MR

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 5:30 am**

The sheriff turns their home into trailer trash...

Homeowner says sheriff ruined her American dream

Updated: Nov 19, 2008 10:15 PM CST

CARLISLE, KY (WAVE) - A Kentucky family is in disbelief after their home was destroyed because of an order given by a county sheriff. It is something so unbelievable that WAVE 3's Scott Harvey and photographer Nick Goldring made the two-hour drive to see if it was true.

Frances Barton thought things were getting better.

Frances Barton

"I bought some land, beautiful land, to give my children a better life," said Barton.

Friday, she was having her mobile home moved when the trailer broke. That left it stranded in the mud, partially blocking U.S. 68 in Carlisle.

"They paid somebody $200 and that is what you get for $200," said Nicholas County Sheriff Dick Garrett.

Sheriff Dick Garrett

"We are poor people. We don't have a lot of money," said Barton. "We live paycheck to paycheck. What was I supposed to do? I trusted those people."

Nine hours and several failed rescue attempts later, Garrett said he had no other option.

"I've got cars going by saying you dumb bunch of hillbillies and people cussing at me, because they were stopped in traffic," said Garrett. "We've tried everything that I know to try. We are going to take two farm tractors with buckets on them and we are going to try and scoot it off of the road."

It turns out that did not work either.

"When it went to slide, it went up and when it went up, it went over," said Garrett.

Image of Destroyed Mobile Home

"Yeah it was a mobile home, but it was my mobile home," said Barton. "This was something that we worked for."

Barton's home rolled over into a ditch, destroying it and everything inside.

"I can understand that they think that my home is junk, but it's not," said Barton. "My daughter hasn't been to school in three days, because I didn't have anything to send her in. I couldn't explain it to her."

Now Barton, her boyfriend, her four kids, and six others who were living in the home don't know where they will spend Thanksgiving or the rest of the holidays.

"We already had the turkey and everything. It's in the kitchen," said Barton. "I don't even know how I'm going to buy Christmas for my own children, when they don't even have a home to sleep in."

But Barton does not have time to think about it. The sheriff told her if she does not get the mess cleaned up, she will face a hefty fine.

"In ten days," said Barton. "I don't have any money. I don't even have a home."

"If they would have gotten a reputable moving company, that had insurance and knew what they were doing, you wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be having this conversation," said Garrett. "I had to do what I was elected to do and what I thought was in the best interest of my community."

Barton and her family did receive help from the local Red Cross, putting them in a hotel for three nights. But now Barton says she doesn't have anywhere else to turn.

"I don't know where to go, where to begin, where to start," sobbed Barton. "I just know they ruined my life. Ruined my life."

Barton says she is considering filing a lawsuit against the Nicholas County Sheriff's Department.

Video: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/200 ... royed.wave

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 5:35 am**

Idiot sherriff...Someone could've come up with a way to get that thing unstuck...and did I hear right that they are going to charge the family with cleaning up the mess also? With all the money our government gives out to people who don't need it and they can't even get this family's trailer unstuck from the damn mud and then charge them to clean up the mess. Unbelievable! :evil:

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 5:36 am**

I think we need to start outsourcing the Sheriff's department.

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 5:42 am**

Someone interviewed the Nicholas County, KY Sheriff Dick Garrett and asked him, "Why did you destroy their home?" He replied, "That's just the way we do things down here in Nicholas County. If you don't like it, we're having an election in 2010 and you can vote me out." He was then asked, "Are you going to have these people who are now homeless over for Thanksgiving dinner at your house?" He replied, "Hell no. And they better get that mess cleaned up."

WTF??? :shock:

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 5:50 am**

I saw this repulsive f*** (the sheriff) on our local news this morning. (I'm in KY) When the story was over, I literally cried. This bastard of a sheriff actually said to the reporter - you can see from the clip- that if she had hired a reputable company, this wouldn't have happened and all but said it was her fault she got a bogus company to move her home. This infuriated me to know end! People think everyone who lives in a trailer are trailer trash and while she may have had too many people living in it, that doesn't mean she's trash. In the country, that's what people get. Trailers and modular homes. I live in damn fine trailer home on a good chunk of land and pay a fraction of what it costs to live in Louisville in a cheap ass apartment that you can't even fart in comfortably. This poor woman has no home now and all the sheriff can say is "Oh well, that's what you get." I hope the community pulls together and helps them. Our local news reporter said once they find out how to help or donate to them, they'd tell us. Sorry if I sound outraged, I am. What is wrong with society today that the uneducated sheriff could say such a thing? He said, "People call us a bunch of dumb hillbillies." Indeed. Wonder why? Look at you!!!! :evil:

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now. :roll:

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 5:57 am**

Voyager wrote:Someone interviewed the Nicholas County, KY Sheriff Dick Garrett and asked him, "Why did you destroy their home?" He replied, "That's just the way we do things down here in Nicholas County. If you don't like it, we're having an election in 2010 and you can vote me out." He was then asked, "Are you going to have these people who are now homeless over for Thanksgiving dinner at your house?" He replied, "Hell no. And they better get that mess cleaned up."

WTF???

