Smokes Stolen

Sheriff deputies are investigating a smash-and-grab burglary at a local convenience store. The alarm went off as Parsons Quick Stop in Roaring River early Friday, and when deputies arrived, it was plain to see why. The front door was smashed in, and a pack of cigarettes was laying just outside it, unopened. When the owner, Don Patel, arrived, he and the deputy went inside to find more smokes scattered about, and a rack drawer containing 100 packs of Newport cigarettes missing. Damage to the door is listed at 300-dollars, while the stolen drawer and smokes were valued at a total of 550-dollars. The store did have a video camera, and deputies are reviewing the tape as a part of their investigation.

Man Seriously Hurt in Robbery Attempt

Sheriff deputies arrested three Wilkes men shortly after they allegedly assaulted another man, causing serious injuries. The assault was reported Thursday evening a a home on Huffman River Lane. Deputies say the men had ran away by the time they got there, but first responders and EMS were still on the scene, trying to keep the victim, 65-year old Tommy Spears, awake. He had a severe head injury, according to the crime report, and was rushed by EMS to Wilkes Regional Medical Center. The man who called 9-1-1, Jessie Spears, told deputies he knew the names of the three men and where they lived, and he told deputies the men had come to the house to steal his uncle's money and prescription medicines.



Deputies went to a home on Pleasant Home Church Road and arrested the three, 25-year old Ty Hampton; 19-year old Diandre Brown, and 41-year old Hank Evans. According to the three and to Jessie Spears, the men were leaving the house after being told repeatedly to get lost. Then Evans grabbed Jessie Spears, while Hampton and Brown went back in the house. Hampton hit the elder Mr. Spears in the head, causing him to fall into a coffee table. That injury is what left him slipping in and out of consciousness when help arrived. After the assault, the three men ran from the house. Each faces a charge of Assault Inflicting Serious Injury, and a charge of First Degree Burglary.

Debit Card Fraud

Wilkesboro Police are investigating a reported case of debit card fraud. A Roaring River woman told officers late last week that she had been contacted by her bank regarding charges to her account. It appears someone was able to get into her online account and use the information to make a number of purchases. The victim was able to supply a several-page long list of items charged to her account that she did not purchase. She says her daughter also had access to the account and the card, but she does not suspect her of making the charges. The bank has since closed her account and invalidated the debit card, while police continue their investigation.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.