Public records
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on February 17, 2004 2:01 PM
Man robbed
A 33-year-old Goldsboro man said he was robbed early Sunday of $500 and other property, according to a Goldsboro police report filed Monday.
Victor Jose Lopes Magdalena told police that two men, one armed with a knife, approached him at 1 a.m. in a parking lot in the 900 block of West Grantham Street. One man held the knife to Magdalena's throat, police said, and the other one struck him on the head and pushed him to the ground. The robbers took Magdalena's wallet.
The two robbers were described only as being black, in their 20s. They fled with another black man and a white woman, police said.
House fire
A candle caused a small bedroom fire on Monday night at a home at 1709 S. Slocumb St., a Goldsboro Fire Department report said.
Several smoke detectors sounded and awakened the occupants. The resident, Lori Frost, another adult and four children got outside safely.
A child thought he had blown out the candle, but it ignited a night stand and the fire then spread to a bed, Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Langston said. The child shut the door when the family escaped, and officials attributed that fact to keeping the fire from spreading.
Damage was estimated at $200 to the home and $600 to bedroom furniture, officials said. The one-floor home, owned by Ernest Waters of Goldsboro, was valued at $60,000 and contents at $20,000.
In other fires:
*A stove fire caused about $300 in damages Sunday at 602 S. Center St. in Mount Olive, officials said. Ten firefighters responded to the 12:25 p.m. call with three trucks to the Wanda Seaberry home and needed about 25 minutes to put out the fire, investigate the cause and finish salvage work.
*Clothes and other items in containers were damaged Saturday in a garage fire at 800 E. Mulberry St., firefighters said. The cause of the fire has not been determined. The owner of the property, valued at $300, was not immediately known. The detached garage was not damaged.
Robbery arrest
Quick response on Monday enabled Wayne County sheriff's officers to arrest a man and charge him with two felony counts of common-law robbery.
A woman from Dudley reported that a white man snatched her purse at about 1:40 p.m. in the Food Lion parking lot at Mar Mac and fled in a blue car. About $12, personal papers, the wallet and purse were taken, the report said.
While deputies were taking the report, a clerk at the Handy Mart No. 1 at 5458 U.S. 117 S. said a man matching the same description had entered the store, reached across the counter and stole about $30.
Deputy Randy Thompson said he stopped the suspect's car on Landfill Road and determined that the driver had been involved in both robberies.
Dennis James Martin, 23, of Stevens Mill Road was charged and placed in the Wayne County Jail in lieu of a $55,000 secured bond. The property was returned to the owners.
Detective Sgts. Rick Farfour and Tony Morris, Sgt. Sherwood Daly and Deputy Chuck Arnold assisted in the investigation.
Martin also was charged last year with other similar strong-armed robberies in the same area. He has not been tried on those charges.
Methamphetamine
A 33-year-old man was charged Monday by the Goldsboro-Wayne County Drug Squad with felony trafficking in methamphetamine and placed in the Wayne County Jail in lieu of a $1 million secured bond.
Douglas Elwood Taylor of Bennett's Bridge Road, Mount Olive, was charged with trafficking by possession, trafficking by delivery, trafficking by sale and transporting the drug. Taylor was charged as a result of an undercover campaign in August in the Seven Springs area.
Man wounded
A man was wounded Monday at Kornegay and East Chestnut streets, but the victim declined to identify the suspect, a Goldsboro police report said.
Taylor Whitley, 22, told officers that a teen-ager drove up to the intersection at about 4:50 p.m., talked to the victim, then pulled a shotgun from the car trunk and fired twice. One blast missed Whitley, but the second struck both legs.
Whitley was not treated at Wayne Memorial Hospital, a spokeswoman said.
The assailant was described only as being about 17 years old and 5-feet-11, and he wore blue jeans and a black shirt. The suspect fled in a blue car with a white woman driving and another black man as a passenger, police said.
Restaurant theft
About $600 was stolen before dawn today from a safe at a fast-food restaurant at Mar Mac, a Wayne County Sheriff's Office report said.
Between 2 and 4 a.m. the suspect pried open a back door at Andy's Cheesesteaks at 114 Five Points Road and then pried open the safe, deputies said. Damage was estimated at $150 to the door and $100 to the safe.
Deputies also are investigating these reports:
*A laptop computer, a stereo and a shotgun were stolen from a home in the 600 block of South Bentonville Road, deputies said. The owner, E.A. Denning, said the property was worth $1,325.
*A lawn trailer, a kerosene heater and a microwave oven were stolen after a window was smashed at a home in the 100 block of Gainey Drive, deputies said. The owner, Edward Hudson of Goldsboro, estimated the property's value at $600.