Are you f-ing serious??? I'm almost embarrassed to be from KY now. They get jackasses like him on national TV and wonder why everyone thinks we're ALL that way. I live in Breckinridge county - I lived in Louisville all of my life until 3 yrs. ago- and you can bet if I needed help with anything, I'd had friends from all over helping me. Actually, I have needed help with things TWICE since I've been there and my friends were there before I had to ask. Hopefully Nicholas county is the same.

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 6:16 am**

If this is what we call humanity, I am ashamed...

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 8:24 am**

Picture of destroyed trailer:

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:13 am**

This is insane. :evil:

(Though, I do wonder how big the thing was if she, her boyfriend, her 4 children and 6 others lived in the place). :shock:

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:38 am**

So none of the twelve people in this house hold can work? If she owns the land like she said, time to pitch a tent and get at least six of those people in that household working (and don't tell me McDonald's isn't hiring white people, we're talking Kentucky, not California).

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:47 am**

How many people fit into a trailer?

Now Barton, her boyfriend, her four kids, and six others who were living in the home

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:49 am**

T-Bone wrote:How many people fit into a trailer?

Now Barton, her boyfriend, her four kids, and six others who were living in the home

Depends on the size. They actually make the things as double and triple wide, two story with attached garages. Based on the rest of the story, though, I imagine that this one was probably no more than 1200sq ft or so.

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:41 am**

Voyager wrote:Someone interviewed the Nicholas County, KY Sheriff Dick Garrett and asked him, "Why did you destroy their home?" He replied, "That's just the way we do things down here in Nicholas County. If you don't like it, we're having an election in 2010 and you can vote me out." He was then asked, "Are you going to have these people who are now homeless over for Thanksgiving dinner at your house?" He replied, "Hell no. And they better get that mess cleaned up."

WTF???

Damn!!! that's just straight up wrong..... Memo! to myself: never go near Nicholas County, KY

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 11:12 am**

Suzanne wrote:I saw this repulsive f*** (the sheriff) on our local news this morning. (I'm in KY) When the story was over, I literally cried. This bastard of a sheriff actually said to the reporter - you can see from the clip- that if she had hired a reputable company, this wouldn't have happened and all but said it was her fault she got a bogus company to move her home. This infuriated me to know end! People think everyone who lives in a trailer are trailer trash and while she may have had too many people living in it, that doesn't mean she's trash. In the country, that's what people get. Trailers and modular homes. I live in damn fine trailer home on a good chunk of land and pay a fraction of what it costs to live in Louisville in a cheap ass apartment that you can't even fart in comfortably. This poor woman has no home now and all the sheriff can say is "Oh well, that's what you get." I hope the community pulls together and helps them. Our local news reporter said once they find out how to help or donate to them, they'd tell us.
Sorry if I sound outraged, I am. What is wrong with society today that the uneducated sheriff could say such a thing? He said, "People call us a bunch of dumb hillbillies." Indeed. Wonder why? Look at you!!!!

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now.

Be outraged all you want to; That's just low what he did to that family. So cold, so heartless,.. I just can't believe, he didn't consider the children and their need of a home however many people living in the trailer doesn't matter at this time, the children wouldn't have been homeless at this time of the year, Hell anytime of the year is the wrong time for something like this.

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:53 pm**

You know, living in a small town, I've learned a lot over the few yrs. I've been here about how things work. The sheriff is a very lucrative job to have. All of the "good ol' boys" stick together and they all get rich some way or another. When we pay our property taxes, you have to act fast or pay a fine. The fine goes into the sheriff's pocket. Not the office or the county gov. funds, the SHERIFF'S own pocket. I'm betting this sheriff in Nicholas county had some of the higher ups telling him to get the home out of the road or else. I've read the comments from people on the local news website and a handful have given some insight on the crookedness of this sheriff as well as the fact that the road was NOT blocked and traffic could move by. The fact that he used tractors to move this home baffles me. OF COURSE it tipped over when you scooped it up, it's not a dirt pile. Anywho- they flashed an address on the screen last night where people could send donations but I don't seem to see it on the website. Heck, they can't even pitch a tent to sleep in on her land for the bitter temperatures at night. This is just so sad. I got all choked up again when I saw it on the news again last night. The cruelty of it just breaks my heart.

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:59 pm**

It's one thing to live in a trailer with your boyfriend, 4 kids and 6 other people, but this idiot Sheriff makes us Rednecks look like we are stupid.

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 11:01 pm**

Just found this on our local news site:

"A fund has been created to for Frances and her family. If you'd like to help, make checks payable to Frances Barton and send to:

Deposit Bank
102 E. Main street
Carlisle, Kentucky 40311"

Posted: **Fri Nov 21, 2008 11:01 pm**

annpea wrote:
Voyager wrote:Someone interviewed the Nicholas County, KY Sheriff Dick Garrett and asked him, "Why did you destroy their home?" He replied, "That's just the way we do things down here in Nicholas County. If you don't like it, we're having an election in 2010 and you can vote me out." He was then asked, "Are you going to have these people who are now homeless over for Thanksgiving dinner at your house?" He replied, "Hell no. And they better get that mess cleaned up."

WTF???

Damn!!! that's just straight up wrong..... Memo! to myself: never go near Nicholas County, KY

What is scary about this picture is not just the guy up front. Look at all the others lined up in back to jump in the mudhole. Something about this just doesn't seem right.

MR

OT: Sheriff Destroys Mobile Home Stuck in Road

OT: Sheriff Destroys Mobile Home Stuck in Road