Three shootings reported
in three days over holiday

In the third shooting in three days over the Thanksgiving holiday, police charged an Asheville woman with shooting a man after a hit-and-run crash early Nov. 28.

The latest shooting happened after Harmony Boros Gardner struck a vehicle on Hendersonville Road, police said. The vehicle followed her to Warwick Road, where Gardner stopped, drew a gun and fired.

Christopher R. Brejnak, who was hit in the face and arm, was taken to Mission Hospital for surgery. He was listed in stable condition later Nov. 28.

Gardner was charged with attempted first-degree murder, discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, driving while impaired, driving while license revoked and hit and run. Bond was set at $600,000.

In the second case, a shootout occurred on the night of Nov. 27 outside a home on Clement Place in East Asheville. Police later charged Myra Morgan Curtis, 43, of 29 Sandy Branch Road, Canton, with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle.

The victim in the Nov. 27 shooting, Basil Byrd Deaver, of 211 Youngin Holler, Canton, was taken to Mission Hospital with injuries believed to be non-life-threatening. Deaver and Curtis reportedly had a prior relationship.

As for the first case, police still are searching for a man who shot another man on the afternoon of Nov. 25 outside Mountain Springs Apartments, near Miller Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Carlos A. Smith, 21, of Asheville sufffered at least two gunshot wounds to an arm and leg. Smith was later listed in stable condition.

Anyone with information on the Nov. 25 shooting is being asked to call police at 251-1110 or CrimeStopper at 255-5050.

Ex-firefighter given 120 days for shooting bicyclist

A former Asheville firefighter on Nov. 19 was sentenced to 120 days in jail for shooting a bicyclist.

Charles Alexander Diez, 42, pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. However, he testified during his sentencing hearing that he only fired a warning shot and did not intend to injure Alan Ray Silmons. The bullet narrowly missed Simons’ head, piercing his helmet.

Diez also testified,” I was the one who felt truly, truly threatened ... It was not my intention to shoot him.”

Conversely, Simons told of being confronted by the 17-year veteran of the Asheville Fire Department on the morning of July 26, as he was riding his bike along Tunnel Road with his 4-year-old son in a seat on the back and his wife on another bike.

Simons said Diez yelled at him from his car, claiming he was putting the boy’s life in danger by riding on the busy roadway.
When Simons approached Diez’s car door, “the gun was pointing at my chest. I turned to walk away, (and) the gun went off. He chose to pull the trigger.”

Superior Court Judge James Downs sentenced Diez to 15-27 months in prison, with all but four months suspended for 30 months.

If he breaks the law again during that 30 months, the full sentence could be imposed. Diez, who lost his job with the AFD, will be subject to a curfew after his release and must complete an anger management class.

The judge also ordered Diez to pay Simons $1,200 in restitution to cover medical treatments for damage to his eardrum.

No aggravating factors were found and Diez had no criminal record, according to Downs. He added that mitigating factors included Diez’s good character, served in the military, supports his family financially, has a positive employment history and has a good support system in the community.

The presumptive sentence for someone convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill is 20-39 months under state sentencing laws.

Man charged with killing
roommate over $4.25 debt

NEBO — McDowell County sheriff’s deputies arrested and charged a man with beating a man to death over a $4.25 debt.

The assault stemmed from an argument over the debt Cedarbrook Resident Center resident Walter Davis owed roommate Kenneth Hayward, officials said.

Davis was taken to Mission Hospital, with a cranial bleed and the majority of his face bones broken following the evening of Oct 26 assault. Davis, 67, died Oct. 29.

Authorities arrested Hayward, 43, on Oct. 29 on a murder charge.

Eye doctor faces discipline for telling woman she’s fat

An Asheville eye doctor — self-described as brusque, aggressive and hard-headed — could lose his medical license after a patient complained that he made inappropriate criticisms, including telling her she is fat.

The North Carolina Medical Board in Raleigh will decide if Dr. Earl Sunderhaus overstepped the bounds of professional decency.

His patient complained that Sunderhaus poked her thigh and told her she is fat, and also scolded her as irresponsible for being unemployed and relying on taxpayers to pay for another pregnancy.

Sunderhaus admitted he told the patient that her thick thighs and diabetes could cause her to go blind.

He made his points again by writing to the patient, Gov. Beverly Perdue and lambasting the medical board. Sunderhaus said his defense is that he was speaking the truth to his patient out of concern for her — and taxpayers.

Sunderhaus, 77, said the Medical Board ordered him to undergo a psychological evaluation and meet with the board. He said he was told that he would be informed by letter about any actions the board might take against him.

