Around 1 p.m., agents seized 19 bindles of heroin from Michael Lawrence Fahey, 25, and charged him with possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver heroin, maintaining a dwelling to keep a controlled substance, possession of less than a half ounce of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Fahey was jailed on $200,000 secured bond and has a January 28 court date.

The arrest was consummated after narcotics agents and Corporal B.C. Griffin received a complaint of drug activity on Melody Lane in Roanoke Rapids, Lieutenant Harold Phillips said.

The front door to the residence was open and a bag of marijuana and grinder was reportedly in plain view on an entertainment center.

Fahey allegedly tried to conceal the heroin by scooping it off the entertainment center, Phillips said this evening.

Chief Chuck Hasty said this afternoon police are not releasing the name of the crash victim or the name of a shooting victim who crashed into the vehicle of the person who died. “It's still ongoing until all the facts are gathered. We're working all leads. We've got detectives working on it now. We have promising leads on identifying the suspect.”

The events leading up to the crash began around 5 p.m. after police received a report of a shooting in the area outside a barbershop in the Forest Hills Shopping Center, police said Saturday evening.

The shooting victim, who was shot once, fled the area and was heading down Tenth Street when the collision occurred.

This morning a team of state Highway Patrol troopers along with Sergeant Richard White of the Roanoke Rapids Police Department were photographing the crash site and were expected to hand the photos over to a Highway Patrol reconstruction team to help investigators determine several different factors in the crash.

Troopers at the scene estimated the shooting victim was traveling at a high rate of speed, at least 80 miles per hour, if not more, when the collision occurred.

Anyone with information on the shooting is encouraged to call Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.

Comprehending what happened Saturday night is something no one at a vigil this evening for Leslie Fishel understands.

Fishel died from injuries sustained in a crash when a man reportedly leaving the area of Forest Hill Shopping Center after he had been shot collided with the vehicle she was in.

Police continue to investigate the matter and have not released the name of the man who was shot around 5 p.m. in the parking lot of the shopping center near a barbershop.

The circumstances of what happened are something those attending the candlelight vigil can't grasp.

Instead those attending lit candles, some wept, some faced the street where the crash occurred at the intersection of East Tenth Street and Becker Drive.

Holly Borges has been friends with Fishel since they were 9.

“She's always been my best friend when I was little,” Borges said. “She was so energetic, never sad. She always made everyone smile.”

Borges said she couldn't comprehend the events that occurred Saturday night. “I can't at all. I don't see why it had to happen.”

Fishel had worked at Sonic and was a hairdresser, friends said.

“I pray. That's the only thing I can do,” said her friend of two years, Iuvina Blount.

Blount said her friend taught her, “To always be grateful for what I have. She never took anything for granted.”

Several spoke of her love for Hello Kitty, which was represented on a poster attached to a utility pole at the intersection. They also talked of her love for stuffed monkeys, another item drawn on the poster.

“We had wood shop together in school,” said Carlos Johnson. “She was a colorful person who didn't hold back anything she wanted to say. She gave you that good vibe.”

Johnson had no answers. “Me personally, I don't know have an answer. I guess she's in a better place now.”

Alyson Barbey called Fishel a sweetheart who always had a big smile. “I've known her since she was little. I went to school with her. She really did light up a room. She was vibrant and lively.”

Barbey said she had no idea how to comprehend the events that led to the crash and Fishel's death. “There's no good from it.”

As he continues to recover from an injury sustained in a fall, the Halifax County Crimestoppers Board chose to honor Jerry Hux as a lifetime member.

Prior to the injury in 2013, “He came to every meeting,” Captain O.L. Morgan said. “He was a very faithful and dedicated member.”

Hux has also been active in the Roanoke Valley Rescue Squad and Citizens on Patrol. “Anything like public service.”

Hux, Roanoke Rapids Deputy Chief Andy Jackson said, “Was a dedicated member of Citizens on Patrol and Crimestoppers, especially this time of year, trying to assist the citizens and anything he could to help the police department.”

Said Chief Chuck Hasty, “He's been a dedicated public servant through Crimestoppers, Citizens on Patrol. He's been a valuable asset to the community.”

Roanoke Rapids police are hoping the vests for their two dogs — Dozer and Pocock — will protect them in similar situations.

The two $950 vests were received through a Groupon Event that raised more $335,000 to outfit police canine's with bullet and stab-proof vests, Vested Interest in K9s the non-profit group that benefitted from the event.

“Dogs in the line of duty are an investment,” said Roanoke Rapids Deputy Chief Andy Jackson. “The average price is $15,000 including the investment in training and the hundreds of hours training.”

The vests, according to Sergeant Daniel Jenkins, who is Pocock's handler, meet National Institute of Justice standards for protecting dogs from stab wounds and bullets. “If you did a study of the number of dogs killed, there are so many of them. Sometimes they have to sacrifice. Sometimes they are put in a position that they give their life for it.”

The vests give the dogs that protection and a fighting chance. “The time when you deploy a dog, you don't get a chance to say goodbye. This gives them added protection,” said Jenkins.

Pocock.

The dogs and their handlers become close, Jenkins said. “When you're by yourself one dog is worth seven officers to me. There are all kinds of studies that show the effect of a dog's presence.”

Jackson said Pocock is a tracking and explosives dog, while Dozer, handled by Officer Gerald Morris, is tracking and drug dog.

Morris likes the idea of Dozer wearing a vest. “We do so much tracking. It's a great investment.”

Like Jenkins and Pocock, Morris and Dozer have formed a close bond. “I wouldn't trade him for the world. He's like one of my children.”

The team will be at the location for as long as the investigation takes, Roanoke Rapids Police Chief Chuck Hasty said

Meanwhile, funeral services for Leslie Alexandra Fishel, 25, will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Calvary Baptist Church.

