Hot checks will keep Caldwell on probation

After fighting a losing battle with neighbors and the city of McMinnville, a local woman has lost again, this time against the state of Tennessee as a number of hot checks will keep her on probation here for the next eight years.

However, the defendant, Aaron Caldwell, has more than Warren County to worry about as she is also facing jail time and probation in Coffee and Moore counties where lawmen say she and her husband, Brian Caldwell, passed numerous worthless checks. She will serve her probation time here in addition to any penalties she receives in the other two counties. Brian Caldwell is set for his day in court Sept. 13.

Her sentence comes after she entered guilty pleas Wednesday before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to multiple counts of theft and passing worthless checks. In all, she will be required to make restitution on a total of $11,951 authorities say she ran up in hot checks in a matter of weeks. She will remain on supervised community correction and could have to serve her sentence in the penitentiary if she fails to make the required restitution payments.

Her trouble with hot checks began after she and her husband battled the city of McMinnville last year over their two dogs ? animals which police, utility workers and neighbors said were a menace to the community. A meter reader and young neighbor reported being attacked by the dogs, prompting them to be taken into custody and ultimately destroyed.

During the neighborhood feud, the Caldwells were sued for posting signs in their yard which were libelous to the neighbor?s reputation. They had to pay the neighbor $27,000 in damages.

In addition to the civil suit, Mr. Caldwell spent a short time in jail for taking a swing at the meter reader who was bitten by his dog. Caldwell claimed the meter reader poked at his dog with a metal pole.

The Caldwells had left their Cherry Lane home and the neighborhood feud just before their checks started bouncing over the three-county area.