3 Men Charged in Weekend Shootout with CMPD Officers

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

Three men have been charged in connection to a shootout with Charlotte-Mecklenburg police on Sunday morning.

Police charged Ramar Crump, Warren Lewis and Jamel Lewis with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon intent to kill, two counts of assault with a firearm on a government official and possession of firearm by convicted felon.

Credit: CMPD

(L–R) Ramar Crump, Warren Lewis and Jamel Lewis

Police said they received a call that people were sitting in a car at City North Business Center at 1800 N. Tryon Street, loading guns.

When officers arrived and got out of their patrol cars, the three men in the car starting shooting at them, according to a statement from CMPD.

CMPD officers returned fire and the car took off.  No one was injured in the shooting.

Other officers spotted the car on N. Tryon Street and tried to stop it, but ended up chasing it into Cabarrus County. The chased ended with the help of Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Deputies on Hwy. 49 near Buffalo Hills Drive, and the car’s occupants were taken into custody.

CMPD said in the statement that two guns were found in the car.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a Homicide Unit Detective.

CMPD Arrests 3 Men Accused in NoDa Crime Wave

By GLENN COUNTS / NBC Charlotte, September 30, 2013

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say they put an end to a three-man crime wave with the arrest of several suspects.

DeMarcus Singleton, 21, 17-year-old Leevon Haynie, and 20-year-old Creon Perkins, Jr. have been arrested on multiple robbery charges.

Credit: Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office

(L) Leevon Haynie; (C) DeMarcus Singleton; (R) Creon Perkins, Jr.

They are accused of holding up 12 people between August 11 and September 17.

“I was pretty worried; they like pulled the gun like right to my head,” said one victim who didn’t want to be identified.

The three men are also accused of breaking into the home of an 85-year-old woman who lived on Sheridan Drive in east Charlotte.

“I was in my bedroom getting ready to go to bed and I heard this loud noise. When I ran up here, saw what was happening but the people were gone,” said the woman who didn’t want to be identified.

Some of the victims lived in NoDa and were robbed and assaulted as they walked along 36th street.

“When it first started, someone like came behind me, poked around my head and one or two others hit me in the head somewhere,” stated the victim who said he was dazed during the assault.

Police say they noticed a pattern of robberies in the Westover and Eastway Divisions, and then quickly identified suspects.

The victims NBC Charlotte talked to say they are glad the men are off the streets and in jail.

CMPD Investigating Shooting at South Charlotte Coffee Shop

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

Charlotte police are investigating a shooting at a south Charlotte coffee shop.

It happened at A Piece of Havana on South Tryon Street.

Police said three men left the coffee shop and fired multiple shots into the business.

Three employees were working, but no one was hurt.

Business owners said the shooting caused more than $1,000 worth of damage.

Nearly $5,000, 170 Grams of Pot Found at East-Charlotte Home

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

Thousands of dollars in cash and nearly 200 grams of marijuana were seized from a house in east Charlotte.

Police said it happened on Dulin Creek Boulevard.

Police arrested 26-year-old Jason Deutsch.

They said they found almost $5,000 and more than 170 grams of pot.

Deutsch faces several drug charges on Monday night, as well as resisting an officer.

3 Arrested After CMPD Officers Are Fired Upon Along North Tryon St.

From http://www.wsoctv.com, September 29, 2013

Three suspects are in custody as detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department are investigating an officer-involved shooting at the 1800 block of North Tryon Street.

Officers from the Metro Division responded about 4 a.m. after someone called police, saying there was a person inside a parked vehicle loading guns.

According to CMPD, once Officer Anthony Holzhauer and Officer David Sussman arrived, the people inside the vehicle fired shots at them.

The two officers returned fire, but the suspects fled the scene in their vehicle. Police said another CMPD unit saw the vehicle driving on North Tryon Street. That unit tried to conduct a traffic stop, but the vehicle kept driving.

CMPD said a vehicle chase led them into Cabarrus County, where the vehicle was successfully stopped with help from the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office.

The three people in the vehicle were taken to police headquarters, where they are being interviewed by detectives.

The initial investigation shows that nobody was injured in the shooting or the vehicle chase.

The CMPD Crime Scene Search unit is processing the scene and collecting physical evidence.

The Internal Affairs Bureau is conducting a separate investigation to determine whether CMPD procedures were followed during the incident.

Officers Holzhauer and Sussman have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the shooting investigation.

12 DWI Arrests at Charlotte Overnight Checkpoint

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

More than 80 charges were filed at a DWI checkpoint on the south side of Charlotte overnight.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Matthews and Pineville Police Departments participated in the DWI checkpoint in the 6700 block of Idlewild Road from 11 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday.

A total of 12 people were arrested and charged with DWI, according to CMPD.

In total, 82 charges were filed, ranging from no operator’s license, drug charges and open container violations.

CMPD’s BAT Mobile, the breath testing bus, assisted officers in conduction on-site breathalyzers.

