FIRE CHIEF RESIGNS

N. Carolina fire chief resigns after drunken driving arrest

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina fire chief is resigning after authorities confirmed his arrest on drunken driving charges. WITN-TV reports that Greenville Fire/Rescue Chief Eric Griffin announced Sunday that he’s resigning. The announcement comes after the Nash County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Griffin was arrested early Sunday and charged with speeding and driving while impaired. Chief Deputy Brandon Medina says Griffin was traveling 94 mph in a 70 mph zone and a sobriety test found a blood alcohol content of .20. Griffin had been with the department since 1993 and served as chief since 2014. Last month, he announced that he would retire in December.Deputy Chief Brock Davenport has been named acting chief.

FIREFIGHTER DEATH

North Carolina firefighter dies after battle with COVID-19

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina firefighter has died after battling COVID-19 for more than a month. The Durham Fire Department announced the death of 45-year-old Jeremy Klemm in a Facebook post Sunday morning. The 15-year employee died late Saturday.  Klemm began his career with the Durham Fire Department on Feb. 27, 2006, after graduating from Fire Academy 19. He became fire driver on Jan. 2, 2020, and was last assigned to the Engine 8 A-Shift.

CAMPUS SHOOTING

Two men fatally shot at North Carolina Central University

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Two men were shot and killed on the North Carolina Central University campus while a college football game was being played nearby. Durham police said the shooting happened Saturday night in the surface parking lot next to the Latham Parking Deck. More than 5,600 people who were attending the football game were placed on lockdown in the nearby O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium. Area roads were closed as police looked for the shooter or shooters. WRAL-TV reports that police are searching for a black Nissan Altima with tinted windows and are still working to determine what led up to the shooting. The NCCU department of Police and Public Safety said in a statement that neither of the victims were students at the university. 

BOY SHOT

Third suspect arrested in fatal shooting of 3-year-old boy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A third suspect has been arrested in the shooting death of a 3-year-old North Carolina boy in his home. The Charlotte Observer reports that 21-year-old Kaleb Lawrence turned himself in Saturday at the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office in the killing of 3-year-old Asiah Figueroa. He has been charged with murder, eight counts of attempted murder, nine counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling and conspiracy to commit murder. The boy was asleep when 150 rounds were shot into his family’s Charlotte home on Sept. 7. He was shot in the head and later died.

MEDICAID FRAUD-MAN CHARGED

Man accused of trying to defraud North Carolina Medicaid

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A Georgia man is accused of conspiring to defraud North Carolina’s Medicaid program of more than $4 million. Acting U.S. Attorney William T. Stetzer said in a news release that 35-year-old Glenn Pair and his co-conspirators paid people to recruit at-risk youths who were Medicaid eligible for after-school and youth mentoring programs run by companies he operated. Prosecutors say Pair and the others allegedly conspired with some laboratories to perform drug testing on the children and received kickbacks once the labs were reimbursed by the North Carolina Medicaid program. 

CHILD SEX CHARGES

North Carolina man arrested on multiple sex charges

LUMBERTON, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina sheriff’s office says a man has been arrested on sex charges and failing to notify officials of a change in his online identity as a sex offender. The Robeson County Sheriff’s office says 22-year-old Charles E. Richards of Parkton was arrested on Friday. He is formally charged with four counts of indecent liberties with a child who was under the age of 16. Richards is being held in the Robeson County jail under a $1 million secured bond for the sex offense charges. Richards was not given a bond for a probation violation.

VOTER ID-NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina judges strike down state’s voter ID law

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina judges have struck down the state’s latest photo voter identification law. Two of the three trial judges hearing a lawsuit declared on Friday that the December 2018 law is unconstitutional. The judges barred its enforcement, agreeing with minority voters that Republicans rammed through rules tainted by racial bias as a way to remain in power. The majority’s decision is now headed to a state appeals court. With two other pending lawsuits, it’s looking more unlikely that the current voter ID law will be enforced during the 2022 elections. A previous ID law was struck down five years ago.

FATAL VISION-RELEASE REQUEST

Ex-officer behind infamous 1970 slayings ends release appeal

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A former Army doctor convicted for the 1970 slayings of his wife and two young daughters at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg has ended his appeal of a court ruling denying his requested release. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted Jeffrey MacDonald’s appeal dismissal on Thursday. MacDonald is serving a life sentence in a Maryland prison. His lawyers had asked Boyle to release him because of deteriorating health, but a judge said he lacked authority to do that. His lawyers said Friday that MacDonald had decided the ruling was “correct as a technical legal matter.” MacDonald says he’s innocent in the “Fatal Vision” case, named for a book about the investigation.

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