James Wesley Whitworth II 
DiaShawn Jerome Godbolt
Four teens caught skipping school Monday afternoon were taken into custody later Dec. 2 on a felony engaging in criminal activity charge in connection with thefts of firearms and an ATV.
Hopkins County Sheriff’s Chief Investigator Corley Weatherford credited Cpl. Todd Evans for his work, which lead to the arrests and location of stolen property.
According to dispatch reports, deputies first responded to County Road 2341 around 9:30 a.m. Dec. 2,where a “side-by-side” was reported to have been stolen overnight Sunday.
While in the area during the noon hour investigating, Hopkins County Sheriff’s Cpl. Todd Evans encountered a group of teens alleged to have been shooting long guns at house in the area. The entire group was reportedly determined to have been skipping school. Evans secured the guns, which at that time he believed to belong to one youth’s grandfather, notified the youngsters’ parents and returned them to school, the deputy noted in arrest reports.
Later, around 4:30 p.m., deputies received reports of a burglary in the area of County Road 2337, according to sheriff’s and arrest reports.
Three guns matching the description of those Evans earlier had seen the teens with earlier were reported to have been stolenn, , HCSO Cpl. Evans, Chief Investigator Corley Weatheford, and Patrol Sgt. Scott Davis and Sgt. Tanner Steward noted in arrest reports.
The youth were located and interviewed by officials; most confessed to involvement in the thefts, deputies alleged in arrest reports.
Deputies recovered the guns, which had reportedly been thrown in various road ditches in the area. Deputies also located the side-by-side, which had been hidden in the woods near County Road 2310, according to arrest and sheriff’s reports.
Overall, four individuals were reported to have been involved. All were arrested on an engaging in organized criminal activity charge. Two youth — James Wesley Whitworth II and Diashawn Jerome Godbolt, both 17, of Sulphur Springs — were transported to the county jail on the third-degree felony charge. The two others were released to juvenile authorities, according to Weatherford.
Whitworth and Godbolt remained in the county jail Tuesday morning, Dec. 3; bond on the engaging in organized criminal activity charge was set at $30,000, according to jail reports.
