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Wednesday, 28 February 2007 16:22 |
Fletcher police chief cleared
of assaults on two officers
FLETCHER ó Landgon Raymond went back to work last Monday as Fletcherís chief of police after a special prosecutor dropped charges against him that he had assaulted two of his officers.
Former officer Adam White, had claimed that Raymond searched him against his will, going through his pockets and taking personal property from him.
Timothy Foxx, who is currently an officer on suspension, charged that Raymond had shoved him and grabbed his gentials on Oct. 12.
The
charges ó two counts of misdemeanor assault ó were investigated by the
State Bureau of Investigation. District Attorney Jeff Hunt requested a
special prosecutor for the case, because it involved local law
enforcement, prompting the bureau to assign Brenda Brewer, Catawba
County assistant district attorney to the case.
White said that
the charges were dropped as a result of a plea bargain whereby he had
dropped the assault charge in exchange for having his termination
truned into a resgination.
Shannon Lovins,
Foxxís attorney, said that the decision contradicted what Brewer had
said only hours earlier óthat prosecuters were ready to go to trial
next week.
Raymond, who had been suspended with pay since the charges were first filed, was reinstated by Town Manager Mark Biberdorf.
Two wounded in shootings
at Hillcrest Apartments
Police are on
the lookout for the men responsible for two unrelated shootings that
took place within a 24-hour period at Hillcrest Apartments last week.
In the first
incident, Allen Cornett Sr., 43, was shot just after 11 p.m. Feb. 19
during a fight after a man driving a scooter allegedly either hit him
or narrowly missed hitting him, police said. Cornett had been walking
near building No. 9 with a friend at the time.
The ensuing argument turned into a fistfight, during which the scooter driver asked a friend if he had a gun.
The onlooker
pulled a gun out of his waistband and fired six to eight shots, hitting
Cornett in the heel and right thigh, police said.
In the second
incident, James Antonio Wilson, 17, was charged with assault with a
deadly weapon with intent to kill and making threats after he allegedly
shot Derrick Devan Morgan Jr. on Feb. 20.
The incident began when Wilsonís girlfriend confronted him about accusations that he was gay.
According to the
police report, the girlfriend had been in in apartment about 9:30 p.m.,
where Morgan and another man were getting their hair styled when the
second man told her he was having a sexual affair with Wilson.
She then called Wilson to confront him about the allegation and he responded by threatening to kill the men in the apartment.
According to
police reports, Wilson arrived there about half an hour later with a
gun and proceded to fire at least three shots at the men. One bullet
hit Morgan in the groin and he was transported to Mission Hospitals.
Wilson fled the scene and police are looking for him.
2 UNCA students charged
with marijuana possession
UNC Asheville campus police issued state citations for possession of marijuana to two students last Saturday.
Jennifer Nicole
Schilling, 19, of Rutherfordton and Kevin Henderson Owens, 18, of
Pittsboro were both charged with possession of less than a half-ounce
of the substance.
Officer Shannon
Green initially responded just before 1 a.m. to a report of suspected
marijuana use in Room 118 of the Mills Hall dormitory.
Upon arriving, he reportedly detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the room.
When he knocked
on the door, Schilling and Owens allegedly admitted that they had been
smoking marijuana and were ìvery cooperative and very respectful,î
according to the police report.
In other action, UNCA campus police reported the following:
ï Two teenagers were charged with drinking under age 21 last Saturday.
Michael Louis
Day, 18, and Stetson Chase Clark, 18, both from Richlands, were charged
after Green responded to reports of a loud disturbance on the third
floor of the Moore Hall dormitory.
Upon his
arrival, Green found Day talking with Christopher Robinson, a housing
official at the dormitory, and detected a strong odor of alcohol on
Dayís breath, according to the police report.
When Green asked
if everything was alright, Day reportedly responded that he was walking
behind his friend, Clark, because the latter was hearing voices. Clark
is not a UNCA student.
