Gold APD captain’s badge
stolen in gravesite break-in

ENKA — The crypt of an Asheville police captain buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park was defaced sometime in the week of June 22-27 — and someone stole his gold badge.

The thief broke the crypt’s marble facing and pried off a bronze marker encasing the badge. In the aftermath, Sgt. Ernie Welborn of the Asheville Police Department called the incident a disgrace to the badge and to his father.

His father, Capt. Clarence Welborn, who died in 1998 at age 78, had retired from the records division with more than 30 years of service.

A family friend discovered the badge missing on June 27.

While the badge probably is not worth much money, it could be used for mischief, law enforcement officials warned.
The APD has replaced the old badge’s design with a new shield.

Prospective car buyer beaten with bat, robbed

The beating and robbery of a man on June 28 in the parking lot of an Ingles grocery store at 7 Leicester Highway in West Asheville has triggered a police investigation.

The victim told police that at 6:30 p.m. that Saturday he was beaten with a baseball bat and robbed after agreeing to meet with a man about buying a car, police reported. The victim later was taken to Mission Hospitals and treated for serious but not life-threatening injuries.

The robber was described as a white man who is in his 30s, has a slim build and may have tattoos on his right shoulder and forearm. He also had brown hair tied into a ponytail and was wearing a white shirt, a white hat and shorts.

The assailant was driving a gold or olive-green Ford Explorer, possibly a 2002 model.

Baptist minister pleads guilty to molesting boy

A Baptist minister pleaded guilty in Buncombe County Superior Court on June 25 to molesting an 11-year-old boy multiple times in the 1980s.

Roy Mace Honeycutt II, 64, received a sentence of six years in prison under a plea agreement that consolidated four charges into one judgment of attempted first-degree sex offense against a child.

The victim, now an adult, described Honeycutt as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” He said he came forward for the sake of the community — to protect future children.

Prosecutor Kate Dreher said Honeycutt “masqueraded as a man of God.” He befriended the boy, who lived in the area, in 1986 and invited him to his home, where he showed the child pornographic videos and made sexual contact with him.

After that, Honeycutt molested the boy many times, and sometimes took him on trips, Dreher stated.

The victim came forward when he was 21, when he described the incidents to a family member.

Honeycutt pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted first-degree sex offense and two counts of indecent liberties.

The victims in two other cases involving Honeycutt are now in their 40s and 50s. The DA’s office dropped those charges because indecent liberties was classified as a misdemeanor crime at the time of the incidents.

Honeycutt, an ordained minister, was affiliated with at least two churches: Bethel Baptist Church in Asheville, and Trinity Baptist Church in Mars Hill.

Ex-firefighter, Charlotte man
given 10 years in sex cases

A former Asheville firefighter and another man were each sentenced on June 25 to 10 years in prison in Internet-sex cases.

Robert Martin Kutzer, 33, of Leicester, was found guilty in January of online enticement of a minor to engage in an unlawful sex act.

Kutzer reportedly worked for Asheville Fire and Rescue from 2003 until his arrest last September, when he was placed on paid investigative suspension. The following month, he was officially removed from the department.

Todd Douglas Hermann, 36, of Charlotte, pleaded guilty in February to the same charge as Kutzer. Both men were caught participating in online chats with undercover officers who were posing as underage girls.

The men were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Asheville.

Embattled police chief
to retire on July 9 in Fletcher

FLETCHER — Town officials announced on June 12 that Langdon Raymond will retire as police chief, concluding a tenure marked by lawsuits and accusations of mistreatment by former officers.

Raymond, 42, will leave effective July 9 after 20 years in law enforcement, according to Town Manager Mark Biberdorf.

Officials said in a statement that the town “appreciated Chief Raymond’s service to the town and contributions he has made to lead the Fletcher Police Department.”

Earlier this year, former Fletcher officer Adam White filed a federal lawsuit against town officials, saying he was forced to work hours for which he was not paid and was the victim of retaliation after he complained. He also charged that he was the victim of “harmful and offensive” physical conduct by Raymond.

In a separate suit filed last year in federal court against Raymond and other town officials, former officer Timothy Foxx alleges he was assaulted and wrongfully terminated. Foxx claimed the police chief grabbed him by the testicles.

Both lawsuits are pending, and town officials did not know what effect the chief’s retirement will have on the cases.

Fletcher now is beginning the process of hiring a new chief and have not yet made a decison on who will serve as interim chief.