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Tuesday, 19 September 2006 16:50 |
Hendersonville man, 27, charged in stabbing death
HENDERSONVILLE ÇƒÓ Matias Zacarias Blanco, 27, of Hendersonville has been arrested in connection with a stabbing death on Sept. 6.
Blanco was charged with the murder of 34-year-old Jorge Hernandez Pacheco, a transient migrant worker, the Hendersonsville Police Department reported.
Pacheco, who police believe was unarmed, died from his wounds early Sept. 7.
The two men reportedly had been drinking at the home of a mutual acquaintance at 1536 Lincoln Circle. About 11 p.m., they reportedly scuffled in a fistfight. Witnesses on the scene later told police that Blanco stabbed Pacheco numerous times.
Blanco, who was being held without bail on Sept. 11, made his first court appearance on Sept. 12.
Unapproved raffle of Uzi
cancelled by sports league
WEAVERVILLE ÇƒÓ A planned raffle of an Uzi rifle was cancelled Sept. 12 after the youth sports league that was to be the beneficiary of the raffle learned of it.
Representatives of the North Buncombe Youth Athletic Association said that it never approved the raffle, which was apparently planned by parents of some of the students who participate in the organization.
The NBYAA sponsors football, cheerleading, basketball, baseball and softball programs for youth ages six to 12.
The group cancelled the event after complaints from parents that tickets were being sold at a concession stand during games.
However, Colin Van Etten, who owns Carolina Tactical Precision, the Weaverville-based gun dealership that donated the Uzi, said that the weapon is a semi-automatic carbine rifle that can be purchased legally, much like any other hunting rifle or shotgun.
The requirments in North Carolina to purchase such a weapon are that a person be at least 18 years old with valid identification, pass an FBI criminal background check and complete a federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives form.
76-year-old man charged
with shooting into vehicle
Buncombe County sheriffës detectives arrested a 76-year-old man Sept. 11 on charges that he fired multiple shots into an occupied vehicle while shouting death threats.
Tilson B. Crowe was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill following the incident, which occured just before midnight on Brevard Road.
At least one of the .22 caliber bullets fired hit a man inside the vehicle, though emergency workers reported that neither he nor a woman who was also in the vehicle were injured.
Crowe has a prior history of violent assaults, dating back to 1970, when he shot a Marshall man in the stomach. He was also convicted in 1976 of threatening a woman with a knife.
According to Deputy Mary Ann Turnstall, Crowe falsely told her that he was unarmed when questioned.
Crowe was being held in lieu of a $52,500 bond.
Fletcher woman sued
over music downloads
FLETCHER ÇƒÓ Tiffany Redmond of Fletcher has been sued recently by at least four record companies seeking damages and injunctive relief for copyright infringement.
In a lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in Asheville, the companies are seeking damages from Redmond for using an online media distribution system to download copyrighted recordings to the public and/or to make the copyrighted recordings available for distribution to others.
The record companies are seeking an injunction to stop Redmond from infringing on the record companiesë distributive rights, seeking statutory damages, cost of the lawsuit and reasonable attorney fees.
The file says Redmond downloaded music from artists such as DMX, Nelly, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Ja Rule and Usher.
DA seeks death penalty
in killing of Weaverville child
COVINGTON, Ga. ÇƒÓ A prosecutor announce Sept. 12 that he will seek the death penalty in a case in which a man allegedly ran down five members of a Weaverville, N.C., family last May in a parking lot of a McDonaldës restaurant, killing the familyës youngest child.
Lanny Perry Barnes is charged with three murder charges for the death of 2-year-old Avery Nicole King.
According to withnesses, Barnes laughed as he repeatedly struck the child and her mother Anita King, as well as Covington resident Stephanie Casola and her two sons, Isaac and Jake.
Newton County District Attorney Ken Wynne Jr. said that Barnes will be arraigned Sept. 26 on chages that include malice murder, two counts of felony murder, four counts of aggravated battery and five counts of aggravated assault.
According to police, Barnes backed up after hitting the victims and then hit them again.
