Holly Grove Without Police After Weekend Vandalism
The city of Holly Grove has experienced rash of unexplained fires and vandalism during the past several months. Now, the town finds itself without any law enforcement, just days after the city fired its police chief.
Early Sunday morning, the town was vandalized once again. This time, someone broke into a local store owned by Holly Grove Mayor Lula Tyler and the new police department. They also fired six gun rounds into the north side of city hall and tried to blow up the towns two police cars.
It's horrible. It's getting to the point where it's unbearable, Mayor Tyler said. I was elected in 1994, and Ive never seen anything like this.
To make matters worse, the towns new police chief resigned Sunday morning, days after replacing former chief Jason Johnston. Now, Holly Grove has no police force, and residents are concerned.
We need help, said Bill Stone. We need help from outside. I personally called and talked to agencies and asked for help. It's not going to come from Monroe County.
We've had city police officers off and on the past few years, but they were just as scared as we are, said Wayne Endsley. You'd have to be stupid not to be scared or want any part of it. Thats for sure.
Mayor Tyler says she plans to meet with the Monroe County Sheriffs Department Monday to ask for help while her town searches for a new police force.
More Vandalism in Holly Grove Last Update: Jun 3, 2007 9:10 PM Posted By: Sandra Kirk
The small town of Holly Grove can't seem to get a break. Bullets rang out overnight in the downtown square destroying businesses and police cars. This after, the city council voted to fire their police chief following a series of arson fires last week. FOX16's Sandra Kirk tells us what neighbors in Holly Grove are saying about this latest act of vandalism.
They say they've had enough. Their town is falling apart and they want it to stop. This morning they woke up to streets littered with garbage, but that was just the beginning.
Much of Sunday morning spent boarding up windows in downtown Holly Grove after they were shattered by bullets.
Businesses, the police department, city hall--all targets.
But the vandalism didn't stop there.
"As you can see the cars [tires] are flat and was shot. They have it noted as 6 times but it was [shot] actually 7 times," says Mayor Lula Tyler.
The only two patrol vehicles in the town-destroyed.
And to make matters worse, the new police chief resigned this morning after only two days.
Because he can't see anything but a homicide and he doesn't want to be a part of it, says Tyler.
Now, with no local law enforcement, neighbors are concerned.
"What's wrong with this town...what's happening?" asks a resident.
"Nobody in their right mind would come in here and try to straighten this mess up....i don't know what it's going to take," says Danny Singleton.
"It hurts to see the things that are going on in my town. To me, I feel like this is home," says Mary Palmer.
Mary Palmer has lived in Holly Grove all her life and says it's never been this bad.
"And I don't want to see my town go down," she says.
And Mary relying on faith to turn it around.
"Know and pray that the Lord will heal this town and you know...bring things back together."
The mayor hopes someone will come forward so the town with the population of 722 can get back on its feet.
"I think most of what's going on in a town this small, somebody has to know what's going on, says Tyler.
But so far no arrests have been made in this latest incident or the series of arsons. Monroe County sheriff's deputies are stepping in to try and find who is responsible. There is a meeting tentatively scheduled for Monday morning with members of the community and sheriff's department to talk about ideas for what to do next.
