3WC News Blog: 2/18/07

The local and regional news page of 12403wc Hometown Christian Radio.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Recent Drug, Alcohol Cases

Sheriff deputies have been busy in recent days with a number of drug- and alcohol-related cases.

A 19-year old Wilkesboro man is charged in the second underage alcohol consumption case of the week. When deputies arrested Darryl Gorciack Sunday on outstanding warrants, they had him do a breath test for alcohol when he arrived at jail. On successive breathalyzer tests, Goriack blew a .24 and a .25 -- three times the legal lmit for someone who is of age. Deputies say he seemed proud of the high numbers, and boasted that he gets drunk every day.

A Moravian Falls man seemed to be similarly proud of his drug explouts, when deputies arrested him Saturday night. Brandon Kilby was found hiding in the bathroom of his house when deputies responded to a disturbance call there. As a deputy searched him, Kilby grabbed a small baggie of something from his pocket and tried to swallow it. The baggie tested positive for cocaine. When they got him to jail, deputies say Kilby showed another prisoner a second bag of coke he'd been able to conceal from the deputies, then dropped it on the floor. He faces two drug possession charges, a resisting arrest charge, and a charge of possession drug paraphernalia.

A 15-yer old Wilkes Central High School student was pulled from class after the school resource officer received a tip that he had cocaine in his possession. When he was escorted out of class and searched, the deputy did find a baggie of what the student admitted was cocaine. His name is being withheld because of his age.

posted by Newsroom # 4:50 AM

Man Swallows Cocaine

A Wilkes man had to be taken to the hospital, after he swallowed bags of cocaine he was delivering to a local drug house. Sheriff deputies went to a home in the 800 block of Old Highway 18 South late yesterday, after drug activity was reported there. They arrested two men in the house, Brian Isenhour and Stephen Johnson, both of whom were actively snorting cocaine when deputies entered the house.

As they questioned the two, deputies learned a delivery of coke was due any time, so they waited for that to arrive. When a car pulled up, the deputies tried to arrest the people inside, only to be locked out of the car, and have the suspects roll the windows up. They saw one of the men, 33-year old Joel Johnson, put some of the drug in his mouth, and it soon became evident he had swallowed the coke, as he started to get sick.

Once they got him out of the car, deputies had Johnson taken to WRMC, where he was given activated charcoal to bring them back up, and other drugs to counter the effects of so much cocaine. The driver of the car, Jason St. Clair, was also arrested.

posted by Newsroom # 4:34 AM

Road Sign Case Follow-Up

You may remember a story about a week ago concerning several road signs that were recovered from the yard of a local house. Sheriff deputies have finished their investigation of the case, and released a report on it this morning. A Wilkes teen, who is unidentified because of his age, has admitted to taking most of the signs, but he says some of them have been laying in the area where they were found for several years. The boy and his mother insist the wooden parkway signs that were recovered were in a trash heap when they saw them, about two years ago. Once the value of those signs was deducted from the total, the boy was charged with a misdemeanor theft count, as the total was less than one-thousand dollars.

posted by Newsroom # 4:33 AM

Wilkes Telecom Missing Money

Wilkesboro Police are investigating a possible embezzlement case at a local business. Wilkes Telecommunications internal auditors found a pattern in company records dating back to last summer, that involved an employee who has since been fired.

According to Wilkes Telecom's Claude Ritenhour, 38-year old Julie Dula was implicated by the auditors. An internal investigation started in January found a pattern where she would receive cash payments from customers, post the payment to heir account, then reverse the transaction later in the day. The following day, the transaction would be posted again, but the cash would never make it to the daily bank deposit. A crime report lists almost 15-thousand dollars in similar transactions. Dula was not an employee who would take cash payments as a part of her regular duties.

