C-Store Clerk Attacked

A Wilkes woman was arrested Sunday
morning, after the clerk at a local convenience store says she not only
stole something, but attacked the clerck when she tried to stop her.
The theft and assault were reported just before 6 Sunday morning at the
Run-In on Oakwoods.



The clerk tells police a woman, later
identified as 44-year old Terry Lynn Spears, came into the store and
tucked a bottle of Mad-Dog 20-20 into her coat. The clerk followed
Spears outside, where Spears turned on her and decked her, breaking her
glasses. A man riding in Spears' car made no effort to help. After
hitting the clerk, spears hopped in the car and drove off. The clerk
did not seek medical treatment.



Another officer located Spears a
few hours later in an apartment on Industrial Drive. She admitted to
stealing the wine and hitting the clerk, and told the officer she was
embarrassed that the event had happened while she was drunk. Spears was
arrested on a misdemeanor theft charge, along with assault and driving
without a license. She is scheduled for court the last day of February.



State Laptop Stolen, Thousands Have to Watch for ID Theft

Thousands
of North Carolinians are vulnerable after the laptop of a state
employee was stolen. The State Department of Revenue says a thief broke
into the car of one of its workers in December and took the computer
containing personal information. Now it's possible social security
numbers and sensitive material are unprotected.



A laptop
computer with the taxpayer records, names, social security numbers and
federal employee ID codes of more than 30,000 are out in the open.
Unsuspecting, potential victims like Huff are exposed to identity theft.



State
officials urge those who receive a letter notifying them their records
were on that computer to monitor their credit report regularly for a
while, to head off identity theft at the pass.



Soda Machine Burglar

A
burglar who's into hitting soda machines is getting somewhat more
sophisitcated. Over the weekend, someon used a key to open the Pepsi
machine at Locks Carpet Shop. Once inside the machine, the thief took
the change unit and all the change inside it, and left. Total value of
the device and money is about 600-dollars. There were no security
cameras, so deputies have no suspects or leads right now.



Home Break-In

Sheriff
deputies have a few leads to go on, in relation to a home break-in
reported Friday evening. Andy Porter tells deputies his wife locked the
house up tight when she left for work about 10 Friday morning, but when
she got home, she found someone had pried open the back door and gone
in the house. The only items found missing were two, $2-bills. Porter
says there were a number of other valuable items in the bedroom where
the money was taken from, but they were undisturbed. The burglar did
damage a wall in the bedroom, apparently with a flashlight. Total
damage to the house is about 250-dollars.



Neighbors say they
noticed a burgundy station wagon at the house Friday while the Porters
were gone. In spite of never having seen the car before, the neighbors
say they didn't get a good look at who was in it, and didn't think
enough of it to call deputies to come check it out.



Embezzlement Alleged

A
local convenience store owner believes a part-time employee is
responsible for the theft of 45-hundred dollars from the store
Thursday. Pat Patel, owner of Pure for Sure, says when he opened up
Thursday morning, he noticed a couple of locked doors weren't exactly
like he'd left them when he locked up Wednesday night. He says a
part-time worker knew where he kept the register key and the password
to disarm the alarm, Other than the missing cash, nothing else had been
distrurbed. Deputies have talked to the woman, who denies any
involvement. they list the case as still under investigation.



Assault Suspect Held

A
Wilkesboro man was jailed on a 1-thousand dollar bond, police say he
beat up another man. A police officer on the way to assist 29-year old
David Kilby early Saturday encountered 45-year old Spencer Buren Markle
riding a scooter away from the reported crime scene. The officer pulled
over Markle and arrested him without incident, and Kilby identified him
as the man who'd hit him.



Kilby had first made contact with a
highway patrol trooper outside Four Brothers on Westwood Lane. The
trooper was on the way back to Kilby's house to meet the Wilkesboro
Police officer when the officer encountered Markle. The crime report
does not list any injuries to Kilby.



Alcohol + Guns = Not Good

Sheriff
deputies say a group of drunk friends got together recently and decided
it would be fun to fire guns into the woods outside the house. A
neighbor reported hearing the shots about midnight January 6th, and
deputies went to a house on Edsel Road in Traphill to follow up.



