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Classes were in session at Valley View School as a drug bust took place across Old Hwy 63
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- At a residence in a mobile home park across the road from Valley View School is where Campbell Sheriff’s Investigators executed a narcotics search warrant on Thursday morning. CCSO Det. Franklin Ayers knocked on the door of the home at 9:30am and presented the warrant to James Durham.
TOP PHOTO: Sheriff’s investigators conducted a drug raid at this mobile home last Thursday.
Durham, 66, of 140 Stonebrook Lane, sat on his couch, allegedly with a loaded pistol under it, as he watched investigators comb through his residence. During the search, a small pill bottle, containing marijuana, according to Durham, was found on a box heater in the living room. On a nearby coffee table, was a pill bottle containing five, small round pills labeled K8, based on the detective’s report.
Lt. J.J. Hatmaker located a .22 caliber rifle sitting in the corner beside the front door. That prompted Hatmaker to ask if there were any other guns in the house, and that’s when Durham mentioned the loaded .22 caliber pistol beneath the couch.
Three bottles of moonshine were allegedly discovered sitting on a dresser in the back bedroom along with a bolt action rifle, unloaded, under the bed. In the report, Durham stated that he had bought the moonshine.
Investigators determined the crime scene was within 500 feet of Valley View Elementary School prompting an additional charge against Durham. He was booked into the county jail on Thursday morning facing multiple charges, and he later made bond and was released on Saturday.
Durham, due back in court tomorrow, is free on a $40,000 secure bond. He’s facing charges of drug free school zone, possessing a firearm in commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a schedule VI controlled substance and possession of untaxed whiskey. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-01/29/2025-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CCSO)