Investigators for Wilkes Telecom spoke with her near the end of last month and she denied any wrongdoing. based on their strong suspicions, the company fired Dula January 31st, and filed charges through Wilkesboro Police Wednesday afternoon. Police say the case remains under investigation.

posted by Newsroom # 4:32 AM

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Power Meter Reported Stolen

At first glance, it appears the explanation for a man not having power in his house would be pretty clear. But things aren't what they appear in this case, according to sheriff deputies. Luis Alberto Chavez reported Tuesday night he came home from work to find his house had no power. A look around the property found that the power meter hub had been taken off his entry box. That's usually what happens when the power company turns off the electricity, but Duke Power officials told deputies they weren't responsible for the meter disappearing. The case is listed as under investigation.

posted by Newsroom # 4:51 AM

Retaliatory Mailbox Bashing

A Wilkes woman says her mailbox was damaged Tuesday afternoon -- not randomly , as so many seem to be, but she thinks as an act of retaliation. Mary Cruz had reported Monday her house had been broken into, but the thief had not apparently taken anything. Deputies made contact with the teen believed to have committed the crime, who attends West Wilkes Middle School and is about 14 years old. The student stayed home from school Tuesday, and sometime during the first part of the day, the mailbox damage appeared. So far, no charges have been filed in either case.

posted by Newsroom # 4:47 AM

Missing Ring, Owner Reunited

Sheriff Deputies report a Wilkes woman has been reunited with her 45-hundred dollar diamond ring. Earlier this week, we told you Tonya Higgins lost the ring after a suntanning session in Millers Creek. She forgot to pick up the ring off a shelf in the tanning room before she left, and when she came back to get it, the ring was gone. Turns out the woman who tanned after her, Monica Benge, had held on to the ring for safekeeping. Before deputies could contact her, Benge called Higgins and told her she found the ring. It was returned the morning after it was lost.

posted by Newsroom # 4:41 AM

Wild Week in Wilkes

They call it the Wild Week in Wilkes. But an event that starts Sunday is really an evangelism tool for area Christians.

Tom LeGrand, youth minister at Wilkesboro Baptist Church, scheduled well-known inspirational speaker Craig Tackett and Inlightened Ministries to come to Wilkes in hopes of drawing youth from here and surrounding areas together to have fun while learning about Biblical teachings.

“I really want everyone to come to this event,” LeGrand told the Record. “It’s going to be a wonderful experience in which no one is going to walk away empty handed.”

Tackett travels with Inlightened Ministries, which is a ministry directed toward students. Tackett has a fun, energetic personality that attracts people of all ages allowing him to communicate God’s Word to today’s generation via a modern approach. He is humorous and captivating, but, most importantly, he is Biblical and relevant.

Inlightened Ministries came to Wilkesboro Baptist Church last February, and was a hit. During the day the members of Inlightened Ministry were seen out in the community - everywhere from schools to restaurants to the Wilkes Community College tennis courts. Again, this year they plan to be seen out and about…especially in some of the schools. At night the group was busy delivering its energetic message; every night the church was packed with the young and older alike. Many other youth groups from around the county attended as well.

Considering the large number of attendees last year, LeGrand and other youth ministers opted to collaborate and hold this year’s youth rally at the Walker Center.

posted by Newsroom # 4:37 AM

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Splat! -- Again

For the second time in recent months, a Wiles property owner reports someone has vandalized their property with a paint ball gun. Earlier this year, it was the trailer of an over-the-road truck parked for the night at a Wilkes home, which was peppered with bright pink paint balls. Earlier this week, it was a house that was targeted. Elkin resident Katie Darnell reported the vandalism Monday morning. A crime report lists no damage to the house.

posted by Newsroom # 2:32 PM

Close, but No Cigar

A Wilkes man reports someone who intended to steal his guns wasn't successful. Gilmer Dean Stoker of Elkin tells sheriff deputies he came home from work Monday afternoon and found someone had opened the front door of his house. It didn't appear there was any damage to the outside door, but when Stoker got inside, he found two gun cabinets had evidence of someone trying to pry them open. The cabinets stood up to the attempt though, and the burglar was nowhere around when Stoker arrived home. Deputies have no suspects.

