CMPD Searching for Suspect Who Ran Over Officer’s Foot

From http://www.wbtv.com By Caroline DuPre, August 31, 2013

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says a suspect injured a police officer while fleeing from arrest.

The North Division patrol officers responded to a domestic violence call at 1800 block of Oakdale Road.

Police say the caller stated her daughters were fighting each other and requested medical assistance because she believed one of them was injured.

The first officer on the scene ordered the suspect to leave her vehicle and while attempting to arrest her, the suspect ran over the officer’s foot and fled.

The officer’s injuries to his foot are not serious and was treated by a nearby hospital according to police.

Police are searching for the suspect, and will not release the names of the officer or suspect at this time.

One Wounded in Shooting on Charlotte’s Endolwood Rd.

From http://www.wcnw.com, August 31, 2013

One person was wounded in a Saturday evening shooting in Charlotte.

It happened just before 6 p.m. in the 5000 block of Endolwood Road.

Medics say one person has potentially life threatening injuries.

The circumstances around the shooting are unknown. Police have not yet given a suspect description.

Man Points Gun at 11-Year-Old Girl During Attempted Armed Robbery

From http://www.wsoctv.com, August 30, 2013

CMPD Officers say a man, holding a silver handgun, walked into a family restaurant and threatened an 11-year-old girl.

“I see the gun and I see how he did it, how he told me to give him the cash,” said the victim, Miriam Medina.

Every time Miriam closes her eyes, she replays the terrifying incident from Thursday night. Her parents’ allowed Channel 9 to speak to the girl about her experience.

“It’s still hard to believe that somebody came and pointed a gun at you,” she said.

She was helping her parents at the Chicken King restaurant near Plaza Midwood, where her father is the manager, when she says a masked man dressed in all black came into the restaurant, pointed a silver gun at her and said, “Give me the cash.”

Her first instinct, “I just said, ‘Dad,’ ’cause I didn’t know what to do.”

By the time her father ran from the back of the store to the front, the gunman was gone. He left empty-handed after the girl scream for her father.

“We are working. We’re still here. I’m not scared of nobody,” said father Pascual Medina.

“It was really scary because when you have a gun on you, that’s when you think about, ‘Oh my gosh, my life,'” Miriam said.

Police are investigating but no one has yet been arrested. The man was described as having a slim build and wearing all black including a mask.

2 Men with Arrest Records Charged in Fatal South-West Charlotte Shooting

 

From The Charlotte Observer by Steve Lyttle, August 30, 2013

Two Charlotte men have been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a man Thursday afternoon near a southwest Charlotte apartment complex, police say.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say Antonio Torez Cousart and Maurice Quema Wilson were taken into custody Friday morning and charged after questioning. Cousart was charged with murder and possession of a firearm by a felon, and Wilson was charged with accessory after the fact and possesion of a firearm by a felon.

Antonio Torez Cousart was charged Friday with murder in the shooting death of a 34-year-old man Thursday in southwest Charlotte. (Mecklenburg County Jail photo.)

Police say Maurice Wilson was charged in connection with the shooting death Thursday of Bennett Miller in southwest Charlotte. (Mecklenburg County Jail photo.)

Killed in the shooting was Bennett Eugene Miller, 34.According to police, officers were called about 4:45 p.m. Thursday, August 29, 2013 to the 7500 block of Kings Ridge Drive, off Old Pineville Road. When police arrived, they found a shooting victim, later identified as Miller.

Detectives eventually identified Cousar and Wilson as suspects, police say. Cousart has three arrests in recent years in Mecklenburg County, according to jail records. All three of those were drug-related. Wilson had been arrested six times in recent years, mostly on misdemeanor charges. But he was charged in June 2011 with robbery with a dangerous weapon.

Police ask that anyone with information in the case contact detectives at 704-432-TIPS. Or information can be left with Crime Stoppers, 704-334-1600 or http://charlottecrimestoppers.com.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/08/30/4275650/victim-identified-in-sw-charlotte.html#storylink=cpy

New ‘Tax and Tag Together’ Program Begins Sept. 1

From http://www.wsoctv.com, August 30, 2013

North Carolina motorists are going to have to pay their vehicle property tax and registration bill at the same time if they want to get their tags.

The new Tax and Tag Together Program is taking effect Sept. 1

Margaret Howell of the North Carolina Department of Transportation says that, under the current system, motorists renew their registration, and a property tax bill for the vehicle follows a few months later.

But that’s changing. Under the new law, motorists won’t be able to register their vehicles until the taxes are paid. Both are due at the same time.

She said counties requested the new law.

“The counties wanted to get the vehicle property taxes in in a timely manner. They wanted to get them in at the beginning of the tax year rather than later,” Howell said. “A lot of people were paying taxes a little bit along the way. In other words, they would send in maybe $20 this month, $20 next month. There was no penalty for doing that. And the counties, of course, had obligations. They needed to get that money in. This helps the counties.”

North Carolina has about 8.5 million registered vehicles.

Howell said the agency has been trying for months to make sure motorists know about the change.

