Lee Walker drive-by shooting
termed gang-related by APD

There likely was gang involvement in a drive-by shooting that injured a 40-year-old man at Lee Walker Heights Apartment, according to the Asheville Police Department.

In the incident, which occurred about 8:55 p.m. Sunday, a man suffered a gunshot wound to his knee as he and three other men were standing at a bus stop at Wilbur and Short Coxe avenues in front of the apartments. The city has no service to the bus stop on Sundays.

Witnesses told police that a vehicle went past the bus stop and a person in a passenger seat opened fire with a gun. 

Someone in the vehicle yelled, “Crips will always die!” police said in a report released Monday.
Some people in the vehicle reportedly were wearing black hoodies, while one was clad in red, which are the colors worn by the Bloods gang, police noted.

The apartment complex is the home to the Four Tre Gangster Crips, a rival gang, according to Capt. Tim Splain.

The shooting victim, who was discharged from Mission Hospitals on Monday, has not been identified as a gang member. The bullet hit the man’s knee and entered his calf. He also suffered a grazing wound to his left foot. Witnesses reported hearing nine gunshots.

Police were interviewing witnesses early this week. They also are analyzing shell casings, which came from two different calibers of gun. The car, for which descriptions varied, was reported by one witness as heading toward South Charlotte Street.

Because of the timing of the shooting early in the evening, police expressed concern about public safety.

No gang connection found
in shooting, robbery incident

There was no gang connection in a shooting and robbery last week, contrary to an initial assertion by the responding Asheville police officer, police Capt. Tim Splain said Friday in an e-mail.

The determination was made by investigators after talking with the victim, who said he was robbed and shot on the night of April 14 near the entrance to Livingston Street Apartments.

The officer mislabeled the crime as gang-related based partially on similar clothing that the assailants were reported to be wearing.

The victim sustained a small-caliber bullet wound to the chest. The bullet still is in the man’s body and could remain there for a while, officials said. The victim was in stable condition last Friday.No one had been charged in the crime as of late last week.

Woman bit; owner sought for dog’s vaccination status

Asheville police are seeking the public’s help to find the owner of a dog that bit a 28-year-old woman last week as she was walking near Five Points Restaurant on Broadway Street.

The woman was not seriously hurt, but the bite punctured her skin, police noted.

The APD’s Animal Services Unit wants to verify the dog’s vaccination status to help protect the woman against rabbies.

The dog’s owner was a described by the victim as an African-American woman in her 60s. The dogs was described as possibly a Chow, with a white, tan-colored fur.

The dog was wearing an orange bandana around its neck and a red harness. The dog reportedly bit the woman as she was walking by, despite being on a harness. The owner refused to give her name.

Anyone with information may contact the APD at 252-1110 or Animal Services Supervisor Brenda Sears at 259-5872.

Person struck by vehicle
following report of gunfire

Asheville police are investigating a Saturday night fight that involved gunfire and one person struck by a vehicle.

The police were alerted about 7:30 p.m. that shots had been fired at Pisgah View Apartments. Other callers also told police that a person had been run over with a vehicle.

The incident involved at least three vehicles, officials sid and police did not know immediately what promped the fight.

The person struck by the vehicle was taken to the hospital, but no information was immediately available on their condition. The police said they were unaware of anyone being struck by gunfire, although a few shell casings and a handgun were recovered from the scene. Two persons of interest in the case were being interviewed by police Saturday night.

Deputies charge man, sister
in armed robbery at bank

A man and his sister were charged Saturday with an armed robbery that occurred at a bank last Wednesday, according to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office.

Adam Verlin Sequoyah, 23, of Bingham Road, Asheville, was charged by deputies with robbery with a dangerous weapon for a heist at the First Citizens Bank branch at 601 New Leicester Highway.

A dye pack placed with the cash that Sequoyah allegedly stole from the bank discharged, staining the money red. The dyed cash began appearing at area businesses and helped lead investigators to the suspects, according to Sheriff Van Duncan.

Meanwhile, Sequoyah’s sister, Erin Dolan, 32, was charged with aiding and abetting the robbery. The Dix Creek Chapel Road resident was the alleged driver of the getaway car, authorities noted.
Sequoyah’s bond was set at $50,000 and Dolan’s bond at $25,000.

