Sheriff arrested on prescription drug charges

Headley was arrested at Brooks Drugs pharmacy in Nashville and was taken to the headquarters of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Metro Nashville police and TBI officials said in a joint statement. The store is not affiliated with the national Brooks Pharmacy chain.

The owner of the pharmacy, Glenn Brooks, was also arrested and is accused of dispensing prescription drugs, including powerful painkillers, to Headley and several other customers.

Investigators Wednesday afternoon were searching the pharmacy, Brooks? home in Brentwood, Headley?s office at the Williamson County Jail in Franklin, and Headley?s home.

Authorities allege that Headley received thousands of pills from the pharmacy without a prescription, including the muscle relaxant Soma and painkiller Lortab. It appeared Headley obtained the pills for personal use, not resale.

The investigation began about two years ago, when pharmacy employee Jimmy Clay Reed was arrested on charges of possessing controlled substances for resale and distributing controlled substances from his home.

That case led to information on several more suspects, including Brooks and Headley.

On Jan. 20, police and TBI agents arrested Michelle Weathers, 32. The seven-year employee of the pharmacy was accused of leaving work with more than 800 hydrocodone painkiller pills stashed in a cooler.

Headley, elected in 2002, is known in the suburban county south of Nashville as the ?Singing Sheriff? for his sideline interest in country music and has performed at the county fair.

Williamson County is usually ranked as the wealthiest county in the state, as measured by median income and average home prices.