On seat belt patrol
By John Joyce
Published in News on March 20, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Sgt. Maurice DeValle inputs the information of a driver he pulled over for not wearing a seat belt Wednesday morning on Ash Street. DeValle is supervising the third day of an operation to enforce the state's seat belt law.
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Trooper Justin Creech, Sgt. Jonathan Whitley and Trooper Adam Hostinsky search for drugs in a car that was pulled over for a seat belt violation on Berkeley Boulevard Thursday. Both the driver and the passenger of the car had outstanding warrants and were taken into custody after a brief foot chase.
Chances are drivers in Wayne County had no idea law enforcement officers were behind them until they saw the flashing blue lights.
Even more surprising to the citizens of Goldsboro, Mount Olive, Pikeville and the Grantham area might have been the fact it was the N.C. State Highway Patrol that was pulling them over.
"We were doing a week-long seat belt concentration," First Sgt. Jerry Burton said. In combination with the Governor's Highway Safety campaign, called "Booze It and Lose It," the Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies join forces four times a year to crack down on traffic issues such as seat belt violations and DWIs.
"This is just one of our quarterly campaigns. The other three are over the major holidays -- Labor Day, Memorial Day and then Christmas through New Year's -- this quarter we decided to do seat belts." Burton said.
Four troopers and a patrol sergeant have been working together in what is referred to as a wolf pack along East Ash Street, North Berkeley Boulevard, North Spence Avenue and other areas.
It is a strategy that pays dividends in more ways than one. Not only do the troopers write citations for drivers and passengers who fail to wear their seat belts -- 335 were written between Monday and Wednesday alone -- but drugs, guns and persons with outstanding arrest warrants are also discovered regularly during such campaigns.
"There wasn't a day this week we didn't get at least one with a warrant for his arrest," Sgt. Maurice DeValle said.
DeValle is the supervisor assigned to the campaign that was operating in Goldsboro last week, and was on duty Thursday when two men decided to flee during a traffic stop.
The driver and passenger jumped out of their vehicle and ran when troopers pulled the car over in front of the TJ Maxx on North Berkeley Boulevard at 11 a.m.
DeValle was one of the troopers who gave chase, following the men as they crossed a ditch and ran toward a residential area.
"I lost my shoe in the ditch. I had to pull my foot out of my shoe, reach down and pull my shoe out," DeValle said.
Troopers Justin Creech and Justin Arnette were still in the chase.
Goldsboro police officers also responded and cut the fleeing suspects off, both of whom were captured and charged.
The driver, Marsharee Walter Troy, 21, 817 Luther Drive, is charged with simple possession of marijuana, failure to wear a seat belt and resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer.
The passenger, Dmequise Lamont Britt, 24, 140 Jesse Jackson St., is charged with simple possession of marijuana and had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
"They started by giving the trooper false information, then they took off running," Burton said.
Burton stressed the importance of campaigns such as this week's seat belt crackdown. He said the arrests of Troy and Britt were prime examples of how a traffic stop begins as a moving violation and escalates quickly into something else.
"The purpose of the campaign is, well, first to make sure people comply with the law, but there are safety concerns also. Sudden stops put people in danger of striking the windshield and, if it is a wreck, a seat belt will keep someone from getting thrown out of the car," Burton said.
Final numbers on the citations written during the past week will not be compiled until the end of the week, when the administrative paperwork is complete.