More suspects in downtown
May 1 rampage make bail

Ten of 11 young suspects in a May Day rampage late on May 1 in downtown Asheville made bail on May 5. One suspect already had made bail.

The vandals are believed to have ties to an anarchist website. Investigators believe some of the suspects are associated with the May Day movement, which has become a day of solidarity for marking worker solidarity and has been seized upon for anti-capitalism displays of violence.

Meanwhile, Asheville police raised their estimate of total damage to nearly $20,000.

The spree, according to police, included 30 to 40 people dressed in black, wearing face-coverings and carrying hammers that they used to damage businesses and smash car windows just before 11 p.m. Saturday.

Damage was concentrated in the area around the Grove Arcade and Battery Park Avenue, police noted. The 11 suspects face 112 misdemeanor and 33 felony charges, as well as three new felony charges — that were added May 3 — of damage to property, causing a riot and conspiracy to riot.

Among the suspects is Karen Leigh “Karly” Alderfer, a 19-year-old woman who attended the same private Quaker school where President Barack Obama’s children study.

Alderfer is a 2008 graduate of Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., according to information she posted on her Facebook website. However, school officials declined to confirm that Alderfer is a graduate, noting that they do not talk about alumni without their permission.

She was the first of the suspects to make bond, getting out in time for an arraignment hearing on May 4. Alderfer is a sophomore studying English and composition literature at UNC Chapel Hill.

Only two of the suspects listed Asheville addresses, including Havely Carolyn Carsky, 23 of Meadow Lake Road and Naomi Rachel Ulian, 26, of West Chestnut Street. Carsky was an honors student at UNC Asheville, while Ulian is the daughter of two physicians from Charleston, S.C.

A trial date for the suspects has been set for May 25.

As for the damage reports, the total on May 5 was $19,541, including vandalism to nine structures and seven vehicles.

Those released May 5 on $65,000 bond included:
• Wyatt Sherman Allgeier, 19, of Mount Pleasant, N.C.
• Havely Carolyn Carsky, 23, of Meadow Lake Road, Asheville.
• Naomi Rachel Ulian, 26, of West Chestnut Street, Asheville.
• Cailin Elizabeth Major, 25, of Milwaukee.
• Jordan M. Ferrand-Sapsis, 24, of Oklahoma City.
• Randall Duncan Stezer, 17, of Graham, N.C.
• Alissa Marie Batzold, 18, of Carrboro.
• Nicholas Ryan Entwistle, 19, of Kansas City, Mo.
• Marshall Rogers Tingler, 24, of Oklahoma City.
• Daniel Heinz Regenschelt, 26, of Carrboro.

On May 4, a judge told the 11 suspects that they could face prison time if convicted of rioting and property damage charges.
They appeared via video conference before Judge Shirley Brown. Three of the suspects had attorneys, while the remainder had public defenders.

In speaking for the APD, Melissa Williams, community relations manager, said on May 5 that there was nothing new the police could release because the 11 suspects are “in the court system now — and it’s a matter of them” finding representation and going through the legal process.

As for whether there might be any more arrests in the case, Williams said she could not answer that question, but that “we’ve arrested every one that we could” tie to the case.

So is the APD considering stepping up patrols in downtown Asheville, especially around the Grove Arcade?

 “We do a good job in downtown” and there is a unit that is well-staffed and based in that area, Williams replied.
Further charges are pending, the APD noted. Victims are still being sought for interviews and crime scenes are still being processed.

At least five of the suspects appear to be students at colleges and universities. The suspects ages ranged from 17-26.
All but one of the 11 suspects arrested were each charged with seven counts of misdemeanor injury to personal property and three counts of injury to real property. Each was being held under $10,000 bond.

One man was charged with 11 counts and had an $11,000 bond.

With several in the group reportedly yelling unintelligably as they vandalized, those on the rampage walked south on O’Henry Avenue and turned left on Battery Park Avenue. Some walked through the alley beside the Citizen-Times, where several employees of the paper had rushed to  ensure the safety of their cars.

