North Wilkesboro Man Arrested for DWI

According to a Wilkes deputy, a local man is fortunate he's alive, because he was driving on the wrong side of the road for quite a while. Early Sunday morning, the deputy encountered 25-year old Anthony Keel of North Wilkesboro while on routine patrol in the 16-hundred block of Highway 268 East. He saw Keel drive on the wrong side of the road for some distance, nearly forcing the deputy off the road, and when the deputy recovered and got turned around, Keel was still left of center. The deputy lit up his emergency flashers and tried to pull Keel over at Sky View Road. Instead of stopping short of the intersection, Keel pulled past it, and parked the car on the left side of the road, most of the way in the ditch....but not so far that an oncoming car wouldn't have hit it. Keel tested at .15 on the roadside breath test, and blew a .17 when he arrived at the jail. The deputy found an empty bottle of liquor on the floor of the car, just enough left in it to tell it had been consumed recently. Keel was booked on a charge of DWI, one of having an open container, and one of driving left of center.

Mowers, Tiller Stolen

A Millers Creek woman reports the disappearance of several pieces of power lawn equipment from her yard yesterday. Mary Grose says two mowers and a tiller were stolen from behind her home. While she had not secured the items, Grose says only a few people knew she stored the items where she did. The stolen items include a blue Yard Machines riding mower worth 13-hundred dollars, a Cub Cadet self-powered walk-behind mower worth 400-dollars, and a Troy-Bilt rear-time tiller worth 700-dollars. In all, the thief took 24-hundred dollars worth of property. The deputy tried unsuccessfully to make contact with the suspect, and says he checked the yard and didn't find the mowers or tiller. The case remains under investigation.

Woman Assaulted, Man Charged

Wilkes deputies are investigating a report of domestic violence that left a rural North Wilkesboro woman with multiple injuries. She didn't report the incident until several days after it happened, though. In a report released yesterday, Larissa Deann Barnes, a 26-year old who lives on Fairplains Bridge Road, said she had been assaulted several times by a local man whose name is not yet being released. According to the report, much of the abuse happened on July 28th at her house, and included instances of the man beating her, dragging her from place to place by the ankles, putting a finger in her mouth and pulling her from place to place by the cheek. Her injuries included a busted lip, multiple bruises and scratches, and evidence of being restrained around the ankles. At the time of the report, she had already spoken with the DA's office about additional charges against the man, in addition to the ones already filed. Those include assault by strangulation, felonious restraint, and property damage. The property damage comes from a broken cell phone, which Barnes says was broken during the incident. There were multiple witnesses, who have also discussed with deputies what happened at the house. The 25-year old man has not yet been arrested.

Car Reported Stolen

A woman says her car was stolen from the side of Highway 421 late last week. In a report released yesterday, Angie Essie, who lives in Yadkinville, told deputies she had parked her 2005 Dodge Neon along 421 at the Clingman Road exit last Monday and had a friend pick her up. She says she had become sick while she was driving, an there weren't any problems with the car. When she came back Thursday afternoon, the car was not there. The Highway Patrol had not towed the vehicle. The car is a blue 2005 Neon four-door with North Carolina plate WWX-1040, worth about 12-thousand, 500-dollars. It hasn't been seen since, and authorities have no suspects.

Gun Pointed at Woman's Neck

Sheriff deputies have arrested two men, following a series of crimes that ended with the two brandishing guns during an argument over drugs. Marcus Turner and Robert Pena were arrested several hours after the incident Saturday night, which happened at a home on Traphill Road in Hays, owned by Dinah Brady. Deputies were called there just before 11pm Saturday after the men showed up and and demanded their money from a drug deal back. The two had allegedly bought drugs through a third party, Tammy Griffin, earlier in the evening. She had taken them back to Brady's home when they got angry about the drugs for some reason, but said she got scared and ran off from Brady's on foot. The story from another person in the van was that she'd driven the men to the house because of an old debt owed by Miranda Church, who was also at the house. During the disturbance at the house, one of the men is alleged to have held the pistol to Church's neck and demanded the money back. It's not clear from the crime report if they actually got the money, or left when they were told deputies had been called.

