Calls to Crime Stoppers lead to arrests in several robberies
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on January 1, 2006 2:02 AM
A bank robbery, a holdup, a drug case and several break-ins were among the cases cleared by law enforcement officers with help from Goldsboro-Wayne County Crime Stoppers.
Goldsboro Police Sgt. Dot Ardes, the agency's law-enforcement coordinator, told the Crime Stoppers board at its monthly meeting that the October and November callers who gave tips to investigators would be paid cash rewards for their information .
David Rickland Banks, 36, of New Bern was identified by a tipster as a suspect in the Sept. 16 armed robbery of the Wachovia Bank branch at 605 N. Berkeley Blvd. He was arrested Sept. 20.
The information later enabled the Federal Bureau of Investigation to identify two other suspects in the robbery. The trio has been implicated in several other bank robberies in eastern North Carolina.
Another caller's information helped police arrest Michael James King, 17, of Tinderwood Drive and charge him with the Nov. 9 armed robbery of the Spur gas station at 2000 N. William St. The caller said the suspect had been told by two other people to rob the store or that he would be beaten. King was arrested after information from a witness. Police reported that the robber had brandished a silver handgun, demanded money from the clerk, took the cash drawer and fled.
A confidential call enabled the Goldsboro-Wayne County Drug Squad and the N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement Division to arrest the operator of a tavern and charge him with drug and alcohol violations. The caller said the M&M II's tavern in the 2300 block of North William Street was staying open after hours and selling not only liquor but also cocaine that was kept in a broom closet behind the bar. The operator, Hubert Wayne Ferrell, 58, of U.S. 117 North, was charged with possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia, possession of alcohol at an unlicensed place and failure to supervise the business.
Two men were arrested by the Wayne County Sheriff's Office after an anonymous call and charged with multiple offenses in connection with numerous break-ins between Oct. 10 and Oct. 26 in the southern part of the county. Five stolen firearms, valued at $1,727, and other property, valued at $1,983, have been recovered. Richard Allen Smith, 23, of Smith Logging Road was charged Nov. 3 with four felony counts each of breaking and entering and larceny. William Allen Jackson IV, 19, of O'Berry Road, Mount Olive, eluded arrest until Nov. 9, when he was captured at a home in Greenville after a tipster's call. Greenville police arrested Jackson and turned him over to Wayne County authorities. Jackson was charged with five felony counts each of breaking and entering and larceny and one felony count of safecracking.
While Jackson was being processed, he also tried to escape from the magistrates' office. He was recaptured quickly and charged with escape and criminal contempt.
Other fugitives apprehended after authorities received information from Crime Stoppers were:
*Mauro Guerra, who was wanted by Texas authorities on federal drug charges and was found by U.S. marshals in a mobile home on Zion Church Road.
*Kelvin Latrial Rivers, 26, of Mount Olive, who was found by Mount Olive police on Chestnut Street, was wanted a probation violation and later was charged with possession of a firearm, a pistol, by a convicted felon.
*Carlos R. Wright, 30, of Edgerton Street, who was wanted by Goldsboro police for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill while inflicting serious injury, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and discharge of a weapon in the city in connection with an Oct. 15 shooting. He was found in a home on East Walnut Street.
Since the inception of Crime Stoppers in Wayne County in 1982, anonymous calls have helped authorities to clear 7,005 cases with arrests, seize almost $7.9 million worth of illegal drugs and recover almost $1.8 million worth of stolen property.
Anyone with information on any crime in Wayne County was asked to call Crime Stoppers at 735-2255. Callers may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000, if their information leads to an arrest in felony cases.