Business Break-In

A local business owner was burglarized late last week. Charles Alexander, the owner of the Tinker Shop on Ruritan Road, tells sheriff deputies the break-in happened sometime between when he locked up at 6 last Friday and when he opened just before 9 Saturday. The thief broke his front window, and once inside took about 10 knives from a case near the cash register. The knives are valued at 200-dollars. Alexander doesn't know who might have done this, and the report makes no reference to the stor having a video tape system. The investigation continues.

Man Accused of Strangling, Threatening His Wife

A rural Wilkesboro man was jailed, after being accused of trying to strangle his wife. 35-year old Brian Keith Hemrick was arrested Friday night about 9:30 in his home on Shaw Ridge Mission Road. Deputies say they were called there by his wife, Angela. She told them the two had been arguing, and during the argument he threatened to kill her and choked her. She had bruising and red marks around her throat to back up the claim. Deputies arrested him without any further problems, and charged him wigh Assault by Strangulation and with Communicating a Threat.

Someone Has Issues...

Anger management class might be a good recommendation for a judge to make in relation to a man's recent assault of his wife. The 24-year old man was arrested after his wife showed up at Wilkes Regional Medical Center Saturday with a broken elbow -- in the words of a sheriff's deputy, broken completely in two. The woman tells deputies her husband had been out with friends, then came home and dragged her back out, supposedly to a poker game. But she ended up sitting in the corner while he and his buddies talked about drugs. A few hours later, they went home, where he decided he was "in the mood." She turned him down.



At that point, she says he became irate, throwing things at her and causing a mess on the floor where she tripped and fell. It was then that he kicked her repeatedly, the woman says, breaking her elbow. He then did a number of degrading things to her hair, and for four hours would throw her out of the house, then minutes later drag her back in for more abuse. She finally broke free or he passed out, the report isn't clear which. He was served with a warrant charging assault inflicting serious bodily injury, without further incident.

With a Welcome Home Like This....

Back from vacation half an hour, and already the car's been broken into and a bunch of stuff stolen. A rural North Wilkesboro man and his wife got that sort of rude welcome home this weekend. The couple got back about 8:30 last night, and went inside to relax and settle down a few minutes before unpacking the car. She went back outside about 9, to get some photos from the car.



She stopped short when she saw the driver's side rear door had been keyed. They went through the car, and found a thief had stolen two leather coats and a jacket, the car keys, a purse, a cell phone case, and a class ring. But it was what was in the pocket of one of those coats that was the most significant loss -- 9-thousand dollars in cash. Between the damage to the car and the total of the stolen items, the loss is estimated at about 10-thousand-500 dollars. No suspects are listed.

Shoplifting Averted, Drugs Found

Wilkes County Sheriff Deputies had another encounter late last week with a man they have considerable familiarity with. Tommy Shoemaker was arrested Wednesday for concealing items in a convenience store, with the intent of walking out without paying. He was also found to have drugs on him whe deputies did a search. A clerk at the Village market on Sparta Road called deputies Wednesday evening, saying Shoemaker had just come in the store, stuffed several items in his pockets, and then put them back on the shelf when she confronted him. The items in question were small -- totaling just over three dollars.



Deputies caught up with Shoemaker a few minutes later, and took him and the driver of the car he was in back to the store. When the clerk said he was the one, they patted him down before taking him to jail. At taht time they found a container that had 22 Xanax pills in it. Shoemaker faces a charge of concealing property and of drug possession.

Basement Fire - Set?

A local man claims a small fire underneath his home was the work of an arsonist. Joey Bolick was moving out of a house on Highway 16 South last week, and when he came back to get another load of property, discovered a fire had started near the water heater, which was on a concrete slab in the basement. A report from Nick Hamby with the fire marshal's office indicates available material near the water heater was used to start the fire, but stops short of saying a person actually did it. The fire had burned itself out, causing about 5-thousand dollars damage. Neither Bolick or the owners of the rental home could come up with any possible suspects.