They
found about 30 shotgun shells littering the front yard, and three
people in the house. The people said no one there had been shooting any
weapons. Deputies searched the home and found two shotguns and a rifle
in a back bedroom. Then one of the people, a woman, said another person
had been doing the shooting, but she'd run when deputies showed up.
That version of the story sounded good, everyone in the house thought,
so that's what they agreed happened.



It was pretty obvious to
the deputy that the group was intoxicated, and for their own safety he
confiscated the shotguns and rifle. The deputy told them to let the gun
owner know he could pick up the guns at the sheriff's office.
Yesterday, one of the women at the party called the deputy and told him
the guns were hers. Fine, he told her, all she needed in order to pick
them up was proof of ownership.



Deputies Turn Over Leads in Tiller Theft

You
never know what a thief will happen on that looks good to steal at a
praticular moment. Case in point: a 2-cycle roto-tiller taken from a
front porch in WIlkes this week. It certainly isn't the time of year
that anyone would have use for a tiller, but Ella Gregory says hers
disappeared sometime between Christmas morning and early Monday. It was
sitting out on the front porch, unsecured, so no one is really sure
when it disappeared.



Evict Us, and We'll Tear Up the Place

Undoubtedly
some angry words were exchanged during an incident a Wilkes property
owner believes sparked an attempted break-in at one of his rentals.
Paul Whitley tells deputies he threw out two tenants from a mobile home
on his property over the weekend. He reports both got rather angry, but
left without causing any damage. Monday afternoon, he found the back
door of the mobile home had been pried open and several places inside
the house damaged. The bedroom door had been kicked down, and wires
were cut in the bedroom and the kitchen area. He remembers hearing dogs
barking about 3 Sunday morning, and he thinks he saw someone runinng
away from the house. He believes the evicted tenants are to blame for
the damage, valued at 200-dollars. So far, deputies have not made any
arrests.



Stealing Gas 101: Two Different Methods

Two
thieves decided they needed some fuel for their cars in the past few
days, and they chose very different ways to get some without paying.



A
clerk at Creekside Grocery reported last Thursday afternoon the driver
of a burgundy car pulled up, pumped 33-dollars in gas, and drove off.
The clerk followed the couple in the car home, and when she confronted
them, they told her they'd be back into the store Friday to pay for the
gas. She wasn't able to get their name, but she did write down the car
tag number. Deputies ran the tag and it belonged to that kind of car,
owned by a Wilkesboro man. Since that time, they have not seen the car
or the man to follow up on the drive-off.



Yesterday, a thief
decided to take the less risky route, and just dump the gas out a can
in the back of someone else's pickup. David Harrold of Traphill tells
deputies whoever stole the gas, about 5 dollars worth, also appeared to
have gone into his out buliding, because there were some things moved
around in there. But it didn't appear anything had been taken.
Neighbors don't report hearing anything unusual during the night.

Wilkes Native Benny Parsons Dies of Lung Cancer
NASCAR Legend Benny Parsons is dead. Officials at Carolinas Medical
Center in Charlotte announced the 65-year old Parsons, a Wilkes native,
had died this morning of lung cancer. His obituary on NASCAR.com says
the former self-proclaimed Detroit taxi driver-turned-NASCAR racer
never forgot his humble rural North Carolina roots, and it came through
in every aspect of his life.

Even though he gained fame as the 1973 Winston Cup champion and winner
of the 1975 Daytona 500, Parsons understood that as a broadcast
analyst, it was his job to aim the spotlight away from himself. He was
readmitted to Carolinas Medical Center the day after Christmas, after
annoucning his cancer had gone into remission in October. Hospital
officials say his condition steadily worsened once he went back to the
hospital. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Woman Assaults Husband
Wilkes County Sheriff Deputies arrested a woman recently for assaulting her husband. Deputies arrived at the domestic disturbance call to find Coley Scott Wilson and his wife Debra fighting in the front yard. She was drunk, and had driven her car up under the mobile home, getting it stuck under the house frame. The officer tried to calm her down, but she turned around and pushed Mr. Wilson and kicked him in the groin. The deputy arrested Mrs. Wilson for assault, and took her to jail -- all the way insisting that she should be able to drive her car, in spite of getting it stuck under the house. Mr. Wilson did not seek medical attention.

