P6/C5
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
j HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
Fire departments share
F^e3
Band plays way to awards
Page 6
Safe boating class set
Pages
October 6, 2004
Vol. 72, No, 40 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
The
Perquimans
Weekly
Cafe
robbed
Same robber
may have
also hit
Food Lion
ERIN RICKERT
Police say an armed
robbery that took place at
Frankie’s Hertford Cafe
on Sept. 25 may have a
connection to the two
Food Lion robberies.
“We are not discarding
that it is the same per
son,” Hertford Police
Chief Dale Vanscoy said.
“There is a possibility.
The basic description of
this [the Frankie’s rob
bery] and Food Lion is
similar.”
The subject is
described as a black male
between 5’2 and 5’8 inches
tall. He was wearing a
white T-shirt, jeans and
had a T-shirt wrapped
around his head, making
only his eyes visible.
According to police, he
entered the cafe through
the back door, grabbed
Carissa O’Neal, the wait
ress on duty, showed her a
gun and told her to open
the register.
Vanscoy said he left
through the hack door
with an undisclosed
amount of money.
Authorities were
called to the scene and
proceeded to search the
back alley and a four-five
block area around the
store for the subject, but
were unable to locate
him.
Vanscoy said they have
picked up a few people
and talked to them, but
the investigation is still
ongoing.
“We are going to need
the public’s help,”
Vanscoy said.
He said he wants to
remind residents to be
aware of their surround
ings and if they see any
thing suspicious to call
the police.
“It may help this keep
from happening again,”
Vanscoy said.
Food Lion was robbed
on July 27 and Sept. 14,
both times in the early
morning hours, and both
times by a suspect wear
ing coveralls with a white
T-shirt wrapped around
his head and face. Each
time, the robber entered
the front door of the
store, forced a clerk to
open the cash register,
grabbed an undeter
mined amount of money
and ran back out the front
door. The clerk in the July
incident reported seeing
a weapon, but in the
September robbery, no
gun was seen.
Food Lion, formerly
open 24 hours a day, cut
back its hours effective
Sept. 27. The store now
closes at 1 a.m. and
reopens at 6 a.m. Store
spokesperson Raymond
Whidbee said he was not
at liberty to say whether
the change in hours is a
direct result of the rob
beries.
Anyone with any infor
mation on either robbery
should call HPD at 426-
5587.
Arden woman drowns at park
ERIN RICKERT
Debbie Winstead, 52,
drowned Sept. 28 while she
and her boyfriend, Robert
Lee Brock, were swimming
in Missing Mill Park off
Grubb Street.
Winstead, Brock and his
son William had traveled
from Arden to visit Brock’s
aunt in Hertford.
The two had sent
William to the house with
their personal belongings
before Winstead, who did
not know how to swim,
entered the water near the
dock holding Brock’s hand.
Brock told police the two
were playing in the water
when he slipped on a rock,
letting go of Winstead’s
hand.
City maintenance work
ers at the park said they
saw the couple swimming
while on their lunch break,
but realized the serious
ness of the situation when
only Brock came out of the
water.
Workers informed
authorities and when they
arrived a little after 4 p.m.
they found 41-year-old
Brock, hands cupped over
his face,, sobbing near the
edge of the water.
The Perquimans County
Dive and Rescue Team was
alerted, but the woman’s
body surfaced around 5
p.m. before the team was
able to respond
Police Chief Dale
Vanscoy said that Brock
told him the couple had
been drinking before the
accident occurred.
The couple was swim
ming in an area where
Cypress knees and other
debris are hidden under
neath the water.
Vanscoy said the town
has never permitted swim
ming off the property.
No swimming signs were
present before Isabel and
new signs have been
ordered.
Winstead’s body was
taken from Albemarle
Hospital to Pitt Memorial
Hospital in Greenville
Thursday morning where
they will complete an
autopsy.
Vanscoy said it could
take up to two weeks before
they receive any results,
but right now it appears
that she drowned.