The eye doctor noted that he has not had any other complaints lodged against him to the Medical Board and that he has never been reprimanded by the board.

Hillcrest fire termed arson
via release of natural-gas

An explosion and fire that destroyed a building at Hillcrest Apartments in Asheville was intentionally set, arson investigators said Nov. 11.

Evidence showed there was a deliberate release of natural gas, which was ignited by a separate fire set in the apartment, according to Buddy Thompson of the Asheville-Buncombe Arson Task Force.

Thompson would not elaborate on how the natural gas was released. The investigation is continuing.

He said the ABATS is following up on leads that have been developed so far and continuing to develop leads.

Neighbors reported a brick wall was blown out by the blast on Nov. 9 and that fire burned through Building 21’s roof within about five minutes of the explosion. A plume of smoke was visible for miles.

The apartment where the blast occurred was leveled and the entire six-unit building was heavily damaged.

Angel Matthews, the tenant of the apartment where the blast occurred, said she was at the Buncombe County Courthouse at the time of the blast, taking out a restraining order on her ex-boyfriend, Carl Vincent Jones Sr., whom she said broke into her apartment on Nov. 7.

Matthews lived in the apartment with her four children.

Asheville police on Nov. 9 charged Jones with misdemeanor breaking or entering in connection with the Nov. 7 incident, according to a warrant. A judge issued a temporary restraining order after Matthews said Jones had threatened to kill her.

Arrangments were under way to move the displaced families to other public housing units. Sixteen people, including seven children, lived in the building.

The apartments at Hillcrest have furnaces, dryers and stoves that operate on natural gas.

Thompson said there have been no recent reports of gas leaks or problems at the complex. Anyone with information about the explosion and fire is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 255-5050.

Student arrested after gun
found in backpack at AHS

A loaded handgun was found in a student’s backpack on Nov. 4 at Asheville High School, authorities said.

The ninth-grade student was called to the office on another issue. When the school resource officer searched his backpack, he found a 9mm loaded handgun, a city school system news release noted. The student was taken into custody without incident at 12:35 p.m., based on an order from juvenile court, police said.

The student was removed from the school’s campus and transported to the Juvenile Detention Center. Ashevile police have charged the student with possession of a weapon on school property.

School officials are unsure why the student brought the weapon to campus. They have not discovered threats or incidents related to the weapon, a city spokesman said.

The school superintendent will decide the consequences the student will face at school.

Telephone and e-mail notifications were sent to parents around 4:20 p.m. Nov. 4. Staff at AHS and the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville were notified of the incident during a meeting after school.

Officials could not recall another incident in which a gun was found on campus.

In January 2008, Asheville police arrested a 16-year-old boy accused of firing up to four gunshots at a group of students at AHS.
In May 2007, the school went on lockdown when a student reported seeing someone on a moped with a submachine gun.

However, police did not find a weapon on the AHS campus in either of the aforementioned cases.

Officials find cache of pills hidden in duo’s body cavities

MARSHALL — A Tennessee couple face felony drug charges after the car they were in veered off N.C. 209 and hit a Spring Creek home on Oct. 29.

Conrado Morales III, 28, of Newport, Tenn., and Jennifer Eslinger, 21, of Cosby, Tenn., were charged in Madison County after authorities say they found a large cache of pain pills secured in the body cavities of both individuals.

The car the suspects were riding in ran off the road and hit a home and fuel tank of a home east of Spring Creek, officials said. Morales was arrested at the scene when officers discovered what appeared to be three doses of Ocycodone. At the county jail, deputies reportedly found Morales had at least 82 Oxycodone pills concealed in his underwear and in a body cavity.

In turn, Eslinger was confronted with the evidence against Morales and surrended at least 60 Oxycodone pills that had been hidden in a body cavity, officials said.

Thefts from parked vehicles
reported on UNCA campus

UNC Asheville police recently reported a number of larcenies from vehicles parked on campus and other activity as follows:
• A larceny from a 2003 Ford Mustang — belonging to Amy Marie Wolf, a UNCA student from Raleigh — from a parking lot on Founders Drive.
Wolf, 20, reported the theft of an Apple iPod Mini/iPod docking station, jointly valued at $1,750; and a Garmon GPS, valued at $240; at 2:15 p.m. Oct. 30. Her property was last known secure at 3 p.m. Oct. 19.
• A larceny from a motor vehicle — belonging to Wesley C. Groetsema, a UNCA student from Barnardsville — from a parking lot on Founders Drive.
Groetsema, 20, reported the theft of Cobra WX-Band II equipment valued at $100 at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 29. His property was last known secure at 10 p.m. Oct. 25.
• A larceny of 12 items from a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta — belonging to Kristen Michelle Jarrrett, a UNCA student from Mars Hill — from campus parking lot No. 9.

