Investigators Think
Domestic Dispute Led
To Arson At A
Bolivia
Home Friday Evening
A domestic dispute is believed to
have escalated into the burning of a
building and vehicle at a home in
Bolivia Friday evening, according to
a crime report on file at the Bruns
wick County Sheriff's Department
Monday.
According to Deputy Robert
Long's report, an ex-parte court or
der was served Friday on a man liv
ing at Ocean View, off U.S. 17. The
man's wife said she left and went to
her father's house up the road.
A short time later, she told Long
that she went outside and saw
smoke rising through the trees in the
direction of her house. Arriving
home, she reported finding a build
ing beside her house "fully in
flamed." A 1986 Ford Tempo
parked nearby also was burning, she
said.
Long noted that earlier that day
he and two other deputies had heard
the husband say to the wife that "he
would get her."
The total amount of the damage
had not been determined.
An investigation is continuing in
to the incident, which is being treat
ed as an arson.
In other crime reports on file at
the sheriff's office Monday:
?Someone caused an estimated
55,000 damage to the fourth green at
Sandpiper Bay golf coursc by using
two 4-wheel-drive recreational vehi
cles to "cut doughnuts" on the iurf
Saturday night. According to Sgt.
Don Stovall's report, the suspects
apparently removed a section of
split-rail fence along Old George
town Road and drove the four
wheelers onto the coursc. Del. Tom
Hunter is investigating.
CRIME REPORT
?A woman who lives on N.C. 130
in Ash told Deputy Phil Bryant that
she left her mobile home at about 9
p.m. Friday and relumed at about
midnight to find two bullet holes in
the siding. Damage was estimated at
about SI00.
?A 15-wcek-old rottweiler puppy
was reported stolen from a home on
Navassa Road, Lcland, Friday night.
The owner told Deputy R.E. Duval 1
that he had let the dog out at about
7:30 and discovered it missing about
20 minutes later. The man told the
deputy that the puppy never leaves
the yard and had to have been
stolen. It was valued at 51,500.
?Deputy Cathy Hamilton investigat
ed a report that someone apparently
moved into a vacation trailer on
Elkin Road, Supply, without the per
mission of the owner, who was at
home in Charlotte. It was not deter
mined how the intruder got into the
residence, but it "appeared to have
been lived in," Hamilton said.
"Subject also put food in the refrig
erator, bought kerosene for the
heater and changed the sheets on the
bed," she reported. No damage was
done.
?About S270 worth of cash and oth
er items was stolen from a 1988
Hyundai Excel parked in the front
yaiu of a home near the Navassa
community park Sunday evening.
The owner told Deputy William
Hewett that she left a pockelbook
containing S225 cash, credit cards
and other things on the seat of the
car while visiting a friend. When she
left the home at about 7 10 p.m., the
pockctbook was gone.
?A 10-speed bicycle was stolen
from a home off N.C. 179, Route 1,
Shallottc, recently. The father of the
owner told Bryant that his son had
left the bike at a friend's house,
where it was discovered missing
March 27. It was valued at about
SI 50.
?Someone caused an undetermined
amount of damage to a pickup truck
parked at West Brunswick High
School Tuesday. The owner, a 17
year-old Ocean Isle Beach man, told
Deputy S. Caison that he returned to
the vehicle at about 3 p.m. to find
that the door had been scratched and
a piece of trim was bent. There was
no sign of entry to the vehicle.
?A portable stereo cassette player
valued at S120 was reported stolen
in a recent break in and larceny at a
mobile home on Lanvalc Road,
Leland. The owner told Duvall that
someone removed the glass from the
front door and unlocked it to get in
side. There was an estimated S40
damage.
?About SI00 cash and an unknown
number of checks were stolen in a
break-in and larceny at the Maco
Truck Stop restaurant on Maco
Road Wednesday night The owner
told Deputy Matthew Jesson that the
thief or thieves apparendy broke in
through die front door, causing an
estimated $300 damage.
?Twenty-one pieces of lumber were
reported stolen from a N.C. Depart
ment of Transportation work site off
Bellamy Road, Longwood, Wednes
day night. Deputy R.W. I ong II esti
mated the value of stolen flooring
boards at about SI04.
?A washing machine and dryer val
ued at about S780 were stolen from
a residence at Colonial Court Apart
ments on Mt. Misery Road, Leland,
Thursday. The thieves also broke a
water line, which flooded the apart
ment, causing an undetermined
amount of damage, Duvall reported.
Courses Set For Law Officers
Two courses designed for policc
officers will be offered through
Brunswick Community College this
month.
Public Safety Officer Lindscy
Walton will teach a half-day session
Saturday, April 17, on "Cap-Stun
Weapon Systems".
The ciass wiii be neid from noon
to 5 p.m. in Room C-115 of the
Classroom Building at Brunswick
Community College's main campus
on U.S. 17 Business north of Sup
ply. Officers arc asked to bring a
towel and a shirt to class.
Radar operator certification train
ing will be held April 26-30 at
BCC's Leland campus.
Instructor Chester D. Combs will
teach the classes from 8 a.m. until
noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The 40
hours of training will cam partici
pants four continuing education
credits. The manual for the class
will cost SI8.75.
Police officers can take either
course at no charge.
For more information, contact
BCC's Continuing Education De
partment at 754-6900, 457-6329 or
343-0203.
Knife-Wielding
Cashier Scares Off Robber
The cashier at a Southport car wash foiled an
armed robbery Monday night by brandishing a
paring knife at a young woman who tried to hold
up the business with a toy handgun.