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Members of the Perquimans County Technical Dive
Team prepare to search for an Arden woman who
drowned off the shore at Missing Mill Park last
Tuesday.
Welcome to Hertford
Car fire may have
coimectioii to
Camden blazes
r ^
PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT
New gateway signs welcome visitors to Hertford with the official town logo,
designed by Hertford native Clark Winslow. The signs, a project of Historic
Hertford, Inc., the town's Main Street Program, were made possible by donations
from businesses.
ERIN RICKERT
A 1999 Ford Windstar
minivan torched on the
front lawn of a Chapanoke
Road home on Sept. 23
could be connected to a
string of car fires thought
to be the work of a serial
arsonist.
“We think they are con
nected,” said Perquimans
County Sheriff Eric Tilley.
“It is the same type of
burning.”
Tilley said the
Perquimans fire is similar
to the Camden fires in that
they have all been vehicles
parked away from owners’
residences and unlocked
when the fires are set.
The car fires began Sept.
5 in Camden County, and so
far there have been six fires
including the most recent
fire in Perquimans.
Tilley said he has spoken
with Barry Overman, the
fire marshal for
Pasquotank and Camden
counties, but authorities
still have no leads in the.
case.
Carolyn and Jody Cohee,
who hung a for sale sign in
their minivan just two days
before the fire, have been
ruled out, according to
Tilley, who said' the couple
owed more on the vehicle
than it was worth.
The Cohee’s were con
tacted, but declined to com
ment on the incident.
A reward of $6,500 has
been offered in Camden for
information leading to the
arrest of those responsible
for setting the fires.
Green
found not
guilty
Former cop
charged with
attempted
murder
CHRIS WHIPPLE
The Daily Advance
A jury in Perquimans
County Superior Court
returned a verdict of not
guilty in the first-degree
attempted murder trial of
James Green last
Wednesday.
Green, 61, is an
Albemarle Plantation resi
dent and retired New York
state police officer, was
accused of shooting his
estranged wife, Cynthia
Green, and her friend. Jack
Waggoner on Jan. 4 at
Waggoner's Holiday Island
residence. The jury took an
hour and 45 minutes to
decided on the verdict.
Continued on page 8
Voter registration
deadline approaches
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Friday at 5 p.m. is the
deadline to register to vote
in the November general
election.
Board of Elections
Director Eula Forbes said
last week that those who
are not registered in
Perquimans County must
meet the deadline in order
to be eligible to, vote in the
Nov. 2 general election.
Potential voters can visit
the Board of Elections
office in the county office
building which also houses
the Extension Service on
Edenton Road Street. Voter
registration forms are
Continued on page 8
A Perquimans County Schools bus was deemed a total High school
loss after a wreck on County Line Road last ,
Wednesday. The driver and two children on board lOCK0rS tO
were not seriously injured. ^0t f3/C0lift
Two injured in bus wreck
CHRIS WHIPPLE
The Daily Advance
Two Chowan County
men injured during an acci
dent with a Perquimans
County school hus last
Wednesday were stiU being
treated at Pitt County
Memorial Hospital in
Greenville Thursday.
Shawn Norman, 28, of
Edenton, and Terrence
Boyce, 23, of Tyner were
injured when their
BarnhiU Construction van
collided with the school bus
on County Line Road at the
intersection of Rural Paved
Road 1305.
Details about the men's
medical condition were not
available.
Highway Patrol Sgt. VE.
Burton said witnesses told
him that the van, driven by
Norman, ran a stop sign at
Continued on page 8
All student lockers at
Perquimans County High
School will be refurbished
and painted during teacher
workdays Monday, Oct. 11
and Tuesday, Oct. 12.
Students are requested
to remove all items from
the lockers at the end of
school on Friday, Oct. 8,
ensuring personal belong
ings win not be lost or dam
aged during the process.
Questions should be
directed to Public
Information Officer Brenda
Lassiter, 426-5741. ■
Weekend
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 76-
Low: 54
Sunny
Friday
High: 78
Low: 55
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 76
Low: 56
Partly Cloudy