Fire leads to drug arrests

Published 7:00 pm Tuesday, November 22, 2016

A fire on Foshee Road turned into more of a hot experience after four Brewton residents were arrested on drug charges.

Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Mike Lambert said deputies arrived at the home at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to find a man tending a fire of a large debris pile in the front yard. Currently, the state is under a burn ban because of dry conditions. Lambert said the man put out the blaze when asked and then went inside the home to get his ID.

“That’s when he exited through a bedroom window and fled on foot,” Lambert said of whom deputies later identified as William “Billy” Davis and wanted for an assortment of charges now including illegal burning.

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Lambert said K-9 units were called in to assist with the search; however, Davis remains at large.

“We tracked him for two miles from the house, and it appeared that he got a ride on Wildfork Road,” Lambert said.

Inside the home, deputies found several adults, two minor children and what appeared to be drugs and assorted items of paraphernalia.

“Deputies asked for consent to search the home but were refused,” Lambert said. “After obtaining and executing a search warrant, deputies then found a white crystal substance that field tested positive as crystal meth.”

Arrested and charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance were Terry Strength, 23; Jessica Hosford, 27;  Jamie Janzen, 31; and Sarah Jordan, 18.

All were taken to Escambia County Detention Center where they were booked in under a $5,000 bond.

Once captured, Davis will also face the same drug charges. Anyone with any information as to his location is asked to contact the ECSO at 251.809.2154 or drop a tip on the department’s website at escambiacountysheriffal.org.

The children inside the home were turned over to the county department of human resources.

The ESCO expressed its thanks to the McCall Fire Department for assisting. with the fire.