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HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
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Pages
The
RECEIVED ■
JUL 2 7 2005
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July 27, 2005
Vol. 73, No. 30 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
JL JLIV
rcQUIMANS
Weekly
Third man convicted of 2003 burglary
ERIN RICKERT
The third of four indi
viduals arrested in connec
tion with a 2003 burglary
and attempted armed rob
bery was sentenced in
Perquimans County
Superior Court Monday.
The son of Winfall
Mayor Fred Yates, 18 year-
old Quinton Porter of 118
Wynn Fork Court was sen
tenced to a minimum of 51
months and a maximum of
71 months in prison by
Honorable Judge Jerry R.
Tillett.
Porter joins Rashie
Quintell Bellfield, 21, of Lot
8 Dogwood Mobile Home
Park, Edenton who is serv
ing more than nine years
and Christopher Omar
Hinton, 22, of 1109 Poplar
Neck Road who is serving
the same sentence as
Porter. The sentences were
based in part on any prior
criminal history the men
may or may not have had.
The Perquimans County
Sheriff’s Department stiU
has warrants out for the
arrest of a fourth teen,
Andrew Jermaine Jordan,
18, of 123 Wynn Fork Court,
who failed to show for his
last court appearance.
The men were arrested
in December 2003, accord
ing to Sheriff’s reports,
after the group visited a
Chinquapin Road home the
evening of Dec. 12.
According to reports, the
men entered the residence
dressed in black and wear
ing ski masks after knock
ing down the front door.
Once inside, the men
were alleged to have held
four adults and an infant at
gunpoint. The men were
said to have entered the
home looking for a man
named “Peanut” who had
killed one of the men’s fam-
Continued on page 8
Two men
face drug
charges
Residents arrested on
drug charges
Erin Rickert
Two Hertford men were
arrested within a week of
each other after it was dis
covered the two were in
possession of marijuana.
Perquimans County
Sheriff’s deputies arrested
Steven Bernard Bailey, 27,
of ^577 Burnt Mill Road and
charged him with posses
sion with intent to main
tain/sell/deliver a con
trolled substance and main
taining a
vehicle/dwelling/place for
the purpose of
selling/delivery a con
trolled substance after he
was found in possession of
5 ounces of marijuana July
6.
Nearly a week later on
July 13, Wille Garcia
Warren, 25, of Lot 54 MHP
was charged with posses
sion of up to 1/2 ounce of
marijuana and three counts
of driving while license
revoked after he turned
himself into sheriff’s
deputies.
Perquimans County
Sheriff Eric Tilley said on
the afternoon of July 6,
deputies attempted to pull
over the 1994 Chevrolet
Bailey was driving near the
intersection of Edenton
Road Street and Hwy. 17.
Continued on page 2
Heat wave
PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT
Haywood Cofield, 19 (left) and George Perry, 16, prepare to put crates of sweet
corn into the hydrocooler at the C. Tommy Harrell Farm in Bear Swamp to keep it
at its freshest. With last week's heat, the two had the coolest job on the farm with
the air from the cooler escaping their way as they slid in the crates.
Heat wave hits county
ERIN RICKERT
While individuals across
the county were escaping
the recent streak of scorch
ing heat splashing in back
yard pools, sipping Kool-
Aid near a fan or retreating
to air-conditioned offices,
many people were stuck
working in last week’s dan
gerously hot conditions.
Hundreds working jobs
in the construction, land
scaping and farming indus
tries endured hours under
the summer sun as the heat
index rose to nearly 115
degrees several days
recently — causing heat
Sentencing delayed
for habitual felon
%
Judge okays
psych exam
advisories to be issued in
the area.
At one Perquimans
County farm on North Bear
Swamp Road, more than 50
individuals worked tire
lessly in the heat’s haze to
finish up their nearly four-
week corn harvest.
Continued on page 6
ERIN RICKERT
A psychological evalua
tion may be sought for a
Holiday Island man
believed to have committed
several crimes in the coun
ty, the public defender for
the case said Monday.
