Man flees police on foot,
cuts off handcuffs with saw

A man who was being arrested on a fugitive warrant managed to escape from an officer last Thursday afternoon, cut off his handcuffs with a hacksaw and elude police for about three hours.

Gregory Alan Haight was arrested on a fugitive warrant from Mississippi after Lt. Wally Welch of the Asheville Police Department found him trespassing at the abandoned McCormick Heights housing-complex property.

After being handcuffed, Haight ran away and was found later that day hiding in bushes along a trail near White Fawn Drive, near where he was initially arrested.

Haight was charged with injury to personal property for damaging the handcuffs. He also was charged with misdemeanor larceny and resisting public officers, according to warrants.

Haight was being held at the Buncombe County jail in lieu of $101,500 in bonds.

An extradition hearing has been set for Sept. 5.

Welch said that only three times in the past 25 years have inmates managed to saw off their handcuffs.

County to build shelters
for intoxicated residents

Starting this fall, homeless people who are intoxicated and therefore ineligible to sleep in homeless shelters will have a safe place to go.

Buncombe County plans to build intoxication shelters, which cost less than half the amount a bed at the county jail costs.

Often, when someone is turned away from a homeless shelter because he or she is drunk, police officers have to escort the person to the jail or an emergency room.

The county plans to open six beds in the next few weeks for people who are drunk but do not have other medical or legal issues.

The program is being organized by an alliance of the Buncombe County Sheriffís Office, the Asheville Police Department, New LIfe Options, Eblen Charities, Asheville-Buncombe Community Christian Ministry and the county departments of health and social services.

Initially, four beds will be set up at New Life Options and two beds at the Christian ministryís Womenís and Childrenís Shelter.

The shelters will charge the county $25 a night for the beds that are used. Keeping an inmate in jail costs more than $60 per night.

Officials said that between the costs of the jail and the court costs typically involved in a jail visit, the county may save as much as $100,000 through the new program.

People will be taken to the shelters only if they have no other medical conditions. They will be offered substance-abuse treatment but are not obligated to accept it.

Police seek publicís help
finding shooting suspect

Detectives with the Asheville Police Department are asking for help finding a man who shot another man while breaking into a shed.

Police say Randy Keith Garrett approached two men who had broken into a shed outside his New Haw Creek Road home at 4:19 a.m. June 26.

When he got close to the men, one of them shot him in the leg. Surveillance cameras captured an image of the shooter.

Anyone with information about the incident can contact CrimeStoppers at 255-5050 or the APD at 259-5866.

Body of Arden man found
floating in S. Carolina lake

ARDEN ó The body of an Arden man was found floating in a South Carolina lake last Thursday, near where he had disappeared while swimming Aug. 11.

Brian Hare, 38, had disappeared during an outing on a pontoon boat with four other people. Hare went for a swim about 9 p.m. but never came back.

Searchers found his body just after 6 a.m. in Lake Hartwell. The water where he was found is about 45 feet deep. Authorities say the death appears to have been an accident.

Hare lived in the Pinnerís Cove area, down the street from his mother and sister. He was a graduate of Roberson High School.

Deputy in flag flap will stay,
Sheriff Duncan announces

A Buncombe County Sheriffís deputy who arrested a West Asheville couple for flying an upside-down American flag will continue to serve the department, Sheriff Van Duncan announced last week.

The Sheriffís Office concluded an internal investigation into Deputy Brian Scarboroughís handling of the case Aug. 14.

The incident took place July 25 when Scarborough, a National Guardsman and Iraq war veteran, went to the home of Mark and Deborah Kuhn and charged them with violating an antiquated state law prohibiting desecration of the American flag because they had displayed an upside-down flag in front of their home.

Such laws have been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in two cases in 1989 and 1990.
The charges against the Kuhns were eventually dropped and Duncan has said that the deputy probably should not have been there in the first place.

Duncan would not say what disciplinary action, if any, had been taken against Scarborough. However, he did say he wanted to ensure that such incidents did not happen again.

Though the Sheriffís Department has authority throughout Buncombe County, it is standard policy for deputies to refer matters within Asheville city limits to the Asheville Police Department, unless a deputy sees a crime take place, Duncan said.

In the Kuhnsí case, Scarborough apparently went to them without any authorization.

Duncan also noted that a 24-hour attorney service has been set up for department supervisors who need legal advice on charges and procedures.

Meanwhile, the Kuhns have replaced the flag with a photo of John Lennon, saying they are so disgusted with the state of the nation that they do not want to fly the flag anymore, even upside down.

Several neighbors had expressed solidarity with the couple by flying flags upside down following their arrests.

Duncan said that his office has received hundreds of phone calls from people expressing both support and anger about Scarboroughís actions.

ëFaces of Ashevilleí artist
burglarized, works taken

Photographer Jenny Bowen, who has worked for the past six weeks to compile a photo documentary of people in Asheville, has had to start from the beginning, after her house was burglarized Aug. 12 and nearly all of her photos stolen.

As part of the project, ìThe Faces of Ashevilleî (www.facesofasheville.com),† Bowen photographed city residents of all stripes, from homeless people to City Council members.

However, 108 of those images were stored on a 120-gig hard drive that was stolen from her house, along with her camera, some jewelry and a few other ìtrinkets,î Bowen said.

This week would have been the final week of shooting, she said. Only about 30 images still remain, which were stored on another computer for editing.

Bowen said she plans to apply for grants and sponsorships and hopes to find a gallery to show her work by next summer.

Building larceny reported
by UNCA campus police

UNC Asheville campus police reported a larceny from a building at the Zeis Hall construction site.
The incident was reported about 8:45 a.m. Aug. 13. The larceny is under investigaiton.

APD seatbelt road check
nets 6 DUIs, other offenses

The Asheville Police Departmentís Traffic Safety Unit participated in three checking stations last week during the Night Time Safety Belt Project.

The project was a joint effort with the Buncombe County Sheriffís Department, Alcohol Law Enforcement and the Biltmore Forest Police Department.

The purpose of the checkpoints is to increase compliance with seatbelt laws and to remind parents about vehicle safety for their children. However, the stops include stepped-up enforcement of all state traffic-safety laws.

The checking stations, conducted last Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, netted the following charges:

ï Driving while impaired: 6. One of these was a felony DWI charge.

ï No inspection sticker: 28.

ï No insurance: 1.

ï No seat belt: 1.

ï No driverís license: 21.

ï Tag violations: 27.

ï Driving with license revoked: 10.

ï Misdemeanor possession of marijuana: 4.

ï Felony possession of marijuana: 1.

ï Possession of drug paraphernalia: 1.

ï Miscellaneous other charges: 18. Among these were three charges of underage possession of alcohol, three charges of supplying alcohol to a minor, and three charges of aiding and abetting possession by a minor.

The APD traffic unitís primary purpose is to make the streets safer for the motoring public, according to the APD.

It provides special functions, accident investigations, traffic enforcement and safety programs.