Woodfin officer hospitalized
after high-speed car chase

WOODFIN ó A police officer was seriously injured when his car flipped while chasing a suspect.
Woodfin Officer Mike Salley is expected to be off duty for several months while he recovers from his injuries.

The chase started about 4 p.m. after an officer stopped Efrain Carillo Mojarro, 18, on Owenby Road for a seatbelt violation.

Mojarro reportedly fled and Salley joined the pursuit.

Mojarro made a wide right turn off of Riverside Drive onto Goodman Road, but when Salley tried to make the same turn, his Dodge Charger flipped one time. Loose gravel may have contributed to the accident, a spokesman for the town said.

During the chase, speeds may have reached as high as 70 mph, police said. Mojarro was issued a speeding ticket that said he was going 60 mph in a 35-mph zone.

Mojarro abandoned his vehicle on Goodman Road and ran into nearby woods on foot. He was caught a few hours later with help from the Buncombe County Sheriffís Office, the Woodfin Fire Department and police dogs.

He was charged with eluding arrest, reckless driving, driving left of center, resisting public officers, speeding, failure to wear seatbelt, improper turn, driving while license revoked, following too closely and injury to personal property.

Warrants show the squad car was valued at $40,000 with two $400 radios.

Mojarro, a resident of Black Locust Drive in Asheville, also was charged with failure to appear on charges of common-law obstruction of justice, no driverís license and driving after consuming alcohol. His bond was set at $27,000.

3 charged with kidnapping,
burglarizing victimís home

A Florida man and two teens were arrested last Sunday after they allegedly broke into a Gill Branch Road home and kidnapped a woman who lived there.

Buncombe County Sheriffís deputies arrested Detlaf Tamer Prisor, 29; Joseph Michael Auche, 17; and Ivan Jose Vazquez, 17. All three are from Springhill, Fla.

Each was charged with second-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary, robbery with a dangerous weapon and felony larceny. Their bonds have been set at $85,000.

Deputies say the suspects broke into the occupied house, used a .357 Magnum to hold the resident against her will and stole $5,000 cash.

Highway patrol discovers
200 lbs of marijuana in truck

A state trooper discovered 200 pounds of marijuana in a trailer on Interstate 40 last Thursday after stopping the truck that was towing it for dangerous driving, the N.C. Highway Patrol said.

The trooper reportedly searched the Nissan Frontier pickup truck after the drivers agreed to a search. A drug dog found the marijuana.

Macarena Lovemore, 33, of Santa Monica, Calif., and Jason Schuyler, 34, of Burbank, Calif., were each charged with two counts of trafficking marijuana. They were being held in the Buncombe County Jail under a bond of $200,000 each.

The seized marijuana is worth $1.4 million, according to the Highway Patrol.

Though the amount was significant, officials noted that the Highway Patrolís largest bust ever was the seizure of $20 million in cocaine.

Earlier this year, another truck was found with 200 pounds of marijuana on U.S. 441 after a traffic stop.

Man accused of assaulting
2 with broken beer bottle

City police arrested Arthur Barnard, 25, on mutliple charges after he allegedly broke into a manís house, hit him over the head with a beer bottle and then cut a woman in the arm with the broken bottle last week.

Barnard was charged with first-degree burglary, assault inflicting serious injury, simple assault and failure to appear in court on two counts of driving while license revoked.

The Merchant Street resident was being held in lieu of $15,000 bond.

Other arrests in Buncombe County last week include:

ï Keith Darryl Ronchio Dillingham, 21, of Circle Street, charged by Black Mountain police with possession of two rocks of crack cocaine.

He was released on $2,500 bond.

ï Bryant Colby Sluder, 19, arrested by sheriffís deputies on one charge of first-degree burglary.

He is accused of breaking into a Fairview womanís house with the intention of committing a felony.

Sluder, a resident of Hookerís Gap Road in Candler, was being held in lieu of $5,000 bond.

ï Kenneth Franklin Bowditch, 52, charged by Asheville police with possession of crack cocaine and maintaining a house to store drugs.

Bond for the Wilbar Avenue resident was set at $10,000.

ï Coree Nathan Crook and Corey Clifton Poole, both 17, charged by city police with first-degree burglary and larceny of firearms.

The pair are accused of breaking into a manís house and stealing nine guns.

Crook, a resident of Four Oaks Road in Arden, was released under $10,000 unsecured bond.
Poole, of Cave Lane in Arden, was released under a $20,000 unsecured bond.

ï Matthew James Dury, 33, charged by sheriffís deputies with two counts of indecent liberties with a child under age 16.

