UNCA student faces charge
of breaking and entering

UNC Asheville campus police charged a student last Sunday with breaking and entering and possession of alcohol under age 21 for allegedly entering the dorm room of a female student while drunk, urinating in the room and then passing out on her bed.

Police arrested Matthew Drew Evans, 17, about 5 a.m. after finding him asleep on the bed of a female student in 301 Southridge Hall.

The student, Carrie Jordan, had called campus police from room 302 and said she had been woken up in the night by the sound of a man urinating on the floor, according to reports.
Jordan also said that the unknown person had turned on her television and messed with her computer printer.

When officers Robbie Craig and David Shelton arrived, they found Evans asleep on her bed.
Upon wakening, Evans said he thought he was in his room, 305 Southridge Hall.

Evans ìexpressed disbelief about being in room 301, so I took him outside and showed him that the room number beside the door was, in fact, 301,î Craig wrote in the report.

Evans reportedly claimed he had used his key to enter the room, but could not find it when asked to show it to the officers.

While Shelton searched the room, Craig asked Evans if he had been drinking. Evans said he had been consuming vodka, but did not know how much, according to reports.

Meanwhile, Shelton found a Rubbermaid container filled with books that ìwere wet from a liquid that smelled like urine,î Craig wrote.

Craig also noted that Evansí thermal underwear was wet from the groin down, leading the officers to conclude that he had urinated on himself and inside the container.

Since the officers could not find a key to the room that Evans might have used, they charged him with breaking and entering and underage possession of alcohol, and transported him to the Buncombe County Detention Center.

While in custody, Evans reportedly consented to two Alco-Sensor tests, on which he registered a 0.14 and 0.19 BAC.

He was being held under a $500 secured bond.

Arson suspected in blaze
at Ashley Furniture store

Fire investigators announced last Friday that they suspect arson in a blaze that destroyed Ashley Furniture HomeStore at 1071 Patton Ave.

The Nov. 5 blaze completely destroyed the furniture store and has been called one of the largest fires in the cityís history by fire officials.

Investigators said they found traces of a ìpetroleum-based productî on samples taken at the scene. They also have interviewed about 30 people about the fire and have gotten a description of a man who was seen leaving the store prior to the blaze.

Thought the fire began near the front of the store, officials have declined to say whether someone broke into the store.

The fire caused an estimated $4 million in damages and required 19 fire trucks and more than 100 firefighters to put it out.

Candler soldier acquitted
of charges in murder case

BAGHDAD ó A Candler soldier has been acquitted of murder in the shooting deaths of three Iraqi men this year.

Staff Sgt. Michael A. Hensley was cleared by a court-martial panel of three counts of murder and of allegations that he made false statements to investigators.

However, he was convicted of placing an AK-47 rifle on a man killed May 11 by a fellow soldier, as well as two counts of insubordination for walking away from and cursing at an officer.

The case drew national attention to allegations of a classified military program under which U.S. soldiers would plant weapons materials and then shoot Iraqis who took them.

Hensley reportedly told his mother, Jenette Hensley, by phone last Friday that he had been sentenced to time served and would remain on active duty. He also was demoted to the rank of sergeant.

Hensley grew up in Candler and graduated from Enka High School in 1998.

He was the winner of a 2002 Army-wide sniper contest and was brought in last spring to lead the snipers of the 1st Batttalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, stationed near Iskandariya.

The ìbaitingî program was instituted by the Pentagonís Asymmetrical Warfare Group last January, according to sworn testimony by platoon 1st Lt. Matthew Dider.

However, U.S. military officers in Baghdad have denied the programís existence.

Hensleyís section came under scrutiny in June after two of its members told the Armyís criminal-investigation division that some snipers were shooting people and then planting weapons on them.

Hensley was accused of two counts of premeditated murder, stemming from incidents April 14 and 27.

In one case, he fired at an Iraqi male outside a home. In the second case, he ordered a sniper to fire on a man in a field who had been cutting grass.

Defense attorneys argued that in both cases, snipers felt the people they shot were a plausible threat and likely insurgents.

In the May 11 incident, an Irqi man entered the snipersí camp and was shot by Sgt. Evan Vela, Hensleyís deputy.

