Photo: A crumpled mess is all that is left of this car that collided with a Directv van on Wednesday.

Report and photo courtesy of news partner WSOC-TV

LINCOLNTON - One person is dead after a crash on North Aspen Street in Lincolnton on Wednesday morning, according to Lincolnton police.

A witness said a car and a DirecTV van hit head-on just before 9 a.m. The driver of the car veered into the van’s path, witnesses said.

Officers said they think a medical problem may have caused the crash.

STAFF REPORTS

GASTONIA - Gaston County Police charged a Gastonia man with Second Degree Rape, Kidnapping, and First Degree Burglary for an incident that occurred on August 21, 2010. Daniel Salas Zamora age 35, 1676 German Drive Apt. E Gastonia was arrested today and is currently in Gaston County Jail under a 1 million dollar bond.

This incident occurred in the early morning hours of August 21, 2010 when the suspect Mr. Zamora forced his way inside the residence of the victim and sexually assaulted her.

Photo: These two vehicles were involved in an accident on Sunday on Highway 150 East. Photo by Lisa Cooper.

By Lisa Cooper | Citizen Reporter

DENVER - Firefighters from Denver Fire Department and Lincoln EMS crews were dispatched to a two-car accident near 6896 Highway 150 East near Mathis Lane and Henry Dellinger Road on Sunday around 6:30 p.m.

One vehicle was overturned and another had heavy damage.

A number of people passing by the accident scene stopped to assist those involved until emergency crews could arrive.

The condition of those involved was not readily known and apparently some small children were involved in the accident but from what could be observed, seemed to have escaped serious injury as they sat outside one of the cars in the grass.

STAFF REPORTS

LINCOLNTON - On Thursday, a woman told authorities that she left her home on Asbury Church Road around 6:30 a.m. and as she turned onto toward Old Mill Road, a white male who had been hiding in the back seat of the car, put something around her neck and forced her to drive toward Highway 150 East.

The woman drove to 150 East to Lee Lawing Road to King Wilkinson Road.

At that point, the suspect got $200.00 from her purse and exited the vehicle on King Wilkinson Road.

By Melany Dawn Crouse

LINCOLNTON – A dump truck lost the track hoe and trailer it was pulling on Thursday afternoon at the Highway 150 Bypass at South Aspen Street in Lincolnton.

Luckily, no one was injured in the accident when the dump truck was turning of Aspen Street onto the 150 Bypass.

Lincolnton Fire and Police both responded to the accident.

Workers with the North Carolina Department of Transportation were dispatched to the scene and a call went out for a crane to be brought in from Charlotte to help steady the equipment and get it right-side up so that it could be removed.

Photo by Melany Dawn Crouse for the Tribune and ImageOneNC.

Sheriff: Mother of SC toddlers confessed to suffocating children, driving car into river

A South Carolina mother who claimed her children drowned when their car careened into a river was charged with murder Tuesday after authorities said she confessed to suffocating the two toddlers and then faking the accident.

Sheriff Larry Williams said 29-year-old Shaquan Duley told investigators she was distraught about money troubles and unemployment and that she killed her children by putting her hand over their mouths after a dispute with her own mother. He says Duley then strapped the children into her car and drove it into a river Monday morning.

STAFF REPORTS

GASTONIA - The Gaston County Police Department announces the retirement of four veteran employees. Three of these employees, Sgt. C.W. McCants, Officer Joe Bill Lineberger, and Officer Clyde E. Putnam retired July 1st. Animal Control Sgt. Lingafelt retired August 1st. Together these employees had a combined total of well over 100 year’s service to the citizens of Gaston County.

Sgt. Charles McCantsSgt. Charles McCants joined the Gaston County Police Department on October 14, 1981. During his career he served as a patrol officer, field training officer, vice agent, and was the first school resource officer at Forestview High School. McCants was promoted to sergeant in 1999 and was assigned to supervise a patrol shift. In 2004 Sgt. McCants was assigned to supervise the Educational Service Unit. In that role he supervised school resource officers in all 9 high schools and the alternative school. Sgt. McCants also supervised the Marine Enforcement Unit and the County Police Bomb Squad.

ATLANTA, GA—The FBI Atlanta Metro Major Offender Task Force and the Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office arrested a fugitive wanted in Charlotte, North Carolina for kidnapping and aggravated assault.

