Articles from Bristol Herald Courier

A pig and a pokey
Thursday, Dec 28, 2006 - 01:15 AM
Written by Jennifer Wig

Tim White, president of the Appalachian Country Music Association, and his wife, Penny, were arrested at the scene of a house fire at 286 Rhea Ave., Blountville. The co-founder of the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance and his wife were arrested and charged Christmas Eve with assault and disorderly conduct while trying to save a 300-pound pig.

Tim White, president of the Appalachian Country Music Association, and his wife, Penny, were arrested at the scene of a house fire at 286 Rhea Ave., Blountville.

The pair had come to offer support for Tim White's sister, Pam Manuel, who owns the destroyed house.

According to a report by Sullivan County Deputy Joshua Ferguson, Penny White was asked to leave the area for her own safety.

"She then replied, ‘Screw you, I don't have to,' " Ferguson reported. "I then asked her again to please leave and she again replied, ‘I don't have to.' "

Ferguson wrote he then tried to escort Penny White from the scene "at which time she pushed me. I then tried to place her into custody at which time her husband ... Tim White, came over to me and grabbed me by my jacket and told me that I was not going to take his wife to jail. He advised me that I don't know who I was messing with."

Ferguson wrote that White continued to struggle with him until firefighters pulled him away. Tim White denied the deputy's account.

He and his wife were talking to firefighters and hoping to save Fatty, the family's pet 300-pound, pot-bellied pig, he said. Fatty was living in the garage apartment next door to the house, he said. And even though the building was not on fire, it was in danger. A similar scene had played out 25 years ago, when Manuel lost everything – including two cats – to a December house fire.

"My sister was nearly having a nervous breakdown," White said Wednesday. "We find a scene of deja vu. [Losing the cats] left an emotional scar that she carries today. I thought, ‘Everything that's gone on, we aren't going to let this pig die.' "

White said he communicated with the firefighters so he could stay out of danger while helping them coax out the pig, who refused to budge.

White said he and his wife were standing near the building, but not close enough to be in danger. A man approached Penny White and grabbed her by the arm, he said. "I see a figure grab her by the arm and she jerked away," White said. "There was no communication. He never identified himself. I didn't even know who it was. If anybody would've politely asked, we would've left."

White said he was upset and tried to talk to the deputy, who could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

"I asked him and I pleaded with him to let her go," Tim White said. "I grabbed his arm and I grabbed her arm. He reached for his handcuffs. I don't think he even tried to consider what we were there for. He seemed to just want to arrest somebody."

White said his wife was handcuffed and then moved away from the fire. White said he was on the phone with a family member a moment later when the officer returned and arrested him.

White has hired an attorney and wants the charges dropped.

"They are absurd," he said. "If there was any [assault] going on, it was by this deputy. He should have handled the situation with respect."

White, a well-known entertainer and small business owner, ran for the office of county mayor earlier this year.

Despite that, he doesn't consider himself a "big shot." He said he was trying to tell the officer that he was the victim's brother.

"I don't remember the words I used, but I was just telling him this was my sister's place," he said. "It was totally blown out of proportion."

White said he is grateful to those who helped that night, especially the firefighters who worked to save the pig.

"Fatty is alive and well," he said. "We give back to the community constantly. For [the deputy] to single us out, when it was obvious when we were there with a mission, is beyond me."

County sued over arrest during Christmas 2006 pig rescue
Monday, Dec 24, 2007 - 12:55 AM
By Debra McCown

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – Just in time for Christmas Eve, Sullivan County and three county law enforcement officers have been hit with a $4.7 million lawsuit – for an incident that happened last Christmas Eve.

Tim White, co-founder of the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance and host of the PBS television series "Song of the Mountains," filed the lawsuit Friday, primarily against the county and sheriff's Deputy Joshua Ferguson.

The suit stems from an incident last year in which White and his wife, Penny, were trying to rescue a relative's pet pig from a Blountville house fire.

"The basis of the lawsuit is they put us in jail when it was a misdemeanor that should've been issued a citation and sent home on Christmas Eve," Tim White said. "We were just standing in the driveway. We weren't doing nothing. And this rookie just used some very poor judgment, in our opinion."

Sullivan County Sheriff Wayne Anderson and Corrections Officer Irene Broyles also are named in the lawsuit. Anderson could not be reached for comment, nor could Ferguson.

Lt. B.J. Richardson, a sheriff's office spokesman, said he was unaware if the lawsuit has been served yet – and that it wouldn't be appropriate for a deputy to comment.

"I'm sure after we receive the lawsuit, when we actually are served with it and we get to address it, I'm sure we'll have a comment then," Richardson said. "I really can't address the issue if I don't have it yet."

Capt. Keith Elton, another public information officer, said later that he'd spoken with Sheriff Anderson, and "nobody from our department would make a comment at this time."

Tim White said he and his wife were at his sister's residence to help as her house burned last Dec. 24. He said Ferguson grabbed Penny White, a petite woman weighing just 105 pounds, as she walked toward Tim White, who was standing by the driveway.

White said his wife was trying to call "Fatty," the pig, with hopes Fatty would come toward her voice to aid firefighters in the pig's rescue.

In a report following the incident, Ferguson wrote that he asked Penny White to leave the area for her own safety and she replied, "Screw you, I don't have to."

He wrote that when he tried to escort her from the scene, she pushed him, and when he tried to arrest her, Tim White grabbed him by the jacket and continued to struggle with him until firefighters pulled him away.

Tim White remembered it differently. He said Ferguson, who was wearing a dark jacket and had not identified himself, grabbed Penny White by the arm, shoved her and turned her arm behind her back.

"She's got two bad discs in her lower back, so I grabbed his arm and pushed down to give her some relief, and asked him what he was doing," Tim White said, "and then I saw a badge."

The couple was initially charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct. The charges were reduced to offensive touching when they pleaded no contest.

White says the lawsuit is not so much about being arrested as it is about being held overnight in the jail on Christmas Eve in the midst of a family crisis – circumstances he says violate state law.

He said the timing of the lawsuit – right before this Christmas – is a coincidence fueled by the long legal process.

"Morally, he should not have done that to a good couple," Tim White said of Ferguson. "I think Sheriff Anderson needs to look at the people he hires or the people he's supposed to train, and hire a better caliber of people to wear a badge and carry a gun, and protect and serve."

Pam Manuel, Tim White's sister and owner of the destroyed house, said they're rebuilding and expect to move into the new house in a few weeks. "Fatty is alive and well, she's in Blountville," said Manuel.

"I guess in the long run we did save the Christmas ham."

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD "Two Tennessee Pigs" SONG
Writers are: Tim White & Larry McPeak-Larry McPeak Music BMI