Meanwhile, if it gets the go-ahead, the Grove Arcade intends to spare no expense or effort in filing a lawsuit against the 11 suspects in the downtown rampage, according to Ruth Summers, executive director of Grove Arcade Public Market Foundation. “If the district attorney says we can proceed with a lawsuit, we’ll do that,” she said May 5.

“We intend to prosecute to the fullest extent that we can. If we can get restitution for damages for ourselves and our merchants,” the Grove Arcade will do it.

As for the suspects, Summers said, “I just think it’s very unfortunate that it happened and that young people, because they made a wrong decision, they’ve ruined their lives ….

“Most of it was glass damage,” she said, “and all of it was on O’Henry Street. Grove Arcade merchants that sustained damages included the Copy Shop, which lost four plate-glass windows; the Eye Center, one window and one door; and the western entrance to the Arcade, one window and entrance door.

She also said there was damage to the glass covering the Urban Trail marker along O’Henry. In addition, the windows on a number of cars were smashed.

“We don’t have the latest estimate for all the damage,” Summers said, but “we’re in the $5,000” and above range for the Grove Arcade and its shops alone.

“We had security in the building and they actually noticed the rampage going on along O’Henry — and they called the Asheville Police Department, but the APD already was in the vicinity.”

For next May Day, which internationally and nationally is often marked by workers’ and anarchists’ protests and sometimes violence, Summers said, “we’ll be asking” Asheville, Buncombe County and “our own internal (private) security firm” to step up security. Even if the city and county decline to increase security on that day and night, Summers said the Grove Arcade will be “beefing up” its internal security force for that occasion.

She noted that videotapes, which recorded the rampage, have been made available to the Arcade by the Asheville Citizen-Times and “one of our merchants.” The AC-T, located across O’Henry from the Arcade, also suffered broken glass and doors, as did the AT&T building and RBC Bank, which flank the newspaper building.

Meanwhile, Sid Braverman, co-owner with his wife Ellen of Grove Arcade Copy Shop, said on May 5 that “it’s a shame it happened. It’ll cost me $500 for the (insurance) deductible.” The total cost of repairs to his four double-glass windows will be $1,400, he said.
As for the motives of the suspects, Braverman said, “It’s just ridiculous. Whether it’s random,” or not, he said those who participate in the rampage were senseless in their destruction.

“The whole things was misplaced on where it happened,” if they are wanting to strike back at corporate greed, he said, noting that his is truly a “mom-and-pop” shop. “It should be someplace else because this doesn’t represent the corporate structure,” except — he added — for the Citizen-Times, RBC Bank and AT&T, all across the street.

“I’m going to be really angry when I write that $500 check,” Braverman said. “We’re not going to get restitution from those children” who damaged the properties along O’Henry.

Another merchant, Les Stevenson of Stevenson Rare Coins & Jewelry, on the northwest corner of the Arcade, said on May 5 that his shop was not damaged and he highly praised the work of the police. What’s more, he lashed out at the APD’s critics, who have said the police should have responded faster, or even prevented the rampage.

“The APD can’t be everywhere,” Stevenson said. “That kind of aggravates me that some people think the police can be in all places at all times.” In his view, the APD “responded well and did an excellent job at the Grove Arcade.”

Stevenson believes the rampage was an isolated incident and when he learned from a reporter that 10 of the 11 suspects could not make bail, he said, “Good!” He also noted that he is giving a copy of his shop’s video of the rampage to Grove Arcade officials.

In noting that many of those involved in the rampage are college students, Stevenson asserted, “It makes you wonder what they’re really teaching in college these days.”

As for the point, if any, of the rampage, Stevenson said, “I think they’re going about it in all the wrong way to get their point across. There’s other avenues they could pursue, rather than resorting to vandalism and violence.”