Misdemeanor charges filed against two, including Jerry Kerley for sign theft incident. Councilman Kerley not a suspect.

A misdemeanor summons has been issued for Crossville water resources director Jerry Kerley and another man, identified as William Harwell of 275 Kearney Drive, and both men face charges over the reported theft of a number of homemade signs from a yard on Mockingbird Drive.

Frame from the video of the theft incident

Part of the incident was caught on tape by a neighbor who also got the license number of the truck that turned out to be registered to Jerry Kerley.  City records show that Kerley was on the clock in his job for the city at the time of the incident.

Exclusive Video of the incident

Kerley's son, city councilman Jesse Kerley was initially listed as a suspect in the incident on a police report but the investigation by the DA's office indicates Jesse Kerley was not in the truck at the time of the incident.

The owner of the signs, J. R. Blankenship whose mother lived at the Mockingbird Drive house before she passed away recently told Jim Young Reporter that the DA's office recovered the signs and has returned them to him.

District attorney General Bryant Dunaway confirmed that the signs had been recovered.

Signs that were at the Mockingbird Drive residence before the theft

The two men will face the charges in Cumberland County General Sessions court at a future date.  The charge is a Class A misdemeanor and the maximum penalty is up to 11 months and 29 days though General Dunaway said it was unlikely they would face the maximum penalty.