Brown Charges: 30+
Yet more charges have been filed against the Wilkes man who crashed at Highway 268 and School early this week, as he was trying to speed away from a crime scene. 20-year old Paul Ronald Brown Junior was served with charges Wednesday stemming from a series of car break-ins and thefts he admitted to, early Monday at the Red Carpet Inn and at Wilkes Telecommunications. The break-ins at Wilkes Phone were what he was trying to get away from when he ran a red light and smashed into another car. The charges served Wednesday include 5 counts of breaking into vehicles, and four counts of stealing something out of vehicles. They bring the count of total charges against Brown to more than 30.

New Charges Against Accused Lowes Thief
New charges have been filed against a man accused of stealing items from Lowes Home center in July. 51-year old Ronnie Lee Moore is now charged with an additional count of felonious larceny, which alleges he took more than 26-hundred dollars worth of tools and construction equipment from Lowes.

Security personnel at Lowes say after the original charges were filed, they did a detailed review of the past several months of security video from the store, and found three occasions where Moore and an unidentified white woman removed expensive items from the store without paying. The alleged thefts happened June 6th, June 9th, and July 20th. The theft with which Moore was originally charged happened July 28th. The woman, who was with Moore on each of the three earlier incidents, has not been identified or found.

Shaw Energy Hand-Held Radios Stolen
An employee of Shaw Energy arriving for work in Ferguson Wednesday found one of the company’s work trucks had been broken into, and items were stolen from inside. According to sheriff deputies, the side window of the pickup was smashed, and two Motorola two-way radios were stolen, along with some other equipment, with total value of 25-hundred dollars.

A man who lives across the street said he saw a person in a white t-shirt messing around the pickup Tuesday night, but he doesn’t know whether it was a man or a woman, and he doesn’t have any more description. The case remains under investigation.

Wilkes Art Gallery Silent Auction Saturday
Original art and other items from 150 local and regional donors will be sold at silent auction tomorrow night to support the Wilkes Art Gallery.

The Color of Money silent auction includes a cash drawdown, silent auction, pub-themed games and food and drink.

Many local artists have donated works to be auctioned including Ward Nichols, Betty Powell, Kim Lewis, Lyle Wheeler, Sylvia Coppola, Kirk Gulden, Cindy Breden, King's Pottery and many more.

It starts at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Wilkes Art Gallery.

Regional News

UNCC Fined in Fatal Fire
The state Department of Labor has fined the University of North Carolina at Charlotte $12,250 for violations found after a fire and explosion in April that killed one worker and injured four others.

The state Occupational Safety and Health Division cited the university for nine serious violations. Six of them were part of the state code for electrical power generation, transmission and distribution.

UNCC spokesman Tony Hoppa said School officials didn't realize those rules applied to the school because the university doesn't transmit or generate power.

Emergency crews were responding to a power outage on campus in April when a flash-fire and explosion occurred on the east part of campus.

Electrician Ed Seamon died from his injuries August 16tn at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center in Chapel Hill.

Black, Staffers Subpoenaed
House Speaker Jim Black and three of his staff members have been subpoenaed to testify in the trial of a former state lottery commissioner accused of hiding his ties to a lottery company. The trial of former commissioner Kevin Geddings is scheduled to begin Wednesday in Raleigh federal court. A grand jury indicted him in May on nine counts of mail and wire fraud.

Besides Black, prosecutors have asked general counsel Dianna Jessup, communications director Julie Robinson and policy and member relations analyst Angie Whitener to testify during the trial

Prosecutors accuse Geddings, a Black appointee, of misleading state officials by not reporting that his consulting firm received nearly $230,000 between 2001 and 2005 either from Scientific Games International or a company it later acquired.

Geddings resigned from the commission in November, hours before Scientific Games disclosed his financial relationship with the firm.

Judge: Shacking Up Okay
A Superior Court judge says the state's law barring unmarried couples from living together is unconstitutional and he has blocked state officials from enforcing it.

The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said the decision puts an end statewide to a law that many believe is outdated and intrusive, while legal experts had varying opinions about who would have to comply with the judge's order, issued Wednesday.

