Man with machete sought after robbery at pharmacy

A man with a machete who robbed a Patton Avenue pharmacy Sunday and left with a bag of narcotic drugs is being sought by Asheville police.

A Latino man with a foot-long machete hidden under his clothing entered Kerr Drug at 1124 Patton Ave. about 10 a.m., police reported.

Threatening the pharmacist and pharmacy technician with the knife, the suspect forced the technician to sit on the floor. He then ordered the pharmacist to open the drug safe and pull out an undetermined quantity of OxyContin and oxycodone, which are popular street drugs.

The suspect made the pharmacist fill a plastic bag he had brought with him with the drugs.

During the incident, the robber apparently grew impatient and said, “That’s enough,” police said. He then took the bag and left the store. The robbery only took minutes.

The people in the front of the store did not realize a robbery was taking place, police noted.

A Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department K-9 unit tried to track the robber, but the dog was unable to pick up a track or direction in which the man might have gone.

The suspect is described as a Latino male, about 5-foot-5, 150 pounds, with black hair, light facial hair, wearing a loose-fitting red or maroon T-shirt with no writing on it, blue jeans and tennis shoes. He spoke clear English with a Spanish accent.

Anyone with information are asked to call the APD at 252-1110 or CrimeStoppers at 255-5050.

UNCA police probe theft
of video projector from gym

Campus police are investigating the theft of a video projecter from UNC Asheville’s Health & Fitness Center.
The theft was reported at 3:33 p.m. June 5.

Hillcrest youngster charged
with burning of guardhouse

A Hillcrest youth was arrested by arson investigators late Monday on charges of setting fire to a guardhouse at Hillcrest Apartments this past weekend. No one was injured in the fire.

Damien Dwight Dean, 18, also was charged with trafficking 388 grams of cocaine, breaking and entering and other drug offenses. He was being held in the Buncombe County Detention Center under a $38,000 bond.

In addition, police arrested — on trafficking and other drug charges — Darrion Brown, 16, of Hillcrest Apartments; and Marcus Austin Thorpe, 17, of Dalton Street. They each were being held under a bond of $25,000.

The guardhouse and electronic gate, which cost $60,000 and began operating in March, were the result of an effort to keep crime out of the 234-unit public housing complex. More than 500 residents were given identification cards to operate the gate.

Asheville Fire and Rescue responded to the guardhouse blaze at 4:29 a.m. Sunday.

Investigators said evidence was found at the scene that indicated the fire had been purposefully set.

While the guardhouse reportedly was staffed at different times each week, there usually was a guard on duty at night. However, officials believe nobody was on duty when the the guard-shack fire occurred.

Whether the guardhouse will be rebuilt is questionable and some different security measures are being considered, according to David Nash, deputy director of the Asheville Housing Authority.

Hendersonville man dies
from injuries in altercation

HENDERSONVILLE — A man whose head was beaten badly in a fight has died, police said last Saturday.

Anthony Lorenzo Lynch, 37, of Hendersonville, died at Mission Hospitals around 10:30 p.m. Friday. Preliminary findings show Lynch died of brain trauma.

Hendersonville police believe Lynch probably died from a combination of a punch and hitting the pavement. An autopsy to determine the cause of death was to be performed early this week in Winston-Salem.

On Friday, police charged James Rashad Mims, 29, of Hendersonville with assault inflicting serious bodily injury.

Following the autopsy results and consultation with the district attorney, the charge against Mims likely will be upgraded — to involuntary manslaughter or second-degree murder, officials said.