Teens Charged with December Bomb Threats

Wilkes County Sheriff Deputies have solved two of the recent spate of bomb threats at local schools. Their investigation of the December incidents has taken some time, and included a review of the phone records of several companies. Around mid-February, deputies interviewed two teen-agers, both of whom admitted to making calls to East WIlkes and Wilkes Central High Schools about a week before school got out for Christmas. One of the boys has already been convicted of doing the wasme theing at West Wilkes. Both teens face Juvenile Court proceedings on two felonly counts of making a false report concerning a destructive device. Deputies say their investigation has found that these threats and some similar threats on Wilkes middle schools are not related.

Home Break-In

Sheriff deputies don't have a lot to go on in their investigation of a reported break-in at a Wilkes home. Brian Check, who lives on Macedonian Church Road, reported Tuesday evening he had gotten home to find several items stolen. He'd been out for the evening, and a neighbor said during the time he was gone, they had seen a dark car parked in front of the house. There was no sign that anyone had forced their way into the house. The thief took a flat screen TV worth almost 2-thousand dollars, A JVC stereo worth almost 600-dollars, and a cell phone valued at 350-dollars. The crime report also lists "some cash that way laying in the open" -- about 19-hundred dollars worth. The investigation continues.

Let's Go to the Tape -- Or Not

Usually, store security tapes help catch criminals. But they aren't a very good tool when they don't work. That's what happened at a local store that was the victim of a thief this week. As we told you earlier in the week, someone had gone to the Village Market and conned the clerk out of 3 cartons of Newport cigarettes. When a detective went to the store yesterday to check their tape, he found either the tape was damaged after it was recorded or it simply didn't record correctly. Either way, there's no recording of the event, and no one in the store at the time recognized the thief. The case has been closed for a lack of evidence.

Wilkes Deputies Recover Stash of Stolen Stuff

Sheriff deputies making contact with some local people as a way of helping out their fellow deputies in another county discovered a stash of stolen property. Wilkes resident Jeremy Lee Ebersole was arrested in Alleghany county this week while breaking into a house. As part of their investigation, Alleghany county deputies called Wilkes county to interview Ebersole's girlfriend, Teresa Harris. Two deputies went to Ebersole's house on old Highway 18, found Harris at the house, and talked with her and a man who was there, Gene Haymond. During their discussion, the two revealed there was quite a stash of stolen property around the house and in several outbuildings.



Based on that information, deputies called a judge to obtain a search warrant. They were granted the right to search, and found a number of items from recent break-ins throughout Wilkes county. They expect to solve several cases as they match the found property to lists of stuff that's been stolen. In addition, deputies noticed a red Nissan pickup parked in a field next to the house, and when they ran its ID number against the national crime database, they found it had been stolen in Kingsport, Tennessee, and matched the description of a vehicle involved in several break-ins in Alleghany county. Deputies there are handling the vehicle now.



Deputies say they expect several charges against Jeremy Ebersole, who remains in custody in Alleghany county.

Pre-K Applications Being Taken

Wilkes County Schools are already in the preparation phases for next school year. Pre-K classes are now open for applicaiton, accoridng to a release form the schools. Pre-K is available to all children who are 4 years old on or before October 16th. School officials say to call the school closest to you for more information. Screenings are necessary for the program, and they will be conducted at each elementary school site. You'll be given an appointment time sometime between March 28th and May 1st.

Lowes Cos. Slapped with EEOC Lawsuit

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission CLAIMS Lowe's Home Centers violated federal law by refusing to make a reasonable accommodation for an employee with a disability at its Knoxville, Tenn.



According to the EEOC's lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Norman Neff, who relies upon a manual wheelchair for mobility, requested that he be allowed to bring his service dog to work with him. Neff suffers from overuse injuries in his arms, wrists, and shoulders due to using the wheelchair, and his suffering is reduced by using his service dog that is trained to pull him in his wheelchair. Lowe's denied Neff's request for this reasonable accommodation, the EEOC charged, and this also caused him to suffer emotional injuries.



Such alleged conduct violates the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for the known disabilities of its employees. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through conciliation. The lawsuit asks the court to order the company to provide the requested accommodation, pay compensatory damages for emotional and psychological harm, and pay punitive damages.

ID Theft Case

A worker at Wilkes Regional Medical Center is the community's latest ID Fraud victim. Sharon Gregory tells sheriff deputies she was notified by her credit card company Monday afternoon that someone had used her account without authorization. There were three transactions that triggered the company's warning: two very small ones to MCI and a company known as CIC, along with a 75-dollar purchase to the Sport Authority. All three were done online, and the card company was able to give Gregory the name used by an Idaho woman who had been responsible for one of the transactions. She isn't out any money, as the card company has reversed the charges.

Credit Cards, Blank Checks Stolen

Another Wilkes credit card owner reports she is the victim of fraud. The 43-year old North Wilkesboro woman tells sheriff deputies the credit cards were inside her purse, which was stolen fron Dooleys Restaurant Friday evening. Since then, the credit cards have been used at a number of locations. The person who stole the purse also got some boxes of blank checks, but the woman didn't know when she filed the report whether any attempt to use the checks had been made. She also told deputies there are security tapes from several locations that show the possible suspect using the cards. How she came up on this informaiton in less than two days, over the weekend, isn't indicated in the report. There have been no arrests so far.

Drug Theft Cases

Local authorities are working several cases of stolen medicines. Wilkesboro Police arrested a local man after witnesses say he got into a man's car parked in the county courthouse lot and stole the owner's freshly-refilled supply of painkillers. 120-pills each of hydrocodone and Xanax were stolen as witnesses looked on. When the car owner heard one witness ask why Spence Markle had gotten into a car that wasn't his, he took off running after him. Markle got away, but was captured by deputies a short time later.



Sheriff deputies say prescription drugs disappeared late last week from a Hays home. Carol Billings called deputies after she noticed almost a month's supply of medicine for her live-in boyfriend, Charles Sparks, were taken. While she doesn't have any firm suspect information, Sparks belives a family member may be to blame.



A Hays man reports a thief broke into his house Sunday while he was gone to church and stole his medications. The burglar had broken out the back window, and once inside stile two bottles containing prescription painkillers. Those were the only things taken, in spite of other valuables being plainly displayed close by. Based on the short list of people who knew where he kept the drugs, the man told deputies he believes his son was the thief.

Drugs, Drugs and More Drugs

Deputies checking a Wilkes house for two wanted criminals found even more than they expected. Three deputies went to the home on Factory Street in Ronda, to check from two people who were wanted for outstanding warrants. They were let into the house by 28-year old Rhonda Gail Nichols, who let them search the house. In a bedroom, deputies found a multitude of drug items and paraphernalia, including about 100 marijuana seeds, rolling papers, scales, and a blue plastic container with a white substance caked to the sides. That substance had a positive result on a cocaine test, and Nichols admitted it was cocaine. Deputies arrested Nichols and searched her, finding a hydrocodone pill in her pocket, for which she did not have a prescription.



In all, Nichols faces charges for possessing three illegal drugs and multiple items of paraphernalia.