During a September court-martial of another sniper-team member, Vela testified that he had fired two bullets into the Iraqiís head under orders from Hensley.

That testimony helped clear Pvt. Jorge Sandoval of murder charges. However, it was ruled inadmissible in Hensleyís court-martial and in Velaís upcoming trial.

Wednesday, at Hensleyís trial, Vela testified that he remembers nothing about the May 11 incident, other than pulling the trigger.

Vela gave no reason for why he changed his account. However, his attorneys say he is suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Search for elderly couple
leads to unidentified body

BREVARD ó Searchers found a body in the Pisgah National Forest last Friday while looking for a pair of elderly hikers who have been missing for almost three weeks.

Meanwhile, the search for the couple has been suspended pending new information on possible locations, Transylvania County Sheriff David Mahoney said.

Officials have not yet identified the body, which was found on federal land near Yellow Gap Road. It was sent to the state medical examinerís office in Chapel Hill for an autopsy.

Earlier last week, an SUV belonging to John Bryant, 79, and his wife Irene, 84, was found parked to the side of Yellow Gap Road near the Cradle of Forestry in Transylvania County. It was discovered by the coupleís son, Bob Bryant, of Austin, Texas.

More than 130 searchers have combed through the woods nearby since then.

Investigators say that one of the Bryants tried to call 911 from a cell phone about 4 p.m. Oct. 21, but lost the signal.

A cause of death has not yet been determined for the body. However, Mahoney said that during investigations of unexplained deaths, the Sheriffís Office always approaches the case as a homicide unless evidence indicates otherwise.

Local investigators are being assisted by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Forest Service.

The coupleís family had become worried when they were unable to contact the Horse Shoe couple by phone or e-mail over two weeks.

Firefighter struck by car
while working at accident

BILTMORE FOREST ó An Asheville firefighter was injured last Monday when he was hit by a car while working at an accident at Vanderbilt Road and Cedar Cliff Drive.

Capt. Andy Henderson of Asheville Fire and Rescue was treated at Mission Hospitals for back and leg injuries.

The Biltmore Forest Police Department is investigating the accident. This was the first such incident in the past seven years.

15-year-old alleged shooter
to be tried as adult in court

District Attorney Ron Moore announced Nov. 5 that he plans to pursue adult charges against a teenager who is accused of shooting three children outside a birthday party in Montford in September.

A 12-year-old boy was critically wounded in the attack and two teenage girls were shot and suffered minor injuries.

Demarcus Smith, 15, is charged with attempted first-degree murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, in what police say was a gang-related incident.

If convicted as an adult, Smith could face a prison sentence of up to 13 years.
Police say Smith, who was 14 at the time of the incident, was a member of the South Asheville gang Black Out Mafia, and that he was attempting to shoot someone in rival gang Southside Squad.

He was an eighth-grader at Valley Springs Middle School.

Moore said he has pursued adult changes against juveniles when the crime involves violence and the accused person is close to 16, the age at which North Carolina considers someone charged with a crime as an adult.

Smith did not comment on the youthís juvenile record and police did not identify him by name, citing state law, which prohibits them from doing so because of his age.

However, police records show that he has an active juvenile record.

Moore said the case will now go before a judge who will determine whether to send it to Superior Court, which would try Smith as an adult.

Eric Penland Jr., the 12-year-old who was shot in the head during the attack, was in critical condition at Mission Hospitals after the incident.

Sexual exploitation charges
filed against Candler man

CANDLER ó Buncombe County Sheriffís detectives have charged Steven James Hall, 49, with sexual exploitation of a minor.

An investigation into Hall began after an out-of-state investigator contacted the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, of which the Sheriffís Office is a member.

After receiving additional information from the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, detectives executed a search warrant at Hallís South Morgan Branch Road residence, officials said.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with additional information can contact the Sheriffís Office at 255-5555.

2 high schools threatened
with bombs on same day

Asheville and Reynolds high schools both received phoned-in bomb threats last Wednesday.

Students and faculty members at Asheville High were evacuated for 30 minutes and Reynolds High was placed on lockdown.

Officials noted that issuing a false report concerning a destructive device is a felony punishable by up to 29 months in prison.†