posted by Newsroom # 2:29 PM

Debit Card Fraud Questioned

A Wilkes couple isn't sure how a fraudulent charge got on their debit card, so they're asking sheriff deputies to check it out. Ronnie and Tammy Treadaway say they noticed a monthly charge showing up recently for a little over 30 dollars a month to a Florida company. The statement shows the debits going to SDR Debit Card Visa Key Card Benefits, which is one of those programs banks often hawk when you call their customer service line, or try to add to cards when you sing up. The Treadaways say they did not ever agree to such a service, and police have obtained the phone number of the Florida company to follow-up with them and verify the claim. As many people can testify, the sales pitches used to market these kinds of services can be pretty tricky to keep from saying yes at the wrong time.

posted by Newsroom # 2:27 PM

A Little Less Noise Pollution

It looks like at least for a little while, there will be one less car on the roads of Wilkes with a driver that's overly generous with sharing their music. A North Wilkesboro woman tells sheriff deputies she and family members went to Florida last week, and when they returned home Monday she found her van door broken open and a powerful amplifier stolen. The amp, a White Phantom model, was 12-hundred-50 watts, more than enough to share the tunes with several adjacent cars at stoplights. A neighbor questioned by deputies says she saw nothing out of the ordinary during the time the woman was gone.

posted by Newsroom # 5:11 AM

School Computer Equipment Stolen

A teacher at West Wilkes High School reports some computer equipment was stolen from his classroom over the long holiday weekend. Chris Talbert says he was at the school on Saturday, doing some computerized student testing. He returned the computer to his classroom and locked up about noon Saturday. Monday morning, he returned to school to do some more testing, and found a classroom window open with a chair sitting underneath it, and the computer equipment gone. The thief took a Dell laptop and a hand-held PC, along with two USB flash drives and another encrypted flash drive that's part of the testing program.

Deputies recovered a partial footprint from the char by the window, and some fingerprints from the outside of the window. As they were investigating, deputies found out there was also a group of young men playing basketball in the school gym Saturday afternoon without school permission. Deputies are still working out who those boys were, and will question them as they identify them. So far, no suspect names have been listed.

posted by Newsroom # 5:08 AM

Big Oops

A moment of forgetfulness may have cost a Wilkes woman several thousand dollars. Tonya Higgins was at a suntan parlor in Millers Creek Monday evening. She tells deputies when she got out of the tanning bed, she neglected to pick up a ring she'd laid on a shelf in the room. It's a diamond ring with a white gold band -- apparently a fairly good-size diamond, although the report doesn't say, because it's worth 45-hundred dollars. She left the tanning place, and when she came back later to get the ring it was gone. The attendant told her only one other person had been in the tanning bed room since she'd been there. Deputies are trying to catch up to that person and talk with them.

posted by Newsroom # 5:00 AM

Stolen, or Just Borrowed Too Long?

Car stolen, thief found. That's the bottom line on a recent car theft in Wilkes county. Linda Cox, who lives in Ronda, reported the car missing Monday evening, a couple of hours after it had disappeared. She tells sheriff deputies she had been letting her son, 34-year old Michael Lee Swaim, stay with her for a few days. She said he'd driven off in her car, a 2005 blue Kia Spectra, and hadn't returned. A deputy issued a felony warrant concerning the car theft, and it was broadcast to other deputies. A short time later, another deputy on patrol saw the car on Highway 268 North, and pulled it over in the Wachovia parking lot. Michael Swaim was behind the wheel. He was arrested without incident and charged with felony theft, as well as driving without a license. The car was returned, undamaged, to his mother.

posted by Newsroom # 4:55 AM

Generator Missing

Fortunately there isn't an ice storm coming or something, as a Wilkes man finds himself suddenly without his generator. Actually, it's a fairly small generator, and it was taken from the construction site at North Wilkes High School. Alvin Cody reported the generator missing Monday morning. He says only eight people have a key to the location where the generator, a 7-and-a-half horsepower Troy-Bilt, was stored. He mentioned it was possible one of his employees borrowed the generator over the weekend. Deputies list the case as still under investigation.

