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September 3, 2010

One arrested after lockdown at North Whitfield Middle School

Rachel Brown rachelbrown@daltoncitizen.com

North Whitfield Middle School was locked down for part of the day around lunch on Friday after a 14-year-old female student left with a man who was not authorized to check her out of school, officials said.

The incident ended with James Miles Eady, 28, of an unknown Tennessee address, being charged by the Bradley County (Tenn.) Sheriff’s Office with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after Bradley deputies stopped his vehicle at Red Clay State Park.

Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood said his officers responded to a call from the school and were later assisted by the Cohutta Police Department and the Bradley sheriff’s office. The girl was back at the school by shortly after 1 p.m. 911 received the call about 10:30 a.m.

Whitfield County Schools spokesman Eric Beavers said the man attempted to check the girl out of school but was not on the list of people who are authorized to do so. When school officials couldn’t reach a parent of the girl by phone, they refused to allow her to go with Eady, Beavers said.

Eady left the building after school officials refused to check the student out for the day, Beavers said, and then “attempted to get in another door” at the other end of the building near the gym. Some students reported a man trying to get in.

The man did not get inside, but the female student left the building during a class change “before they could apprehend the person trying to get in” and school officials called the sheriff’s office, Beavers said. The school was put on lockdown. Beavers said the female student was found at about 12:45 p.m. with the man. No one was hurt.

“We do want to point out we’re thankful the measures we have in place would prevent someone from abducting a student, and we’re proud of the staff and the students who have contributed to the investigation,” Beavers said. He thanked the sheriff's office for its quick response.

Information on Eady’s relationship to the girl or why he was at the school was not immediately available. Chitwood said he did not have all the details of the case. Calls to the Bradley sheriff’s office were not immediately returned Friday afternoon.

Chitwood said the Whitfield sheriff’s office will likely seek to extradite Eady to Georgia for additional charges at some point.



Staff writer Mark Millican contributed to this story.

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