Public records
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on August 12, 2005 1:46 PM
Apartment fire
A cigarette left in a bedroom couch caused a predawn fire today in a Goldsboro Housing Authority apartment at 910-A S. Audubon Ave., a Goldsboro Fire Department official said.
Lt. Carlton Parks said the occupant, Precious O. Harper, was moving out and had removed most of the furniture. Parks and police investigators believe that a cigarette had started the fire. No one was injured.
"Smoke was showing when we got there," Parks said.
Fifteen firefighters responded to the 3:11 a.m. call with three engines, a ladder and a command car. They needed almost two hours to put out the fire, ventilate the building, investigate the cause and finish salvage work.
Damage was estimated at $6,000 to the apartment and $1,000 to contents, Parks said. The entire six-unit complex was valued at $300,000.
Four hurt in county wrecks
Four people were injured and damages were estimated at $24,400 in five recent traffic collisions in Wayne County, officers reported.
*A Goldsboro driver was injured in a two-vehicle crash at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Wayne Memorial Drive and Royall Avenue, police said. Tina E. Melvin, 76, of Bunche Drive was listed today in stable condition at Wayne Memorial Hospital, a spokeswoman said. She was charged with driving left of center. Ms. Melvin's northbound auto collided with a southbound van driven by Terry Wayne Wallace, 41, of Erik Drive, the report said. Damages were put at $1,200.
*Damages were estimated at $6,600 in a two-car wreck at 6:18 a.m. Thursday at Central Heights Road and Hunters Creek Drive, police said. One driver, Jose Juan Caballero, 24, of New Hope Road, was charged with not having an operator's license. The other motorist, Joshua Carter III, 50, of Wintergreen Place, was charged with a safe-movement violation. The report said Carter was making a left turn onto Central Heights Road and his car collided with Caballero's northbound auto.
*A Goldsboro driver was injured and damages were estimated at $5,100 in a two-vehicle collision at 2:25 p.m. Tuesday on Miller's Chapel Road near New Hope Road, the Highway Patrol said. Floydie Ray Harris, 37, of Catherine Street was released after emergency-room treatment. He was charged with driving left of center. The report said Harris' northbound pickup truck collided with a southbound tractor-trailer truck. The trucker, Kellie Harrell Pitt, 58, of Farmville, was driving for Joe Pilgreen and Sons of Bath.
*Two people were injured in a one-car wreck at 12:50 p.m. Tuesday on Rosewood Road near Old Smithfield Road, the Highway Patrol said. The driver, Bradley Harrison Mullens, 16, of Old Smithfield Road, and his passenger, Kristina Townsend, 16, of Braswell Road, Princeton, were released after emergency-room treatment. Mullens was charged with exceeding a safe speed after the car ran off the left side out of control, struck a driveway culvert and overturned into a tree, two mailboxes and a stump. Damages were estimated at $4,500.
*A car was demolished in a crash at 7:10 p.m. Sunday on Greenfield Cemetery Road near Arrington Bridge Road, the Highway Patrol said. The driver, Jose Ambriz Ponce, 18, of Thunder Swamp Road, Mount Olive, was charged with driving while impaired and reckless driving. The car, valued at $7,000, ran off the right side and struck a tree, the report said.
Investigations
Goldsboro police are investigating these reports:
*A Dell laptop computer, video-game equipment, numerous DVDs, about $40, a television and video cassette recorder were stolen between Thursday and dawn today from an apartment in the 2600 block of Cashwell Drive, police said. The resident, Manuel L. Holston-Brown, put a $3,890 value on his property.
*About $58 was stolen Thursday after a window was broken in a home in the 100 block of Banks Avenue, police said. The resident, R.M. Fussell, estimated damage at $200.
Home damaged
The master bathroom in a home that is the center of a civil lawsuit sustained an estimated $2,200 in damages between April and Thursday, according to a report filed with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.
A marble countertop, a tub, a vanity mirror, sheetrock and a sink were damaged in the home at 1305 Mount Carmel Church Road, the report said.
The owner, Paul Joseph Daniel, who lives elsewhere on Mount Carmel Church Road, has sued the builder and others because of inspection problems.
Boy is cut
An 11-year-old Goldsboro boy was cut on his face Thursday during an argument with a 13-year-old girl, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office reported.
Te-Reek Daniel Mathis of Oak Street was injured at about 6:15 p.m. in a home on Guinevere Lane, the report said. He was taken to Wayne Memorial Hospital, treated for his injuries and released.
The girl was charged in a juvenile petition with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and placed in a juvenile detention center.