Judge Gives Teen Driver
Curfew, Verbal Warning
BY TERRY POPE
A Sunset Beach teen-ager con
victed of misdemeanor death by
motor vehicle last April appeared in
Brunswick County District Court in
a whcelchair Tuesday to face six ad
ditional driving-related charges.
Matthew Shawn Amette, 17, is
now confined to a wheclchair after
losing partial movement in his right
leg and full movement in his left leg,
the result of an accidental gunshot
wound to the neck in December.
Arnette pleaded guilty in court
Tuesday to driving while his license
was revoked and driving after drink
ing as a provisional licensee. Judge
Jerry A. Jolly gave him a two-year
suspended sentence, placed him on
curfew and ordered that he not ob
tain a license for five years.
"If you were not physically dis
abled, you'd be going to jail," Judge
Jolly told Arnette, who was repre
sented in court by his attorney, Roy
Trest. "You have been found guilty
of causing another man's death as a
result of your driving. I can tell you
quite frankly, if you were not in that
whcclchair you'd be going to jail."
Trest told the court that since Ar
nette was shot he has had a change in
attitude and has been receiving coun
seling. The night he was arrested by
State Trooper B.D. Barnhardt on the
six driving charges, he had been vis
iting a friend who had threatened to
commit suicide, Trest said.
Judge Jolly ordered that Amette
follow a 7 p m. to 7 a.m. curfew at
his home and to not go outside of
his house during those hours with
out a parent present.
Charges of driving while impair
ed, failure to heed a blue light and
siren, reckless driving and resisting
and obstructing a police officer
were dismissed in a plea agreement
with Assistant District Attorney Lee
Bollinger, who declined to be heard
regarding the case in court.
Trooper Barnhardt told Judge
Jolly that the defendant registered a
.04 on a breathalyzer test following
Officers Charge
Ocean isle Man
With Bribery
An Ocean Isle Beach business
man was arrested last Thursday on
fugitive warrants stemming from 11
counts of bribing a police officer in
Marietta, Ga.
Robert Craig Cain, 39, of Rich
mond Street, Ocean Isle Beach,
owns Cain and Associates Tax Ser
vices at Cornerstone Plaza on N.C.
179 south of Shallotle.
Warrants from Georgia also
charge Cain with conspiracy to sell
cocaine and one count of selling of
marijuana. He was arrested last
Thursday around 7:30 p.m. by SBI
agent Fred McKinney and Lt. David
Crockcr of the Brunswick County
Sheriff's Department narcotics divi
sion.
Crockcr said that after Cain was
arrested, he was taken to his resi
dence at Ocean Isle where a search
uncovered a small amount of mari
juana. Ocean Isle Beach police offi
cers also aided in the arrest.
Cain was charged locally with
misdemeanor possession of mari
juana and possession of drug para
phernalia, Crockcr said. He was re
leased last Friday morning under
SI 00,000 bond.
Crockcr said Cain had moved to
Brunswick County in January and
established the lax preparation busi
ness at Ocean Isle. The warrants
were filed by sheriff's detectives in
Cobb County, Ga.
According to affidavits filed by
Cobb County authorities, Cain is al
leged to have paid undercover po
lice officers there on 11 different
occasions money for his "protection
in protecting the accused criminal
organization."
Crocker said the defendant of
fered no resistance during his arrest.
State Offices
Have Relocated
Friday, March 1 , was moving day
for several state agencies with of
fices in Wilmington.
The N.C. Dept. of Environment,
Health and Natural Resources has
moved from the old Babies' Hos
pital site near Wrightsville Bcach to
127 Cardinal Drive Extension, off
Market Street. The new telephone
number is (919) 799-2882.
Also sharing the same address arc
the N.C. Dept. of Economic and
Community Development's Divi
sion of Community Assistance
(919) 799-0712, and the Submerged
Lands Unit of the Attorney Gener
al's Office, (919) 799-0267.
his arrest Nov. 3. A reading of .10 is
considered loo drunk to drive in
North Carolina.
Barnhardt explained how he spot
ted a vehicle spinning around in the
roadway on Brooks Drive at Sea
side and attempted to stop it, reach
ing speeds up to 100 mph before the
car ran off the road on the !eft and
came to a slop. The driver, whom
Barnhardt identified as Arnetie,
then ran from the car and hid in a
nearby mobile home for about 15
minutes, the officer testified.
"He indicated that he had pan
icked," Barnhardt said. "He advised
that he was driving the vehicle. He
also fit the identity of the person
that fled the car."
Barnhardt said Arnctte was 16 at
the time of his arresL
He had pleaded guilty last August
to misdemeanor death by motor ve
hicle, a charge stemming from a
traffic accident March 18, 1990,
that claimed the life of Clyde Jus
tice Olive, 37, of Supply.
In that case. Judge Jolly gave Ar
nctte a two-year suspended sentence
and placed him on unsupervised
probation. Judge Jolly also ordered
then that Amette's liccnse be re
voked until November 1991.
In that March 1990 accident,
Arnette was charged by Trooper
C.E. Ward with running a stop sign
and failure to wear a seatbelt, char
ges thai were voluntarily dismissed
April 23. The accident occurred on
Sabbath Home Road near Holdcn
Beach.
In December, Amctte was shot
once in the neck with a .25-caliber
pistol while sitting in a car parked
outside of a store at Seaside. Arnet
te told Brunswick County Sheriff's
Dctcctive Larry Joyner that the gun
accidentally fired while he was
holding it
After interviewing two other peo
ple who were in the car at the time
of the shooting, Lt. Joyner ruled
that the shooting was an accidcnt.
Judge Jolly also fined Arnetlc
$200 Tuesday and ordered that he
submit to alcohol and drug tests as
mandated by his probation officers.
Judge Jolly also ordered that he not
have in his possession any alcohol
or drugs.
STAFF PHOTO BY SUSAN USHER
Building Had To Go
Supply Volunteer Fire Department members did the State of North Carolina a favor Feb. 27. Assistant
Chief Jeff Sellers, Chris Robinson , Chief Roger Suggs and Lloyd Fields were among those involved in
razing the old Alton Hewett wood refinishing and antique shop, which stood in the nght-of-way of the
U.S. 17 four-laning project. If the shed had had a full roof and normal ventilation, the burn would
have been a training drilL Without it, said Suggs, "We thought we'd do a quick burn and go home."
However, the shed took longer to burn than expected.
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