He was being held in lieu of $50,000 bond.

ï Gary Roland Erwin, 28, charged by city police with breaking and entering at Highland Equipment Co., 788 Fairview Road.

Erwin, a resident of Central Avenue in Swannanoa, was being held in lieu of $1,500 bond.

ï Tonya Michelle Price, 26, charged by sheriffís deputies with larceny by employee.

The Herman Avenue resident is accused of stealing $3,200 in groceries and lottery tickets from One Stop, 146 Wiggins Rd., in Candler.

She was being held in lieu of $1,000 bond.

ï David Robert Stanford, 26, who charged with breaking and entering, violating a protective order and resisting public officers.

The resident of Ewbank Gardens in Hendersonville is accused of breaking into a womanís house in March 2006, according to warrants.

He was released under a $2,000 unsecured bond.

2 charged in beating death
of 81-year-old mother, son

HENDERSONVILLE ó Police have charged two men in the death of an 81-year-old woman and her son earlier this month.

Charles Frederick Collins and Justin Benjamin Graham, both 18, each face two counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary and felonious larceny.

Police say the two men used an unspecified weapon to kill Constance Sparks and her son Robert ìRickyî Sparks, 56. The victims died as a result of blunt-force trauma to the head.

Probable-cause hearings for the accused killers have been set for Dec. 7, assistant Henderson County District Attorney Beth Dierauf said.

The bodies were discovered by Constance Sparksí daughter and son-in-law Nov. 10 in the 713 Conner Ave. home Constance Sparks and her son shared.

Police believe the suspects broke into the house and killed the Sparkses the night before.

Eastern Carolina University police on Nov. 10 spotted Collins and Graham driving Constance Sparksí Cadillac DeVille on campus in Greenville, N.C., after a person had notified them that the two men were acting suspiciously.

A chase ensued, and the men were apprehended while running on foot in a cemetery.

Both men are being held in the Pitt County Detention Center. Collins is being held on a $75,000 bond and Graham is being held on a $50,000 bond.

Anyone with information about the crimes can contact Hendersonville police at 697-3025 or Hendersonville CrimeStoppers at 697-7867.

Body of missing hiker IDíd;
murder investigation begins

BREVARD ó Investigators on Nov. 13 confirmed that a body discovered in the Pisgah National Forest is that of a hiker missing for three weeks, and that she was killed by a blunt blow to the head.

The Transylvania County Sheriffís Office has launched a homicide investigation into the death of Irene Bryant, and the FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of her killer.

Searchers had been looking for Bryant, 84, and her husband John, 79, since Nov. 5 after their son, Bob Bryant, alerted the Sheriffís Office that he had been unable to reach the couple by phone or e-mail for several weeks.

Investigators believe Irene Bryant was murdered Oct. 21 and that the killer may have kidnapped John Bryant at that time.

Someone used the Bryantsí bank card to withdraw $300 from a bank in Ducktown, Tenn. on Oct. 22, one day after authorities believe the couple disappeared while taking a hike.

A personal identification number would have been necessary to access the bank account.

Irene Bryantís cell phone was used to make a 911 call about 4 p.m. Oct. 21. The signal was lost, but officials found records showing that the call reached a tower on Rich Mountain.

Using that information, searchers combed the area around the Pink Beds east of U.S. 276 in the Cradle of Forestry in Transylvania County, a popular hiking spot.

Bob Bryant found his parentsí maroon Ford Escape off of Yellow Gap Road about 1:45 p.m. Nov. 6. Three days later, Irene Bryantís body was found covered by leaves nearby.

Officials said it was unclear whether the body was deliberately covered up or was simply covered by falling leaves.

Photos taken from the Ducktown bankís surveillance cameras show someone in a yellow rain jacket withdrawing money using the Bryantsí bank card at 7:35 p.m. Oct. 22.

The hood of the jacket makes it impossible to identify the person in the picture.

Man gets 36 years for rape
of Jackson Co. 12-year-old

SYLVA ó A Mexican native will serve at least 36 years in prison and faces deportation for raping a 12-year-old Jackson County girl.

Superior Court Judge Marlene Hyatt sentenced Primitivio Perez, 30, to between 36 and 44 years in† prison after he pleaded guilty to six felony counts of statutory rape on Nov. 13.

The crimes took place in April and May. Perez was a boyfriend of the victimís mother and started with inappropriate touching, according to District Attorney Michael Bonfoey. Eventually, Perez got the child pregnant.

