KNOXVILLE (WATE) - Three people were taken into custody Thursday in West Knox County after a 911 call reported children were beaten and put in the back of a U-Haul truck.
The incident involving two children was reported at Walmart, 251 Walker Springs Road.
Sheriff's officers pulled the truck over just west of Watt Road at 1:00 p.m. They found three men in the front seat. They also found two children, including a six-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy, along with four men and one woman in the back of the truck.
The truck was filled with furniture and had people sitting on dressers and tables. The sheriff's office said there was no ventilation.
The children's parents, who were in a separate car, were pulled over when officers stopped the truck.
The people told officers conflicting stories, according to the sheriff's office. They all claim to be related and moving from Steubenville, Ohio to Ft. Myers, Florida. They all said they were from Steubenville except one man who said he was from Wheeling, West Virginia.
The driver of the truck, Rocky L. Ewing, 25, is charged with seven counts of reckless endangerment.
The children's parents, Joshawa Lee Jackson, 44, and his wife, Mary Helen Jackson, 42, are charged with two counts of child endangerment.
The children were released to their grandmother, who was in the back of the truck. The state Department of Children's Services was notified.
The truck was towed. The sheriff's office said the grandmother was the only person who had a valid driver's license and she didn't want to drive the truck.
Rocky L. Ewing (source: Knox County Sheriff's Office)
Joshawa Lee Jackson (source: Knox County Sheriff's Office)
Mary Helen Jackson (source: Knox County Sheriff's Office)
