Public records
By Other
Published in News on December 20, 2005 1:46 PM
Suspect identified
in bank robbery
LA GRANGE -- A former Mount Olive resident has been identified as a third suspect in the Sept. 6 robbery of the Wachovia Bank branch in LaGrange.
Kareem Abdul Salaam was identified by authorities through the examination of collected evidence, LaGrange Police Chief John Sullivan said Monday.
Salaam -- also known as Nafia-Kareem Abdul Salaam and Nafia Salaam -- is being held on numerous unrelated federal charges in Port Wentworth, Ga.
Sullivan said more federal charges will be filed against Salaam in connection with the LaGrange bank robbery. The 22-year-old Salaam is a native of Philadelphia.
Two other people have been arrested and charged with armed bank robbery. LaShonda Marquette Johnson, 25, of Lincoln Street, LaGrange, was arrested Sept. 13. Fremandeus Connell Williams, 25, of Devereaux Street in Goldsboro was arrested in November in Union City, Calif.
Sun starts fire
Sunlight shining into a snow globe on a kitchen window sill started a fire Monday at a home at 102 Red Hawk Drive in southern Wayne County, a fire official said.
"That's the first call we've had with the sun as a cause of a fire," said Indian Springs Volunteer Fire Chief Leroy Blizzard. The globe "acted like a prism and magnified the light."
The fire caught the curtains on fire, causing about $300 in damages, Blizzard said. Quick action by the residents minimized the damage, he said. They pulled the curtains down and got them outside. The globe had been on the window for months.
"It was just one of those freak things that happens," the chief said.
The home, owned by Damon Quick, was valued at $114,000.
"It's a good thing they were home," Blizzard said, "because there was no major damage."
Indian Springs volunteers quickly ventilated the home and put out the burning curtains.
House fire
MOUNT OLIVE -- A family lost most of its possessions Saturday night in a fire that heavily damaged a home at 315 S. Center St., officials said.
The cause of the fire at Rosette Carter's home has not been determined, Assistant Fire Chief Greg Wiggins said, but it was not suspicious. The fire started in a bedroom.
When 10 Mount Olive firefighters answered the 10:06 p.m. call with three units, they found a working fire in the bedroom. Smoke and heat damaged the entire house. Dudley, Smith Chapel and Calypso volunteers assisted.
Damage was estimated at $30,000 to the home and $5,000 to the contents. The home, owned by Mary Dallas Sutton of Mount Olive, was valued at $55,000. Contents were valued at $5,000.
Drug charges
LA GRANGE -- A 22-year-old LaGrange man has been arrested by LaGrange police and charged with a felony drug offense in his home following a lengthy investigation.
Michael Jashon Collie of Hadden Street was charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine. He was arrested after police executed a search warrant for his home and vehicle. He was placed in the Lenoir County Jail in lieu of a $2,000 secured bond.
Police seized 218 pieces of crack cocaine packaged for sale, four bags of powered cocaine packaged for sale and 27 bags of marijuana packaged for sale and $308 during the search.
Police Chief John Sullivan said more charges are pending.
Accidents
One driver was injured and damages were estimated at $43,800 in four recent traffic collisions in Wayne County, officers reported.
*Damages were estimated at $5,500 in a three-vehicle collision at 12:04 p.m. Monday on Dr. M.L. King Jr. Expressway, the U.S. 70 bypass, near Paul Street, Goldsboro police said. One driver, Karli A. Beasley, 16, of Connie Circle, was charged with failure to reduce speed after the rear-end collision. The other drivers -- Sandy Kay Lofton, 49, of Potts Road, Dudley, and Rena B. Cauley, 71, of Kinston -- had stopped for traffic, the report said.
*Damages were estimated at $17,500 in a two-car crash at 11:10 a.m. Saturday at O'Berry Center and Perkins Mill roads, the Highway Patrol said. A northbound driver, John David Clark Jr., 17, of Rosewood Road, was charged with a yield violation at a stop sign. The report said the car that Clark was driving had collided with a westbound auto that was driven by Cara Austin Narron, 16, of West Wendy Way.
*Damages were set at $7,500 in a two-vehicle wreck at 11:45 a.m. Thursday on U.S. 117 near Mount Carmel Church Road, the Highway Patrol said. One southbound driver, Ruby Jo Southerland, 50, of Billy Price Road, Seven Springs, was charged with failure to reduce speed after the rear-end wreck. The other motorist, Norwood Forte, 67, of U.S. 117 South, Pikeville, had stopped to turn into a driveway, the report said.
*A driver was injured and damages were put at $13,300 in a three-vehicle collision at 7:53 a.m. Dec. 12 at U.S. 117 and Country Club Road, the Highway Patrol said. Lawrence Mayer Rimel Jr., 63, of Old N.C. 111 was listed today in stable condition at Wayne Memorial Hospital, a spokeswoman said. An eastbound motorist, Stephanie Lynn Cormier, 17, of Crows Foot Road, Mount Olive, was charged with a yield violation at a stop sign. The report said the car that Ms. Cormier was driving had collided with Rimel's northbound auto and the impact pushed Rimel's auto into a westbound pickup truck that was turning right onto U.S. 117. The third driver was identified as Joshua Michael Whitfield, 26, of Indian Springs Road, Mount Olive.
Investigations
Wayne County law-enforcement officers are investigating these reports:
*A man stopped at a store Monday night to buy crates of drinks and when he returned with the second crate, he saw another man drive the pickup truck away, deputies said. Clifton Fonza Elps of Dudley said the red, extended-cab 1994 Toyota was valued at $9,000. The truck was registered to Alice Carol Arnette of Mount Olive.
*A black 1993 Ford Ranger pickup truck was stolen between Nov. 30 and Monday from the 100 block of Bruit Drive, deputies said. The owner, Rene N. Savage of Pikeville, put a $2,000 value on it.
*Two bicycles were stolen between Saturday and Monday after a barn door was damaged in the 500 block of Hare Road, deputies said. The resident and owner, Tonya M. Edwards, estimated the bikes' value at $178 and damage at $30. A resident on Tiffany Road, Jimmy Ray Moody, also reported the theft of a bike, valued at $79.
*A box with an unknown amount of money was stolen between Sunday and Monday from a vending machine at Days Inn at 2000 Wayne Memorial Drive, Goldsboro police said. Damage to the machine was set at $5.