Man given jail time for driving van into pond

Putting a van in a water hazard near the 14th hole will cost one man more than a few penalty strokes as he will serve 30 days in jail for the drunken prank.

The defendant, Nickie D. Smartt Jr., was ordered to serve 30 days and pay $50 plus costs for criminal trespass. The owner of the van, James L. Blake, who was with Smartt at the time, was placed on probation for one year and must make restitution to McMinnville Country Club for damage done to the course.

The incident happened last month when country club officials arrived to find a van partially submerged in a pond near the 14th hole. Smartt and Blake were found at the scene by lawmen as they were investigating the incident.

While no drunk driving charges were filed seeing the van was driven into the pond hours before, investigators strongly suspect drinking was involved since the van would have had to be driven across the golf course to end up in the hazard.

In addition to the criminal trespass time, Smartt also had his probation violated and will have to serve 45 days behind bars. Damage to the course has been estimated around $1,000.