Day and Green
then walked to Dayís dorm room, 308 Moore Hall. Upon arriving, Green
found the room dissheveled, with a chair overturned, the blinds messed
up, a picture frame broken and a fan laying broken on the floor,
according to the police report.
Green also discovered a beer funnel and hose on the floor, which he confiscated.
Day reportedly
told Green that the objects had flown across the room by themselves and
that a demon had come out of the wall and began attacking them.
At that point,
Green called for assistance from Sgt. Bruce Martin, who then stayed
with Day while Green interviewed Clark in the stairwell.
Clark reportedly
told Green that he had ducked his head when the objects started
crashing down and closed his eyes, and could therefore not say what
really happend.
Green then escorted the two men to the police office where they submitted to Alco-sensor tests, according to police.
Clark reportedly
registered a 0.09 BAC, while Day registered a 0.23 BAC. Because Dayís
test came back so high, Green contacted EMS, which transported him to
St. Josephís Hospital.
Both men were issued state citations for underage consumption.
ï Dylan
Mattingly Duffey, 19, of Hickory was charged with possessing or
consuming alcohol under age 21 about 9:21 p.m. last Friday.
Green responded to a report of possible underage drinking in 317 Founders Hall.
When Green knocked on the door, Duffey allegedly opened it, but then slammed the door shut when he recognized the officer.
Green then
knocked again and a female opened the door. Green proceded to interview
Duffey, at which point he reportedly detected a strong smell of alcohol
on Duffeyís breath.
Green then asked
him to submit to an Alco-sensor test, which he refused, according to
the police report. However, he did submit to a field sobriety test, on
which he performed porrly, Green said.
After Duffey
refused a second request by Green that he submit to an Alco-sensor
test, Green issued him a state citation for underage alcohol possession.
Handgun scare triggers
lockdown, arrest at school
A woman was
charged last Thursday with possessing a weapon on school grounds after
she went to meet her childís principle with a gun in her car.
Judy Lynn Troy,
53, of Swannanoa was arrested after she reportedly told a secretary at
Williams Elementary that she was glad she hadnít brought the unloaded
semiautomatic .32-caliber handgun into the building during a
conversation about the schoolís security system.
Troy had arrived
at the school about 1:45 p.m. because she was upset about an incident
involving her child, though officials could not release any more
specific details.
School officials responded by putting the entire school in a 20-minute lockdown.
Troy later turned herself in on the misdemeanor charge at the Buncombe County Magistrateís Office.
In an unrelated
incident, Estes Elementary was also put under a ìsoft lockdownî last
Thursday after someone attempted to break into a teacherís car on
property adjacent to the school.
During the lockdown, students were required to stay in their classrooms while they continued to work.
200 attend flashlight vigil
opposed to hard drug use
More than 200
people gathered at City-County Plaza last Thursday evening to draw
attention to the cityís hard drug problem at a ìStop the Harmî
flashlight vigil sponsored by the Asheville-Buncombe Drug Commission.
Some in the crowd honored loved ones who had been harmed by drugs by covering their flashlights with red cellophane.
Student at Roberson High
charged with felony arson
A student at
Roberson High School has been arrested on a felony charge of burning a
schoolhouse after he allegedly set fire to an art project during a
midday class Feb. 20.
Police say Daniel Joseph Ehlen, 16, set fire to an item glued inside a cardboard box that had been made to look like a room.
The art project,
which was on a wooden shelf near the rear of the classroom started a
fire that caused minor damage to walls and the floor, before a teacher
put it out with a fire extinguisher.
Christopher Matthews Barrett, 18, was charged with aiding and abetting, police said, because he watched without intervening.
High-speed car chase ends
in accident near River Ridge
A high-speed car chase ended when a vehicle being pursued by police crashed into another vehicle Feb. 20.
The incident
marks the seventh accident since December involving police and the
fourth chase by Asheville police to end in a crash during that time
period.