Neither the state Attorney General's office nor Attorney General Roy Cooper, a defendant in the case, would comment.

The ACLU sued last year to overturn the law on behalf of Debora Hobbs, a former Pender County sheriff's dispatcher who said Sheriff Carson Smith told her to get married, move out or find another job after he found out she and her boyfriend had been living together for three years. The couple did not want to get married, so Hobbs quit in 2004.

Brown Charged with More Crimes
It looks like the crime spree that was broken with an arrest Monday was longer than just a few days. Ronald Paul Brown Junior faced more than twenty charges when he was booked into jail after crashing while he was trying to get away from a crime scene Monday morning. He now faces at least three more charges, for crimes dating back nearly two months. In written statements, Brown admitted to breaking into a store and taking cash and cigarettes, and being scared off from another store by an alarm system that went off when he broke in. Officers continue to interview him, and other charges may be forthcoming.

Stealing Pop Machine Money -- With a Key
Last week, someone broke into two vending machines to steal money. This week a thief simply used a key. Sheriff Deputies say it appears someone has obtained a copy of a Pepsi machine master key, because security tapes from Lackey’s Market in Boomer clearly show a man opening the machine about 3:45 a.m. Monday to steal the money box. About 55-dollars in change was taken. The thief is reported to be a white male, about 6-4, 250 pounds, with thinning short hair. He was seen leaving in a small 2-door car. So far, deputies have no other suspect information.

ATV Trailer Theft
An ATV trailer has been stolen from Lowes in Wilkesboro, perhaps to go along with the ATV stolen in the county over the weekend. In spite of the theft of the trailer happening Sunday night, Lowes employees didn’t report it to police until yesterday (Tuesday). Employees do a count of all the outside merchandise each night at closing, and again the next morning. Monday morning’s count showed the trailer was missing, and closer inspection revealed someone had cut the three-quarter inch cable that tied it to the other trailers nearby. A broken tail light lens was found on the ground, leading employees to believe whoever stole the ATV trailer whacked it into the next trailer as they drove off. The missing trailer is described as a 6-by-12 ATV trailer with ramps on the back and right side for loading.

Wilkes Homes Broken Into
Two Wilkes residents report suffering break-ins over the last couple of days, and both have provided sheriff deputies with possible suspects.

The first happened Sunday afternoon, but wasn’t reported until yesterday (Tuesday). Over two-thousand dollars worth of home items were stolen from a Millers Creek resident, who arrived home to find his front door standing wide open. Deputies have spoken to a suspect in the case, but have not made any arrests so far.

Someone broke into a house outside Elkin home early this morning and stole over one-thousand dollars worth of property, then grabbed the keys to a Firebird sitting outside and stole the car, too. Misty Smoot told deputies she believes she knows who did it, because only certain people know where some of the items were hidden. The stolen car is a burgundy 1985 Firebird. The incident report does not list a tag number.

Plastic Trash Can Burned at Local High School
An employee at East Wilkes High School arrived at work yesterday to find a melted trash can in the corner of the school cafeteria. Someone apparently set the can on fire, as the top had melted away and the aluminum cans inside were smoky, as was the nearby wall. The can is located next to a rear exit, which is presumably how the firebug got in and out, because there was no evidence that the building was broken into. No fire alarms were set off. Deputies do not have a suspect yet.

Drug Charges after Traffic Stop
Two Wilkes residents are cooling their heels behind bars, after being arrested early today at a roadside traffic check. 55-year old Edward James Woodie and 23-year old Amanda Shay Barfield face cocaine possession and drug paraphernalia charges.


Regional News

Winston-Salem Pastor Indicted
The pastor of a Winston-Salem church has been indicted by a Burke County grand jury on charges of sexually assaulting a 15-year old girl, according to Burke County authorities.

45-year old Gregory Michael Butler Sr., 45, of Winston-Salem, was arrested in Forsyth County and returned to Burke County on Tuesday afternoon. Butler is the pastor of Emmanuel Apostolic Church in Winston-Salem.

Butler was charged on the indictments with two counts of felony statutory rape, two counts of felony statutory sexual offenses, and two counts of felony indecent liberties with a minor. He was jailed under a $100,000 secured bond. He was assigned a court date of Oct. 23.

Yadkin County: Yes and No on Liquor
Voters in two Yadkin County communities were split Tuesday on the sale of beer and mixed drinks and the presence of liquor stores.

In Yadkinville, voters approved liquor stores, malt beverages, and mixed drinks. In Jonesville, voters turned down all three.

Wayne County Deputy Fired for DWI
A Wayne County sheriff's deputy was fired after the state Highway Patrol said he got drunk and smashed his patrol car into a guardrail in neighboring Johnston County.

22-year old Deputy Matthew Sasser was fired Tuesday within hours of being charged with driving while impaired, Wayne County Sheriff Carey Aaron Winders said. A blood sample drawn from Sasser five hours after the crash found a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent, the level at which drivers in North Carolina are considered impaired.

A passer-by spotted the deputy's wrecked patrol car about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. Sasser suffered scratches and bruises in the accident.

Child Appeals Murder Conviction
The South Carolina Supreme Court will hear arguments next month in Christopher Pittman's appeal of his murder conviction for killing his grandparents in 2001 in their Chester County home.

During a trial last year in Charleston that attracted nationwide attention, Pittman's defense maintained that Pittman, who was 12 at the time of the killings, was involuntarily intoxicated by the antidepressant Zoloft and didn't know right from wrong.

Andy Vickery, Pittman's attorney, has appealed saying that there were errors in the trial and that sentencing a juvenile to 30 years amounts to unconstitutional punishment.

The appeal also contends that Pittman, now 17, did not have the capacity to form criminal intent and was denied a speedy trial.

The justices are scheduled to hear arguments Oct. 5.

Crime Spree, Busted
Wilkesboro Police think they’ve put a stop to a recent rash of items being stolen from cars around town. It came after a few moments of excitement yesterday (Monday) morning, when a man trying to speed away from a crime scene caused a wreck by running a stop light.

An officer was sitting at School Street and Highway 268 when the car wrecked, and saw it all. The car matched the description of one wanted in a car break-in earlier in the morning at Red Carpet Inn.

Sergeant Donald Thornton says 20-year old Paul Ronald Brown Junior was trying to get away from Wilkes Telecommunications, after a woman there confronted him while he was trying to steal items from her car. He’d already gotten about one-thousand dollars worth of property from other cars in the lot.

Brown also admitted stealing stereo equipment from two cars at the Red Carpet. Officers found drug paraphernalia with cocaine residue in his trunk. All told, Brown faces nearly 20 charges, and a car similar to his was seen at other crime scenes in the county over the weekend. He has not officially been connected to those crimes.

Reverse is the First Click, Not the Third
A man trying to back out of the Flower Bread Company parking lot yesterday (Monday) afternoon put the car in drive instead of reverse, and slammed into the building. Although the wreck caused significant damage to the building, neither the man or anyone inside was hurt. Police say no tickets were issued in relation to the crash.

Deputies Nearly Run Over, Give Chase
Sheriff’s Deputies chased a man for several miles early this morning, after he tried to run over them during a driver’s license check. Deputies Gene Wyatt and Harper Hartley narrowly missed being hit by the car, which had pulled up to the check lane on Highway 268 East as if they planned to stop. Neither deputy was hurt, and Hartley dashed back to his car to chase down the two people in the car. They finally stopped at the Phillips 66 at 268 and Airport Road, with deputies and a Highway Patrol Trooper right behind.

23-year old Gary Dean Laws tried to run off, but stopped when ordered to by officers. He was found to be carrying a pair of brass knuckles and a baggie that tested positive for cocaine residue. Laws was also wanted on other warrants. The second occupant, 33-year old Kimberly Denise Sloop, was also arrested on drug charges, along with a charge of aiding in the commission of a felony.

Stolen Car Recovered
Sheriff Deputies have recovered a stolen car, after they were alerted by Valdese Police that it might be coming to Wilkes. The 1992 Cadillac was stolen yesterday (Monday) morning from the Burke County town, and police traced the suspected thief to an address in North Wilkesboro. When they went by the house, deputies didn’t find the car, but they spotted it later in the 100 block of Euclid. The driver, Antoine Nigel Sloan, was the person being sought in the car theft in Valdese. He has been arrested and charged in Wilkes with possession of a stolen vehicle.