Members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, State Bureau of Investigation and the Charlotte FBI Safe Streets Task Force used time-sensitive information to track Juan Pablo Fraga (dob: 04/14/1979) from Charlotte to New York, back south to Atlanta. They found him in a very specific area of North Atlanta on August 12, 2010. Agents and deputies with the FBI AMMO immediately responded and arrested Fraga without incident at apartment complex at North Peachtree Road and Dunwoody Crossing.

Firefighters rescued two North Carolina men from an industrial clothes dryer after they were overcome by heat.

Authorities say one man got into the dryer to free an item that was jammed and he was overcome by the heat. A second man went in to rescue him and he also was overcome.

A third employee called for help.

STAFF REPORTS

LINCOLNTON - The South Fork Volunteer Fire Department is proud to announce that it has been awarded a grant from the North Carolina Department of Insurance Office of State Fire Marshal in the amount of $8,400 for the purchase safety equipment.

Funding from this grant will allow the purchase of specialized equipment for the rescue of downed firefighters and a thermal imaging camera, which allows firefighters to locate hidden fires not easily seen. In addition the fire department will be receiving an automatic defibrillator, for use during cardiac arrest incidents.

With the added equipment provided through this grant, South Fork firefighters can insure a quick and safe response to emergency incidents, upholding its mission to provide the best protection possible for the community it serves.

By Melany Dawn Crouse

LINCOLNTON / BOGER CITY - There are wrecks that you look at and know exactly what happened and then are there others that leave those passing by unsure of what exactly happened.

The second option best describes this wreck in Boger City on Tuesday afternoon where the driver of this vehicle was seen lying on the ground after clipping a power pole on Highway 27 just east of Lincolnton.

Photo by Melany Dawn Crouse for the Tribune and ImageOneNC.

Law enforcement and local governments are scrambling to shut down a shadow industry that has grown up around the booming cash-for-gold business nationwide: thieves are snatching jewelry, then converting it into a quick payday at the shops.

Thousands of shops have opened to take advantage of high gold prices and hard economic times, and police in some cities have noticed an uptick in burglaries and thefts.

"Law enforcement is just swamped," said Maureen Walter of the State Police in Maryland. "Business is booming. I guess that's a good indication of how bad the economy is; for the most part these dealers are very, very busy."

Fire Reports | East Lincoln Fire Department

DENVER, NC - Last Monday, East Lincoln Fire Department's Engine 30 responded to a two vehicle motor vehicle accident, reportedly with heavy damage.

Engine 30 was advised enroute that there was a confirmed entrapment.

Engine 30 arrived on scene and assumed fire command. The crew of Engine 30 began patient care, and extrication. The patient was free from the vehicle within 10 minutes.

Photo courtesy of East Lincoln Fire Department.

By Jim Kouri

This week's indictments of 14 terrorism suspects have opened the eyes of many government officials to the danger brewing in Somalia: that this beleaguered African nation may turn out to be the new Afghanistan.

The four separate indictments were announced on Thursday in the District of Minnesota, the Southern District of Alabama and the Southern District of California charging 14 individuals with terrorism violations for providing money, personnel and services to the Somalia-based terrorist organization al-Shabaab, a group allied with al-Qaeda.

STAFF REPORTS

GASTON COUNTY -Gaston County Police are conducting a death investigation at 512 Paradise Circle Belmont, NC.

Police were notified by a neighbor of an individual unresponsive at approximately 2:47pm.

Upon arrival first responders determined the individual was deceased. During a search of the residence a second body was located in another area of the residence.

A preliminary investigation has identified the bodies belonging to a white female and white male.

STAFF REPORTS

IRON STATION - On 07-26-2010 an apartment in the 3800 block of highway 73 in Iron Station was broken into.

A RCA 36” flat screen TV and approximately $2,000.00 in jewelry were taken.

Anyone with any information on this crime is asked to please call the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office or Crimestoppers at (704) 736-8909.
Please call 911 for any suspicious persons or activity in your neighborhood.

State Workers Who Identified Illegal Aliens Face Criminal Charges

by Jim Kouri

"We live in a topsy-turvey nation and this story should anger all Americans. Suddenly our nation is prosecuting patriots while protecting lawbreakers," said a former NYPD police officer and private security firm owner.

The Utah state employees, suspected of blowing the whistle on more than a thousand illegal immigrants living in the state, have been placed on administrative leave and will likely be criminally charged, according attorneys from a non-partisan, public-interest group.

