Four-Wheeler Stolen

Deputies don't have much to go on in relation to the recent theft of a four-wheeler from a county man. Tony James Bowlin, who lives along Old Highway 16, tells deputies he came home on the 26th to find someone had taken a Suzuki Lt-80 four-wheeler worth about 800-dollars. He describes the missing ATV as white and purple, with a blue seat. It has a cracked left fender. Deputies have entered the four-wheeler's ID number in the national crime database, and have alerted area pawn shop owners to watch for it. There is no information available so far about possible suspects or leads, but the case remains under investigation.

Man Uses Company Card for Adult Phone Calls

Deputies say a recent case shows why it is wise to regularly review your financial statements as a way to guard against identity theft. Doing such a review allowed a local man to realize an employee had used his business debit card numerous times, bilking him out of a significant amount of money. When Jack Huffman called deputies Monday, he had already done his own investigation of the crime. He alleges the employee, a 35-year old Goldsboro man, had given the card number for billing of 13 calls to an adult entertainment phone line. It turns out the man had used multiple cards to pay for similar calls. Deputies are continuing their investigation, and have made no arrests.

Disturbance Leads to DUI Arrest

A Wilkes man was jailed for drunken driving, after deputies responded twice to his daughter's home because of disturbances reported there. 57-year old Roger Lee Caudill was arrested as he arrived at his own home, a few houses down the road from where his daughter lives. The deputy responding to the disturbance call had been notified by dispatchers that Caudill had left his daughter's home in a small white car, and the officer saw him pull into his own driveway. When both men got out of their cars, the deputy says Caudill had a strong odor of alcohol, and their conversation was enough for the deputy to determine Caudill was drunk. When he was tested at the jail, he blew more than twice the legal limit for a driver -- testing with a .17 and a .18 in successive breath tests.

Woman Attacked, Car Stolen

A North Wilkesboro woman's generosity ended up making her the recipient of another person's meanness. Ellen Bowlin says she was approached by a man as she sat at the stop light at Highway 115 and 2nd Street early Sunday morning. He said his car had broken down, and asked for a ride. She agreed, and after he had her drive him to a location she describes as being a left turn off River Road, he then asked to be taken to his brother's home. So she drove him to a location on Blue Eller Lane. She says at that point the man beat her up, took her glasses and a diamond ring, forced her out of the car and drove off. She made it to the nearest house a few minutes later and called 9-1-1. Paramedics took her to Wilkes Regional Medical Center with serious injuries. Deputies do not list a description of the man. He was last seen driving her car, a green 1998 Subaru. It was worth almost 16-thousand dollars, and the total of the stolen ring and the damage to her glasses, which were found, was over 1-thousand dollars. Deputies list the case as under investigation.

Fire Damages Home

A fire in her bedroom has displaced a Traphill woman from her home. Shirley Wiles tells firefighters she had gone outside Sunday morning just before 11, and when she came back in she smelled smoke. She grabbed her dog and went back outside, calling the fire department on the way. By the time firefighters arrived, the front of the house was ablaze. Nick Hamby with the Fire Marshall's office says the fire was put out before it extended in the rest of the house, but there was some smoke damage throughout. His investigation showed Wilkes had lite a candle earlier in the morning, which apparently caught some bedding on fire while she was outside. He has ruled the fire, which caused 12-thousand dollars damage, accidental.

Hay Emergency Declared

With livestock farmers facing a “hay emergency” because of the drought, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler today encouraged corn and soybean farmers to consider baling their stalks and plants for use as animal feed.

Reports from farmers across the state indicate that as many as 800,000 round bales of hay will be needed to make up the shortfall and feed livestock through the winter. Compared with the drought of 2002, the magnitude of the problem this year is much greater, Troxler said.

“There’s no doubt we are seeing a hay emergency in North Carolina,” he said. “When we had a drought five years ago, we were able to help farmers meet their need for 10,000 bales of hay. But that drought mainly affected only a portion of the state. This time the whole state is affected, and we’re talking about a demand that’s 80 times greater. It’s a pretty daunting task to try to ship in that much hay, so we’ve got to be creative in helping farmers cope.

“Corn and soybean growers also are suffering from the drought. Baling corn stubble and soybeans for hay can give these growers a marketable option for their damaged crops while providing our livestock producers with additional feed options,” Troxler said.

Farmers who bale these feed alternatives can list them for sale on the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Hay Alert Web site. Hay Alert allows farmers to place free listings seeking or selling hay. It also has a section for finding or offering hay transportation services.

The site is available at www.ncagr.com/HayAlert. Listings are searchable by county and state.

Cars Vandalized Saturday Night

Three car owners in Millers Creek believe a neighbor is to blame for vandalism to their cars over the weekend. Bobby Joe Smith, Sandra Smith, and Kathy Spears, who live not far form one another along Lovette Homes Street and Shingle Gap Road, discovered rocks had been thrown through the windows of their cars sometime between 9 Saturday night and sunrise on Sunday. Other people in the neighborhood saw the unidentified male suspect walking in the area during the time in question. He lives down the road from one of the victims. Total damage to the cars is over 900-dollars. Deputies are still trying to interview the suspect.

Man, WMoan Assault One Another

Two young children are staying with relatives, after their parents got into a bloody fight over the weekend. Deputies were called to he home shared by Steward Edwards and Latonya Sales on Martin Road early Friday evening. they found the two near a pickup in front of the house, her holding a knife, him yelling at her form the front seat of the pickup. She turned toward the deputies, knife still in her hand, and started to approach them. When she was told to put the knife down and back off, she cooperated.

Their stories about what happened differ a bit, but not substantially. It seems he has another girlfriend, and both agree he was trying to leave the house -- whether it was to go to her is a point in dispute. Nevertheless, a verbal argument started in the house, with each claiming the other started assaulting them. Edwards says she came after him first with a knife, then with a bat, both of which he took from her and threw into a field behind the house. Sales says he started hitting her with a sheathed sword, and she got out the knife to defend herself after he tried to strangle her. They agree with witnesses who say she chased him out of the house with a knife and was slashing at him as he got in the pickup and tried to leave.

Deputies found signs of abuse on both of them, consistent with most of their individual stories. Both were arrested on assault charges, and their children's grandmother was called to take custody of the kids. Deputies do not indicate either of the adults had to be taken to the hospital for treatment.

Expensive Mower Stolen

A Wilkes man says someone has stolen an expensive mower from his property. Craig Sanderson tells deputies he stored his 6-thousand dollar Husqvarna zero-turn mower under the carport -- at least he did until sometime Sunday. When he got home from a day out on Sunday, he found the mower missing. There were no obvious tracks noted by officers, and he doesn't have any idea who might have taken it. Deputies are waiting on some additional information to enter the mower into the national crime database. Sanderson says it happened sometime between Sunday morning at 9:30 and Sunday evening about 5.

Check Forger Swindles Maw Maw Bea's

It's not clear whether a woman was actually setting up a household, or if that is just the things she chose to steal, but a local business lost over 300-dollars worth of second-hand clothing and home supplies. According to the clerk at Maw Maw Beas, the woman came in last Monday afternoon about 2 and picked up more than 20 items including a window air conditioner, towels, kitchen utensils, and supplies for a baby's room. She wrote three checks to pay for the items, all on a Bank of America account, but not consecutive check numbers. When the woman left, the clerk got suspicious and called the bank, only to find the account had been closed. She describes the con artist as a Hispanic woman in her late 20's, about 5-feet, 5-inches tall. She gave the deputies the checks, which had the woman's name on them. However, they have not released the woman's name, in spite of waiting a week to release the report of the crime. It is listed as under investigation.