PCHS class of '53 meets
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Perquimans Night at Steamers
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SPCA gets spay/neuter grant
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P5/C4
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
June 18, 2003
Voi. 71, Ho. 25 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
PERQUIMAI4&
Weekly
Two investigated for child sex abuse
One charged,
another
awaits
indictment
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Perquimans Sheriffs
officers investigated two
separate alleged sexual
abuse cases last week.
As a result, a
Pasquotank County man is
being held on misdemeanor
charges awaiting grand
jury indictments, whUe a
Belvidere man has been
charged with sex offenses
involving two of his
stepchildren.
Edward Lee WUliams of
Elizabeth City, a registered
sex offender, allegedly
admitted to Pasquotank
Sheriff’s Deputy Randy
Smithson that he had three
sexual encounters with a 7-
year-old.
Perquimans Sheriff Eric
TUley said the abuse was
reported in Perquimans on
June 10, when parents
reported that Williams, a
friend of the family, had
committed a sexual offense
against their child.
Because WUliams lives
in Pasquotank County,
TUley contacted sheriff’s
officials there. It was at
that time that he learned
that Williams is a regis
tered sex offender.
Smithson set up an inter
view with the famUy and
officers from both
Pasquotank and
Perquimans in the
Perquimans County
Sheriff’s Department.
WUliams reportedly vis
ited the victim’s home
again on June 11, where he
was confronted by the par
ents regarding the sex
offense aUegations.
TiUey said WiUiams
allegedly threated to kiU
the family and burn down
their house as a result of
the confrontation.
Warrants for communi
cating threats and trespass
ing were taken out against
Williams. When
Perquimans officers
arrived at the scene,
WUliams had left.
Smithson was again con
tacted and was able to find
Williams in Pasquotank
County It was at that time
that WiUiams allegedly
confessed to Smithson that
one incident of sexual
offense had occured in
Belvidere, two in Morgan’s
Corner.
WUliams is being held on
the charges of communi
cating threats and trespass
ing whUe Perquimans and
Pasquotank sheriffs work
cooperatively to obtain
grand jury indictments for
charges dealing with the
aUeged sex offenses.
The same day, Michael
Lucas Sr. of 1507 Belvidere
Road, Belvidere was arrest
ed and charged with two
counts of sexual offense by
a substitute parent.
The arrest came after
Deputy Marlow Reel and
Department of Social
Services personnel went to
Lucas’s home on Belvidere
Road to investigate the pos
sible sexual abuse of chU-
dren in the home.
Tilley said the officer
and social worker had
statements from two of
Lucas’s stepchildren that
they had been sexually
abused by Lucas in the
home. Both chUdren were
under age 12, and aUeged
that Lucas had abused
them on more than one
occasion.
Reel tried to speak with
Lucas, TUley said, but he
would not allow himself to
be interviewed.
Reel and the social work
er determined that it woiUd
be in the best interest of
the chUdren and the agen
cies involved to remove
Lucas from the home. He
was charged with two
counts of sexual offense by
a substitute parent and
placed under a $30,000
bond.
TUley said he does not
expect that the children
wUl be removed from their
homes as they have been
separated from the aUeged
perpetraitors.
TWo
charged
with
racing
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Two men were charged
with pre-arranged racing in
the Chapanoke community
earlier this month.
Sheriff Eric TUley said
Robert WendeU MaUory, 31,
of Chapanoke Road,
Hertford, and Karongi
Lacoy Banks, 24, of Okisko
Road, Elizabeth City, were
arrested by Deputy Shelby
White and charged with
prearranged racing; resist,
obstruct and delay; and var
ious motor vehicle viola
tions on June 1.
TiUey said he had
received complaints about
racing on Chapanoke Road
and Hurdletown Road the
last two Sundays in May. It
was reported to the sher
iff’s department that racers
and those watching had
actuaUy blocked the road,
stopping traffic from Row
ing.
On June 1, Tilley told
White to check the areas
where racing had been
reported often during
White’s shift. White kept
checking the area and also
got a caU that racing had
begun.
When White got to the
Chapanoke Road location,
he found six or seven peo
ple in the roadway, a car
across the road blocking
traffic and two motorcycles
coming around a curve
“laying in the wind.”
White stopped the
cyclists, arrested them and
impounded their motorcy
cles.
“We want folks to know
that we are watching and
that if we catch them rac
ing, we are going to
impound their motorcycles
or vehicles and we are
going to arrest them,”
Tilley said. “We want to
break this up.”