The clerk at the Coastal Car Wash on Long
Beach Road told police she was alone in the busi
ness at about 8 p.m. when a young woman en
tered wearing a blue sweatshirt with the hood
pulled over her head and a dark bandana hiding
her nose and mouth, according to Brunswick
County Sheriff's Detective Nancy Simpson.
The robber was holding a black gun in her
right hand and a bag in her left when she demand
ed that the cashier "hand over the money," Simp
son said.
"The cashier pulled out a knife and pointed it
at her and told her to get out of the store,"
Simpson said. "She dropped the bag and ran out."
Simpson said the cashier told her that she as
sumed the gun was real when she threatened her
assailant with the small paring knife. She had
been using the knife to make a sandwich shortly
before the robber entered, the detective said.
The cashier chased the robber outside and saw
her jump into a red Nissan hatchback that had
been left running behind the car wash. Then she
went inside and railed 911 to give a description of
the suspect and the vehicle.
About an hour later, a Southport police officer
pulled over a car matching the cashier's descrip
tion. Inside were two young men.
Three Arrested In
Supply Armed Robbery
Three Cedar Grove men were arrested Wednesday (March 31) after
they allegedly used a handgun to steal $3.25 from the 61-year-old owner
of a country store in Supply.
Lorctta Hcwctt has operated Hewctt's Store on Mu Pisgah Road for
the past 40 years, said Brunswick County Sheriff's Detcctivc Charlie
Miller.
She told officers she was there at about 2:38 p.m. when two men
came in and started wandering around the back of the store. When
Hewett asked if she could help, the men said they were looking for
snacks, Miller said.
As they walked toward the front of the store, one of the men pro
duced a small-caliber revolver, handed Hewett a bag and demanded that
she fill it with money, said Miller.
Hewett handed them two dollar bills and opened the cash register,
which contained only a small amount of change.
"She told them that was all she had. So they took it and left," Miller
said.
The two men were seen running across a nearby field toward Mt.
Pisgah Baptist Church, where they got into a white Chevrolet Camaro
and drove off, the detective said.
A car matching that description was later found on Turkey Trap
Road in the Cedar Grove community. Acting on information obtained
through interviews in the area, sheriff's detectives arrested W. Niguel
Lovctt, 21, Frantz Tramcl Mercer, 26 and Tcrrancc Antwan Williams,
16.
The three men have been charged with robbery with a dangerous
weapon. Lovett and Mercer are being held in lieu of $25,000 bond each.
Williams has been released on bond.
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"They were scared stiff," Simpson said.
"They said the car belonged to the mother of a
young girl who had let them borrow it."
The driver gave the officer permission to
search the car, Simpson said. Inside he found a
black plastic toy gun, a bandana and a hooded
sweatshirt.
Acting on information provided by the two
men, Simpson arrested Jennifer Payton Bellamy,
17, of Southport on a charge of common law rob
bery. She was being held in Brunswick County
Jail Tuesday in lieu of S5.000 bond.
Simpson said Bellamy could have been
charged with armed robbery if the gun had not
been found and identified as a toy.
Three Squads Fight House Fire On Stanley Road
Strong winds hampered the ef
forts of about 30 volunteer firefight
ers from three departments who re
sponded to a fire that destroyed an
old wood-frame house on Stanley
Road Monday night.
The fire had nearly gutted the
one-story house near at the intersec
tion of Morgan Road when neigh
bors noticed the smoke and called
911, said Roger Suggs, chief of
Supply Volunteer Fire Department
Suggs heard the radio dispatch at
about 8:27 and immediately called
for mutual aid from Civictown
Volunteer Fire Department. As he
drove up Stanley Road and saw the
bright orange glow in the sky, he no
tified Tri-Bcach Volunteer Fire
Department that additional aid
would be needed.
"I knew I had something before I
got there," Suggs said Tuesday. "It's
always better to call too much than
too little. You don't play catch-up
with a Tire. Turns out it was pretty
much gone already."
Firefighters with two hoses kept
water trained on the fire as strong,
shifting winds sent billowing clouds
of smoke spewing first from one
side of the house and then another.
The two groups took turns attacking
and retreating from different angles
as the flames and smoke advanced
and receded.
The fire was largely under control
within about 30 minutes, but by then
there was little left but a few charred
walls, some blackened timbers and a
tall brick chimney. A nearby shed
and a large oak tree were charred by
the heat but did not catch fire.
No one was home at the time of
the blaze and no firefighters were in
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Saturday-4:30-9PM ? Sunday-11AM-3PM
Beginning April 18 Open Sunday
evenings 4:30-9 PM
t
For take-out call
754-5280
East Gate Sauare, Hoiaen
Beach Roaa ? Shallotte
jured, Suggs said. However a
Coastline Rescue ambulance stood
by throughout.
Suggs said the fire was probably
caused by an electrical malfunction.
There were no gas lines on at the
time of the blaze, he said.
"Evidently, it had been burning a
while before the call came in," he
said. 'The back wall was already
gone when I got there."
Suggs said the house was being
rented by Craig Brown from his
grandmother. Brown was in
Southport at the time of the fire. He
was not insured and lost everything
in the home. Damage was estimated
at about S30.000.
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Thursday Nights ? Doors Open 6:15 pm
Calabash VFW Post 7288
Carter Rd.p Trader's Village, Calabash/579-3577
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Games begin at 7:30 PM
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Minimum Pay Out $650.00 Maximum $725
Snacks Available ? No Children under 12
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754-4846