Forged Check - Plus 18 months
Somehow, it took almost a year and a half for a forged check to be recognized as a forgery. At lest that's what sheriff deputies were told by a rural Wilkes woman. She says her bank called her early this month and said a check she had deposited in September 2005, which was written for 5-thousand dollars, had been determined to be a forgery. Annette Harris tells deputies her brother in law had deposited the check in her account, saying it had come from a vendor he had dealings with. So far, charges have not been filed locally in relation tot he case.

Lowe's Hall Opens at WCC
Students started classes this semester in a new science and technology building that is the centerpiece of an $8.4 million expansion at Wilkes Community College. The new building is named Lowe's Hall, in honor of the long-term support provided to the college by Lowe's, the hardware company founded in Wilkes County. The WInston-Salem Journal reports Lowe's Hall is the tallest building at the college and connects the upper and lower campuses. People can ride glass-walled elevators four stories up to a walkway to the Walker Center. The elevator and walkway have greatly improved the college's accessibility for handicapped people. There are 149 steps that connect the upper and lower campuses, and many people drive around rather than taking the stairs.

Heritage Grants
Three Wilkes county groups were among the latest round of grant recipients from the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. The grants announced recently total more than $340,000 for 18 projects meant to preserve and promote Western North Carolina's heritage.

• The county was awarded $20,000 to study the feasibility and economic impact of the multi-county Yadkin River Heritage Corridor Partnership initiative.

• The Save Our Wilkes County History Committee got $5,000 for a project creating videotapes of 100 oral histories.

• Old Wilkes Inc., the non-profit group that runs the Wilkes Heritage Museum in the old Wilkes County Courthouse, got $7,016 for a museum exhibit about the region's music.

Underage Driving
A 15-year old girl was recently arrested for underage driving. A Wilkes County Sheriff Deputy heard a broadcast concerning the girl, who was said by North WIlkesbor Police to be intoxicated as well as under age, early last Thursday morning. He found the girl stopped along Hunter Road, with the car still in the roadway. She said she had run out of gas. The girl told the deputy her mother had given her the car keys and let her leave an address on old Highway 60. The deputy arrested the girl and impounded the car.

Police Chase/Crash
A Wilkes sheriff deputy escaped injury when a man trying to get away crashed into his patrol car. Deputy Jonathan Watson says he was on routine patrol Saturday evening, and as he passed a Ford pickup, the driver turned on his bright lights. Watson spun around to stop the driver, who sped off. After a car chase that led south on White Plains Road, west on Bethany Ford road, and into a driveway. The man who was trying to get away lost control as he rounded a mobile home, slid into a tree, then backed up and slammed the pickup into Watson's patrol car. Watson briefly tried to chase the man on foot, but he disappeared into the woods.

There was about 2-thousand dollars damage to the patrol car, but in spite of the damage, Watson was able to continue using the cruiser for the balance of the weekend. The other driver has not been caught, but the pickup has been impounded, only to be released on Watson's signature.

Deputy Assaulted
A domestic violence call leads to violence against a sheriff deputy. Early this morning, deputies responded to a home on Boone Trail in Purlear, to calm down a domestic disturbance. Apparently another man pulled up to the scene, and stopped his car right next to one of the deputies. the deputy reports the man then changed gears and spun out, pelting the deputy with enough gravel he felt he needed to turn around and cover his head. The deputy reports being hit by rocks in the head, back, arms and legs. He pulled his handgun and arrested 52-year old Robert Carroll McClean, and charged him with assault on a law enforcement officer.

Millers Creek FD Generator Stolen
A Wilkes fire department reports someone has stolen an important piece of their equipment. Sometime in the past six weeks, Millers Creek Fire Chief Jason Smithey says a yellow Titan generator was stolen from the Big Ivey substation. Ivey says there was no sign that anyone broke into the station, but the generator, worth about 25-hundred dollars, and a heavy-duty extension cord, worth 200-dollars, were stolen. Firefighters often have to use generators at fire scenes to power some of their tools, and to provide light when utilities have been cut off.

