December 28,1995
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pzRQUlWANc. COUNT
HERTFORD NC 27V4h
The Perquimans Weekly
350
Vol. 63, No. 52
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
High-speed chase ends with death
Routine breaking and entering
report in Holiday Island ends
with wreck, suicide
By GINGER LIVINGSTON
The Daily Advance and
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor, The Perquimans Weekly
Perquimans sheriffs
deputies found out first-hand
last Wednesday that no call is
a routine call.
After responding to a
reported breaking and enter
ing in progress at Holiday
Island just after 1 p.m., law
enforcement officers from the
county and its municipalities
chased the suspects into
Pasquotank County, where
they were joined by
Pasquotank County sheriffs
officers and the state highway
patrol. The chase ended in a
car crash and the shooting
death of one of the vehicle’s
occupants.
According to an eyewitness,
the car, a white Mustang dri
ven by David Gayle, 16, of
Norfolk, Va., spun out of con
trol when Gayle attempted to
pass a highway patrol car
approximately one-half mile
from the intersection of U.S. 17
Bypass and Simpson Ditch
Road. The car slammed into a
ditch embankment on the east
ern side of the road.
A passenger in the car.
Picky Barr, 20, also of Norfolk,
was pronounced dead at the
scene. The state medical exam
iner said Thursday that Barr
died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
Barr died from a “tight con
tact wound” from the bullet of
a .22 caliber handgun, said Dr.
Page Hudson, state medical
examiner based in Greenville.
Page ruled Barr’s death a sui
cide.
“Everything I have points to
that conclusion,” Hudson said
Thursday afternoon.
Gayle, the apparent driver
of the Mustang, was briefly
pinned under the car after
being thrown from it upon
impact with the ditch embank
ment, said Dean Schaan, direc
tor of Pasquotank-Camden
Emergency Medical Services.
Gayle was alert and talking
while rescue workers freed
him, and was in stable condi
tion when he was loaded into a
helicopter for transport to
Sentara Norfolk General
Hospital, Schaan said.
Miraculously, Gayle suffered
no serious injuries and was
released from the hospital
Thursday afternoon.
He was taken into custody
by Norfolk law enforcement
authorities upon his release.
He waived extradition and is
currently in Albemarle
District Jail under a $10,000
secured bond, charged with
assault with a deadly weapon
with intent to kill and felo
nious breaking and entering.
The chase was triggered
when Perquimans County
deputy Ersal Overton was dis
patched to investigate a break
ing and entering at the Shady
Lane residence of Ruth Ball on
Holiday Island. Perquimans
Dispatch received a 911 call,
giving a brief description of
the alleged perpetrators and
the car in which they left the
scene. A license number was
also given to law officers.
As Overton approached the
scene, he met a car matching
the caller’s description. He
turned on his flashing lights
and attempted to stop the car,
but its driver speeded up. The
driver turned onto Harvey
Point Road and headed
towards Hertford.
Deputy Ralph Robinson set
up a road block at the intersec
tion of Harvey Point Road and
U.S. Highway 17 Bypass, but
the car eluded the roadblock,
turning north on U.S. 17
Bypass.
Overton, Robinson and sev
eral Hertford police officers
began pursuing the vehicle.
Speeds reached over 90 mph
during the chase.
Shots were fired by one or
both of the car’s occupants
during the chase, according to
Cartwright. Cartwright said
the officers do not know why
the men tried escaping police
or why they fired on officers.
“Officers did not return fire
because of the danger. They
just attempted to keep the
vehicle in sight until they
Newspaper to raise rates
The continually spiraling
price of paper will force The
Perquimans Weekly to
increase its annual sub
scription cost on Jan. 1,
publisher Richard Brown
has announced.
“The rate for an annual
in-state subscription will
rise to $24.20, or about 4
cents an issue,” Brown said.
Out-of-state subscribers will
pay $26.40 per year.
Brown said the subscrip
tion rate increase is needed
to offset the higher cost The
Perquimans Weekly, like all
newspapers, is now paying
for newsprint.
From Feb. 1994 to Sept.
1995, the demand for
newsprint drove the cost up
a whopping 55 percent -
from $420 a metric ton (2,205
pounds) to $740 a metric
ton.
Brown compared the
hike to an increase in one’s
rent. “Let’s say someone
has a $500 rent and the land
lord raises it to $660. That’s
what (the rate of) the
newsprint price increase is
like,” he said.
Worldwide, newspapers
are being forced to adopt a
number of cost-cutting mea
sures - everything from
trimming their staffs and
reducing the number of
issues they print to shrink
ing the space they devote to
news - simply to stay in
business.
The Perquimans Weekly
has been able to offset some
of its own newsprint cost
increases in part because
its parent corporation,
Thomson Newspapers, is
able to negotiate better
wholesale prices for
newsprint than smaller
papers can.
The Perquimans Weekly
has also worked to make
cutbacks in spending.
Brown said.
“As the publisher, our
management team is work
ing to eliminate inefficien
cies and absorb as much of
the price increase as we
can. We have cut w'aste on
average by 4.6 percent for
1995.”