Last week a list of 1,300 suspected illegal aliens was circulated anonymously to various state and federal agencies as well as media outlets, according to a statement from the Washington, DC-based Judicial Watch.

LINCOLNTON - In December of 2008, a relative of Frank Romance, that Frank Romance had been looking at material on the Internet that seemed to be inappropriate. The relative turned the computer over the Lincolnton Police Department.

At that time, the computer was taken to the State Crime Lab in Raleigh to be processed.

Due to the workload of the SBI, there was 18 months between the time the evidence was submitted and returned.

The recovered evidence was presented to the DA’s office to determine the appropriate charges. The videos recovered from the computer showed 6 thru 12 year old girls engaging in lewd sexual acts. Some of the videos showed the girls engaging in sex with middle aged males.

By Jason Saine

STAFF REPORTS - Lincolnton Police and Firefighters responded to this accident today shortly after 11:00 a.m. in Lincolnton at the intersection of Country Club Road and Generals Boulevard.

Initial reports were that a person was trapped in one of two vehicles involved in the accident.

Lincoln Rescue Squad members and Lincoln EMS also responded to accident.

Photo by Jason Saine.

NC Highway Patrol Called to Investigate

STAFF REPORTS

LINCOLNTON - On Wednesday, July 21, 2010, around 10:20 p.m. at night, an Officer with the Lincolnton Police Department was traveling south bound on the Highway 150 bypass when the passenger side mirror of his patrol vehicle struck a pedestrian walking in the roadway according to a release from the City of Lincolnton Police Department.

The pedestrian was identified as Conway Storm Cook, who is eighteen years of age and from Lincolnton, was transported to CMC Lincoln where he was treated and released for minor injuries to his forearm.

By Jason Saine

LINCOLNTON – Lincoln County Sheriff’s Detectives are, for the third time this year, attempting to solve a murder case in what is usually for the most part, a quite county north of Charlotte.

On Wednesday morning just before 8 am, firefighters were called to a trailer home located at 1160 Oak Brook Lane in Denver with a report that someone may be trapped inside of the burning home.

As firefighters made their attack on the fire and initiated a search for possible rescue, they found the body of a man just inside the doorway to the home.

Neighbors told the Tribune that some blood was visible on the steps leading into the home as well leaving speculation that the man may have been dragged into the home and then the fire was set.

Photo courtesy of The Carolina Scoop.

CORNELIUS - The bodies of the two young boys who drowned on Sunday in Lake Norman were recovered this morning according to authorities.

Police identified the boys as 17-year-old Derrick Porter of Virginia and 11-year-old Eric Belin of South Carolina on Monday.

The boys are not from the area according to Police and were on the lake on Sunday with family members when conditions on the water became very choppy while the two were swimming.

Belmont, NC - On Sunday, July 11th, 2010, the Gaston County Police Department responded to a suspicious subject with a weapon call in the 4100 block of Brown Drive near Belmont, NC. Upon arrival Officers located Terry Alan Black and Gregory Scott Jenkins in the wooded area near Brown Drive.

An altercation had started between the two which resulted in Terry Black receiving a gunshot wound to the hand.

Terry was taken to Gaston Memorial Hospital where he was admitted with non-life threatening injuries.

On the Road | By Ron Butler

LINCOLNTON - A Lincolnton couple prevented a small brush fire from becoming a big problem on Thursday this week and probably saved the City of Lincolnton a few dollars by not having the fire department dispatched because of their quick thinking.

“We were driving between Sagebrush and the barbershop and noticed a little smoke and a black patch of grass,” said Chris Gibson of Lincolnton.

“I stopped in the roadway and backed into the barber shop’s (Tinsley’s) parking lot to get a better look,” he continued.

“Someone had thrown out a cigarette butt into the dried grass and it was starting to burn,” he said.

He and his wife, Piper, quickly grabbed some bottle water from their van and poured onto the area of burning grass and prevented the brush fire from getting any larger and extinguished it completely.

Photo: A small area of burned grass was all that was left of what could have been a much larger fire thanks to a Lincolnton couple. Photo by Ron Butler.

Bahamas police captured a teenage U.S. fugitive on Sunday, bringing to an end the "Barefoot Bandit's" two-year flight from U.S. justice, a senior police official said.

Colton Harris-Moore was arrested before dawn on northern Eleuthera island, the police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case. He said the suspect would soon be flown to Nassau, the capital, where the Royal Bahamas Police Force would be holding a news conference.