Name of Attempted Robber Released


Wilkesboro Police have released the name of the woman arrested last
week as she tried to rob First Citizens Bank. 42-year old Mitzi Ann
Standberry is charged with attempted robbery following her arrest
Wednesday. She was captured by Wilkesboro Police Chief Robert Bowlin,
who was driving by the bank when the robbery was reported, and went
inside in plain clothes after parking his unmarked car outside the
bank. Standberry, who is from Blowing Rock, is held on a 15-thousand
dollar bond.





Fight with Bats, Guns


Sheriff deputies say what was probably already an illegal exchange of
property escalated into a fight, and ended with one of the parties
shooting at the other. It happened Thursday afternoon near Austin
Ballpark. Mark Holbrook tells deputies he and some friend went to the
ballpark to exchange a food stamp card with some other people,
including Brady Spicer. People in each group had words before the
echange took place, and Spicer's group took after Holbrook's group with
baseball bats. As Holbrook and the others tried to leave, Spicer
stepped out of his car and fired a single round at Holbrook's car,
which lodged in the trunk without hurting anyone.





Deputies found Spicer and the others in his group, and received consent
to search tehir car for the gun used in the shooting attempt. IN
addition ot the handgun, they found various drug paraphernalia and a
small amount of marijuana. Brady Spricer was arrested, along with
relative Richard Spicer and Matthew Steves, who lived at the same
address.They are charged with three counts of assault with a deadly
weapon, shooting into an occupied vehicle, damage to property, and
various drug crimes.





Stolen Checks Case


The Wilkes County Sheriffs office is the second one brought in on an
investigation into stolen checks. Traphill Lumber reported last week
that they had gotten a check back from a West Jefferson woman marked
"account closed." When deputies contacted the woman, she told them to
discuss the case with the Ashe county sheriff's department. A deputy
there told local investigators that Ashe county had arrested two people
for stealing several checks from the woman's account. The local check
fraud charges will be added to those from Ashe county.





15-year old Passes Out, Drunk, in School


A 15-year old student at Wilkes Central High School was charged
with alcohol possession by a minor, after causing a scene in her
second-hour class. The girl suddenly threw up and passed out, and
officials later determined it was because she was drunk. School
officials say they also found alcohol in the North WIlkesboro girl's
possession.








Woman Jailed for Assault


A Millers Creek woman is held without bond, on a charge she broke a
man's nose. 36-year old Mary Ellen Burgess is charged with assault
inflicting serious injury after the incident last week at the home of
McGrady resident Andrew Pardue.





Pardue says Burgess came over to return some property she had taken,
and that he'd filed a criminal complaint on. He told her to leave and
never come back, pushing her out the door. But he says Burgess pushed
the door back open and came in. The two ended up in the carport, where
she's accused of picking up a plank and hitting him in the face,
breaking his nose. Pardue says he grabbed her arm and forced Burgess to
the ground. She says the grab came first, and he kicked her several
times while she was down. She doesn't offer an explanation for how his
nose got broken. She was taken to the hospital, where a doctor said the
only signs of injury were from a possible sprained ankle. She had
claimed her head and neck had been injured in the scuffle. Deputies
booked her into jail without any further problems.





Tool Thefts


Sheriff deputies are working two thefts of tools reported last week.





The first was reported Wednesday in Ronda. Robert Patrick tells
deputies someone had stolen a 2-stage air Craftsman compressor from his
property. The last time he had seen the compressor, Patrick says, was
last Monday afternoon. He discovered it missing Tuesday night, but
waited to report it until Wednesday morning. He says the compressor is
worth 400-dollars, and he has no idea who may have taken it.





A Hays man reported mid-morning Wednesday at a thief had stolen a
Husqvarna Chainsaw from him. Melvin Royal says he believes he knows who
took the saw, and provided deputies with their name. It had disappeared
from a shed in his back yard sometime over the previous weekend, he
says, but he waited three days to report the crime. Deputies speculate
there may be a disagreement between Royal and the other two men over
some money one owes another.