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June 12, 2009

Calhoun hearing set for July

Brownsboro man charged with stealing an airplane

By Rich Flowers News Editor

A Brownsboro man who was arrested in March for allegedly stealing an airplane is set for arraignment hearing July 23.

Joshua Paul Calhoun, 29, will be formally informed of the charges and a bond will be set.

He is charged with taking a $250,000 Bonanza Low Wing aircraft from the Athens Municipal Airport on March 3 and crashing it into a wooded area off U.S. Highway 175, about a mile east of Athens.

Calhoun was originally charged with theft in excess of $200,000 and booked into the Henderson County Jail. On May 5, he posted $10,000 bond and was released.

The Henderson County Grand Jury met June 4 and indicted Calhoun on a lesser charge of $100,000. On Monday, 173rd District Court Judge Dan Moore issued a warrant on Calhoun, who was picked up by the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday.

On Thursday, Calhoun’s attorney, Barry Spencer, requested that Calhoun’s bond be reinstated and reduced. Bond was again set at $10,000 which Calhoun posted Friday.

On the day of the incident, Athens Police reports Calhoun drove a pickup to the Airport sometime after 7 a.m., and claimed to be the owner of the craft. Carroll Dyson, the owner of a fixed-based operation center at the airport told police that Calhoun looked similar to the man he knew as owner of the plane.

Calhoun reportedly told authorities at the time of his arrest that he had wired the plane’s owner $52,000 to purchase it.

Calhoun said he made the money to buy the plane working in the oil fields.

Athens Police Chief Buddy Hill said the plane is owned by Joseph Todd Pearah, who has a Louisiana address. It was Pearah who called the police Wednesday after Calhoun took off.

Calhoun said he had flown the plane to family property near Echo Lake in the Brownsboro area then gave the keys to a friend to fly back to the airport. He said it was the friend who crashed the plane.

Calhoun later learned from police that the man he claims flew and ultimately crashed the plane died last October.

He was arrested later that morning after returning to the airport. Patrolman Chad Walker, along with Patrolman Ron McCurry and Sgt. Brett Morman, placed Calhoun under arrest. The officers saw that Calhoun was bleeding from scrapes and scratches to his face and forehead and took him to East Texas Medical Center for treatment.

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