Chorale season tuning up
Page 2
Local agencies take night out
Page 6
TOPS to KOPs: weight loss plan
Page 6
The
PERQKs^^:.!. ns
tlO «
HEBTPOBD, ^
August 9, 2006
Vol. 74, No. 32 Hertford, North Carolina 27944*
Weekly
Man charged with abusing grandchiidren
SUSAN HARRIS
A Virginia man was arrested
in Florida for allegedly molesting
his two grandchildren in
Hertford.
Robert Rush of 2902 Bente Way,
Virginia Beach, Va. was charged
with two counts of first degree
sex offense with a child on July
26. He is presently being held in
Albemarle District Jail under an
$80,000 bond.
Investigator Mario Reel with
Sheriff
defends
the sheriff’s department said she
received initial information on
the case from the local
Department of Social Services.
That agency was contacted by St.
Mary’s Medical Center in West
Palm Beach, Fla. that Rush had
come to their facility in a suicidal
state, resulting, it appeared, from
his feelings about molesting his
grandchildren. Reel said.
Reel began investigating the
case on July 10. She learned that
the Rush’s spent a lot of time
with their children and grand
children at a second home owned
by the alleged victims’ parents in
Perquimans County.
Interviews Reel conducted
with family members revealed
that a teen grandchild confided in
Mrs. Rush sometime around the
first of July that Rush had been
touching the teen and a pre-teen
sibling inappropriately for about
five years, on several occasions in
Perquimans County.
Mrs. Rush allegedly confront
ed Rush about the accusations.
Reel said. She told Reel that she
had told her husband that if the
accusations were true, she want
ed him out of their Virginia
Beach home. Reel said it appears
that Rush left Virginia and head
ed to visit a family member in
West Palm Beach, where he ended
up at St. Mary’s Medical Center..
Reel said she spoke with both
of the alleged victims, and both
disclosed the abuse to her during
separate interviews.
Reel sent the case before the
grand jury on July 24. Rush was
indicted and warrants for his
arrest were faxed to Florida,
where Rush was picked up and
held until he could be brought to
North Carolina to face charges.
He was initially held without
bail, but did get his bond set at
$80,000 at a bond hearing.
Reel said Rush has indicated
he will plead not guilty to the
charges when he appears in
court.
Not getting away
gun
permit
decision
CHRIS WHIPPLE
The Daily Advance and
SUSAN HARRIS
Editor & Publisher
Perquimans County
Sheriff Eric Tilley said he
is not second-guessing his
decision not to issue a
handgun permit in light of
the fact that the person to
whom he denied the per
mit has taken her fight to
the U.S. Supreme Court. He
is confident he made the
right decision.
Tilley denied a handgun
permit to Eve Anne Clark
when she applied for one
on Nov. 15, 2005, several
months after a home she
and her husband, Michael,
own in Snug Harbor was
destroyed by arsonists.
The home at 109 Walnut
Street, which was occupied
by their son, burned on
Sept. 7, the third house in
Snug Harbor to be
destroyed by arsonists in
2005. Since then two other
homes in the community
have been burned.
Officials have not made
an arrest in the arson
cases.
In her application for a
handgun permit, Clark
said she needed a weapon
to protect herself. Tilley
denied the application the
day after it was filed.
Tilley cited several rea
sons for turning down the
permit, including Clark’s
involvement in a volatile
dispute with a group of
neighbors and her hus
band’s status as a convict
ed felon. Michael Clark
was convicted of kidnap
ping.
“It is a public safety
issue,” Tilley said Monday.
“Why as sheriff am I going
to throw a handgun in the
middle of a feud? And I
think putting a gun in her
hand gives him access to a
weapon and he’s a convict
ed felon I’m not putting a
gun in that situation.”
Tilley added that to his
knowledge, no one has
directly threatened Clark.
He said Clark has told him
that those she feels are
responsible for burning
the mobile home she
owned where her son lived
ride by her home, make
obscene gestures and gawk
Continued on page 6
PHOTO BY MARGARET FISHER
Hertford police officers nab Armen Hodges after he ran from officers and tried to hide under a house on Dobbs
Street. Drugs and money were confiscated. Officials from local agencies conducted a sweep Friday night to
serve warrants and crack down on crime.
Cops make ‘pop calls’ in crime hot spots
MARGARET FISHER
After numerous com
plaints at recent town
meetings about increased
crime activity, law enforce
ment officials from five
agencies swept through the
county Friday night in an
effort to keep criminals on
their toes.
Their efforts paid off.
Three individuals were
arrested. Hertford, Winfall
and Edenton police depart
ments, Perquimans County
Sheriff’s Office and
Perquimans County
Probation and Parole
worked together to raid
areas where drug activity
is prevalent.
“If all these entities are
working together,” said
Rhonda Waters, director of
Hertford Housing
Authority, “it thrills me to
see that (the crime) is get
ting the attention it needs.”
