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TIMES NEWS (Kingsport, Tennessee) 03 March 11 3 more arrested in Tenn. snake bite death (Bill Poovey)
Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP): Wildlife officials arrested three Tennessee men Wednesday in the investigation into a fatal snake bite.
Each faces multiple counts of violating wildlife laws governing native and imported snakes, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said in an e-mail statement.
The charges of possessing, housing and transporting snakes relate to an investigation of the Jan. 29 death of Wade Westbrook of East Ridge, a Chattanooga suburb. Westbrook died after he was bitten by a copperhead that he was handling at his home in Hamilton County.
The Sheriff’s Department website identifies the men arrested as Michael Roger Clark, 32, and Derek Lee Schrader, 20, of Chattanooga and Timothy L. Lunsford, 36, of East Ridge. A jailer said they were released on bond and records do not show that they have attorneys.
Schrader’s mother when contacted by telephone said the men told her to say no comment.
Arrest affidavits show officers found that Lunsford took a "spitting cobra" from one home in East Ridge to another in the county and Schrader transported another species of venomous snake, a puff adder, between the same addresses.
Wildlife officials previously charged Chuck Hurd, 38, of Gate City, Va., with 48 misdemeanor charges related to officers confiscating his poisonous snakes in Hamilton County after Westbrook’s death. Hurd, a snake collector and dealer who shows them and speaks by invitation to groups and at exotic animal shows, has a March 30 court hearing in Chattanooga. He has said his arrest after Westbrook’s death was because of "mass hysteria" in East Ridge.
Tennessee law prohibits possessing any native species in a captive environment or transporting any species that poses a public safety issue.
3 more arrested in Tenn. snake bite death

TIMES FREE PRESS (Chattanooga, Tennessee) 03 March 11 Friends beat authorities to Westbrook’s snakes (Beth Burger)
Wade Westbrook was lying dead from a snake bite at his home.
He was gone.
His friends feared his snakes would soon go, too, when authorities arrived on scene to investigate.
So the day he died — Jan. 29 — they went to his home at 1050 Blanton Drive in East Ridge and gathered up the serpents, authorities say.
“They knew authorities were going to come, so they moved them,” said Dan Hicks, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency information officer. “We later got information from another source they had them.”
On Wednesday, three men turned themselves in on warrants for numerous counts of illegal possession of native wildlife.
Tim Lunsford, 36; Derek Schrader, 20; and Michael Clark, 32, all posted $1,000 bonds Wednesday at the Hamilton County Jail for one charge each and were released on their own recognizance for the remaining charges. None of them could be reached for comment.
Tennessee law prohibits people from holding any native species in a captive environment or transporting any species that could pose a risk to public safety, Hicks said.
Wildlife authorities confiscated 42 snakes — some of the three suspects’ and some Westbrook’s. The count included 38 venomous snakes, records show, including puff adders and Western diamondback rattlesnakes.
The snakes will be used for research and education, said Hicks, who declined to say where they were taken.
Schrader and Lunsford live in the 4100 block of East Ridge Drive, which is several blocks away from East Ridge Elementary School. The public risk is “an example right there. That’s why it’s illegal to have a snake in captivity,” Hicks said.
Lunsford was charged with four counts of illegal possession of native wildlife for nonvenomous snakes, six counts of illegal housing of Class I wildlife, six counts of illegal possession of Class I wildlife and three counts of transporting Class I wildlife. He had 10 snakes in his possession, records show, and his next court date is March 30.
Schrader was charged with three counts of transporting Class I wildlife, 16 counts of illegal possession of Class I wildlife and 16 counts of illegal housing of Class I wildlife. He had 16 snakes seized, records show, and his next court date is March 30.
Clark was charged with three counts of transporting Class I wildlife, 16 counts of illegal possession of Class I wildlife and 16 counts of illegal housing of Class I wildlife. He had 16 snakes seized, records show, and his next court date is March 7.
Authorities previously arrested 38-year-old Chuck Hurd, of Gate City, Va., a snake enthusiast, on 48 wildlife law violations.
The arrests this week are part of an ongoing investigation surrounding Hurd’s case, Hicks said, with possibly more arrests coming.
Hurd’s next court date is set for March 30.
Friends beat authorities to Westbrook’s snakes