Victim Identified in Fatal Southwest Charlotte Shooting

 

From http://www.wcnc.com, September 27, 2013

The victim shot and killed in southwest Charlotte early Friday morning has been identified.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said Terrell Jones was killed during a shooting at South Oaks apartments on Bow Road and Kings Ridge Drive around 4 a.m. Jones was pronounced dead at the scene by Medic.

 

Police do not have a suspect in custody but are looking into a fight that could have led to the shooting.

Detectives are canvassing the neighborhood to determine whether there are any witnesses to this incident. The investigation is in its early stages, police said.

According to Mecklenburg County records, Jones has an extensive history of arrests.

He’s been arrested at least nine times with an array of charges from possession of drugs, assault of a female, to driving without a registration.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a Homicide Unit Detective.

Teen Suspect Facing Breaking and Entering Charges Released to Mom

From http://www.wcnc.com by RAD BERKY / NBC Charlotte, September 27, 2013

An 18-year-old Charlotte man says he was wrongfully arrested this week by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police because of a misidentification.

“This is not me. This jumpsuit, all this is not me,” said Milton Dunlap as he walked out of the Mecklenburg County jail with his family Friday afternoon.

Dunlap was released into the custody of his mother, pending trial, after being in jail since his arrest on Tuesday.

Dunlap was one of five men arrested after highway patrol troopers and CMPD officers chased an SUV that was suspected of having been used in a number of home break-ins Tuesday afternoon.

The SUV was finally stopped in the Colony Acres development in south Charlotte off of Nations Ford Road. The five were arrested as they jumped from the vehicle and started running.

Dunlap and his family said he was home at the time playing video games and posting pictures on the internet and was not involved with the men in the SUV.

Dunlap said he was profiled by police.

“I want an apology from every single one. Every single one from the person who put me on the ground, to the one who had the dog in their hand, to the one who pointed me out,” Dunlap said.

Police said they stand by their original statement that Dunlap had been first identified by a trooper who had been part of the chase.

In a statement the department said, “The trooper observed Dunlap jump from the vehicle and run into a nearby home. A CMPD officer also observed Milton Dunlap run into the home. Dunlap was arrested a short time later.”

Community activist John Barnett organized a letter-writing campaign by people who know Dunlap, urging that he be released to his family until his trial.

“We’re very happy that the due process has taken place,” said Barnett shortly after Dunlap was released Friday.

He must remain at home and wear an ankle monitor until his next appearance in court. He faces several charges including assault on a government official and felony breaking and entering.

Charlotte Police Find More than 100 Violations at DWI Checkpoint

 

From The Charlotte Observer By Lindsay Ruebens, September 28, 2013

A total of 109 charges resulted from a Friday night DWI checkpoint Charlotte Mecklenburg police held in east Charlotte.

Officers arrested seven people for drunken driving, and found five open containers of alcohol.

Police held the checkpoint in the 5200 block of N. Sharon Amity Road near Kimmerly Glen Lane between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m.

Other violations discovered from the checkpoint include:

11 driving with license revoked

33 no operator’s license

4 child seat violations

2 possession of marijuana

47 other traffic charges (tags, inspections, etc.)

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/09/28/4349146/charlotte-police-find-more-than.html#storylink=cpy

N.C. Highway Patrolman Called Hero For Trying to Save Children From Burning Home

From http://www.wsoctv.com by Dave Faherty, September 27, 2013

A North Carolina highway patrolman is being called a hero Friday for risking his life to save two children from a burning home in Burke County.

Trooper Greg Gentieu was treated for smoke inhalation after flames swept through the home, killing an 11-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl.

Eyewitness News was there as firefighters battled those flames and spoke earlier Friday with Gentieu.

Gentieu said when he pulled up to the home on Old Laurel Road, he got out of his car and could hear the mother screaming for her children.

He said he got down on his hands and knees and crawled into the burning home to find them.

“You got to help me. My babies are in there, my babies are in there,” screamed the mother.

Gentieu said he will never forget those words after arriving at the home.

He tried at first to go through a rear window to reach the 11-year-old boy and 6-year-old sister.

Then he and the father went around front in hopes of finding another way.

“This is the flashlight the dad actually took out of my hand when we went in through the front door and I had this one,” said Gentieu.

With only the flashlights the two men began crawling through the home despite heavy smoke rolling out the doors and windows.

“We could see a doorway off to the left. By the time we got four or five crawls in there the doorway was totally engulfed in smoke. I could feel the heat and the orange flames already coming through,” said Gentieu.

Gentieu was treated with oxygen for smoke inhalation after he and the father were forced back by the thick black smoke and heat.

The two were unable to reach the children and as he waited for help to arrive Gentieu said those were some of the toughest moments of his life.

“When you stand there, and know there is nothing you can do about it as bad as you want to, it is a feeling I’m not use to having,” said Gentieu.

Gentieu showed Eyewitness News two stuffed animals his own children gave him to leave at the growing memorial outside the home. Family members of the children want to thank him tonight for his courage.

“I would thank him for risking his life for two children he didn’t even know,” said uncle Charles Suderno.

The fire marshals said an autopsy was done earlier Friday on the two children at Baptist Hospital.

He said it may be next week or even longer before he’s able to release his findings on what started the fire here.