Tires Slashed

Loose lips may have pointed police to the person who broke into a car and slashed at least one tire. Police were called to the Run-In on River Street Wednesday afternoon. Tammy Wilcox told deputies her son and his girlfriend had been at the courthouse, and after they left, noticed one of the door locks on the car was messed up and one tire had been slashed. He changed the tire and drove off, only to have a second tire go flat near the Run-In. Police saw it had been cut, too. The teen and his girlfriend also noticed the inside of the car had been ransacked, and both were missing their brown jacket. They called police about it all, when it occurred to them they'd been threatened with just such a happening by Miranda Church, a 28-year old local woman, while they were at the courthouse. Why she allegedly made the threat, police aren't saying.

Local Jewelry Store Robbed

Wilkesboro police are investigating the robbery of a local jewelry store. It happened about 5:30 yesterday afternoon at Brand's Jewelry, in the Wal-Mart shopping center. A man came into the store and asked for one of the employees, who did not happen to be working at the time. Another clerk talked with the man, who wanted to look at diamond rings and a loose diamond on display in the store. She got out two rings and the diamond he asked to look at, and then he asked her to look up the prices on them, because he was comparison shopping. The clerk carried the rings and the diamond with her to the computer and checked the prices, but when she returned, the man made a grab for her hand, yanking the rings off her fingers and the loose diamond from her hand. Then he ran from the store, without making any threats to the other employees, and hopped in a black Honda. That car was involved in a hit-and-run wreck in front of McDonald's as it sped away. The man hasn't been seen since.



The loose diamond alone was valued at 14-thousand, 500 dollars. The rings, which were diamonds set in white gold, were valued at 5-thousand dollars and 35-hundred dollars. Total loss is 23-thousand dollars. The thief is described as a black man of unknown age, about 6-1 and 185 pounds. He was wearing a tan jacket and hat.

Argument Leads to Arrest, Barrel of Cash

An argument leads to a stay in jail for a Wilkes man with a record. Deputies arrested Bryce Barry Prevette last weekend after responding to a disturbance call at his home in Roaring River. His wife, Sarah Prevette, told deputies the two had argued earlier in the day. She went to the store, and on the way home, he pulled in behind her and followed her to the house. When she got home, Mrs. Prevette says her husband slugged her in the face, and she ran into the house. She says he pulled a gun and fired one round as she ran to the house. She wasn't sure if he was aiming at her or not, but she tells deputies he had pointed the gun at her earlier in the day. She got inside and he started to storm the house, trying to kick in the front door without success.



When deputies arrived Mr. Prevette ran into a nearby shed. A search of the shed located him and a barrel of cash. Literally. A deputy located 74-hundred dollars in cash, stashed in a feed barrel. Mr. Prevette has a previous felony conviction, which makes it illegal for him to possess the gun, which was found on him when deputies searched him. He was arrested and jailed on charges of Assaulting a woman, assault by pointing a gun, felon in possession of a firearm, and driving while intoxicated.

ID Theft Case Solved

A Wilkes man was arrested for identity theft, and immediately bonded out of jail. Steven Patrick Cramer was arrested by a Wilkesboro Police officer Tuesday, in relation to the investigation which has been going on since last October. Ironically, not only does Cramer share the name of his alleged victim, but the two both are window cleaners.



The victim is Patrick O'Donnell Cramer the Second, who lives in Boone. He went to a bank in Boone last May to try and obtain a loan. As is expected, he gave the bank a list of everything he currently owed. But the bank said there was another loan in his name, made at CitiFinancial in Wilkesboro. Cramer called the loan office, where he learned Steven Patrick Cramer had used his social security number to obtain a 5-thousand dollar loan.



With the investigation completed early this week, a police officer met Steven Cramer at the jail and served a felony warrant for financial identity fraud and obtaining property by false pretenses. Cramer was released on a 5-thousand dollar unsecured bond. He's scheduled to be in court next week.