CLEVELAND - A White County man who lost his daughter in a wreck west of Cleveland a month ago was arrested Sunday after taking matters into his own hands to correct a problem with the road.
White County Sheriff Neal Walden confirmed Sunday night his officers arrested Shannon Hamilton without incident on Gene Nix Road, where he was utilizing a Bobcat to construct berms with gravel at the bridge where his daughter Cecily was killed.
Hamilton was charged with interference with government property and was booked in at the White County Detention Center, Walden said. He was released on bail Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday, March 16, 16-year-old Cecily Mcree Hamilton and 18-year-old Taylor Swing, both of Cleveland, died when their car left Gene Nix Road and plunged into Town Creek. There were no approach guardrails in place at the time of the crash.
On March 30, White County Commission Chairman Travis Turner announced the county would be placing guardrails at the Gene Nix bridge where the fatal wreck occurred.
"We will move as quickly as possible, but it has to be done correctly and we have to have these engineering studies completed," Turner said at the time.
That timetable has not been quick enough to suit the teens' families and friends, who said temporary measures should have been taken in the interim.
Thus, on Sunday Hamilton began placing donated gravel and other materials as approach barriers.
A video and photos were made of that arrest, and posted to social media sites. By 9:30 Sunday night, that video had been viewed more than 279,000 times.
Contacted Sunday night, Turner said he has been out of town and would discuss the matter Monday.
Despite Sunday's arrest, Cecily Hamilton's family encourages the public not to lash out at the White County Sheriff's Office or at the deputies involved in Sunday's arrest.
"They have been nothing short of great and we understand their hands were tied," a response from the family reads. "This is and was always about the inaction and latency of local government."
The family asked that people focus on positive outcomes such as those that will be possible through the bringit4cec Cecily Mcree Hamilton Memorial Scholarship Fund they have established for academically-achieving cheerleaders. The scholarship will be distributed beginning with the graduating class of 2017 and every year thereafter.
Donations to that cause are 100-percent tax deductible, administered by the pending status 501(c)(3) organization, Bring It, Inc.
