Public records
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on May 20, 2005 1:45 PM
Man sentenced
in shooting case
A 21-year-old Goldsboro man has been sentenced to about eight to 11 years in prison after being convicted of firing a weapon into a Goldsboro home and wounding the woman resident five times.
Jonathan Devon Lofton of West Grantham Street was found guilty Wednesday by a Wayne County Superior Court jury of discharge of a weapon into occupied property and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill while inflicting serious injury.
The victim, Rosemary McLain Forte of 715 Bain St., was so seriously injured May 3, 2003, that her doctor testified that he did not think that she would survive the wounds. He called her injuries catastrophic.
Ms. McLain also testified and spoke again to the court before Lofton was sentenced.
Lofton was sentenced by Judge Paul L. Jones of Kinston to consecutive terms of 25 to 39 months for discharging the weapon and 70 to 93 months for assaulting the woman. Jones also ordered Lofton to pay restitution to the victim. Lofton appealed the sentences to the N.C. Court of Appeals.
Assistant District Attorney Jan Kroboth prosecuted the case. Lofton was defended by lawyer Charles Gurley of Goldsboro.
Man sentenced
in store robbery
A 34-year-old man has been sentenced to about six to about nine years in prison after pleading guilty to robbing a convenience store and assaulting a law-enforcement officer.
Mark Albin Simpson of Holland Hill Drive was sentenced Wednesday in Wayne County Superior Court by Judge Paul L. Jones of Kinston to 62 to 84 months for the armed holdup of a woman on June 30, 2004.
Simpson was accused of threatening a convenience store clerk with a beer bottle and then stealing $175 from her. He was arrested July 3.
Simpson also was sentenced to 16 to 20 months for assaulting Sheriff's Deputy Rodney Lovic on April 22. He will serve the sentences at the same time.
The assault charge resulted from a chase. Simpson had evaded a Goldsboro police license checkpoint and sped away into the county. Deputies then took over the pursuit. Lovic pulled alongside Simpson, who rammed the patrol car and then lost control of his van. The van spun out and stopped along the road. He was quickly apprehended.
Sex charges
Grady
A 36-year-old man was arrested Thursday by Goldsboro police and charged with four felony sex offenses.
Tracey Terell Grady of Stanley Chapel Church Road, Mount Olive, was accused of kidnapping a woman Tuesday in Goldsboro and taking her outside the city where she was sexually assaulted, Investigator Dwayne E. Dean said.
Grady was charged with two counts of a first-degree forcible sexual offense and a crime against nature and one count of first-degree kidnapping. He was placed in the Wayne County Jail in lieu of a $500,000 secured bond.
Police Investigator G.N. Lynch and Sheriff's Detective Sgts. Shawn Harris and Carl Lancaster assisted in the case.
Wanted
West
A 29-year-old Goldsboro man is wanted by Goldsboro police on charges of first-degree rape and first-degree kidnapping.
Rashon Orlando West, whose last-known address was on Norlee Drive, was described as black, 6-feet and 220 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. The alleged assault occurred in the 100 block of North Slocumb Street.
Anyone with information on West's location was asked to call Investigator Dale Foster at 580-4217 or Goldsboro-Wayne County Crime Stoppers at 735-2255. Callers may remain anonymous, and they may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.
Rig overturns
A tractor-trailer truck loaded with mulch overturned at 11:05 a.m. Thursday in the U.S. 70 exit ramp at U.S. 117, spilling some of the load, Goldsboro police said. But no diesel was spilled, a fire official said.
The driver, Enguel W. Gutierrez, 31, of Hubert, was not injured, but he was charged with exceeding a safe speed. The speed limit is 15 mph on the ramp. Damage was estimated at $20,000 to the big rig, owned by Charles Blythe of Trenton.
$23 stolen
A thief inflicted about $550 in damages between Wednesday and Thursday to two drink machines in order to steal $23, according to a Goldsboro police report. The machines were at the Piggly Wiggly supermarket at 100 N. Lionel St.
Statue base,
pedestal stolen
The base and the pedestal from the old Lady in the Park statue were stolen between Wednesday and Thursday from behind the Wayne County Museum at 116 N. William St., Goldsboro police reported.
The cast-iron base, about four feet in diameter, was valued at $25,000. The 30-inch pedestal was worth $5,000, the report said.
The base and pedestal weighed more than 400 pounds, police said, and would take more than one person to remove them.
The theft occurred between 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and 11:30 a.m. Thursday.