Update on Fatal Church Van Crash

A woman was killed and several others were injured in a Monday morning crash involving a pickup and a van carrying a church group to camp. Officials from Charity Baptist Church of Boonville said 60-year-old Norma Shore was killed in the wreck on U.S. Highway 601 near the Davie and Yadkin county line. Shore was a youth group leader. The incident occurred at about 8:15 a.m.
Investigators said three adults and nine teenagers from the church were traveling to Fort Caswell, a Baptist retreat center in Oak Island. Their van and a pick-up truck collided head-on. A neighbor, Miranda Choplin, was one of the people at the scene and used her medical training to assist some of the victims. The driver of the van suffered a head injury, and two teenagers -- ages 14 and 16 -- were listed in critical condition. Some of the injured were treated and released from the hospital.
Residents said they frequently see accidents along the stretch of road. Authorities said charges are pending against the truck's driver.

Counterfeit $20's Passed at Golden Wok

Another Wilkesboro business has been the victim of money counterfeiters. This time, the counterfeiter passed off the fake 20-dollar bills at Golden Wok. Scott Foster tells officers when the man approached him and asked if he would give him a 100-dollar bill in exchange for five $20's, he thought the man had been eating in the restaurant, so he swapped the bills. As he was putting the $20's in the register, Foster realized three of the five were fake. Of course, the man who had just given them to him had left, and apparently wasn't eating in the restaurant after all. Foster says he saw the counterfeiter get into a red Toyota Celica with a faded hood. There was a woman waiting for him in the car. Foster says the man was white, about 6-2, with a light build, and short brown hair. He was unable to tell police what the man was wearing. Foster also said the woman was white, but he didn't see enough of her to make more of a description. The case remains under investigation.

Deputies Investigate Woman's Death

Wilkes sheriff deputies are investigating the death of a woman whose body was discovered Saturday afternoon. 52-year old Nancy Jenkins was found at her home on Fosters Trailer Park about 3:30 Saturday afternoon by a 33-year old Fleetwood man, Kris Greer. He tells deputies she was unresponsive when he first saw her, but he had no idea how long she'd been down. First responders verified she was dead. According to Greer, the only medical problems he knew of Jenkins having was some back problems. Because of the circumstances surrounding her death. investigators will treat the cases as a suspicious death until autopsy results indicate otherwise.

Deputy Uses Taser to Protect Paramedics

Wilkes EMS paramedics needed help from a sheriff deputy to subdue a person who was being combative this weekend. It happened yesterday morning. EMS had been called to 31-year old Billy Ray Garris' home in Milers Creek. When they called for help from the deputy, five or six people were having to hold down Garris just to keep him from attacking them. At the request of the paramedics, the deputy placed his Taser against Garris' shoulder and shocked him, stopping the struggle. However, Garris only remained calm for about 2 minutes, the deputy said, and then he was forced to use the Taser again to protect the people in the room. After handcuffing him to the stretcher, the deputy and paramedics rode with Garris to Wilkes Regional, and when he started acting up again, all it took from the deputy was a reminder, and Garris calmed down. The deputy reports doctors had to give Garris a variety of drugs in order to get him to calm down enough the deputy could leave.

Wreck Involving Youth Group Kills One Woman

A church youth group from Boonville has been involved in a wreck on Highway 601 this morning. The highway patrol says the wreck happened about 8:15 am on 601 near I-40, and involved the van from Charity Baptist Church and a pickup truck. A woman was killed in the wreck, and several people were injured. The yough group, whcih was nine students and two adults, was on the way to the caost for a bible study. A woman was killed and several others were injured in a Monday morning crash involving a church youth group. The van collided with the pickup head-on. No names have been released yet.