The assessment would
come before 44 year-old
Christopher Allan Dallas,
who family members say
battles with bipolar disor
der and paranoid schizo
phrenia, appears in the
court’s administrative ses
sion Aug. 26.
David L. Credle, the
assistant public defender
representing Dallas, said
Dallas was already indicted
on the habitual felon
charge. Several other
indictments handed down
by the grand jury Monday
afternoon, along with ques
tions surrounding Dallas’s
competence, forced the case
to be heard next month.
Mary Dallas, Dallas’s
wife of 14 years, said since
the two moved to
Perquimans County 12
years ago Dallas has had
close to 25 convictions —
causing him to be in and
out of prison.
Mary attributes his
behavior to his battle with
bipolar disorder and para
noid schizophrenia, which
he was finally diagnosed
with less than five years
ago.
“It [the behavior] is a
result of these disorders,”
Mary said after her hus
band’s appearance in
Perquimans County
Superior Court Monday.
“He evidently can’t control
himself. The court has done
nothing to help.”
Dallas’s mother Iris
Dallas said the family is
tired of the system ignor
ing her son’s need for med
ical treatment.
“They just keep sending
him back to jail,” Iris said.
“AH I ever asked for is help,
but no one will give him
treatments.”
The family. Iris said, has
struggled with Dallas since
he was a young boy — when
his health problems first
became evident.
“It was never anything
big, but what you call
‘always getting into trou
ble,”" Iris said.
Perquimans County
Sheriff Eric Tilley said
Dallas’s criminal history is
lengthy and includes sever
al driving while impaired
charges, communicating
threats, injury to personal
property and assault
charges.
“The Sheriff’s office has
been dealing with him at
least since 1990,” Tilley
said. “It’s almost on a
monthly basis unless he is
incarcerated.”
Continued on page 6
Local dogs, owners participate
in search and recovery cases
ERIN RICKERT
As they walk the perime
ter of the area they are
about to search at the
Currituck airport, a bright
ly colored vest that reads
“recovery” fastened to her
mid-section, Dakota trails
only feet from him on the
end of a leash.
The air is cool and the
breeze coming off the field
is light as she is given her
PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT
Sandy Sperry and Brownie anwer when law enforce
ment agencies need help finding a missing person.
scent item.
“Check it,” Dakota’s
owner Steve Lane com
mands — alerting the dog
to take in the scent of the
object.
“Find the man,” Lane
voices sternly as Dakota’s
nose hits the ground and
she begins searching out
the scent, a practice now
almost ritual to the 7
month-old Weimaraner
puppy.
.. But that was nearly two
nionths ago when Dakota,
now 9 months old, was
being tested for her certifi
cation as a search and
recovery dog.
Since then Dakota, her
owner Steve Lane and back
up trainer Tammy Britton
have been called and put on
standby close to six times
for searches. Most recently
the team returned from
their second call to help
locate the missing 4 year-
old boy in Hampton, Va.
On the other side of the
county another team is in
the same place Dakota was
a few months ago.
Sandy Sperry, a member
of the Perquimans County
SPCA, and her dog Brownie
are now working to obtain
their certification — mak
ing them the second of
these unusual teams to live
in Perquimans.
Sperry rescued Brownie,
a German short-haired
pointer and pit buU mix,
from certain death nearly
four years ago after she
Sixth mobile
home bums
ERIN RICKERT
A fire that demolished a
mobile home in Snug
Harbor last week is said to
have no connection to the
Continued on page 8
PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT
Owner Steve Lane and Tammy Britton train Dakota, a
search and rescue dog.
found the dog abandoned
— flea bitten, covered in
ticks and malnourished.
The two teams had both
been searching for a way to
share their animal’s tal
ents with others and had
thought about training
them as therapy dogs.
That is until each got
involved with Margie
Spencer’s dog obedience
classes and later joined
nearly seven other pairs
Continued on page 6
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 93
Low: 76
SCAHERED T'STORMS
Friday
High: 89
Low: 74
Scattered T'storms
Saturday
High: 87
Low: 73
Thunder showers