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Dr. David Lipschitz
discusses the home
genetic testing
holdup.
3(99
Tuesday, October 12,2010
r I 1 THOMASYILUE
llMES
31MSIS
Thomasville takes
on Central Davidson
on the pitch.
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EMS director charged with embezzlement
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
Davidson County’s Director
of Emergency Services has
resigned amidst allegations
he embezzled money from the
Thomasville Rescue Squad
over a five-year period.
The North Carolina State
Bureau of Investigation ar
rested Doug Alan Lowe, 49,
of 134 Bay Tree Lane, on Fri
day and charged him with 21
counts of felony embezzlement
by a public officer or trustee,
Local man
arrested for
assault on
girlfriend
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
A domestic dispute over
the weekend left a Thom
asville woman suffering
from a gunshot wound to
the chest.
Accord
ing to
Thomas
ville Police
Depart-
ment Lt.
Kimberly
Sebastian,
Robert
Douglas
Dunlap, 38,
of 308 Foster St. Apt. 11,
was arrested and charged
with assault with a dead
ly weapon inflicting seri
ous injury after he aUeg-
edly shot his girlfriend,
Thea Omelia Hinson, 35,
of Thomasville, during
a domestic dispute at the
suspect’s residence.
TPD received a caU
See ASSAULT, Page 10
one count of forgery
of an endorsement and
one count of uttering a
forged endorsement. The
SBI is alleging that Lowe
embezzled more than
$15,000 while serving as
the Thomasville Rescue
Squad treasurer.
“There were allega
tions from the Rescue
Squad that were brought to
my attention,” District Attor
ney Garry Frank said. “The
investigation is totally related
to Mr. Lowe’s activities with
Lowe
the Thomasville Rescue
Squad. The investiga
tion is stiU continuing
and has focused on the
last year’s conduct. It’s a
pending matter so I can’t
comment further due to
ethical considerations
as a prosecutor.”
According to SBI
spokesperson Jennifer
Canada, an investigation into
Lowe came at the request of
the Davidson County District
Attorney’s Office in July. War
rants obtained by the Davidson
Coimty Clerk of Courts Office
allege Lowe embezzled funds
from the rescue squad over a
five-year period from Jan. 24,
2005, to Sept. 10,2010. Warrants
state Lowe “unlawfully, willful
ly and feloniously did embezzle
and corruptly use and misap
ply US. currency, property
belonging to the 'Thomasville
Rescue Squad.” The warrant
also states that Lowe did so “as
an officer of that county and in
the capacity that had been en
trusted with the property.”
Lowe also is accused of false--
ly forging an endorsement of
L. Scott McCaskUl on a check
from the Thomasville Rescue
Squad account, according to
an arrest warrant. The same
warrant also states that Lowe
“willfully and feloniously did
utter, publish, pass and de
liver as true a check described
as checks on the account of
Thomasville Rescue Squad,
which contained a forged and
falsely made endorsement of
L. Scott McCaskUl.” The war-
See EMS, Page 10
Dunlap
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The Great Pumpkin
Eric Kuppel moves some pumpkins at Memorial United Methodist Church., which is is having its annual Pump
kin Patch through the month of Occtober. Pumpkins of all sizes and prices will be available from 2 p.m. to dark
weekdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, and 1 to 6 p.m. on Sundays. The church is located at 101 Randolph
St.
Council to consider increase in grant funds
Mostly sunny, 85/58
j uu £ j D
BYERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
ThomasvUle City CouncU wUl
consider a revision in its Gover
nor’s Highway Safety Grant ap
plication at the regular meeting
Monday.
The revision of $4,999 would
bring the project cost request
from $14,530 to $19,529. The grant
money wUl be used to purchase
necessary equipment for the
ThomasvUle Police Department,
and the additional funds wUl al
low the Chair City to secure more
equipment than origlnaUy was
thought necessary.
“There was an omission that
we needed to approve,” said City
Manager KeUy Craven “There
was some other equipment that
we needed.”
* The other equipment includes a
generator and a light tower. Toby
Smith, project director, said the
additional equipment wUl help
make D.WJ. chfeckpoints com
pletely self-sufficient.
Since TPD partners with other
agencies to perform the check
points, officers are able to cover
a large area and typically both
lanes of traffic. The new light and
tower would better Uluminate
such a large area and ensure the
safety of the officers.
CouncU wUl also hold a public
hearing on a rezoning request.
Chuck Clark, owner of Central
Parts, LLC., at 708 Martin Luther
King Jr. Drive, requested the prop
erty be rezoned from a light indus
trial district to a heavy industrial
district. The 5.4 acre-property
serves as a storage area for auto-
mobUe parts and pieces as weU as
storage for dismantled cars, scrap
metal and other junk.
“He was in compliance with the
ordinance untU he brought in the
junk cars,” said Ken Hepler, plan
ning and zoning administrator.
“His choices are to close down,
relocate or comply”
Hepler said that Clark doesn’t
want to do anything differently
on the property, he merely wants
to work in compliance with the
city’s ordinances. Ciark told He
pler he didn’t know that the junk
cars were against the zoning ordi
nance, and it wasn’t untU the city
began implementing the business
privUege license that Clark be
came aware of the issue.
“He has a significant invest
ment there,” Hepler said. “If we
had had the privUege license in
place when he started, he would
have known and been OK. This
action came somewhat as a result
of our privUege license.”
Truell
Truell looks
to continue
service as
commissioner
BYERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
Don TrueU, an incum
bent Republican from
ThomasvUle, wUl com
pete for one of four spots
for David
son Coun
ty Com
missioner
in the No-
V e m b e r
election.
Serving
his second
consecu
tive term
on the Board of Com
missioners, TrueU pre
viously worked for the
ThomasvUle Times, for
the ThomasvUle Police
Department, as councU
member for ThomasvUle
City CouncU and as May
or of ThomasvUle.
During his time on the
board — especiaUy in the
past year or so with the
recession — TrueU and
the rest of the board have
worked hard to bring
more jobs to the area.
But as TrueU, his fel
low commissioners and
others have pointed out
throughout the economic
downturn, an increased
emphasis on smaU busi
nesses could very weU
be the key to turning the
economy around.
“I think that is a big por
tion of economic develop
ment,” TrueU said. “For a
long time, we looked at
trying to make a home
run hit with the big in
dustries, and we’ve done
real good with that, but I
think whUe we looked at
big industry we neglected
to look at smaU business.
Now, we’re going to look
not necessarUy more at
smaU businesses but just
as much as with big in-
See TRUELL, Page 10
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