No one was reported injured in the accident, which occured near River Ridge shopping center on Fairview Road.
John David Mills was charged with fleeing arrest in a vehicle, reckless driving and speeding related to the chase.
Officer Brian Freelan reportedly started pursuing Mills after observing him driving 71 mph in a 50 mph zone on Interstate 240.
Mills was allegedly weaving in and out of traffic, according to an arrest warrant.
Both the accident and the departmentís chase policies are currently being reviewed, Chief Bill Hogan said.
Death of Swannanoa man
termed homicide by sheriff
SWANNANOA ó A
man found dead in a Swannanoa mobile home Feb. 5 was the victim of a
drug-related homicide, according to Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan.
Though the
victimís identity has not been made public, as authorities have not yet
contacted his relatives, the sheriffís office did release a picture of
the man and noted that he was in his 30s.
He reportedly
died of at least one gunshot wound to the head. He was found at 4 West
Top Dr. about 11:15 a.m. by maintenance workers at the mobile home park
where authorities believe he lived.
The sheriffís
department determined the manís identity from a Mexican driverís
license. Meanwhile, the body has been sent to Chapel Hill to be
examined.
56 dogs seized in Candler
to be offered for adoption
Fifty-six dogs
that were confiscated from a Candler home during a raid by the Buncombe
County Sheriffís Department last month will be offered up for adoption,
officials say.
The announcement follows a decision by Sue Cole, the dogsí owner, to voluntarily give them up.
The animals,
mostly Australian terriers, were found at her home living in stacked
crates with feces spilling out and many of them were exposed to the
weather.
Cole, who faces
one felony charge of animal cruelty and 17 counts of misdemeanor animal
cruelty, reportedly signed a letter relinquishing ownership of the dogs
on Feb. 2.
The Asheville
Humane Society and Australian Terrier Rescue Inc. are handling the
adoption of the dogs, 34 of whom are currently housed at the humane
society shelter.
The remaining dogs are currently being cared for at the Bed & Biscuit boarding kennel in Black Mountain.
All animals will be spayed or neutered, officials say.
Man, ex take fight on road,
resulting in head-on crash
CANDLER ó A
head-on collision last Wednesday between a Canton man and his
ex-girlfriend may have resulted from a fight the pair were having,
authorities say.
Nathan Poston,
19, was hospitalized late in the morning, after his Ford Ranger struck
a Ford Mustang driven by Wendy Fowler, 21, about 1 a.m. on N.C. 151,
three miles southwest of Asheville.
Fowler and her passenger Courtney Frizzell, 19, also were treated and released at Mission Hospitals.
Poston was
charged with driving while impaired and reckless driving. In addition,
both drivers were cited for being left of center.
The pair
reportedly began their dispute in Canton, when Poston followed the
Mustang and exchanged gestures with the three passengers in Fowlerís
vehicle.
Authorities say
Fowler dropped off two of her passengers so they could fight Poston,
but he drove around them and continued to pursue her.
Fowler then turned her car around in order to drive toward Poston and the two collided head-on, officials said.
Smoke forces evacuation
of Citizen-Times building
Asheville
Citizen-Times employees were forced to evacuate the newspaperís
downtown office Jan. 17, following reports of smoke on the third floor
of the building.
Fire department
officials received a call about the smoke about 9:45 a.m. and
discovered that the smoke was caused by the buildingís heating system.
Asheville police department
promotes four of its officers
The Asheville
Police Department promoted four of its officers in a Jan. 12 ceremony
in the auditorium of the Simpson Building at Asheville-Buncombe
Technical Community College.
Lt. Wade Wood was promoted to captain and will now be in charge of Administrative Services.
Sgt. Sean Pound was promoted to lieutenant and is now the commander of the South/Central District.
Officer Ernie Welborn was promoted to Sergeant. He remains in Criminal Investigations as a supervisor.
Officer Mike Hensley was promoted to sergeant and has been assigned to the West District.
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