Jarrett, 18, reported the thefts at 3:47 p.m. Nov. 6. Her property was last known secure two hours earlier — at 1:40 p.m. Nov. 6. The police report noted that someone “used unknown method to break glass and remove items inside vehicle.”

Items reported stolen by Jarrett included a Fossil purse-handbag-wallet, valued at $50; a North Carolina driver’s license, $20; a Centura debit card, $10; an RBC ATM card, $10; an American Eagle credit-debit card, $10; a UNCA One Card, $10; an article of American Eagle clothes-furs, $200; a Social Security card, $20; $27 in U.S. currency; a spare key for a VW Jetta, $10; an RBC checkbook, $25; and a music compact disk, $10.

• Criminal damage to a plate glass window at the Health & Fitness Center was reported at 6:14 a.m. Oct. 29. Specifically, the window valued at $500 was vandalized.

• A charge of running a red light was filed against Maggie Christine D’Angelo of Raleigh at 10:02 a.m. Nov. 2. No details were available on whether she is a UNCA student or where the alleged infraction occurred.
D’Angelo, 24, was driving a 2000 Nissan along Campus Drive at Broadway Street.

• A charge of operating a motor vehicle without having an up-to-date electronic inspection was filed against Paul Keith Biggs of Hendersonville at 1:50 p.m. Oct. 28.

Biggs also was charged with operating a motor vehicle without having “in full force and effect the financial responsibility required by GS 20-313.” Moreover, the police report noted that the alleged infraction occurred “while displaying an expired registration on the vehicle, knowing the same to be expired. GS 20-111 2 expired on 09-19-09.”
Biggs, 27, was driving a 2002 Lincoln along Campus Drive near University Heights.
• A charge of operating a motor vehicle without having “in full force and effect the financial responsibility required by GS 20-313” was filed against Paul Keith Biggs
• A non-resident, Henry Nicholas George, was charged with driving while intoxicated and “all traffic (except DWI)” at 12:45 a.m. Nov. 1.
Nicholas, 21, of Richmond, Va., was driving a 2001 Toyota TK when the arrest occurred. The police report did not indicate where the arrest took place.
Nicholas was taken to the Buncombe County Detention Center, where he was confined before his release on bond. In the meantime, his vehicle, impounded by police, was towed and stored by Davis Wrecker.
• Jayson Scott McRae reportedly, “without authorization, entered on premises of another after being notified not to enter or remain there by another authorized person: UNCA police,” the report noted. He was cited on probable cause.
McRae, 33, lives at 165 S. French Broad Ave., Apt. 2-D, in Asheville.
• Three charges allegedly involving drug violations were filed against Timothy Scott Spencer at 3:25 p.m. Nov. 21 in Vance Hall.
Scott, 21, of Morganton was arrested on two felony counts of drug violations and “drug violations — all other drug violations” and one misdemeanor count of “drug violations — all other drug violations.”
• An investigation is continuing of criminal damage to property reported at noon Nov. 13 at old parking lot E, which is now a construction site on campus.
Sandy Stewart of Buck’s Construction Co. reported that two Lincoln Elect welders owned by the firm sustained damages of $50 each.
• Four UNCA students were arrested on various drug charges at 10:44 p.m. Nov. 11 in Room 411 at Founders Hall.
Kevin Richard Zeph was charged with one felonious count of drug violations. Zeph, 18, is from Raleigh.
Joshua James Babbish was charged with one felonious count of drug violations. Babbish, 18, is from Villas, N.J.
Maxwell S. Montaldo was charged with two misdemeanor counts of drug violations, including less than 1/2-oz.. of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Montaldo is from St. Louis.
Lia Rachel Curtis-Fine was charged with two misdemeanor counts of drug violations, including possession of less than a 1/2-oz. of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Curtis-Fine, 19, is from Clemmons.
• A larceny was reported by Lesley Ann Mullen at noon Nov. 11 at Ramsey Library on campus.
Mullen, a resident of Courtland Avenur in Asheville, told police that someone picked up and carried away an Alltell telephone and equipment valued at $85 and a London Fog raincoat valued at $65.
• Criminal damage to property was reported at 9:59 p.m. Nov. 11 on UNCA’s mini quad.
A “stone-monument” structure sustained $500 damage in a vandalism incident, police reported.