Public records
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on February 13, 2004 2:03 PM
Armed men rob
bakery, workers
Three men, two armed with handguns, robbed a Hispanic bakery Thursday night and fled with $2,000 in cash and $6,500 in prepaid telephone calling cards, according to a Wayne County Sheriff's Office report.
The store owner, Jesus Pacheco, told deputies that the suspects entered Selenas Bakery and Mexican Store at 6078 U.S. 70 East at about 6:55 p.m., displayed handguns, grabbed money from the cash register and the calling cards and also robbed him and another employee.
The suspects took Pacheco's wallet, valued at $15, and about $40 from a woman employee, deputies said.
The suspects were described as being Hispanic, about 30 years old and 5-feet-5 to 5-8. One had a beard and a medium build and wore a yellow and black jacket and blue jeans. Another had a thin build and wore blue jeans, a blue T-shirt and a toboggan. The third suspect who was not armed had a heavy build and wore black jeans and a brown T-shirt.
Anyone with information on this robbery was asked to call Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Shawn Harris at 731-1483 or Goldsboro-Wayne County Crime Stoppers at 735-2255. Callers may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
Jewelry stolen
An estimated $14,970 worth of jewelry, firearms, entertainment equipment, tools and cash was stolen Thursday from a home in the 1000 block of Country Club Road near Mount Olive, a Wayne County Sheriff's Office report said.
One resident, Ralph J. Wall, reported the theft of $275, a double-barreled shotgun, a handgun, two electric motors, a saw, tools, a television, a DVD player, a stereo system and speakers. The property was valued at $4165, in addition to the cash.
Another resident, Angela Hobbs, reported the loss of $10,530 worth of jewelry, including several diamond rings.
The suspects damaged a door to get inside, deputies said.
Principal pleads guilty
WINTON -- Larry Ellis Jr., who was principal at E.E. Smith Middle School in Kenansville for about a month, pleaded guilty Monday in Hertford County Court to one count of taking indecent liberties with a minor.
Judge Milton Fitch imposed a suspended sentence and probation on the condition he register as a sex offender with the Hertford County Sheriff's Office.
Ellis was ordered to surrender his license to teach or be a school administrator in North Carolina during his probation, and he was fined $350 plus court costs.
Ellis originally faced five felony and five misdemeanor charges of sexual misconduct with four students. The state dismissed four of the felony counts and dropped the five misdemeanor charges of soliciting crimes against nature.
Wreck report filed
A collision between a Mount Olive police car and a sport utility vehicle that injured three people remained under investigation by the Highway Patrol.
The collision occurred at 2:53 a.m. Saturday at Oliver and Franklin streets in Mount Olive. Officer David Allen Johnson, 22, and the other driver, Vincent Pernell Bennerman, 37, of Franklin Street, Mount Olive, and his passenger, Gladys Miller, 50, of Price Street, Mount Olive, were treated and released from Wayne Memorial Hospital, a spokeswoman said.
State Trooper J.F. Davis said the collision happened like this:
Johnson, who lives in Goldsboro, was going south on Oliver Street to answer a domestic call. Bennerman, who was going east on Franklin Street, was starting a left turn onto Oliver Street. The vehicles collided, and Bennerman's sport utility vehicle careened off the road into a fence. The police car stopped in the street. The emergency lights and siren had not been activated on the police car.
Damage was estimated at $5,000 to the 1999 Ford police car, $3,000 to Bennerman's 1996 Izuzu SUV and $100 to the fence at 952 Oliver St. No charges have been filed.
Collisions
Damages were estimated at $43,500 in three recent traffic collisions in Wayne County, the Highway Patrol reported.
*A new sport utility vehicle was demolished in a wreck at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday on Hood Swamp Road near Rodell Barrow Road, the Highway Patrol said. The driver, Levi Brandon Burrows, 20, of Covey Drive, LaGrange, was neither injured nor charged. The SUV ran off the right side, struck a ditch and overturned into a field, troopers said. The SUV was valued at $20,000.
*Damages were estimated at $9,500 in a two-vehicle collision at 2 p.m. Tuesday at U.S. 13 and Brantwood Drive, the Highway Patrol said. One driver, Andrew Bert Moon Sr., 66, of Ayden, was charged with failure to reduce speed after the rear-end collision. The other driver was identified as Roderick Eugene Herring, 33, of Brantwood Drive.
*Damages were set at $14,000 in a two-vehicle crash at 1 p.m. Feb. 5 on U.S. 70 near Leslie Road, the Highway Patrol said. One driver, Geneva D. Boykin, 74, of Middlesex, was charged with a safe-movement violation. Troopers said Ms. Boykin was pulling from a driveway and her sport utility vehicle collided with an eastbound truck, driven by Linden Jay Campbell, 42, of Pink Hill for Bill Baysden Trucking Co. of Beulaville.
Car, bike stolen
Goldsboro police are investigating these reports:
*A woman started her car today to warm it up, then went back inside and a few minutes later heard someone drive it away, police said. The car owner and resident, Myrtle O. Lanier of Rose Street, said her blue, two-door 1989 Ford Probe was worth $1,200.
*A red and white, 10-speed bike was stolen between Wednesday and Thursday from the owner's front porch in the 1900 block of North William Street, police said. The bike was chained and padlocked, but the chain and lock also were stolen. The owner, David A. Peebles, put a $110 value on his property.
Alford plea
KENANSVILLE -- A man who plea-bargained for a life sentence for killing a woman and burning her car near Faison entered an "Alford plea," which means he did not verbally admit to anything but admitted that the prosecution could likely prove the charge.
In the eyes of the court, however, the defendant is deemed guilty.
A News-Argus article said Jimmy Lee Cashwell, 34, admitted to murdering Andrea McKenzie-Woodlock, 42, of Wade, N.C., in the spring of 2002. Under the negotiated plea agreement, Judge Gary E. Trawick of Pender County sentenced Cashwell to life without parole.
But although he did enter the plea, it was not a technical admission of guilt. Still, he cannot appeal.