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Tuesday, 10 April 2007 18:39 |
Man strikes officer, tears off radar antenna, police say
A man who Asheville police allege grabbed and struck an officer and tore the radar antenna off a police car faces charges of assaulting a police officer and injuring personal property. He was arrested last Sunday morning.
Joseph Lee Pearey, 26, a resident of Hanover Street, is also charged with driving without a license or registration, trespassing, resisting an officer and possession of marijuana. His bond was set at $2,000.
Pair charged with robbery in presence of juvenile
Asheville police arrested two men last Saturday on charges of robbery
with a handgun in the presence of a juvenile, as well as additional
charges of robbery with a handgun.
Aaron Jay Holland, 20, a resident of Asheville, is being held on a
$50,000 bond, and Richard Thomas Sanders, 18, a resident of Swannanoa,
is being held on a $70,000 bond.
Deputies say man failed to register as sex offender
A Swannanoa resident, Dwight Anthony Shelton, 27, was arrested last
Saturday by Buncombe County Sheriffís deputies on charges of failing to
register as a sex offender, according to arrest warrants.
Shelton, who is being held on a $2,200 bond, also is charged with
unsafe movement and driving without a license and registration.
Asheville officers arrest
6 in unrelated drug cases
Asheville police last Saturday arrested three people in separate, drug-related incidents.
Marcus Allen Walker, 19, of Dogwood Court was charged with possesion
with intent to sell three grams of cocaine. He is being held on a
$5,000 bond.
Police also charged Timica Shera Brooks, 34, with possession and
delivery of cocaine, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia.
Brooks, a resident of Buchanan Avenue, is being held on a $3,000 bond.
Michael Brandon Duckworth, 25, of Oak Hill Road was chared with
possession of cocaine with intent to sell. He is being held on a $1,000
bond.
City police last Wednesday also arrested three people on unrelated drug charges, including:
ï David Reuben Fowler, 21, of Wilmington on charges of possession of Ecstasy, prescription drugs and marijuana.
ï Henry Lee Marvels Jr., 38, of Huntington Street on charges of
possession of cocaine with intent to sell and possession of drug
paraphernalia.
ï Patricia Reese Angel, 44, of Williamsburg Place with selling or delivering marijuana and keeping a vehicle for drug use.
Man who pretended to be
Asheville officer sentenced
ROCHESTER, N.Y. ó A New York man was sentenced to five years in prison
for impersonating a U.S. marshal in Asheville, N.C., in a ploy to
obtain prescriptions for drugs.
Jonathan L. Merino, 51, pled guilty in a federal court in his hometown
of Rochester last Wednesday to charges of impersonating a federal
officer, acquiring drugs by fraud and using counterfeit checks in New
York.
According to court transcripts, Merino admitted that he told a doctor
at Community Family Practice and a pharmacist at Target that he was a
federal marshal who had been injured on the job, lost his wife in
Hurricane Katrina and had recently relocated to Asheville.
Merino was able to acquire prescriptions for Nexium, Oxycontin and Lidex cream.
Trio charged with stealing
from honeymoonersí car
Three people were arrested last Thursday on charges that include
identity theft after they allegedly stole credit cards and electronics
from the car of a couple that was camping in the Pisgah National Forest
on their honeymoon.
Officials with the U.S. Forest Service say that the two Candler men and
a Marion woman confessed to the crime and admitted to buying
skateboards and fast food with the stolen credit cards.
Charged were Jessica Casey Nicole Barrier, Wiliam Ford Dixon and Michael W. Evers.
The two men allegedly used a rock to break the window of Jonathan and
Jacquelyn Brandymeyerís Saturn before stealing the cards, as well as a
laptop computer and MP3 player.
The Brandmeyers reported $2,319 in damages and missing property.
Asheville resident charged
with trying to shoot his wife
A man was arrested last Wednesday on charges that he tried to shoot his
wife at their home in Vanderbilt Apartments on Haywood Street.
Police charged Charlie Robert Glance, 61, with assault with a deadly
weapon with intent to kill, communicating threats and discharging a
firearm within city limits.
Glance reportedly fired his handgun three times in the apartment where
he had been living with his wife for six years. No one was hurt.
Authorities with the apartment building said that while residents are
allowed to possess handguns, the weapons are required to be locked up
and away from ammunition.
Glance could be evicted in addition to the criminal charges he now faces.
He was being held at the Buncombe County Jail while he awaits a bond hearing.
7 facing federal charges
related to car break-ins
Seven Asheville-area residents were indicted on federal charges April 3
related to a series of car break-ins in Bent Creek and other popular
recreation spots frequented by mountain bikers.
A grand jury has accused the suspects of breaking into at least nine
vehicles, stealing credit cards and using them to make purchases from
Wal-Mart, Target and other stores. The charges include conspiracy to
commit identity theft and other crimes.
So far, six members of the ring have been arrested, including the
groupís alleged ringleader, Luis Francisco Camacho, 21; Anthony David
Sexton, 19; Stephanie M. Parker, 33; Jamel Richard Moore, 22; James
Augustus Williams, 24; and Neal Jesse Joiner, 21.
The seventh suspect, Elizabeth Leal Garcia, 22, has not yet been caught.
The U.S. Forest Service led the investigation into the thefts, which
also took place at Beaver Lake Park and near Looking Glass Rock in
Transylvania County between December and January.
