Henderson County News
A Fayetteville man was sentenced to five years in prison after a jury convicted him for an armed robbery at the Triangle Stop convenient store on Chimney Rock Highway on Jan. 14, 2016.
A Henderson County jury deliberated less than one hour before finding Andrew Dalton, 35, guilty of robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Dalton, who was represented by Hendersonville attorney Jason Hayes, was sentenced by Judge Alan Z. Thornburg to five years and three months months in the state prison system. He will be eligible for parole after serving 3½ years.
District Attorney Greg Newman was the chief prosecutor in the case, along with Assistant District Attorney Beth Dierauf.
Store clerk Jeanette Kidd flagged down police officer Eric Larowe and told him that she had been robbed inside the store and that the suspect had run across the highway towards the Jack in the Box restaurant. Kidd testified at trial that the defendant came to her counter at 1:30 p.m. and asked for cartons of cigarettes. When she asked for an I.D., the defendant showed her a black gun that appeared to her to be a 9 mm pistol. Ms. Kidd said that the defendant pointed the gun at her and demanded she give him the money in the cash drawer. The defendant took the money, cigarettes and other items and left the store.
The identification of the defendant occurred after WLOS News13 broadcasted the store security video showing the robbery. As a result of the video, the defendant was identified and apprehended two days later in Polk County, NC. In his statement to police, the defendant said that after robbing the store, he made it to his car and left the area for Fayetteville. He purchased heroin with the stolen money. He threw the gun out of the window of his car somewhere between Hendersonville and Fayetteville. The defendant told police that the gun was a pellet gun that he shoplifted at Wal-Mart shortly before the robbery.
At trial, the defense acknowledged the robbery but contended that Dalton should be convicted of the lesser charge of Common Law Robbery based upon the argument that a pellet gun was used instead of a real gun. Newman pointed out to the jury that the type of gun is not the issue when it appeared to the store clerk to be the real thing.
“Ms. Kidd was the one on the other side of the barrel of a gun that appeared real enough to her. The defendant represented it to be real and he threatened Ms. Kidd with it. She was petrified and felt that her life was in danger. Those facts should convict a person of robbery with a dangerous weapon every time,” Newman said.
“People who work in these stores should not have to put up with this kind of behavior,” Newman added. “I appreciate the investigation of the Hendersonville Police Department and the assistance of Ms. Kidd, who now lives in Florida. This defendant did not receive any plea offer from my office, so he appealed to members of our community on the jury for some form of relief. To their credit, they followed the law and convicted him for what he did. He needed to be held accountable for his actions and our jury did the right thing. They are to be commended,” said Mr. Newman.
The next Superior Court trial term for Henderson County begins July 24. Read Story »
Henderson County News
A pot-bellied pig picked up by Henderson County animal enforcement officers will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, the sheriff says.
The animal enforcement unit of the sheriff's office responded to a call on May 15 that a pig had been found at a pond at 2129 Locust Grove Road.
"We have had a couple of pigs wandering around lately," Maj. Fank Stout said. "This is the second pig we’ve had in a couple of months. I think the last one sold for a dollar."
"I don’t know if it’s Petunia or if dresses out at 240 pounds or 120 pounds," he said. "We don't know where it came from. There's always speculation that somebody just turned it loose in a remote area, got tired of taking care of it."
Pursuant to N.C.G.S. 68-20 the pig will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. Bidding starts at $25. The public auction will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 13, at Animals R Us, 725 Crest Road. Sheriff Charlie McDonald announced the sale in the June issue of The Guardian, a monthly newsletter. Read Story »
Henderson County News
The Henderson County Board of Commissioners on Monday adopted a $136.5 million budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, keeping the tax rate at the current rate of 56.5 cents per $100 valuation.
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Henderson County News
JACKSON SPRINGS — Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik A. Hooks and other state officials on Monday officially dedicated a state-of-the-art Firearms Training Center at Samarcand Training Academy in Moore County.
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Henderson County News
The newly unveiled logo for the 2017 North Carolina Apple Festival features a red theme and a salute to the state bird as well as the county’s signature farm product.
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Henderson County News
Gladiator Polo, a new fastest-growing style of polo, is debuting at Tryon International Equestrian Center on Saturday, June 24.
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Henderson County News
The family of William A. “Doc” Lampley will host a drop-in reception and public celebration of Dr. Lampley’s life at The Cedars from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday.
A surgeon who was thought to be the last remaining of the original Pardee Hospital physicians, Dr. Lampley died Thursday at Elizabeth House at age 96. Donations in remembrance of Dr. Lampley may be made to the William A. Lampley Scholarship Fund through the Community Foundation of Henderson County.
Click here to read the full obit.
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Henderson County News
Henderson County sheriff's deputies recovered a stolen handgun and charged a 30-year-old Hendersonville man with two felonies and three misdemeanors after a traffic stop at 3:20 a.m. Friday near Halsbury Avenue.
During the stop, deputies discovered that the driver, Adrian Villarreal, of 660 Pace Road, had a stolen handgun and narcotics, the sheriff's office said. Villarreal was charged with possession of stolen firearm and possession of firearm by felon, both felonies, and misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana and carrying a concealed weapon. Villarreal was jailed under a $33,500 bond. Read Story »
Henderson County News
U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows and a Democrat who is planning to challenge him in next year's election differ sharply over President Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement.
“I applaud President Trump for following through on this campaign promise he made to millions of voters across the country," Meadows said. "The Paris Accord is a bad deal for the American people—it hampers economic growth, burdens job creators, and stifles innovation to preserve an agreement where the benefits are miniscule at best. We all agree that we must be good stewards of the earth, but it doesn’t require a treaty never ratified by Congress to accomplish that. Time and time again we’ve seen that businesses will adapt to consumer demand to use more environmentally friendly practices–there is no need to cripple entire industries with sweeping regulations.
"Today’s decision by President Trump is another step toward accomplishing the long-term goal that the President emphasized so successfully during his campaign: putting the interests of the American worker first.”
Matt Coffay, 30, announced his run for the 11th Congressional District seat in April. He leads a local chapter of Our Revolution, an organization aligned with the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party. He grew up outside Blue Ridge, Ga., and graduated from UNCA. He was a farmer in Alexander until last year, when he took a job with the nonprofit National Young Farmers Coalition, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported.
"Mark Meadows’ praise of the decision to back out is shortsighted, irresponsible, and just plain wrong," Coffay said in a news release. "If he cared about the people of his district, he’d be encouraging us to invest and create jobs in renewable energy."
"Western North Carolina needs leadership that values the lives and welfare of regular people, not big corporations," Coffay said. "Meadows has shown his true colors by applauding this terrible decision. When I’m in Congress, I won’t make the same mistake. I’ll ensure that America leads the way in renewable energy investment and job creation. Let’s create a future to be proud of."
China now produces more CO2 than the United States annually, but high historic output from the U.S. makes it the biggest overall contributor to climate change in the world. And as a country which makes up just 4 percent of the world’s population, but which is responsible for about a third of the carbon dioxide contributing to climate change, Matt Coffay believes this country has a moral imperative to be a global leader and set an example for clean energy:
"Renewables are the future," Coffay continued. "The only question is whether or not the United States will reap the benefits of the jobs and industries that will spring up around renewable energy or if we’ll sit back while China, India, and Europe lead the way. Mark Meadows is more concerned with campaign contributions from Big Oil and the fossil fuel industry than he is in representing the interests of working families in Western North Carolina. He’d rather hand jobs over to China and India than keep them here in the United States." Read Story »
