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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

The third wave of Operation Summer Heat netted five arrests this morning — four for drugs and one for disorderly conduct.

Roanoke Rapids police officers, detectives and narcotics agents, along with Alcohol Law Enforcement Agent Tim Parker, converged on the house at 302 Madison Street shortly after 11:30.

Detric Lamar Lee, who lives in the house, was forced to the ground at gunpoint, before he was handcuffed and made to sit on the porch as officers conducted a search.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the discovery Friday of live ammo, including a hand grenade, which was found by a child cutting grass off Zoo Road.

Sheriff Jeff Frazier told rrspin.com this morning the grenade was so fragile it needed to be detonated immediately, a task that was done by a bomb squad from Fort Bragg at the Roanoke Rapids firing range.

The items found in the bag are of the Vietnam era or earlier, the sheriff said.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

A family fight over leftover potato salad and steak left a man with a fractured eye socket and other injuries.

Major Bruce Temple of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office said Deputy Josh Clark received a call to Halifax Regional Medical Center Saturday where the victim was being treated.

Clark learned family members argued over portions of leftover potato salad and steaks eaten the day before.

A fight ensued and the victim claims his sister assaulted him as a male held him. The victim’s injuries included a fractured eye socket and a severe laceration above the eye. The victim also lost consciousness and had to be transported to Chapel Hill for further treatment.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Court documents show Tony Maurice Gorham admitted killing Maxine McCrary and Nancy Burgess and robbing the mother and daughter of $200.

The information is contained in the request for a search warrant after Gorham, 28, allegedly stabbed the women Friday night.

The information filed by Detective Charles Vaught of the Roanoke Rapids Police Department says Gorham gave a written statement admitting robbing and killing both victims. It says he used a kitchen knife and took $200.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Valerie Mayo McGee, the girlfriend of the man charged in Friday’s double murder, helped destroy and conceal evidence and gave officers false information, Roanoke Rapids Police Department Deputy Chief Adam Bondarek said today.

McGee, 33, turned herself into police around noon Tuesday and was jailed on $250,000 bond.

She was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact of first degree murder and armed robbery with a dangerous weapon.

McGee ceased communication with law enforcement and was entered into national criminal databases before giving herself up.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The fourth person wanted in an April 3 shooting on Henry Street was arrested Tuesday afternoon, the Roanoke Rapids Police Department said.

Cadaryl Lamont Carter, 23, was arrested by narcotic agents acting on a tip, said Captain Andy Jackson.

Carter was located in an apartment complex behind the police station, where family members live, and was charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, one count of attempted armed robbery and two outstanding warrants for failure to appear.

“This locks it up. It completes the circle,” Jackson said of Carter’s arrest in the shooting of Raymond Garner III.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Richard Charles Demello, wanted in the March 28 murder of Michael Wayne Davis is in custody in Ashland, Va.

Wednesday around 4:45 p.m. Demello called the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office and said he wanted to turn himself in, Major Bruce Temple said.

Virginia State Police located Demello at a truck stop in Ashland and he was taken into custody in Hanover County where he will most likely have a first appearance today.

Temple said Demello will have an opportunity to waive extradition although a timetable for the proceedings is unknown.

Meanwhile, Temple said the Dodge Neon Demello allegedly stole from Davis following the murder was recovered unoccupied in a Colonial Heights, Va., parking lot. Investigators have processed the vehicle.

Monday, March 29, 2010

The suspect in Thursday’s First Citizens bank robbery died Saturday, Roanoke Rapids Police Chief Jeff Hinton said.

Hinton said an autopsy on Nicholas Pierre Clark, 28, was performed Sunday. While he didn’t have the official results, Hinton said the autopsy confirmed Clark died from a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head as he holed up in a house at 1308 Patsy Albritton Street.

Meanwhile, Hinton said police are investigating a phone call from the Tenth Street launderette which detectives believe was a diversion to take officers away from the house Clark broke into following the bank robbery.

Someone called and told dispatchers their vehicle was stolen by a man wearing a wig. The description of the man was the same as the bank robber’s. “We determined it was a false call, an attempt to draw officers away from the house.”

Friday, March 19, 2010

Pete Luter III, a 68-year-old Roanoke Rapids skydiver and owner of Countryside Chimney Sweeps, died after having a problem with his parachute in Florida.

Luter died in Zephyrhills, Florida, according to the tampabay.com website.

According to a news release from Skydive City, where Luter made the jump, he had a problem with his main parachute spinning after it opened. “He was either unconscious or incapacitated in some way we expect, but do not know for sure. There was no reaction to the malfunction until about 300 feet when he cutaway from his main parachute, but there was not enough altitude for his reserve parachute to deploy in time.  It appears he was killed instantly.”

The website tbo.com reported Anna Parker was watching a group of skydivers descending toward earth today shortly after 1 p.m. While 10 to 15 of them seemed to be floating peacefully, one had drifted far from the others.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

It was a day for hello and a day for goodbye: Hello to a soldier who has been in Iraq since April and goodbye to a beard the soldier’s brother grew since he left.

“I was just thinking it would be something to do to pass the time while he was gone,” said Travis Mahaffey, the brother of Troy Beach, a sergeant in the National Guard, who returned home the first of the month. “It turned into a conversation starter. I knew the longer the beard got the closer he was to coming home.”

Mahaffey, who lives outside Greensboro, came to Ralph’s Barbecue today with other family members and friends to welcome Beach home with a surprise party.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

An arrest was made following a Friday assault which apparently started over the victim not liking what his wife cooked for him.

Lt. Bobby Martin  of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release Lt. Stevie Salmon responded to an assault call in the 5000 block of Justice Branch Road in Enfield. 

EMS was already on scene treating the victim, James Lewis, 85, for head injuries. The man’s wife, Rosie, 71, was standing outside with EMS as they were treating the victim.

Martin said Salmon learned there was an argument earlier in the morning, which is believed to have started over breakfast, when the victim did not like what was cooked for him.