Sculpture of piglet pilfered
in front of Vance Monument

Asheville police are investigating the disappearance of a sculpture of a piglet that used to stand in front of the Vance Monument downtown.

The statue was discovered to be missing last Wednesday morning. A second, larger pig† also was removed and moved about five feet from its base. That sculpture has been put into storage.
The pigs were part of a larger sculpture at Pack Square, which commemorates the herds of livestock that used to cross the Buncombe Turnpike in the 19th century.

The intersection of Patton and Biltmore Avenues was once a major thoroughfare for drovers ó traveling livestock herders who moved from community to community selling their animals.

The turnpike itself was built on a much older Indian trading route.

The statues are part of the Urban Trail, a series of sculptures throughout downtown Asheville that commemorate various historical events.

Police say the theft could have happened as early as June 29.

Anyone with information concerning the theft can contact investigator Janice Hawkins or a supervisor at 259-5910.

Local man charged in S.C.
with molesting 2 teenagers

GREENVILLE, S.C. ó A Hendersonville, N.C., man has been arrested in South Carolina on charges of sexually molesting two teenage girls there.

Duain A. Whittemore, 66, was arrested last Thursday on two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

According to warrants filed by the Greenville County Sheriffís Office, Whittemore is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl and another girl younger than 16 between October 1976 and October 1984.

The alleged crimes took place while Whittemore was director of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Greenville.

Asheville woman arrested
on sexual offense charge

An Asheville woman was charged last Friday with sexual offense involving another woman.

According to warrants, Jennifer Lynn Keith, 26, engaged in a sexual offense with a woman who was ìmentally defective, mentally incapacitated or physically helplessî at the time of the incident.

The Coleman Avenue resident was held in lieu of a $10,000 bond.

Woman hurt by fireworks
still in serious condition

A woman who was injured in a Fourth of July fireworks accident remained in serious condition as of last Sunday.

Susan Schwager, 37, suffered a severe head injury and an injury to her left eye after a mortar-type firework detonated while she was bending over it.

The accident took place about 10:30 p.m. when the firework exploded and hit her just above her left eye.

She was reportedly standing about 4 feet above the firework when it went off.

She was airlifted to Mission Hospitals where she was treated in the neurotrauma intensive care unit.

Leicester woman arrested
on property fraud charges

A Leicester woman has been accused of paying $3,500 to have her mobile home relocated and then placing a stop service order on the check.

The Buncombe County Sheriffís Department last Thursday charged Judy Waldrop Griffith, 46, with obtaining property by false pretense.

In other police action last Thursday:
ï Donald James Justice, 18, of Departure Drive was charged with taking indecent liberties with a child.
He was being held in lieu of a $10,000 bond.
ï Kristy Shawn Burrell, 31, and William Christopher Smith, 37, were arrested by sheriffís deputies on charges of aiding and abetting common-law robbery.
Burrell, a resident of Ebonser Road in Old Fort, was being held in lieu of a $10,000 bond.
Smith, who lives on Nix Creek Church Road in Marion, also was being held in lieu of a $10,000 bond.
ï Sheriffís deputies charged Jonathan Lee Lance, 25, with possession of controlled substances on jail premises. The resident of Bear Farm Road in Leicester was being held in lieu of a $1,000 bond.

Asheville man faces charges
of attempted murder, arson

Mark Penley

A feud between two neighbors got violent last Sunday as a man set an elderly womanís house on fire, trying to kill her, according to police.

Mark Eugene Penley, 27, of Narbeth Road, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted first-degree arson, first-degree burglary and two counts of felony burning of personal property.

Police say Penley broke into his neighborís home, stole from it and then attempted to set the house on fire.

Though a spokesman for the Asheville Police Department described the woman as elderly, he did not identify her or give her specific age.

The attack reportedly was prompted by a long-standing feud between the two neighbors, though officials did not know the exact nature of the conflict.

The neighbor was not hurt and the fire never got out of control, but police say it had that potential.
Penley is being jailed in lieu of a $220,000 secured bond. His criminal history includes misdemeanor convictions for breaking and entering, damaging personal property and passing worthless checks.

