and a UTV. Milstead was charged with receiving stolen property under $10,000 and receiving stolen property over $10,000.
Hawkins, Hunter, and Merritt were lodged in the Crittenden County Detention Center and Milstead was lodged in the Caldwell County Jail.
Additional charges are pending.
The investigation, led by Lyon County Deputy Joe Witherspoon, received assistance from the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, Hopkinsville Police Department, and Kentucky State Police Posts 1 and 16.
