Police Confiscate Illegal Weaponry
By MARGUERITE MCCALL
Those detached from law
enforcement view the items
incredulously, not wanting to
believe that such destructive
I intent occurs in Edenton. It
does. The arsenal confiscated
by local police proves it does.
Weapons in all sizes and
of all description fill a room
at the Edenton Police Depart
ment awaiting the court's or
der for eventual destruction.
They are, said Police Chief
C.H. Williams, just a year's
f collection.
He and Edenton Police Sgt.
Bill Phillips Jr. identified
some of the weapons and re
lated laws regulating posses
sion of same.
Knives ranged from razor
blade types to barongs, a hea
vy sheath knife used by the
Moros of the Philippines. Car
rying a knife is not illegal.
Concealing it is.
Various laws apply to guns,
schedule III weapons. For ex
ample, possessing a sawed-off
rifle or shotgun less then 16
inches in length is a felony.
A citizen, as long as he has
never been charged with a fel
ony, can carry mace in a lim
ited amount for the purpose of
I REMEMBER --. Mrs. Mary Williams Berryman, 97, of
Edenton holds a card stating the name of the contractor who
( built Edenton Baptist Church in 1916. She said she remembered
Walter Jerome Mathews but did not know he had placed a time
capsule in the church wall. The capsule was opened Sunday
and contained, among other things, the card signed by Math
ewqs For many years, Mrs. Berryman was the teacher of the
Women’s Bible Class at the church. (Staff photo by Marguerite
McCall.)
Time Capsule Is Opened
when Mrs. Hassell was 16.
Speaking to those in the
standing room only filled
sanctuary and others in an
overflow room equipped with a
television screen, the minis
ter, Dr. Kenneth Word, chal
lenged the church with "A
Vision For The Future."
”1 expect to spend the rest of
Jny life in the future. What
about you?” he quoted Charles
Kettering, the famous auto
;motive engineer.
"In the book of Proverbs it
says, 'Where there is no vi
sion, the people perish," Word
sion, the people pensh, Word
said. "If there's no vision for
; evgpgelisib-, the church will
begfflne a museum.
,'^What were the dreams of
■ those founders 176-years-ago?
Certainly, Thomas Meredith
stood a man with a vision."
(Meredith was pastor of
Edenton Baptist from 1825 to
; 18$|. He was also the founder
; of "The Biblical Recorder, the
Baptist state paper.)
Word enjoined the congre
gation, "Enjoy the past and
reflect on it, but pray for a
vision for this church."
Following the benediction,
Dr. Word, assisted by Luther
Parks and the Rev. Jim Hy
Continued From Page 1-A
was recognized as being the
first person baptized in the
building. The year was 1918
church
church
ir physical needs,
turn of and remi
• A copy of Charity &
Children dated July 27,1916.
• A copy of the Western
Recorder published in Louis
ville, Kentucky, dated April
27,1916.
• A copy of the Biblical Re
corder dated March, 29,1916.
• A copy of an American
Bible Society Bible printed for
the Sunday School Board in
Nashville, Tennessee.
• A copy of The North Car
olina Baptist Historical Pa
pers published in July, 1899 in
"snderson, N.C.
• A poster with a picture of
the proposed new church, in
formation regarding its di
tensions and building mate
als and the name of the
rchitect, J.M, McMichael of
tte, N.C.
d written by the
contractor, Walter Je
ms Mathews of Kinston.
Mathews stated, "I started
this church on the 6th day of
March 1916. This card was
placed in this box by me on
August 6, 1916 when the box
was sealed up. W.J. Mathews,
builder."
At a later date, along with
contemporary articles, the i
tems will be returned to the
box and sealed once again for
a future generation to peruse.
Many in attendance were
overheard remarking that the
day had been a joyous occa
said the service ful
spiritual needs, a
self-protection.
After a judge marks wea
pons for destruction, Wil
liams said they are usually
turned over to the Chowan
County Sheriffs Office for the
order to be carried out.
"You treat every arrest as
though the person may be car
rying a weapon," Phillips
said. "Never do you allow a
person under arrest to enter
your car without first search
ing him or her.”
He said an officer's train
ing to be always on guard be
comes a subconscious act.
"Whatever you do and
wherever you go," said the
officer, "you're alert to what
can happen."
Sergeant Phillips is the in
house, certified, firearms in
structor for the department.
All members of the depart
ment must qualify twice a
year on the firing range,
Chief Williams said. He also
said since two years ago when
the department began using
9mm handguns, all officers'
scores had increased.
"They are all in the high
nineties now," he said.
Asked if every officer in
the department has at some
time found a weapon on a
suspect, he said, "Absolutely,
many timies over."
Both he and Phillips said
more and more sophisticated
weapons are being found by
those in law enforcement.
Merry Hill Man Suspected
Of Burglary Apprehended
Chowan County Sheriff's
officers worked all night and
throughout the next day after
responding to a burglary that
resulted in the arrest of Mel
vin Lee White, 26, of Merry
Hill.
The offense took place on
Monday, March 23, at the
Macedonia Road residence of
Randy Livingston.
Livingston's son and a
family friend were sleeping
in the house at the time the in
truder came through a bed
room window. The intruder
left without confronting the
two young men, and no in
juries occurred, said Sheriff
Fred Spruill.
Spruill said White is pres
ently in the Chowan County
Detention Facility under a
$50,000 bond.
SERIOUS BUSINESS - Edenton Police Sgt. Bill Phillips Jr. •
(left) and Police Chief C.H. Williams display a sampling of
the kinds of weapons confiscated regularly by department offi
cers. In addition to knives and handguns depicted, a sawed-off
rifle, two sawed-off shotguns and a pen gun can be seen. (Staff;
photo by Marguerite McCall.)