Barnesë mother claims that her son had suffered from depression for years. A mental evaluation of Barnes had been ordered previously, the results of which are sealed pending trial.
Barnes was diagnosed with leukemia in early June. He was returned to the Netwon County jail after undergoing cancer treatments for three months.
Warning on common scams
issued to Asheville citizens
The Asheville Police Department recently issued warnings regarding two common mail and e-mail scams that have been circulating recently.
Many residents of Asheville received letters in the mail about "European lottery programs." Frequently these letters use the correct name and address for the resident.
These scams inform the "winner" that they have won a specific amount of money, according to police spokesman John Dankel.
What looks like a legitimate check for a portion of the winnings is included with the notification letter.
Instructions direct the "winner" to contact a lottery agent for instructions on how to remit their "tax and clearance fees" so they can receive their lottery winnings, he said.
Typically the recipients are directed by the "agent" to wire money ÇƒÓ after they have deposited the fake check into their personal account ÇƒÓ to someone outside the country.
They are told they will then receive their portion of the prize money, less a percentage for the agent or sponsor commission.
A day or so after it is deposited into the personës account the bank will discover the check is fake and the account will be debited for that amount. Unfortunately, the victim has frequently already wired the money to the scam artist and there is no practical way to get it back, Dankel noted.
"Winners" also are warned in the letter to keep their winnings "absolutely confidential" to avoid unauthorized persons or organizations from contacting them about their new-found wealth.
None of the information in the letter is true, according to police. Persons receiving these letters are urged to discard them immediately.
Regarding another common fraudulent scheme, the APD noted on July 15 that the FBI is receiving renewed complaints about an e-mail scam that first surfaced sometime in 2004.
People are receiving official-looking e-mails, purportedly from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The e-mail claims a personës bank accounts are no longer eligible for FDIC insurance because of
suspected violations of the USA PATRIOT Act, Dankel said.
The message also says this issue can be resolved by clicking on a link provided in the e-mail and providing a great deal of personal information. Supposedly, after the information is verified, the accounts will once again be eligible for FDIC insurance. There is also an implication that failure to provide the "required" information will result in further investigation and possibly a visit from federal agents.
These e-mails, and all like them, are scams, Dankel said. Persons who respond and provide the requested information risk having their identity stolen and misused and they place funds in their banks accounts at risk for theft.
Government agencies and legitimate banks do not request this sort of information by e-mail, Dankel stressed.
All such requests should be regarded as scams and the e-mails should be immediately deleted without opening any attachments. Those with any doubts or questions may contact the bank or government agency directly by telephone, Dankel said.
ǃÚ99 wrongful death lawsuit
settled privately with Kmart
A settlement, in which both sides agreed to keep details confidential, was reached Monday in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Kmart after the 1999 overdose of a Buncombe County woman.
The lawsuit, filed by Judi Davis, Tina Coleës mother, contended that the company and Coleës husband were responsible for Tina Coleës death. The suit was seeking money for Tina Coleës now-teenage child.
Christmann J. Cole, Tinaës husband and the former manager of the Kmart pharmacy on Hendersonville Road in Asheville, is accused of stealing Vicodin pills from the pharmacy and giving them to his wife for her migraine headaches. He served 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to embezzlement.
While Davisë suit argued that Kmart failed to provide procedures to prevent removal of controlled substances, attorneys for Kmart denied any wrongdoing.
Woman dies from injuries
after collision on I-240 ramp
Twenty-year-old Meta Bowers Racine died last Thursday night after she was thrown from a GMC in a 10:20 p.m. collision with a Dodge pickup atop an entrance ramp to Interstate 240 from Chunns Cove Road.
Racine, a resident of Washington Road in Asheville, died at Mission Hospitals, where she was transported for treatment.
She was a passenger in a GMC driven by Samuel Jacob Morgan, 18, of Biltmore Forest. Police said Racine was not wearing a seatbelt. Morgan was treated and released from the hospital for minor injuries, as was the Dodgeës driver, Amanda Lytle Wilder of Fairview.
District Attorney Ron Mooreës office will decide whether to press charges, police said.
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