posted by Newsroom # 4:50 AM

Illegally Honest

Honesty is a good thing, but when what you're doing is illegal, it probably won't helpyou much in court. A sheriff's deputy stopped a Wilkes man Sunday evening in the Country Square Mobile Home Park, as the deputy was in the area following up on a person wanted in Alexander county, who was thought to be in the area. The deputy says 22-year old Eduardo Maya-Cortez approached him driving a 2000 Ford Explorer, as he was driving on Country Square Drive. When he walked up to the S-U-V, the deputy saw Maya-Cortez had an open beer in his hand, and he admitted he was driving without a license. The deputy took Maya-Cortez into custody without incident.

posted by Newsroom # 4:46 AM

Home Broken Into, Nothing Apparently Taken

Two Wilkes women say they returned home early yesterday to find the house had been broken into. Mary Jane and Annie Lippford had been out, and got back home about 3 a-m. As they approached their house, they saw a window had been removed in one of the bedrooms. On the front porch, the burglar has moved a plant and table to gain access to the window, and inside, several items in front of the window were knocked over. However, it did not appear to eaither woman that anything had been taken from the house. They were to do a more complete search after daybreak, and notify the sheriff's department if anything did turn up missing. At this time, there are no suspects.

posted by Newsroom # 4:38 AM

Scam Alert

Authorities in Greensboro are investigating a pair of scam artists, in a fraud scheme that can serve as a reminder to Wilkes residents. The case involves the company Best Way Maintenance. Investigators said elderly people are being approached at their homes and told that repair work needs to be done to the roof. Once the "employee" is on the roof, according to authorities, shingles and flashing are torn off. The homeowner is then told that the repair cost will be thousands of dollars. Scare tactics have been used to get the victims to pay. The Greensboro Police Department said it is looking for Elijah Rufus House, 51, and Donnie Ray Sanders, 23. The men face charges of obtaining property by false pretenses.

posted by Newsroom # 4:33 AM

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Fatal Wreck on Windy Ridge Road

A high-speed crash in Wilkes county kills a North Wilkesboro man. Highway Patrol dispatchers say the wreck about 2:30 yesterday afternoon on Windy Ridge Road claimed the life of 24-year old Jeremy Wayne Call. According to the trooper's report of the accident, Call was northbound on Windy Ridge Road at a high rate of speed when he lost control, went off the left side of the road, and hit a tree. The accident closed down the road for several hours. The report indicates Call was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the wreck.

posted by Newsroom # 7:07 AM

Domestic Assault

After a fight with her husband, a Wilkes woman called her mother -- which turned out to be a good thing, because it led authorities to check on her and to arrest the man for assaulting her. The couple lives on Cool Springs Church Road in Austin. They'd gotten into an argument Thursday night, and Friday the woman called her mother in Booneville, saying her husband had beaten her during the fight. Their daughter had witnessed the altercation. After the mother called deputies, they went to the house to check on the woman's welfare, and found she had several visible bruise marks on her face and neck. The daughter signed a statement sayig she had witnessed the fight. The man, who is 29, was arrested and charged with assault on a female.

posted by Newsroom # 6:22 AM

Home Break-In

Wilkes sheriff deputies are investigating a break-in at a local home Friday morning. Rocky Edwards called deputies after he arrived home to find a damaged back door. It appeared the thief had taken a 2-by-4 to the door and shattered it. It also looked like there had been an unsuccessful attempt to get in the house through the front door. Edwards reports it happened sometime in a one-day span, from early Thursday morning to early Friday morning. The burglar took about 17-hundred dollars worth of property including an iPod, DVD player and 50 DVD's, along with 30 CDs, a companion drill bit set and a small propane grill. The damage to the two doors toals over 400-dollars. Deputies have no suspects at this time, though they say some similar break-ins have occurred in the Bethel Road area in the past month.

