Fugitive faces additional charges

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

A local fugitive was apprehended Saturday morning and charged with additional crimes while saying good-bye to his father, according to the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office. Charles Franklin Lawson, 34, was being sought on possession of drug charges from 2007.
Chief Deputy Keith Dunagan reported his office received information that Lawson was possibly at his father’s residence at 2979 Foster Falls Road in Barren Springs. A deputy went to the address around 10:50 a.m. but didn’t find Lawson, according to Dunagan.
The deputy, Dunagan said, passed Lawson driving a vehicle toward the residence. He followed Lawson to the house and informed him he was under arrest, the chief deputy stated.
Lawson asked that he be allowed to tell his father he was going to jail and the deputy accompanied Lawson inside the residence, Dunagan reported. Lawson then reached into his pockets and moved past his father to head down the hall, the chief deputy said.
When the deputy commanded Lawson to move his hands from his pockets and stop, Dunagan said Lawson moved faster down the hall, causing the deputy to physically restrain him. Lawson was taken into custody and the deputy located a methamphetamine smoking device and a small quantity of meth in the hallway in a dog food bag, Dunagan said.
A search of Lawson produced a small bag of marijuana, according to the chief deputy.
In addition to the 2007 charges, Lawson was charged with possession of a schedule II drug, possession of marijuana and obstructing justice. He is being held in the New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin on a $5,000 secured bond.
In an unrelated case, a family dispute led to the arrest of a Gullion Fork Road resident Saturday night. Larry Cole Sr., 53, was charged with domestic assault and reckless handling of a firearm.
According to Dunagan, officers were called to 486 Gullion Fork Road around 9 p.m. A female caller stated her husband was shooting at her son with a shotgun.
At the scene, Dunagan said, deputies learned from witnesses that Larry Cole Sr. and his son Larry Cole Jr. had gotten into an argument. The son left his father’s house and went to his own home which is next door, the chief deputy reported.
Witness accounts, Dunagan said, noted that Larry Cole Sr. got a shotgun from his residence and went to the home of his son where he threatened and assaulted Larry Cole Jr.
As a result Larry Cole Sr. was charge. He was taken to the regional jail and was being held on a $1,500 unsecured bond.
A protective order also was issued.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .