Wilkesboro Assault
Two North Wilkesboro men were arrested, after police say they assaulted a man in a local parking lot while his children watched. LUis Castillo and Jose Onteveros were arrested Saturday night in the Goody's parking lot, and jailed on a 1-thousand dollar bond.

Police were called to the parking lot about 11 Saturday night. Boomer resident William Don Harris told officers he had been asked for a cigarette by one of the men, who had walked up to his car. He told him he didn't have one. After a verbal confrontaion that included the man sticking an arm inside the car, the man left. A short time later, he and the second man walked up to the car, and the second man, after being told by the first to beat up Harris, proceeded to try to do so. But Harris started the car and sped off.

He came back to the Goody's parking lot a while later to pick up his wife. The two men got in a pickup and chased him around the parking lot, making two full circles before giving up. Harris found a sheriff deputy nearby and reported the crime. The deputy called police on the radio, and they went to the Goody parking lot and arrested the two men.

Tools Stolen
A Purlear man says someone stole about 2-thousand ollars worth of proeprty form him. Dennis
Tyson tells sheirff deputies he believes he knows who took the items from his house Friday evening. Tyson says he and his family went to Boone Friday evening and returned home to find a Rigid Air Compressor, a Dewalt Miter Saw, a Dewalt Table saw, and a laser guide missing. He tells deputies the suspect has taken items from him before. So far, there have been no arrests.

Credit Card Fraud
A retired Wilkesboro woman says someone used her social security number to get a credit card, then spent over 12-hundred dollars. Gladys Castle says she lost her social security card in WalMart a couple of months ago, but never reported it to anyone. She didn't think much of it until she started getting calls forma credit card compan last week. They were demanding payment of a bill totaling 12-hundred-38 dollars. The company told her the purchase had been made at one time, in WalMart on October 9th. Castle filed a police report on the credit card fraud, and is working with the card company to resolve the matter. So far, police have not identified a suspect in the case.

Injury Crash
A Christmas Eve accident resulted in one person being taken to Wilkes Regional Medical Center by ambulance. Wilkesboro Police say Ricky Lee Faw fell asleep driving back from Boone Sunday afternoon, and went off the righ-hand side of Highway 421 near Congo Road. He slid through the right ditch, narrowly missing a guard rail, and plowed into a fire hydrant, where he came to rest. Faw was the only person in the car at the time, and he was teaken to the hospital to be checked for minor injuries. Police issued him a ticket for unsafe movement.

Soda Machine Stolen
Thieves have hit another Wilkes soda machine -- and this time, rather than simply breaking in, they loaded up the entire amchine and hauled it off. The crime was reported Christmas Eve morning at the Roaring River Fire Station. One of the firefighters drove up to the station to find the front of the building damaged and the Pepsi machine missing. Deputies believe the thieves hit the machine with a vehicle to break it off its mounting bolts. They pushed the machine into the fire station, damaging some siding and a window frame. Then the thieves loaded up the machine and hauled it off. The firefighter reporting the teft had three possible suspect names for deputies, and a location where he thought the machine could have been dumped. So far, deputies have not located the machine, valued at 4-thousand dollars, and have not made any arrests. The case remains under investigation.

Officer Used as Human Shield
A Wilkesboro police officer responding to a domestic disturbance at Lowes motel recently found himself being used as a human shield. Ronda Meadows called 9-1-1 Firday evening, reporting that her boyfriend Alfred Vannoy was beating her up. When the officer arrived, she ducked behind him, screaming for help. The officer says she showed obvious signs of having been assaulted, including multiple bruises around her eyes and face. Meadows told the officer Vannoy had started beating her out of jealousy, because he thought she was cheating on him. Police say Vannoy has had a history of this type of activity. He is being held without bond in the county jail.

Injury Crash Tuesday
A two-car crash Tuesday resulted in one driver being hurt, but refuding medical treatment. Karen Joy Draper of Kill Devil Hills was northbound on highway 421 near NC 268, and was passing a semi on the right. The semi driver changed lanes and did not see Draper's car, whcih was in his blind spot. She was forced into a guard rail, where her car spun around once and ended up facing south in the northbound lane. The semi driver was ticketed for an unsafe lane change. He was not injured.

Counterfeit Bens
Another counterfeit 100-dollar bill has turned up in a Wilkesboro business's bank deposit. A teller at Northwestern Bank made the discovery yesterday, as she counted the deposit made by a local grocery store. It's the second time recently that Wilkesboro Police have been notified of counterfeit bills showing up in bank deposits. As in the first case, the original bill has been turned over to the Secret Service. Because the bills aren't being detected until they reach the bank, there are currently no suspects in the case.

Gas Theft
Sheriff deputies arrested a Boomer man late Friday after it was reported he'd stolen a knife from a friend's kitchen and used it to cut the gas lines on an RV and siphon out the gas. 33-year old Brian Keith Hamby was found at the Wilkesboro Food LIon driving a van sith a stolen tag on it as well.

Friday evening, Jim Myers called deputies to report the gasoline theft. He'd been called by a woman, who told deputies Hamby had taken a steak knife out of a drawer in her kitchen and left. He returned later and tried to burn some clothing that had gotten gas splashed on it during the theft. He was not successful in burning the clothes, though, and deputies recovered them as evidence in the case. Deputies arrested Hamby without incident and charged him with stealing 200-dollars worth of gas from the RV, along with the 200-dollars worth of damage to the cut gas lines.

Thief Takes Guns
Sheriffs Deputies are looking for someone who broke into a Wilkes home recently and stole several weapons. The homeowner has been having a considerable amount of work done on the house the last half of this year, and told deputies it was about the middle of this month that he noticed three firearms were missing. They are a .38-caliber World-War 2 Vintage Ruger semi-automatic pistol, and .41-caliber Magnum revolvers by Smith and Wesson. The homeowner doesn't know whether any of the construction crews may have stolen the guns, or if someone else came into the house, and he doesn't know when in the last six months it happened. The case is listed as under investigation.

Gas Thief Caught
A Hamptonville woman tried every excuse in the book, but Wilkesboro police weren't taking any of it, after she was caught driving off without paying for a tank of gas. 60-year old Suzanne Veta is charged with stealing about 24 and a half dollars worth of gas from a local Kangaroo station last week. A Wilkesboro officer says she was stopped by a Highway patrol trooper a short distance away, and brought back to the station. There, she told the officer her credit card hadn't worked in the pump -- but the pumps at Kangaroo aren't set up for pay-at-the-pump. Then she rolled through a number of other excused, none of which the officer found valid for driving off without paying. After she was made to pay for the gas, the officer cited her for the theft and Kangaroo banned her from the store property.

Identity Theft
A Millers Creek woman says she isn't sure how someone got her personal information, but she wasn't aware of it until bills started showing up for two credit cards she didn't apply for. The woman reported the ID theft recently, saying someone had signed up an American Express card and a J C Penney credit card in her name, and although she did not receive the cards, bills had started arriving. Both companies have voided the cards and written off the balances, so she is not out any money. Sheriffs deputies have closed the case for a lack of leads.

Purse Stolen, Checks Inside
Another Wilkes woman will have to be on the lookout for ID theft, after somoene stole her purse. It happened outside a home on South Center Church Road early last week. The woman reports she'd gone to visit, and left her purse in the car outside. Several hours later, whe returned to find it missing. During that time, neither she or any of the neighbors saw or heard anything suspicious. She reports only 11-dollars was in the purse, but the thief did get a checkbook, which of course has her bank account number, name and address on it. Deputies list the case as under investigation.

Ask First!
A Wilkes woman has reported a family member to the sheriff's office for making long-distance phone calls on her bill without permission. Naomi Bare says the man made several calls totaling over 12-dollars in early November, to a number in Fleetwood. As they investigated, deputies found the number was unlisted, but when they called a woman answered. She said she knew the suspect, but hadn't talked to him in a while -- probably about as long as it had been since the last long-distance call on the local woman's bill. Deputies continue to follow up thte case.

Heat Pump Stolen
The owner of a vacant home in Clemons says a thief stole his heat pump. Lee Laporte reports going by the home recently, and finding the heat pump missing from its concrete pad. Someone had cut the copper oil lines, backed a vehicle up to the unit, and carted it off. Since the house is vacant, it often sits unattended for long periods of time, and neighbors say they didn't see or hear anything. Deputies continue their investigation.

Mailbox Vandalism
A rural homeowner reports someone vandalized several mailboxes outside their home recently. Maria Hart of Millers Creek woke up to find during the night someone had come by and bashed five mailboxes sitting outside her house. The boxes all belong to her family, and were attached to the same post and supports. Neighbors don't report any unusual noises that night. The case is open, but deputies say they currently have no leads.

Pit Bull Stolen, Recovered
Just hours after a Wilkes woman reported somone had broken into her house and stolen several items, including her pit bull dog, sheriff deputies had arrested the man she suspected had done it. They say the suspect, Timmy Joe Taylor, admitted taking the dog. The crime was reported last week at a house on Byrd Ridge Road. The woman arrived home from a Christmas shooping trip to find her house broken into, the dog stolen, and a gold watch and antique pearal necklace, some gifts, and some medications stolen. She told deputies the teen had said at one time the dog would make a good one to sell to a crack dealer in exchange for the drug. Deputies recovered the dog before that happened.