Teenager ties self to store
in protest of chained dogs

A teenager tied herself with a rope to a rail in front of a grocery store for eight hours last Saturday in protest of dog owners who leave their animals chained up.

Kristen Ort, 19, tethered herself to the front of Greenlife Grocery as part of a nationwide protest called Chain Off 2007.

Ort was among 108 people in 35 states who participated in the protest, according to the organizersí Web site. Pennsylvania-based charity Dogs Deserve Better sponsored the event.

Before her protest, Ort said she received e-mails of opposition, most from people who said that dogs would be better off tied up than locked in cages.†

Drunk driving suspect flees,
leading deputies on chase

A Buncombe County man has been charged with driving under the influence and several other violations after he allegedly led sheriffís deputies on a chase July 3.

Charles Wesley Smith, 29, was arrested just before midnight following a chase of five or six miles that involved four sheriffís office vehicles.

The chase ended when Smith stopped his vehicle and surrendered on U.S. 74A near Reynolds High School, a spokesman for the Buncombe County Sheriffís Department said.

In addition to the DWI charge, Smith now faces charges of violating an open container law, reckless driving with wanton disregard, habitual impaired driving, fleeing to elude arrest, carrrying a concealed gun, communicating threats, violating a domestic violence protective order and driving while his license was revoked after an impaired revocation notice.

Smith was held under a $11,000 bond.

No injuries resulted from the chase, according to officials. Deputies had visited a residence on Rose Hill Road in Fairview several times that day to investigate reports that Smith was making threats. A deputy returning to the residence saw Smith in his car and Smith reportedly fled.

The chase was not high-speed, according to a department spokesman.

ADP defends fatal shooting
of family dog by officer

Asheville police on July 2 defended an officerís killing of a family pet after he got entangled in the dogís chain while checking on a complaint.

During the July 1 incident, officers wnet to the house at 8 Homewood Drive after receiving a report of a woman trapped inside the house by an aggressive dog outside.

Police found two boxers at the home, one chained in front of the house and one loose.

Both dogs were being aggressive, according to police.

The officers managed to keep the loose dog at bay long enough for the trapped woman to get out of the house and then attempted to capture the chained dog with a catchpole.

The animal control officer fell when her feet became ensnared in the dogís chain, prompting another officer to fire several rounds from a rifle, killing the dog.

Riocheting bullets struck a neighborís unoccupied house and the loose boxer, which had hidden under a porch. The injured dog was taken for treatment.

An animal control officer was also wounded during the incident, though a police spokesman would not disclose the nature of the injury, citing patient privacy rules.

Police said the residence at 8 Homewood Road has a long history of complaints related to animals, including several dangerous-dog investigations.

Because of these complaints, the animalsí owner was required to keep the dogs inside under direct supervision and on a leash when outside.

The animalsí owner could now face charges related to violations of the cityís animal control ordinances, police said.

Police Chief Bill Hogan said in a release that he regretted the shooting and that the department would investigate the matter.

Public-housing resident
charged with income fraud

A resident of public housing was arrested June 27 on charges of failing to report two years of income to housing authorities.

Gladys Logan Blakely, 57, was charged with felony public assistance fraud. According to warrants, the Walter Street resident now owes $5,379 in unreported income. She was released without bond.

Police searching for thief
of vending-machine money

WAYNESVILLE ó Police are searching for a man who has been breaking into laundry and vending machines in Waynesville.

In a video released June 26, a white male with medium build is shown breaking into a washing machine by prying it open with a crow bar at Highland Laundry on Walnut Street June 22.

That same night, a thief broke into a snack machine at the Waynesville Country Club using a similar technique.

Officials say that while the thief made off with little money, the damages to the machines cannot be repaired in some cases.

At the laundry, the thief hit four washing machines and a Coke machine, doing $500 in damage.
Waynesville police believe the thefts took place between midnight and 6 a.m. June 22.

Officials say the man is balding with a short, military-style haircut and a distinctive hairline. In the video, he was seen wearing a black or dark short-sleeve shirt and a watch, possibly gold.