STAff PHOTO BY DOUG tUTTlR
STATE TROOPER W.H. Thompson examines a motorcycle in
volved in an accident on U.S. 17 south of Shallotte Monday after
noon. A motorcyclist was injured when the bike and pickup truck
collided. The trooper's report wasn't available Tuesday.
Car Overturns Near Leland
An Ohio resident was charged
with careless and reckless driving
alter he apparently fell asleep at the
wheel of a car, causing it to run off
the highway and overturn last
Thursday, May 14.
Douglas A. Monger, 20, of
Canton, Ohio, was traveling north
on U.S. 17 about 2.9 miles south of
Lcland when his 1987 Dodge ran
onto the median, struck a ditch cul
vert and overturned. State Trooper
D.A. Lewis reported.
The car uprighted itself after
overturning oncc, Lewis noted.
Monger and a passenger in his car.
Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Nutter, 22, of
Camp Lcjcunc, both received class B
injuries, which arc labeled serious but
not incapacitating, Lewis reported.
They were taken to New Hanover
Regional Medical Center in
Wilmington by ambulance follow
ing the 2:30 a.m. accident.
Damage was estimated at S4.500
to the car and S20 to a road marker
owned by the N.C. Department of
Transportation.
Leiand Man Refiles Lawsuit
Against Sheriff's Deputies
A Leland man who claims Bruns
wick County sheriffs deputies
broke his arm and refused him med
ical treatment during an arrest has
refiled a lawsuit against the officers
in Brunswick County Superior
Court.
Edward Noble Jr., 62, filed suit
May 12. He is seeking in excess of
S 10,000 in damages and asks that a
jury decide the case.
An original lawsuit that made the
same allegations was voluntarily
dismissed in court last year because
of a technicality, said Noble's attor
ney, David Ford of Long Beach.
Named in the latest lawsuit are
Deputies Gene Browning, Detective
Kenneth Messer, Deputy Timothy J.
McGinn and Sheriff John Can
Davis.
Noble claims that on July 16,
1989. Browning and Messer, who
was a deputy at the lime, grabbed
Noble from behind and twisted his
arms until he heard the bones break
ing.
The plaintiff alleges that he was
on private property, "engaged in a
heated discussion with a neighbor,"
when officers arrived. Messer is ac
cused of coming onto the property,
without a warrant and not in uni
form, and directing Noble to go
home.
Noble drove to his home and was
walking toward his house when
Deputy McGinn arrived in his patrol
car, the complaint states, and ad
vised that he was placing Noble un
der arrest.
The lawsuit says Noble told the
deputy that he had broken no law
and proceeded toward his house but
was grabbed from behind by
Browning and Messer. The men
then twisted Noble's arm until
Noble heard bones breaking, ii
slates.
Noble was handcuffed and trans
ported to the Brunswick County Jail
in Deputy McGinn's vehicle and
kept in jail for two hours before he
was released for medical treatment,
it stales.
After seeking treatment it was
learned that Noble had suffered mul
tiple breaks in his left arm, it claims.
He was required to wear a cast for
six months, suffered permanent
damage in the arm and has been un
able to work, the complaint alleges.
When Noble asked the deputies to
stop twisting the arm, they contin
ued to do so, it contends.
At Noble's trial, the officers un
der oath "admitted that they heard
the bones breaking in the plaintiff's
arm and continued to twist his arm
and when asked why they had done
so stated they didn't know," it states.
Noble was charged with resisting
and obstructing a public officer and
found guilty in Brunswick County
District Court His attorney, David
Stanley, appealed the decision to
Brunswick Superior Court where on
Oct. 11, 1989, a jury found Noble
not guilty, according to documents
on file at the Brunswick County
Clerk of Court's office.
The lawsuit also claims that the
officers treated Noble in a rough
manner by pushing, shoving and
striking him unnecessarily resulting
in the injuries. The actions while
taking Noble into custody resulted
in excessive force and deprived him
of constitutional rights under the
14th amendment, it continues.
The suit is seeking in excess of
$10,000 for damages, attorney fees,
a jury trial and that the defendants
pay court costs.