posted by Newsroom # 6:16 AM

All That, and the Antlers Too

Problems between a husband and wife lead to an allegation of theft against the woman. A protective order was filed last week to benefit the husband, a man from Lexington. In the order, which was issued middle of last week, a judge told the woman to leave the couple's mobile home in Wilkes county immediately, and to leave it in the condition it was in at that moment. When the man came to Wilkes the next day to secure the house, he found a number of items were missing -- items he believes were taken by the woman. THey included a washer and dryer, a big-screen TV, the refrigerator, tow recliners, the sofa, two night stands and chests, end tables, the coffee table, and for good measure, a set of moose antlers that had been hanging on the wall. Total value of the stolen items is over 10-thousand dollars. Deputies say the investigation of the case continues.

posted by Newsroom # 6:06 AM

Monday, February 19, 2007

Deputies Intervene in Knife Fight

Deputies have charged a Wilkes couple with assaulting one another, following a fight between the two over the weekend. They were called to Green Circle Drive Friday afternoon to find the man and woman slashing at one another with knifes in a fight partially witnessed by a deputy, who could not intervene because of the risk to him. When other deputies arrived, they separated the couple, who had both suffered cuts and bruises.

The woman at first refused medical treatment for the cuts on her arm, then suddenly started talking about killing herself and wanting to die. She was taken to WRMC for treatment and has since been taken to a mental health facility for evaluation. She also faces a charge of assault and battery. Her husband faces a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. We're not releasing the couple's name because of the woman's mental state.

posted by Newsroom # 3:48 PM

iPods Stolen

Two Wilkes residents report their iPods were stolen this weekend -- one from a school locker room, the other from a break-in at their house.

The first case happened Saturday afternoon at West Wilkes High School. 15-ear old Purlear resident Amanda Minton says she left her purse in the locker room while she was at the school for softball practice. After several hours, she went back into the locker room to retrieve her bag and found the iPod and a cell phone had been taken. She has no idea who might have stolen the items, valued at a total of 350-dollars.

The second case actually happened earlier, but wasn't reported until yesterday afternoon. David Houck says someone pried open the back window of his Millers Creek home and got into the house. The thief took an iPod Nano, about 80-dollars in cash, and about 400-dollars in checks made out to the Girl Scouts. The iPod has his daughter's name and phone number engraved on the back. Houck identified a possible suspect, but deputies have not interveiwed that person yet.

posted by Newsroom # 3:43 PM

Teens, Adult Busted for Underage Drinking Party

Four Wilkes teens face charges and an adult was arrested when sheriff deputies busted an underage drinking party last night. Deputies went to a home on Joseph Drive in Millers Creek about 7:40pm on a tip that there was underage drinking going on. According to the crime report, deputies ticketed 18-year old Chelsey Shumate, 18-year old Jonathan Robinson, 17-year old Chuck Cox, and will charge a 15-year old girl through Juvenile court. Each of the four registered with some level of alcohol on their breath, though none was drunk according to the legal standard used for drivers. Deputies also arrested 26-year old Ray Smith for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

posted by Newsroom # 3:35 PM

Necklace, Cash Stolen

Wilkesboro Police are investigating a theft that probably genreated a lot of disappointment for a couple of people on Valentines Day. Anthony Moody, who works at Aaron's on Winkler Street, said he had a valuable necklace and cash stolen from his vehicle while he was at work Wednesday afternoon. The neclace was a 20-inch gold herringbone style, with an engraved angel pendant on it, and the cash had been put inside a Valentine's Day card. Both were on the front seet of his Mazda Tribute in a Walgreens bag. During the time frame in question, another employee left to get a drug test. That person was parked on the passenger side of Moody's S-U-V. Later Moody walked outside and saw the Walgreens bag on the ground, but looked inside and saw the card, so he didn't think much more about it being out of place. That is, until he was on the way home and realized the necklace was gone, along with the money from the envelope. The next day, the other employee showed up in new clothes, substantially nicer than anything he'd ever worn before. He denied knowing anything about the necklace or money, and video from nearby stores did not cover the part of Aaron's parking lot where the two were parked. So far, no charges have been filed.