TUley added that there
have been reports about
racing in a couple of coun
ty communities and
deputies are patroling
those areas routinely whUe
on duty
Officers had responded
to racing complaints before
June 1, but were unable to
catch anyone on those occa
sions.
Sudden wind rips through barn
Thunderstorms have
been common over the past
few weeks, but have
brought mostly downpours
and perhaps a few tree
limbs downed.
But last week, a sudden
and unexplained wind dur
ing a late afternoon storm
ripped the tin roof off of a
barn on Harvey Point Road,
hitting with such force that
a board from the structure
was ripped off and pushed
into the ground behind the
barn.
Elton and Minnie WUma
Hurdle were looking out
the window of their home
when the sudden gust of
wind hit the barn in their
yard, tearing off half the
tin roof and causing one
side of the structure to bow,
whUe not even blowing one
fig off the tree right behind
the barn.
“We had a terrible storm
here,” Mrs. Hurdle said. “It
just ripped the roof right
off that building. It just
seemed like ciU that force
was right there.”
The barn was on the
property when Mrs.
Hurdle’s famUy moved onto
the site when she and her
sister, Mary Ruth Smith,
were chUdren. The women
> said the barn was probably
buUt around 1875, and had
withstood many storms
coming off the river. It had
While most of the county
just had strong showers
last Tuesday night, Elton
and Minnie Wilma Hurdle
watched a sudden wind
tear through an antique
barn on their property,
sending tin and timbers
flying through the air. The
wind was so forceful that
one timber was pushed
into the ground.
served as a wonderful place
to play when they were
chUdren.
“I climbed on it, jumped
off of it, did a little bit of
everything,” Smith said.
-a;*'.
Emergency Management
Coordinator Harry
Winslow said the caU from
The Perquimans Weekly to
inquire about the storm
was the first caU he had got
ten about damage from the
storm.
He said the damage may
have been the resiUt of an
isolated straight-line wind
and later visited the site.
There will be light 4th activities planned
I
After three years of planning, site work has finally
begun on the Main Street lighting project. The project,
being constructed in two phases, will bring period
street lights from the S-bride through downtown. It is
funded with TEA-21 grants and local matches.
There wUl be fireworks
and entertainment in the
park for the 4th of JtUy
Historic Hertford
Business Association
spokesperson Mary White
said that the American
Legion has again organized
the fireworks show and
HHBA has arranged food
and entertainment.
Activities will be in
Missing Mill Park on
Friday, JvUy 4, 4-9 p.m.
Loose Change wUl play
County noted
Perquimans appears in
the premier issue of the
Outer Banks magazine.
Downtown Hertford, the
Newbold-White House,
Layden’s Supermarket and
other area highlights are in
the beautiful magazine.
To get a copy, which seUs
for $8.95 plus tax, see Sid
Eley at the Chamber office.
and food vendors wUl be on
hand to offer summer
favorites.
Weekend
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 85
Low: 66
Scahered T'Storms
Friday
HiGH:80
Low: 62
Scattered Showers
Saturday
High: 80
Low:63
Partly Cloudy
Deputy
resigns
Sheriff: No
officers under
investigation
SUSAN R. HARRIS
A Perquimans County
sheriff’s deputy resigned
last week, providing grist
for the local rumor mill.
Rumors have been
spread that Nathan
Zachary was fired, that
Sheriff Eric TiUey is under
investigation for criminal
activity and that the sher
iff’s department in total is
under investigation.
Tilley confirmed that
Zachary, 29, had resigned,
but would not comment on
why the deputy left the
department. TUley said it
would be inappropriate for
him to comment on a per
sonnel matter.
The sheriff did say that
as the county’s chief law
enforcement officer, he
tries to instill in all
deputies a code of conduct
that includes conducting
themselves with the utmost
professionalism and
integrity.
TiUey also addressed the
rumor that he and other
deputies are under investi
gation by the SBI.
“My department, me or
no one else here is the sub
ject of any investigation,”
TUley said.
He added that he and SBI
officers have spoken over
the past few days and that
both parties agree that
there is no need for any
investigatiop into any type
of criminal activity involv
ing the sheriff’s depart
ment or its officers.
Zachary was hired by
former Sheriff Ralph
Robinson and continued to
serve under TUley. He was
the department’s lead
investigator.
Prior to signing on with
the sheriff’s department,
Zachary had served as a law
enforcement officer for
both the Elizabeth City and
Hertford police depart
ments.
Deputies Marlow Reel
and Shelby White have
been assigned investigative
duties as a result of
Zachaury’s resignation.