“Everyone who has a part in the new program has worked very hard to get information out,” she said. “And in fact, our website, has a lot of information – even a tax estimator on it so you can go there prior to getting your bill and estimate what your taxes will be.”

N.C. Supreme Court Issues Temporary Order Upholding Ban on Sex Offenders Using Social Media

From http://www.wsoctv.com, August 30, 2013

North Carolina’s Supreme Court has agreed to a temporarily keep in place a state law banning sex offenders from social networking sites such as Facebook because children use them.

Attorney General Roy Cooper sought the high court’s order days after a unanimous state Court of Appeals panel struck down the law last week. The Supreme Court’s order will keep the law in effect while state lawyers ask the high court to consider the case of Lester Gerard Packingham, Cooper’s office said Friday.

A three-judge appeals court panel threw out Packingham’s felony conviction after the registered sex offender in Durham County created a Facebook page. The appeals court said the 2008 law was vague and violated free speech rights. Since it was a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court is not obligated to take up Cooper’s appeal.

“We plan to ask the Supreme Court to review the case and uphold this tool that law enforcement and prosecutors can use to protect children,” Cooper said in a statement. “Instead of lurking around playgrounds, today’s child predators go online where they can groom multiple victims at once.”

Cooper helped lobby for the law at a time when attorneys general nationwide pressured Facebook and MySpace to protect users from sexual predators found to be using their networks.

The law made it illegal for a registered sex offender to access a website where the person knows minors have personal Web pages.

Packingham’s attorney argued the law wasn’t narrowly written to serve a legitimate government interest and could prohibit routine Internet activity, such as a performing a Google search. The General Assembly passed the law to make people feel more secure without considering how it would be implemented, said Glenn Gerding, the Chapel Hill lawyer who represented Packingham.

The Court of Appeals ruled state attorneys had failed to make a convincing argument about the law’s vagueness. The law defines “commercial social networking website” as one that derives revenue from membership fees or advertising, facilitates social introductions and allows users to create pages to post information.

The law makes exceptions for websites that provide a narrow service like email, but it could apply to accessing Google, Amazon or even a cooking TV channel website because they contain secondary social networking pages, the appeals court ruling said.

Packingham was convicted in 2002 of taking indecent liberties with a child. Durham police began investigating MySpace and Facebook profiles to enforce the law in 2010. That’s where officers say they found a picture of Packingham at Facebook and determined he created the profile page, the opinion said.  Packingham was convicted in May 2012. He received a suspended sentence and probation.

People convicted since 1996 of sexually violent offenses or certain crimes against children must register with the sheriff in the county they reside. Offenders are barred from living close to a school or daycare, working with minors or visiting certain locations where children are likely to be.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Man Leads N.C. Highway Patrol Troopers on Chase Through Charlotte

From http://www.wcnc.com, August 30, 2013

A man was arrested after a chase on I-77 Thursday night.

Troopers from the North Carolina Highway Patrol tried to pull Brent Dion Woods over on I-77 after he was clocked going 90 mph. Woods refused to pull over and got off I-77 at Clanton Road.

Troopers said Woods eventually lost control of his vehicle on Firewood Lane and hit another car.

He then jumped out of the car and ran into an apartment complex before being tracked down and tased by police.

Woods was charged with DWI, eluding police and wreckless driving.

Another Example of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Action

Store Clerk Shoots, Kills Robber in Hidden Valley

From http://www.wcnc.com, August 29, 2013

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are investigating a deadly shooting in the Hidden Valley neighborhood of northeast Charlotte.

Police said a man tried to rob the Fast Mart convenience store on Tom Hunter Road around 9 p.m. when he was shot by the store clerk.  He then ran from the store and collapsed a block away.

The alleged robber was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

3 Teens Charged with Assaulting Victim, Stealing His Sneakers

From http://www.wcnc.com by Elizabeth Thomas, August 29, 2013

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have arrested three people in connection with an assault and robbery on Wednesday afternoon.

Just before 3 p.m., police say Emmanuel Desmond Collins, 16, Malik Ahmad Edwards, 17, and Shaun Fitzgerald Relford, 16, assaulted the victim and stole the victim’s sneakers.

The suspects fled, and the victim called 911.

Officers from CMPD’s Independence Division quickly learned one of the suspects, Collins, was wearing an electronic monitoring device, and were able to quickly locate him at a nearby residence.

Along with Collins, officers found and took Relford in to custody.

The third suspect, Edwards, was located on foot nearby. The victim positively identified the three suspects, police say.

Detectives interviewed the three suspects and charged each of them with common law robbery and conspiracy to commit common law robbery.

They were transferred in to the custody of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.

Gunman at Large After Deadly South Charlotte Shooting

From http://www.wcnc.com, August 29, 2013

One man was killed in a shooting at a south Charlotte apartment complex Thursday evening.

It happened just before 5 p.m. at the South Oaks apartments in the 7500 block of Kings Ridge Drive, off of Arrowood Road.

Witnesses said several children were in the area at the time and heard the shooting.

The victim has not been identified but neighbors on scene said he is a father of two.

No one has been arrested and police have not yet given a suspect description.