Waters said she has been
battling ongoing problems
at Wynn Fork Apartments.
Last week, she put up new
No Trespassing” signs in
the complex.
Officials, accompanied
by Hertford Mayor Sid Eley,
swarmed Wynn Fork
Apartments to serve a war
rant and curb loitering and
drug activity. Officers came
in on foot through an area
on U.S. Highway 17 where a
portion of the fence had
been smashed down. Other
officers came in through
the entrance and exit by
vehicle.
While no arrests were
made there, the individual
they were seeking was later
found m a raid at 329
Market St. At about 9 p.m.,
officers approached a
group of people in front of
the house when one man
ran to the back of the
house.
An officer chased him
down as other officers sur
rounded the area on Dobbs
Street. The man was found
trying to roll under a house
on Dobbs Street directly
behind 329 Market Street.
Officers seized 10 grams of
crack cocaine and $150
from Armen Lavell Hodges,
22, of 107 Pine Ridge Road.
Hodges’ warrants
included driving with
license revoked, failure to
stop at a stop sign, care-
less/rebkless driving,
exceeding posted speed
limit and resisting a public
officer. Friday, he was
charged with possession
with intent to sell/deliver
cocaine '* and resisting
arrest.
Hodges was taken to
Albemarle District Jail on
a $12,000 secured bond plus
$1,500 bond for his previous
charges.
Officers seized $790 from
another man, Brandon
Dunbar, who was appre
hended in front of 329
Market St. Dunbar was not
arrested, but was given “a
reasonable amount of
k(M CUfkfWf .
Almost $800 was seized
Friday night when law
enforcement agencies-
made some unexpected
house calls in areas
known for a high inci
dence of drug activity.
time” to prove that the
money was obtained legal
ly, and not drug money, said
Hertford Police Chief Dale
Vanscoy.
Most of the problems in
that area are centered
around the house on
Market Street, and officers
are monitoring the activi
ties going on there,
Vanscoy said. In fact, he
has spoken to the owner,
William Davis of Elizabeth
City, about putting a stop to
the activities. The town
council can have the house
seized and turned over to
benefit the school system,
he said.
Town Manager John
Christensen said that a nui
sance abatement process
has just begun, but he did
n’t think that Davis had
received a letter from the
town as of yet.
At about 9:15 p.m.,
another group of officers
went to 215 Meads Circle to
attempt to serve a warrant.
When officers approached
the door, a resident, Joshua
Felton, 21, opened it.
Felton told officers that
the man they were looking
for wasn’t there. The offi
cers entered the mobile
home and found the man
they were seeking hiding
under a bed. They also saw
a small amount of marijua
na in an ashtray in plain
view, Vanscoy said.
Jamie Dwayne Walker,
17, the resident found
under the bed, was charged
with possession of mari
juana. His previous
charges include motor
vehicle theft, burglary and
possession of drug para
phernalia. He was taken to
Albemarle District Jail
under an $18,000 secured
bond.
Felton was charged with
possession of marijuana
less than'half an ounce and
resisting a public officer,
placed on a $1,000 secured
bond and taken to jail.
The purpose of the raid
is to be seen by the public
and keep criminals off
guard, Vanscoy said.
“We’re sho\^ing the good
people out here that we’re
giving 100 percent,” he
said, “and we’re showing
the bad people that we’re
not playing - what we’re
saying is what we mean.”
guilty
SUSAN HARRIS
The fourth man involved
in holding a Beech Springs
household at gunpoint in
December 2003 was found
guilty at a jury trial in
Superior Court in late July.
Andrew Jordan was sen
tenced to 89 months with
the N.C. Department of
Corrections after being
found guilty of first degree
burglary and second
degree kidnapping. A
charge of attempted rob
bery with a dangerous
weapon was dismissed.
Jordan, Rashie Belfield,
Quinton Porter and
Christopher Hinton
knocked open the front
door of a home in the
Beech Springs community
on Dec. 12, 2003, according
to Sheriff Eric Tilley and
court records. Once inside,
they held Tour adults at
gunpoint. An infant was
also in the house.
Shortly after entering
the house, one of the group
realized they were not in
the house they were look
ing for, and they left.
Weapons recovered from
the suspects were deter
mined to have been stolen
about a month before the
incident during a break-in
in the New Hope Township.
Belfield, Porter and
Hinton all pleaded guilty to
first degree burglary and
attempted robbery with a
dangerous weapon.
Belfield got 133 months in
Aug. 2004; while Porter and
Hinton each received 71-
month sentences, Hinton
in June 2005 and Porter in
July 2005.
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 91, Low: 73
Isolated rSTORMs
Friday
High: 91, Low: 73
Isolated T'storms
Saturday
High: 84, Low: 70
Partly Cloudy