Lyon County Sheriff Report

 LYON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE MEDIA RELEASE

• On Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, around 3:15 p.m., Sheriff Brent White and Reserve Deputy Scott Wathen were dispatched to a vehicle submerged in Lake Barkley at the Kuttawa Springs/Lyon County Boat Ramp off Lake Barkley Drive (KY 295 South). The investigation determined that a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado High Country pickup truck had been backed down the ramp by Evan Hays, 20, of Fulton.

  
  
  After parking the truck on the boat ramp, Hays returned to the courtesy dock to load his personal watercraft. When he got to the dock, he observed his pickup truck rolling backward into the water. The truck and trailer were submerged approximately 60 feet from the shoreline. The Lyon County Water Response Unit’s dive team assisted Stinnett’s Towing with recovering the vehicle and trailer. No injuries were reported in the incident.

• On Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, around 7:25 a.m., Sheriff Brent White responded to KY 274 approximately 10 miles south of Eddyville for a single-vehicle injury collision. The investigation determined that a 1997 Nissan Maxima driven by Benjamin M. Pawlowski, 20, of Rockcastle was traveling northwest on KY 274 when the driver failed to negotiate a curve. Pawlowski dropped his passenger-side wheels off the pavement before overcorrecting, crossing both lanes of travel, leaving the opposite shoulder, striking a ditch and coming to rest head-on against a tree. Pawlowski complained of head

  pain but declined medical transport from the scene. The Eddyville Fire Department and Lyon County EMS assisted Sheriff White at the scene.

• On Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, just after 3 p.m., deputies served a Bullitt Circuit Court bench warrant on Michael M. Whitney, 37, of Scottsville. Whitney previously failed to pay or appear in court regarding a fleeing or evading police and wanton endangerment case. Whitney awaits extradition to Bullitt County.

• On Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, just after 4 p.m., Deputy Bobby Beeler responded to a two-vehicle injury collision on U.S. 62 West at KY 810 South. His investigation revealed that a 2017 Chevrolet Colorado driven by Ethan D. Day, 21, of Kuttawa was on KY 810 South at the U.S. 62 intersection when he failed to yield the right of way and pulled into the path of an eastbound 2023 Nissan Altima driven by James W. Davidson, 60, of Smithland. Day’s and Davidson’s vehicles collided on U.S. 62. Davidson was transported by Lyon County EMS to an area hospital for evaluation of his injuries. The Kuttawa Fire Department, Eddyville Fire Department, Eddyville Police Department, Kentucky State Police and Lyon County EMS assisted Deputy Beeler at the scene.

• On Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, around 8:11 a.m., deputies arrested Adam Jimenez, 55, of Far Rockaway, New York, and served him with a Campbell Circuit Court indictment warrant charging him with engaging in organized crime. Jimenez will remain in a state corrections facility while awaiting extradition to Campbell County to face the charge.

• On Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, around 8:20 p.m., Deputy Luke Fraley located Melissa K. Hinchee, 52, of Paducah at a Kuttawa business and arrested her for being a fugitive from justice from Dyer County, Tennessee. Hinchee failed to appear in court for a 2017 DUI-related case. Hinchee was lodged in the Crittenden County Detention Center, where she awaits extradition proceedings