Routine Traffic Check Results In Heroin Bust
Continued From Page 1-A
and it's 60 to 80 percent pure.
Brown comes from Mexico,
and it's 40 percent pure.
"Heroin is definitely on
the rise again as a popular
drug. I would say this is prob
ably the largest amount ever
found in this county."
The officer said no money
was found, leading him and
other officers to believe Wynn
and two juvenile passengers
in his vehicle were on their
way home after picking up the
drugs.
He said the Task Force
found a handgun beneath the
console during an intensive
search of the car, which was a
stolen rental vehicle.
The pistol, a 38 special, was
reported stolen to the Ports
mouth Police Department two
weeks ago, he said.
"Contrary to what most
people believe about their us
ing large guns," the officer
said, "drug dealers prefer
small guns because they're
easier to conceal."
The Task Force officer
credited the apprehension of
Wynn and the consequent
confiscation of the heroin to
the alertness of Officers Bon
ner and Palmer.
The officers had set-up
their traffic check near the
Edenton Marina on U.S. 17
Business South.
Wynn was stopped at 5:30
p.m., Officer Bonner said. He
is being held in the Chowan
County Detention Facility.
Parents And Lawyers Wait For Verdict
Continued From Page 1-A
children who attended the
Little Rascals Day Care Cen
ter in Gdenton, about 85 miles
east of Farmville. The case
was moved because of pretrial
publicity.
Mrs. Kelly and five others
also are charged with sexual
abuse and await separate tri
als.
Testimony in the case
started August 19 and ended
March 12 after 143 witnesses
were called to the stand. The
transcript of the trial runs
more than 20,000 page.
The case is the most expen
sive in North Carolina his
tory, with the cost about $1.2
million by the end of March,
according to figures from se
veral state agencies.
The children testified that
Kelly forced them to perform
oral and anal sex and took
pictures of some children
Candidate Seeks Support
"The
portant
State A
for seeii
our Sta
the pub
Continued From Page 1-A
1970 with a J.D. degree.
That same year, Freeman
served as a research assistant
for a former N.C. governor
and associate justice, Dan K.
Moore. From 1979-81, he was
district attorney of the 17th ju
dicial district.
Freeman has been the di
rector of the Administrative
Office of the Courts fpr the past
ten and a half years, working
tinder the tutelage of the late
Chief Justice Joseph Branch
and currently under Chief
Justice James Exum Jr.
is an lm
id. "The
sponsible
agencies of
state government spend
public's money properly,
« directed by the General
Assembly."
He said his office saved $1
million out of a $4 million
appropriation by bringing ju
rors in on Tuesday to court
rather than Monday.
"It generally takes all
Monday just to get
naries out of the
pay jurors just to
ter services and savings can
occur."
Freeman said he has taken
a leave of absence to run for
the office of State Auditor be
cause he believes he can make
a contribution to state govern
ment and thus to the populace
by serving in that position.
He said taking the leave is
a hardship on his family. He
and his wife, Katherine, are
the parents of six children,
two sons and four daughters.
"And before you ask," he
chided Chowan County Demo
cratic Chairman Bill Phillips
Sr., "I am a Methodist."
Freeman said his father,
Judge Franklin Freeman Sr.,
presided over the court in
Edenton on several occasions
in the 1970s and early 1980s.
The office Freeman seeks
is an open seat because its
present holder, Ed Renfrow, is
running for the office of lieu
tenant governor of the state.
Ralph Campbell, D, Chuck
Hicks and Vernon Aberna
thy, R, are also candidates for
State Auditor.
"The office of State Auditor
require vigorous, forward
looking leadership," Free
man said. "And that is the
to
having sex. Children also
said that Kelly had sex in
front of them with other
adults.
Defense lawyers said dur
ing closing arguments that
the charges stemmed from a
hysterical reaction to rumors
sweeping the small town in
the winter of 1989.
(Lane Dunn is a reporter
with The Daily Reflector of
Greenville, which is provid
ing press coverage of the Little
Rascals trials for The Cho
wan Herald.)
Vehicles Are Confiscated
Continued From Page 1-A
Officers of the Chowan
Edenton Task Force, the
Edenton Police Department
and the Chowan County Sher
iffs Office participated in a
drug raid on Thursday,
March 26, at the residence of
Richard Gilbert, 34, of Cho
wan Beach.
The search resulted in the
seizure of thirteen marijuana
plants, an indoor growing
system and a 1970 Ford Pick
up truck.
Street value of the plants
from 1991 prices are $20,800.
Gilbert was charged with
two counts of Possession with
Sell and Deliver Schedule VI
Marijuana, two counts of Sell
and Deliver Schedule VI Ma
rijuana, and Manufacturing
Marijuana.
He is under a $10,000 bond.
Another vehicle was con
fiscated Sunday in a drug
seizure. (See related article.)
COA's Recycling Awareness
Seminar To Be Held Friday
*
>
*
i
j
J
l
I
ELIZABETH CITY - Col
lege of the Albemarle will
hold a Recycling Awareness
Seminar at 10 a.m. on Fri
day, April 3, in the Lecture
Auditorium, room B-202.
The seminar will be facil
itated by Georgia Right, home
extension agent, and Rodney
Sawyer, county extension di
rector, Cooperative Extension
Services, Currituck Center. !
The seminar will include
a quiz on recycling and tips;
on how everyone can "reduce,1
reuse, and recycle."
The seminar is free of
charge and is open to the pub-J
lie.
Call the classifieds...
i
t
‘Beautiful
Separates
Dresses
IF or Faster *
Size 8 to 20
(Petite & (Missy “
'Mbrd's Shopping Center StitrtfonC