The Jackson County Sheriffís Office was joined by officers with the Cherokee Indian Police Department and FBI Agent Chris Lando in investigating the crimes.

Man convicted of murder;
charge carries life sentence

Kasean Damont Bryson will spend the rest of his life in prison, following his conviction last Wednesday for gunning down another man following a drug deal at Livingston Street Apartments.

A Buncombe County jury convicted Bryson of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Lawrence Neal Levi Jr. The charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jurors deliberated for more than two hours before convicting Bryson. They rejected the option of convicting him of a lesser charge of second-degree murder.

Prosecutors said that Bryson, 27, killed Levi after the latter tried to pay Bryson for crack cocaine using counterfeit money.

Levi had just left the housing complex in his Dodge pickup when Bryson fired several shots at him, a passenger in the truck testified.

Levi stepped out of the vehicle and collapsed dead on Victoria Road.

Defense attorneys had argued that it was too dark to tell for sure who was shooting at the car. They also cited testimony from another passenger in Leviís truck who said the car the shots came from did not look like the vehicle Bryson was supposedly driving.

However, a government expert testified that he discovered gunshot residue in Brysonís Honda Accord.
Levi, 58, was a mechanic who lived in West Asheville with his wife of 30 years. He left behind three children and one grandchild.

2 arrested at UNCA dorm
on drug-related charges

UNC Asheville campus police arrested two teens on drug charges after a search of a dormitory room revealed marijuana and paraphernalia Nov. 13.

Erick Nash Gilley, 18, of Wilmington was charged with possession of les than one half ounce of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of an alcoholic beverage by a person under 21.

Marcus Augustus Damian Southern, 18, of Holly Springs, was charged with possessing and concealing drug paraphernalia.

Campus police were notified by the resident director of the Mills Hall dormitory about possible drug use going on in room 205 just after 11 p.m.

When officers Shannon Green, Bruce Martin and Erik Oian arrived outside the room, ìthe smell of marijuana was owerpowering,î according to police reports.

The officers asked for consent to search the room, but were denied, so Green went to get a search warrant while the other two officers waited outside the door and would not allow anyone to enter or leave the room.

According to police reports, when Green returned with a warrant, the officers searched the room and found 0.02 ounces of marijuana and alcohol in Gilleyís possession, as well as drug paraphernalia belonging to Southern.

The two were taken to the Buncombe County Detention Center for processing.

2 Warren Wilson students
arrested at anti-coal protest

CHARLOTTE ó Two Warren Wilson College students were arrested for trespassing last Thursday after they allegedly blockaded the entrance to Duke Energyís headquarters in downtown Charlotte while dressed as polar bears.

The students were part of a protest against Dukeís plans to build a new coal-fired power plant in Rutherford County. They were joined by protesters dressed as Santa Claus and elves.

City bans Reid Thompson
from entering city buildings

Reid Thompson, a Maxell Street resident who has been an outspoken critic of Greenlife Grocery and the City of Asheville, has been banned from entering city buildings without an appointment, according to a Nov. 6 letter from Asheville City Manager Gary Jackson.

The letter cites what it calls Thompsonís ìcontinued inappropriate behavior and comments to city staffî and said that he is ìprohibited from visiting all city-owned buildings without a set appointment made with (the) City Managerís Office and accompanied by an escort.î

Thompson sued Greenlife and the city in April over what he alleged were violations of city zoning and noise laws. A hearing has been set for Nov. 26.

City staff members claim that Thompson has repeatedly harassed them, including yelling, cursing and ó at least once ó following a staff member down the street.

3 police officers recognized
for anti-counterfeit efforts

Three Asheville police officers were recognized last week by N.C. Secretary of State Elaine E. Marshall for their efforts to combat the production and sale of counterfeited goods.

The Secretary of Stateís Office is charged with registration and enforcement of trademarks in North Carolina.

Lt. Joe Johnson and former Officer Dwight Arrowood, who recently moved to the Midwest, both received Marshallís 2007 Trademark Protector Awards.

The two officers were instrumental in efforts coordinated between the state and local law enforcement to arrest five alleged counterfeiters from Aug. 23-25. More than $300,000 worth of counterfeit goods was seized in those raids.

Marshall also appointed Asheville Police Officer Sonia Escobedo to the stateís Anti-Counterfeit Trademark Task Force, along with 32 other officers from across the state.

This task force was established in 2004 to help train officers in counterfeit detection and to enhance multi-agency coordination.

So far this year, $5.5 million in counterfeit goods have been seized across the state, according to Marshallís office.

More information about the awards announcement can be read at www.sonc.com.