North Student Pleads Guilty
To Having Knife On Campus
A 17-year-old ninth grader at
Noah Brunswick High School was
found guilty May 14 in Brunswick
County District Court of taking a
weapon to school.
Nakin Genoa Baldwin, son of Mr.
and Mrs. John Baldwin of Leland,
pleaded guilty to charges brought
on March 18 by North Brunswick
High School Assistant Principal
Michael Brown that he had brought
to school a pistol-shaped knife, a vi
olation of school policy.
According to court records,
Baldwin's tcacher, Mike Hooks,
was informed by another student
that the youth had a gun on his per
son. Hooks advised Principal Robert
Harris and they isolated Baldwin in
the school parking lot and asked for
it. The student surrendered the knife
to Harris and Brown took the matter
to the magistrate.
Following his appearance in court
Thursday ?nd a plea of guilty to
charges of weapon possession in
school, Baldwin received from
District Judge Jerry Jolly a prayer
for judgment continued upon his
payment of court costs.
"The student was very coopera
tive," he said. "Another student had
told Mr. Hooks the boy had a gun,
and when his class was doing an ac
tivity outside, we just called him
over and asked about it. He gave it
to us right away, a knife shaped like
a gun. We didn't want to be punitive
about it, so he just had to pay court
costs, about S55, and it won't be on
his record."
Harris said this was the first inci
dent of a weapon discovered on a stu
dent so far this year. State law has al
ways considered weapon possession
in schools a misdemeanor, but only
last fall did the Brunswick County
Board of Education adopt a policy re
inforcing this law, requiring princi
pals to turn students in violation over
to law enforcement officers instead
of leaving it an optional procedure.
A first offense in possessing a
weapon in school is to result in hav
ing it confiscated, the student being
suspended forlO days and parent
and student attending a conference
with the principal before reluming
to school.
On the second offense, the stu
dent would have a long-term sus
pension and third offense would re
sult in expulsion.
William Turner, assistant superin
tendent of auxiliary services, said he
believes the new policy has had an
impact on the county high schools.
"It makes an impression to be tak
en to the Sheriffs Department," he
said, "and it's an inconvenience for
parents to have to come and get
them."
CRIME REPORT
W ould-Be Larceny Victim Surprises Intruder
A Lei and woman came home just
in lime to avoid becoming a larceny
statistic Saturday night when she ap
parently surprised a thief in the act
of stealing her microwave oven.
According to a report filed by
Brunswick County Sheriffs Deputy
Brian L. Sanders, the woman said
she had left her home on Green
Loop Road Saturday morning. She
returned with her brother-in-law at
around 10:35 p.m. and noticed that
the sliding glass door at the rear of
the house was open.
Looking around outside they no
ticed someone standing behind a tree
near the house. The brother-in-law
yelled and the person ran off into the
nearby woods, Sanders reported.
The two went into the house and
found that the intruder had apparent
ly entered through the sliding door,
picked up the woman's television
set and placed it near the door.
While searching the area where the
thief had been standing, they found
the woman's microwave oven be
neath the tree, the report said.
A five-speed girl's bicycle that
had been leaning against the house
also was reported missing. The val
ue of the bicycle was not noted.
In other reports on file at the sher
iff s department:
?Thieves broke into two buildings
on DuPont Co. property in Leland
Thursday night. Deputy Richard Du
Vall reported.
Friday morning, workers discov
ered a broken hasp and lock on a
storage building and found that a
soft drink machine had been forced
open and an unspecified amount of
change removed. Damage to the ma
chine was estimated at S500.
They also found that the rear win
dow on a Service America building
at the site had been broken and a
change machine forced open. About
S300 was removed, the report said.
Damage was estimated at SI ,000.
?Deputy J.M. Adams reported that a
1974 model 25 hp Johnson outboard
motor was taken from the side of a
home on N.C. 179 in Sunset Beach
Saturday night. The owner indicated
that the thief had also tried to re
move a second outboard from his
boat, causing S75 damage. The
stolen motor was valued at S800.