More Mailboxes Run Over
More rural Wilkes homeowners are having to replace mailboxes because someone has hit them with a car. In two separate incidents this weekend, residents on Pads Road and on Boone Trail say cars demolished their mailboxes. Both happened in the overnight hours, and nobody heard anything unusual either night. There are no suspects at this time.

Regional News

Yadkin Alcohol Vote
Voters in Yadkin County are considering a measure today that would bring the sale of beer and mixed drinks to Yadkinville and Jonesville. Yadkin County is one of seven counties in the state without a liquor store.

We’ll have the results of that vote, later this week on 3WC News.

"Education" Lottery Won't Fix School Money Woes
Don’t expect the so-called “education” lottery to solve North Carolina’s education funding problems. That word today from the State Lottery Chairman, who stepped down as planned a little over a year after the lottery was set up.

The lottery's creation was approved by narrow votes last year in the Legislature. It has been dogged from the start with questions about ethics and its creation. Three commissioners resigned in the early stages.

N.C.-based Soldier Detained in Russia
An American soldier stationed in North Carolina has been detained in Moscow in the death of a Russian relative of his wife, the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday.

28-year old Christopher Garner, was detained Saturday after turning himself in to Russian police, who are investigating the death of his wife's uncle in the far eastern city of Khabarovsk, the embassy said. Garner is an active duty enlisted man in the Army and is based at Fort Bragg, the embassy said, adding that U.S. military authorities were looking into the matter.

Maj. James Crabtree, a spokesman for Fort Bragg, said Garner has been on leave from the base since Sept. 3. He said the U.S. State Department was handling the case.

Prominent Duke Energy Exec to Retire
One of Duke Energy Corp.'s most prominent executives over the last decade is retiring. Ruth Shaw has been with the company since 1992, including a period as president and CEO of Duke Power Co. from 2003 to 2006. She plans to retire next April.

After her retirement, Duke said Shaw would continue as a consultant to Duke Energy chief James Rogers and his leadership team. The company is spinning off its gas business to concentrate on its electric operations.

Death Investigation
Wilkes Sheriff Deputies are investigating the Saturday death of a man who died at a friend’s home. 32-year old Jerry Wyatt was found Saturday morning on the floor of a bedroom. His friend, Stacy Church, says Wyatt had been drinking Friday night, and staggered to the bedroom about 11pm to get some sleep. An autopsy has been ordered.

Laptop Computer Stolen
Sheriff Deputies are looking into the theft of a laptop computer from the back seat of an S-U-V in a local grocery store parking lot this weekend. Freddy Sizemore of Moravian Falls says he went to Food Lion Sunday evening, and was in the store about 15 minutes. When he got back to the parking lot, he saw the glove compartment in his Ford Explorer had been gone through, and his wife’s laptop computer had been stolen from the back seat. Food Lion security cameras show a man getting in and out of several cars in the parking lot, then leaving in an older model Buick with a missing driver’s side front hubcap.

Similar Car Description in Gas Drive-Off
An older-model Buick is also the car being sought for a gas drive-off about half an hour earlier on Statesville Road. The clerk at Run-In Food says someone put about 31-dollars worth of gas in that Buick, then sped off. The clerk didn’t get a description of the driver, and the tag number he wrote down did not match any plate issued in North Carolina. Deputies say the fact that the clerk waited an hour to report the crime is a factor in their not having any suspects in the case.

Stereo, Speakers, CDs Stolen from Car
A Moravian Falls man tells sheriff deputies two-thousand dollars worth of stereo equipment and CD’s were stolen from his car Sunday night. Daniel Summerfield says he was inside a local business from about 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and when he came out, he found his speaker box, two amplifiers, and CD player, along with a case holding 100 CD’s, was gone. The glove compartment in the station wagon was also gone through, but Summerfield says he doesn’t think anything was taken.