Convict in ë77 murder now
faces drug, gun charges
A woman who served 12 years in prison for killing a woman during an
armed robbery at a Biltmore Forest hair salon now has been arrested in
Virginia on drug and gun charges.
Carol Snow Bowen, 51, is accused of manufacturing a controlled
substance, possession of a firearm as a felon and fleeing charges in
North Carolina, according to Virginia Beach, Va., officials.
Bowen had previously served time for the shooting death of Lucy Reeves DeNardo, 74, on Dec. 28, 1977.
According to court testimony about the murder 30 years ago, Bowen
entered Lloydís Salon of Hair Styling on Hendersonville Road wearing a
ski mask and wielding a pistol and demanded money.
During the robbery, her gun went off, killing DeNardo, who was a receptionist at the salon.
Bowen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and claimed that she was a
drug addict and had robbed the shop to pay for her habit.
At the time, she said, she was spending as much as $500 a day on illegal access to prescription drugs.
Man charged with holding marijuana on jail premises
ASHEVILLE ó Police arrested Mark Timothy Anderson, 18, on March 14 for
allegedly possessing marijuana on jail premises. Bond for the resident
of Davidson Drive was set at $1,500.
Man charged with driving
while drunk without license
Asheville police on March 14 arrested Efrain Carrillo Mojarro, 17, on
charges of driving after drinking, driving without a license and
obstructing justice. A $12,000 bond was levied on the Black Locust
Drive resident.
Former UNCA employee
challenges her dismissal
A woman who was fired last summer from her position at UNC Asheville
after 22 years challenged her dismissal March 13 at an administrative
hearing.
Cindy Branton Lane, who was the director of printing services at the
school, was fired after the school charged she had violated
anti-nepotism rules by hiring her sister and failing to complete
required paperwork.
However, Laneís attorney, Paul Bidwell, reportedly argued that the
sister, a former UNCA employee, was hired for a two-day job to help
Lane assemble the May 2006 Commencement programs.
Furthermore, Bidwell said, nepotism has been a common practice at the
university. He reportedly added that the firing may have stemmed from a
desire on the part of the administration to outsource printing services.
The appeal comes amid a growing outcry on the part of UNCA faculty and
students over a number of terminations of long-time employees. School
officials, however, have argued that turnover has not increased since
Chancellor Anne Ponder was installed.
In her appeal, Lane has requested reinstatement, back pay and attorneyís fees. A ruling in the case is expected this month.
Roberson student faces
deportation to El Salvador
A teenage student at Ashevilleís T.C. Roberson High School who is
facing deportation to her native El Salvador will get a trial this
month, a federal judge ruled in March.
Students have led a community drive to convince immigration officials
to allow 17-year-old Rubidia Carballo to stay in the country.
Carballo, a junior at the high school, has lived in the U.S. since she was eight.
Friends of the teen have expressed concerns that she would be unsafe
returning to El Salvador by herself and without many relatives there.
Her deportation trial is scheduled for April 23 in an Atlanta federal
court. During the hearing, lawyers on both sides of the question will
argue whether she should be allowed to stay with her family in
Asheville or forced to return to El Salvador, where 36 percent of the
population lives in poverty.
Several members of Carballoís family have lived here as long as 15
years under federal laws that allow citizens of countries undergoing
armed conflict or other extraordinary temporary conditions to enjoy
asylum in the U.S. Carballo lost her status last year.
Certification lag may nullify
dozens of DWI convictions
Dozens of DWI convictions may be overturned because of one officerís
failure to renew his Intoxilyzer certification, District Attorney Ron
Moore announced last month.
About 50 people who either had been convicted of DWI or had cases
pending received letters from Mooreís office notifying them that
Officer Matt Riceís certification to use the blood-alcohol testing
machine had lapsed.
Rice had reportedly learned of the lapse in January. His certification had expired while he was serving in Iraq.
North Carolina law mandates that law-enforcement officers trained to
use the Intoxilyzer machines must attend a one-day course every two
years to renew their certifications, according to health officials.
Because Riceís certification had lapsed, any evidence based on tests he
conducted between October 2005 and October 2006 is now inadmissable,
Moore said.
Nonetheless, other evidence can still be used to convict those people
and at least two people charged by Rice were recently convicted without
the inclusion of the Intoxilyzer test as evidence.
Internal police task force
formed to take on graffiti
The Asheville Police Department has formed an internal task force to combat graffiti in the downtown area.
The task force includes patrol officers from each police district and an investigator from the Criminal Investigations Division.
Police are using digital cameras to document the graffiti and the individual styles used in various incidents.
As a result of the stepped-up efforts, three people have been charged
with graffiti-related crimes, including John Molnar, 24, of Pearson
Drive; and Brandon Teffner, 17, and Jesse Scott-Zinni, 18, of
Hendersonville.
Molnar initially was charged with two counts of damaging property and
defacing a public building after he allegedly vandalized property on
Haywood Street on Feb. 23.
However, a subsequent search of his home reportedly revealed more
evidence, leading to two additional charges of damage to property
downtown.
Teffner and Scott-Zinni were charged with damaging property on Carolina Lane.
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 was not been made public, as authorities
had 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. The body was sent to Chapel Hill to be examined.
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