2 face trafficking charges
after police find 25 lbs of pot

Police arrested two men April 1 on marijuana-trafficking charges after allegedly finding 25 pounds of pot in their vehicle.

Brian Joseph Gibbs, 24, of Morehead, and Eberson Warren Day, 29, of Newport, were arrested about 2:30 p.m. after their Pontiac Grand Am was stopped for a traffic violation. Police found the pot in a duffel bag in the car’s trunk, according to reports.

The men were each being held on $20,000 bond.

Suspect charged with theft
of $3K worth of copper wire

WAYNESVILLE — Haywood County sheriff’s deputies arrested a man last month on a charge of stealing copper wire, a crime investigators say is becoming a national problem.

Phillip Nathan Hannah, 32, was charged with felony breaking and entering, felony larceny and misdemeanor injury to real property.

Deputies said Hannah broke into a mobile home at Luv Homes on Great Smoky Mountains Expresssway on Jan. 26 and stole $3,000 woth of copper wiring. He was held on $2,000 bond.

As copper prices have skyrocketed nationally, thefts of copper wiring have become an epidemic, officials said.

Man charged with 13 counts
of writing worthless checks

An Asheville man was arrested last month on 13 outstanding warrants for misdemeanor worthless checks.

Ty Joseph Giddings, 45, was arrested on Cherokee Road. He is a suspect in several other worthless-check incidents in the area, including misdemeanors and felonies.

He was caught with the help of a tip through Asheville-Buncombe CrimeStoppers. His bond was set at $1,000.

Anyone who may have received a worthless check from Giddings may call the department at 259-5870 to file an incident report.

Breaking, entering charges
filed against local woman

An Asheville woman was arrested the last week in February on charges that she broke into another woman’s house, stole a check and wrote it to herself for $2,000.

Tammy Martin Smith, 45, of Caribou Road, was charged with breaking and entering, larceny, forgery of instrument and uttering forged instruments. She was held under a $5,000 bond.

Other arrests that week included:

• Curtis Lee Gilchrist, 38, on a charge of  forgery of instrument and uttering a forged instrument.
He was accused of foging a $60 check. His bond was set at $2,000.

• Kenneth Joshua James, 19, of 458 Onteora Blvd., charged with taking indecent liberties with a child.
James was held on $5,000 bond.

• Ernest Guy Black, 78, of School Road, charged with disseminating obscenity on allegations he showed pornographic Web sites and movies to a child under 13.

He was released under a written promise to appear in court and ordered to have no contact with the child.

• Anthony James Holcombe, 41, of 808 Tulip St., Morristown, Tenn., charged with fleeing to elude arrest with a motor vehicle, reckless driving, driving while license was revoked and assault on an officer with a deadly weapon.

Holcombe dragged an Asheville Police officer with his vehicle last August, according to his arrest warrant. He was being held in lieu of $8,000 bond.

• Antoinne Jermaine Hawkins, 28, of 1 Granada St., on two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of ecstasy with intent to sell or deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia and several counts of failure to appear in court on drug charges and probation violations. He was being held without bond.

• James Michael Stokes, 42, of Poplar Acres Drive in Candler, charged with misdemeanor larceny and financial card theft.

He was accused of stealing a cell phone and a set of truck keys. His bond was set at $1,000.

• Matthew Duane Mitchell, 39, of Coleman Avenue, charged with eight counts of simple worthless check and one count of worthless check. He was held on a $500 bond.

• Larry Shane Peeler, 38, of 38 Hidden Lake Drive, Candler, charged with possession of a stolen vehicle.

He was held on $2,000 bond.

Sheriff Duncan announces
advisory board members

Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan has announced the five members of the Sheriff’s Office Personnel Advisory Board.

The members are: K. Ray Bailey, Willie Mae Brown, Joan Creasman, Don Linn and William Mance Jr.

The board is responsible for advising the sheriff on personnel administration; investigating the administration of peronnel in the agency; hearing appeals, receiving evidence, determining facts and making recommendations to the sheriff in cases of employee appeals of suspension, demotion and/or dismissal.