posted by Newsroom # 5:41 AM

Purse Stolen

Being young sometimes means learning hard lessons. A local 13-year old girl found that out the hard way last week, after her purse was stolen from her unlocked car. It's not clear whether the girl or her mother forgot to lock the family car, a 2003 Kia, while they went into Mountain View Galaxy Food Market last Thursday, but when they came out, the purse was gone, along with a cell phone and an MP3 player, valued together at about 100-dollars. No one in the store at the time admitted seeing anything, and there are currently no suspects.

posted by Newsroom # 5:33 AM

Laptop Stolen

An older laptop computer is missing, after a Wilkes woman says she arrived home from work to find it had been taken from a locked house. Rochelle Almond lives on Village Drive. She reported the burglary late Monday. She says she left for work Monday morning, and locked up the house as she always does. She got home that evening, had to unlock the door to get in, and found the laptop computer, a Dell model she valued at about 300-dollars, missing. There was no damage to the house, and nothing else had been taken. Almond tells deputies she is the only person she knows of with a key to the house. There are currently no suspects or other witnesses.

posted by Newsroom # 5:29 AM

Coke Machine Break-In Unsuccessful

It's not often anymore you find a soda machine laying on its face in a parking lot. Wilkesboro police were alerted to one recently, though, in Cub Creek Park. It appeared someone had pulled the machine out and over a board mounted to the concrete in front of it, then pushed the machine over on its face. It being early last Sunday morning, police couldn't contact anyone with the Coa-Cola company, but later in the day Cliff Gardner with Parks and Recreation did make contact, and reported that when the machine was turned upright, the only damage was to the plastic sign on the front. It had not been broken into. The replacement value of the sign is about 300-dollars.

posted by Newsroom # 5:25 AM

Drug Bust

Wilkesboro Police had to get in the middle of a disagreement between two people over a car key, and what they found when they did led to drug charges against one fo the people. A sergeant doing paperwork in the McDonald's parking lot last Monday was approached by a woman, who told him her sister was in a nearby motel and would not give her the keys to her car. The sergeant and another officer went with the woman to Addison Inn, where the sister, Debra Moretz, said she didn't have the key at all. That was, until her sister started ratting out Moretz for having crack. Then she admitted the key was thrown under one of the beds. The drug allegation prompted a search of Moretz and the room, and turned up several items of drug paraphernalia that tested positive for crack residue. Moretz was arrested for possession of drugs and of paraphernalia, and booked into jail on a 1-thousand dollar bond. She's scheduled for court a week from Wednesday.

posted by Newsroom # 5:20 AM

Home Burglary with A Twist

Sheriff deputies are investigating a home burglary with some interesting twists. Although the thief got away with almost 25-hundred dollars worth of property, it all came from one jewelry box drawer. The box was left there, and none of the other drawers were opened.The Roaring River homeowner reported Tuesday morning someone had opened an unlocked back door and gone into a bedroom, where they found the jewelry box. Several jewelry items were stolen, including sapphire and diamond rings, pearl rings, diamond and sapphire earrings, and a Bulova diamond watch. All of the items were gifts from the man to his wife. Oddly, the crime was reported last week, after the items had been missing for more than a month -- and that was about two weeks after the last time the man knew any of the items were in the jewelry box.

posted by Newsroom # 5:14 AM

Wholesale Grocer Burglarized

A Wilkes business is the victim of a recent break-in that resulted in the loss of about 800-dollars of merchandise. Makinna Produce owner Concepcion Hernandez tells sheriff deputies he checked his shop early in the morning last Tuesday and found it secure. But a few hours alter, he returned and found a side door had been jimmied open, and a thief had gone inside. A number of cartons of cigarettes, worth 500-dollars, were gone, along with quite a few small items such as instant noodles, leaf produce and Tylenol, totallinga bout 300-dollars. No one saw anything out of place, and deputies have no suspects.

posted by Newsroom # 5:05 AM