Rescue personnel work to get David Gayle, 16, out from under
the white Mustang he was driving last Wednesday before he
wrecked during a high-speed chase with law enforcement offi-
PHOTO BY BRIAN MCLAUGHLIN, THE DAILY ADVANCE
cials. Gayle was not seriously injured and is being held in
Albemarle District Jail, charged with assault with a deadly
weapon with intent to kill and felonious breaking and entering.
could get the vehicle stopped,”
Cartwright said.
When the car passed the
Perquimans-Pasquotank
County line, the Pasquotank
County Sheriffs Department
joined the pursuit. Eyewitness
Doug Ambrose of Hertford
said he was traveling south on
U.S. Highway 17 Bypass when
he saw the car trying to pass a
N.C. Highway Patrol cruiser.
“They were trying to stop
him. I know they (Gayle, Barr)
tried getting around the patrol
car and lost control. All I saw
was mud and water flying
everywhere,” Ambrose said.
A N.C. Highway Patrol
spokesman said the trooper
was not trying to stop the
Mustang. He was trying to get
ahead of the vehicle to clear
potentially dangerous, sections
of highway.
After the crash, deputies
found two .22 caliber hand
guns, a .357 magnum handgun
and a .38 caliber handgun
when they searched tjie car.
The homeowner who was
robbed had guns in her house,
but deputies are unsure if the
weapons belong to her.
Other items found included
Christmas packages, a metal
lock box, and personal and
legal papers. Some drug para
phernalia was also found in
Gayle’s possession, officials
said.
Gayle and Barr were seen
leaving Ball’s home by a neigh
bor, Mark Warrener.
Warrener declined to dis
cuss the incident, but his wife,
Alicia, said her husband saw
the two men while he was dri
ving home.
Alicia Warrener said she
and her husband knew Gayle,
who moved to Holiday Island
shortly before the start of
school this year.
Warrener said her husband
went to Gayle and asked him
to stop. But Gayle reportedly
laughed at him, got in the car
and sped away, Mrs. Warrener
said.
“My husband was right in
their faces, pounding on the
window. Just the thought...!
guess what saved him was the
fact David knew him and liked
him,” Mrs. Warrener said.
Gayle, the Warreners’ son
and Ball’s son were part of a
group of teenagers who hung
around together, Mrs.
Warrener said. Gayle appar
ently lived in a trailer with
several other people in their
late teens and early 20s.
Warrener said Gayle appar
ently left the island three
weeks ago, but returned this
week. A newspaper carrier
reported seeing the white
Mustang Gayle was driving at
Holiday Island Tuesday
evening.
Warrener said Gayle had
been to the Ball home on sev
eral occasions. She also said
she talked with her son follow
ing the break-in and learned it
was common knowledge
among the island’s teenagers
that Ball had guns in her
home.
There is unconfirmed spec
ulation among some Holiday
Island residents that Gayle left
the island because sheriff’s
deputies were seeking to ques
tion him about several inci
dents of vandalism that
occurred in Holiday Island.
Cartwright declined to say
if Gayle was a suspect in the
vandalism that occurred in the
community or if it could be the
reason why he fled law offi
cers.
“All we can say is deputies
wanted to talk with him about
another incident at Holiday
Island,” he said.
First influenza case reported in state
Health authorities
recommend flu
shots for all those
65 and older
The first laboratory-con
firmed cases of influenza for
the 1995-96 flu season have
been reported to the
Immunization Section of the
North Carolina Department of
Environment, Health and
Natural Resources (DEHNR).
Dr. Newt MacCormack,
Chief of the General
Communicable Disease
Control Section, is encourag
ing all persohs 65 and older
who have not been vaccinated
to do so immediately.
“Flu is a serious health risk
to people who have chronic
heart and lung problems, kid
ney diseases, diabetes and sup
pressed immune systems,”
MacCormack said. “These
high-risk individuals should
receive their annual flu shot
as soon as they can.” Flu shots
are available at many private
physicians’ offices and local
health departments, and they
are covered by Medicare. Part
B.
'The report included cases of
influenza Type A and Type B.
The cases were reported in
Raleigh, Boone and
Wilmington. As flu season con
tinues cases generally span the
state. Locally there have not
been any reported cases of flu.
However, the school systems
are reporting an increased
number of student and person
nel absenteeism, due to illness
with flu-like symptoms.
Flue is an illness caused by
a respiratory virus. Symptoms
begin suddenly and may
include fever, severe headache
and body aches, sore throat
and cough. Flu can make a per
son more susceptible to pneu
monia, an illness which puts a
severe strain on the heart and
lungs and is especially danger
ous to people who already suf
fer from heart and lung dis
ease. Each year a number of
North Carolinians die from flu
and flu-related conditions.
Individuals who develop flu
like symptoms should drink
fluids, rest and stay home to
avoid spreading the infection
to others. Flu-suffers may also
take over-the-counter pain
reducers such as aceta
minophen and ibuprofen.
Aspirin should be avoided
since taking aspirin for some
forms of flu has been associat
ed with Reye’s Syndrome, a
serious brain and liver disor
der in children.
While there are no prescrip
tion medications for treatment
of influenza B, there are two
anti-viral medications that
doctors can prescribe to
reduce the spread of infection
and mitigate the symptoms of
influenza A. Persons who are
at high risk of flu complica
tions should consu*lt their
physician to determine
whether they may need one of
these medications.
For additional information,
contact your doctor or the
PPCC District Health
Department at 338-4400.
Outside
High: Low:
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High: Low:
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High: Low:
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