Public records
By Other
Published in News on April 1, 2005 1:46 PM
Fires strike
two houses
A vacant home that was being remodeled at 215 Herbert St. was damaged Thursday in a fire that may have been caused by plumbing work, a Goldsboro fire official said.
Fire Lt. John Parks said the fire started in a kitchen wall and spread to the attic. He said heavy smoke was showing as firefighters answered the 3:13 p.m. call.
The one-floor brick home, owned by Terrance Watson of Fayetteville, sustained about $15,000 in damages. It was valued at $85,000.
"We're thinking that he was working on the plumbing," Parks said. "That's what all indications pointed to."
Twelve firefighters responded with three engines, a ladder and a command car and needed almost two hours to put out the fire, investigate the cause and finish salvage work.
Less than an hour after the call, firefighters were summoned to a kitchen fire at 210-B Fussell St. The occupant, Thelma Allen, had put out the fire by the time firefighters arrived.
Fire Lt. Harold Isler said Ms. Allen was cooking, grease spilled from a pan and caught the hood of the stove on fire. Damage was estimated at $150. Isler attributed her quick thinking to preventing a worse fire.
The apartment building is owned by American Property Management.
Two injured
Two people were injured and damages were estimated at $14,000 in three recent traffic collisions in Wayne County, officers reported.
*A driver was injured and damages were estimated at $5,000 in a two-vehicle collision at 3 p.m. Thursday on Wayne Memorial Drive near Lockhaven Drive, Goldsboro police said. Phyllis W. Smith, 40, of N.C. 111 North was treated and released from Wayne Memorial Hospital, a spokeswoman said. The other driver, Elizabeth L. Schupner, 75, of New Hope Village Drive, had pulled from a parking lot and her minivan collided with Ms. Smith's northbound sport utility vehicle, the report said. Mrs. Schupner was charged with a safe-movement violation.
*Damages were estimated at $5,500 in a two-vehicle crash at 3:55 p.m. Thursday on North Herman Street near Royall Avenue, police said. One driver, Prentice Deshon Best, 21, of Stronach Avenue, was charged with hit and run and driving while his license was revoked. The report said Best had pulled from a parking lot and the car that he was driving collided with a southbound sport utility vehicle. Best fled from the wreck, police said, but was brought back by the car's owner, Cathy R. Best of Stronach Avenue. The other motorist was listed as Donald M. Cates Jr., 31, of North Oleander Avenue.
*A driver was injured and his car was demolished in a wreck at 3:30 p.m. Sunday on U.S. 70 near Casey Dairy Road, the Highway Patrol said. Joseph Vincent Burridge, 17, of Darrel Road, LaGrange, was released after emergency-room treatment. He was charged with reckless driving after the car ran off the right side, then he overcorrected the steering and the car ran off the left side and overturned in the median. The car was valued at $3,500.
Purse snatching
A 21-year-old Goldsboro man was arrested Thursday by Goldsboro police and charged with common-law robbery, a felony. Patrick Duffy of Cambria Lane was accused of snatching a purse from a woman March 18 in the Pinewood Square parking lot at 1002 N. Spence Ave., Investigator M.K. Horstmann said. Duffy was placed in the Wayne County Jail in lieu of a $20,000 secured bond. Investigators Dwayne Dean and G.N. Lynch assisted in the arrest.
Shots hit home
Wayne County sheriff's deputies are investigating these reports:
*Gunshots damaged a ceiling and a wall of a home Thursday night in the 100 block of Dell Drive near Dudley, sheriff's deputies said. The resident, Keyshawn Carmichael Jones, said someone fired a gun from a dark sport utility vehicle at 11:30 p.m. Neither Jones, nor his guests were injured. Damages were estimated at $450.
*A computer, a printer, a monitor and a video-game system were stolen between March 25 and Wednesday from Spring Creek Elementary School, deputies said. The thief had broken a window to get inside. The stolen property was valued at $1,300. Damage was set at $20.
Thefts
Goldsboro police are investigating these reports:
*Jewelry, two handguns, two shotguns, a rifle, a scanner and cash were stolen Thursday from a home in the 100 block of Westbrook Road, police said. The owner, Jim Jones, estimated the value of the jewelry at $6,350, the firearms at $974 and other property at more than $420. The jewelry included a diamond ring, other rings, ear rings and a watch.
*About $1,200 was stolen between March 8 and Thursday from a filing cabinet in a business at 145 N. George St., police said. A witness said he saw two people take the cash.
*A tan and brown 1989 Ford F-350 truck with dual back wheels was stolen Thursday from JR's Auto and Used Truck dealership at 724 Marshall St., police said. The owner, Ronnie Faircloth of Goldsboro, put a $6,000 value on the truck. The thief may have rammed a gate with the truck to escape. Damage to the gate was put at $2,000.
Malpractice suit
A Wayne County couple is suing a doctor and a Goldsboro medical firm for malpractice after the woman had surgery in 2002.
The lawsuit was filed in the Wayne County Clerk of Courts Office on behalf of Eula Mae and Kenneth G. Faucette against Dr. Todd F. Tanner of Williamston and Eastern Carolina Surgical Associates.
Mrs. Faucette contends in the suit that she suffered excruciating pain after the surgery and that Tanner did little to help. She saw her family doctor and several specialists before the problem was diagnosed. But, she says, they have not provided relief.
The Faucettes, who are represented by Raleigh lawyer W. Brian Howell, are seeking more than $10,000 in damages. The defendants have not replied to the suit.
Correction
A story in Thursday's Public Record incorrectly identified a missing woman.
Tazmaea Williams, 34, of Running Deer Circle in Dudley has been reported missing. The Wayne County Sheriff's Department described her as black, 5-feet-8 and 185 pounds with a scar on her left cheek. She suffers from Bell's Palsy and has a twitching of the eye.
She has been missing since March 17. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at 731-1481.