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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.