?Sometime in the past month a 19
inch portable television and five dol
lars in cash were removed from a
mobile home in Fiddlers Cove on
Oxpcn Road, Deputy Cathy Ham
ilton reported. The owner returned
to the residence Friday to find the
front door pried open and the dead
bolt lock broken. The television set
was valued at S389. There was an
estimated S270 damage to the door
and lock.
?A television was also stolen from a
mobile home during a break-in
sometime in the past month at Fish
erman's Village, Ms. Hamilton re
ported. A neighbor called the home
owner and left a message that the
front door had been kicked in. The
value of the TV was estimated at
S350. Also taken was a lounge chair
valued at SI 5.
?Someone tried to break into the
Carolina Freight warehouse at Lin
coln Industrial Park in Leland
Sunday. According to Deputy Pete
Moore's report, an employee found
that a rear bay dcx>r had been pried
open about 18 inches, but nothing
appeared to have been stolen. No es
timate of the damage was given.
?A mobile home owner in Sunset
Beach reported to Deputy Adams
Sunday evening that a a water pump
had been stolen from outside the res
idence over the weekend. No cost
estimate was listed.
?A pint of whiskey and a jar of
coins were stolen during a break-in
at a mobile home in Supply reported
to Deputy Becky McDonald Friday.
Returning to the residence after
more than a week's abscncc, the
owner found that someone had un
screwed a rear window, reached in
side and pried the hasp off the door.
An estimated S75 in coins and five
dollars worth of liquor were taken.
Damage to the door was estimated
at S50.
?A brass shower head valued at S75
was reported stolen Thursday even
ing from a home under construction
on Wild Azalea Way in St. James
Plantation. Ms. Hamilton reported
that the owner went to the house at
around 10:30 p.m. and found the
item missing from the master bath
room. There was no forced entry as
the unfinished house could not be
locked.
?The owner of a mobile home on
Brooks Avenue in Seaside returned
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Reward Offered In Murder
A $5,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an ar
rest and conviction of the person who killed a Wilmington school
teacher, whose badly-dccomposed body was found in Brunswick County
April 28.
Charlene Page Thigpen, 24, had been missing since Feb. 27 when her
body was discovered lying beneath a discarded sofa off of Saw Mill
Road (S.R. 1425) near the small town of Sandy Creek in northern
Brunswick County.
Brunswick County Sheriff John Carr Davis said Monday he had
learned Gov. Jim Martin has offered the reward. Davis had requested the
reward money the day the body was found by workers clearing debris
beneath a power line.
Officers arc treating the case as a homicide that occurred in Bruns
wick County. The Myrtle Grove Middle School teacher was last seen at
a convenience store in February where her vehicle was left parked.
An autopsy performed in April has revealed no clues as to how the
victim died, said Davis.
Persons with any information in the case should call the Brunswick
County Sheriffs Department, 253-4321 or 1-800-672-6379.
after several months absence to find
that lights and a windows on the res
idence had apparently been shot out
with a pellet gun, deputy Adams re
ported. The vandals also pulled sid
ing and insulation from the side of
the home. There was no damage es
timate reported.
?A "suspicious" mattress fire
caused nearly S4.000 in smoke dam
age to a house on Cumbcc Road in
Supply Saturday, Ms. Hamilton re
ported. The sister of the homeowner
came to the house at around 5:15
p.m. and found that the door was un
locked and that someone had set fire
to the bed. The cause of the fire was
not determined.
Officers Seize 50 Marijuana Plants
Brunswick County sheriff's d
cputics seized 50 marijuana planis
valued at 5105,000 during April, ac
cording to the department's monthly
activity report.
Officers answered 1,014 calls, in
cluding 93 domestic calls, and re
covered S21.906 in property, the re
port said. There were 291 investiga
tions made, 40 arrests made as pros
ecuting witness and 212 witnesses
summoned. Deputies served 397
civil papers, 231 local warrants, 55
foreign warrants, three juvenile peti
tions and eight mental and inebriate
papers.
One fire was discovered during
the month and seven doors and win
dows were found open. Officers
spent 43 hours in court on duty and
two hours off duty. A total of 84,897
miles were logged including 17 trips
out of the county. The transport van
logged 1,218 miles. Vehicles used
5,930 gallons of fuel.
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