Missing: 2007-model Utility Trailer
Someone stole a brand new utility trailer from next to a rural Wilkes home Saturday. Mark Elledge, says the 2007 Model Hurst trailer was parked right next to the house, secured with a chain. Someone cut the chain and made off with the trailer, although Elledge says he never heard anything. The trailer is described as a black, 6-and-a-half foot by 12 foot trailer with white wheels and a fold down rear gate. It has minor damage to the left-hand side rail.

Left the Keys in the 4-Wheeler, Now It's Gone
A Hays woman says a four-wheeler was stolen from her yard over the weekend. Brandi Busic says she and her boyfriend had been riding four-wheelers late Saturday night, and parked them in her hard about 1 a.m. Sunday. When she woke up about 10 a.m., her ATV was gone. She’d left the key in it. The missing four-wheeler is described as a yellow and black 2000 Honda 450 model, valued at about three-thousand dollars.

C-Store Bandit Foiled
It appears there was no joy early Saturday for whoever has been breaking into Wilkes convenience stores and stealing cigarettes. This time, the thief broke a window panel in the back door of Reggie’s Service Station just outside Wilkesboro. Store owner Reggie Colvard found the damage when he opened the store Saturday. The would-be thief wasn’t able to get the door open, though, and so nothing was taken.

DWI, Other Charges After Sunday Wreck
Combine a large amount of alcohol, a little anger, and a vehicle, and the outcome usually isn’t too good. Sheriff deputies say that’s the short version of what happened Sunday night in a local mobile home park, leading to the arrest of a 30-year old woman on DWI and multiple other charges. According to deputies, Julie Goad Roberts said she was mad, as she backed out of a parking space in the park and slammed into a pickup parked across the street. They say she reeked of booze, and later blew a point-19, more than twice the legal limit, on the Intoxilyzer. Damage to the pickup is valued at over 500 dollars.

Regional News:

Mushroom Recall
A California company is recalling 10-thousand cases of mushrooms, some of which were shipped to North Carolina. Monterrey Mushrooms says its fresh sliced white and baby bella mushrooms may be contaminated with Listeria. The organism causes flu-like symptoms in otherwise healthy adults, but can cause fatal illnesses in infants, the elderly, and those with weak immune systems.

The mushrooms are packaged in several sizes of foam boxes and 10-ounce plastic bags, They were packed at Monerrey’s plant in Pennsylvania and shipped ot North Carolina and six other eastern states.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

Autopsy Confirms Boys Drowned
A preliminary report released Monday by the state Medical Examiner's Office said the Stokes County boys whose bodies were found last week had drowned.

A kayaker found the body of J.W. White, 4, on Friday, and rescuers found the body of his brother, 3-year-old Jacob. Both were found about four miles south of Danbury.

It brought an end to a search that spanned about 72 hours and involved hundreds of rescue personnel and local volunteers.

Fatal Crash Near Yadkinville
A Hamptonville man was killed Saturday night in a three-vehicle wreck at an Interstate 77 interchange near Yadkinville.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol said 57-year-old Timothy Gray Holcomb was driving a pickup truck that clipped an SUV he was passing near mile marker 74. His truck then went under the big-rig on I-77, causing it to overturn and spill its cargo of boxes onto the interstate.

Nurse Charged in 2001 Patient Death
Police charged a nurse Friday in the death of a woman she was taking care of in 2001.

Authorities said the Homicide Cold Case Unit determined Sally Jordan Hill, 50, of Matthews, is responsible for the death of Sandra Baker Joyner on April 15, 2001.

Joyner went to the Center for Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery in Charlotte on April 10 for an outpatient surgical procedure. According to authorities, the mini facelift surgery went well and Joyner was awake and talking when she was put in a recovery room.

Hill, a certified registered nurse anesthetist at the practice, was monitoring Joyner's progress. Officers said after a short time in the recovery Joyner became unresponsive and went into respiratory arrest.

Medical staff at the cosmetic surgery center tried to resuscitate Joyner before she was transported by paramedics to Mercy Hospital Main.

The mother of two died five days later.

Authorities say Hill gave Joyner a fatal dose of Fentanyl. No charges were filed initially, but someone contacted the district attorney's office in January with new information.