Visitation will be Friday, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Askew Funeral and Cremation Services.

The complete obituary may be found by following this link.

'

Trooper J.D. Warren of the state Highway Patrol said Tomas Barnes, 25, was in stable condition after being transported from Halifax Regional Medical Center to Vidant in Greenville.

Warren said the crash occurred shortly after midnight on Peanut Market Road.

When Warren arrived the Seaboard and Gaston fire departments, Conway-Severn Rescue and Northampton County EMS were on the scene.

Gaston fire chief Ed Porter Jr. said in a statement the driver was pinned in. First responders extricated the man by removing driver side door, the B post and roof as well as manipulating the drivers seat and steering column.

Warren said the 2010 Honda Accord was traveling south on Peanut Market Road when

it ran off the left side of the roadway, struck a driveway culvert and wrapped around a pine tree in a yard.

Warren said speed and alcohol are contributing factors to the wreck.

Charges are pending further investigation.

It's for her grandchildren, it's for some normalcy. “I just wanted something a little different. Last year I didn't cook anything. It's not fair to them.”

The oldest of her five grandchildren, aged 11 and 12, are beginning to ask questions about her son, Shawn Cornelius Alston, and his disappearance, she said at her apartment today in Roanoke Rapids. “They are asking why someone would take him away. They want closure.”

She moved to Roanoke Rapids from Garysburg. Alston was living with her in Garysburg when her 41-year-old son disappeared.

Thanksgiving and Christmas were the time when Shawn's kindness shown bright, Robinson said. “This time of year he would buy my Christmas dinner,” she said, the ham, the turkey. “Even for Thanksgiving.”

Alston

She has a prayer for him. “I pray his soul is at rest. I pray he's in a better place. I pray we find him and give him a proper burial.”

In the two years since he has been missing, his social security number hasn't been used. She reported him missing on October 19, 2012, a day he was supposed to a take drug test before beginning work that Monday at Perdue Farms in Petersburg, Virginia.

“He went missing that Thursday night,” she said.

Shawn, who had been laid off from a construction job he had for 12 years, had been jobless for five months.

He lived with his mother and sister, Zana, who has cerebral palsy, on Barry Scott Trail off Warner Bridge Road outside Garysburg. The last time she saw her son was 7:30 p.m. on October 18. He left his keys and wallet behind and was going to take a five-minute walk to hang out with friends on Warner Bridge Road.

“It's been two years,” Robinson said. “I haven't given up but I've come to the realization he may not return.”

She believes the friends he was going to visit that evening know something. She doesn't call them his friends anymore. “The ones he was with were just using him. They won't even talk to me. Most of them didn't have jobs. He was using his gas to run them back and forth.”

One he would take to work in Emporia. He would take others so they could buy groceries or so they could pay their bills. Robinson wanted him to stop associating with them.

Another photo from a flyer.

He liked to play cards and drink beer, she said, but he was good with Zana, sometimes to a fault. “When I would try to discipline her, if he saw her struggling, he would put her in the wheelchair. I wanted to keep her active. He just didn't like hearing her cry. It was like he was her savior.”

Shawn, his mother said, was becoming excited over the prospects of his new job. He had offers of help so he could get back on his feet. “His brother was going to give him gas money. He had a friend in Richmond he could stay with.”

He had been watching a movie with friends. The house was one he didn't go to often, Robinson said.

As Shawn was watching a movie and talking, the friend he came over with was on the phone. Shawn planned to leave at 11:30 p.m. to get ready for his drug test.

He had Grave's Disease. That night he had trouble remembering how to exit the house and had to be shown out, as well as told what direction to go to get back home.

Robinson finds it strange the person he arrived with, the person on the phone, didn't leave with him. “I think it was a setup. That's hearsay. The guys won't come in and talk to detectives. They can't make them take a lie detector test.”

She hopes the State Bureau of Investigation will take an interest in the case.

With his thyroid condition, Shawn had to take daily medication. “He couldn't go that long without it. He couldn't stand the cold weather outside.”

Alston stands 5-feet, 7-inches tall and weighs between 190 to 210 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

When he was last seen he was wearing a black shirt and khaki cargo shorts.

A $5,000 reward is being offered for any information on his whereabouts and anyone with information is encouraged to call the Northampton County Sheriff's Office at 252-534-2611.

Officers with the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office, joined by members of NC CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) along with the Gaston Rescue Squad and Conway-Severn Rescue Squad, are searching Doolittle’s Millpond for 45-year-old Donald Eugene Williams.

Northampton County Sheriff Jack Smith said his office was acting on information from a reliable source that led the searchers to the millpond.

“According to the information we have, the man was seen wading into the millpond on Tuesday and wasn’t seen again after that point,” said Smith. “To our knowledge, this man is unable to swim.”

Smith added that the search was initiated on Tuesday after his office was notified by family members that Williams was missing. Williams resides in the Lincoln Park area of Rich Square.

“We were unable to search on Wednesday due to the bad weather (an all-day heavy rainfall) and then Christmas was on Thursday,” he said. “We were back out here first thing today (Friday) where we were joined by NC CERT and our local rescue squads.”

The Sheriff said the search did not produce any results on Friday.

“We’ll be back out here on Saturday,” he said. “This is a fairly large millpond and we’re going over it inch-by-inch.”

Officer Roy Ball stopped Hershell L. Grant, 48, of Roanoke Rapids, on a traffic stop shortly after 1 a.m., Chief Chuck Hasty said.

During the stop, Ball reportedly observed scales and a small amount of powdered cocaine in the vehicle.

He was charged with possession of schedule II and possession of drug paraphernalia and given an $80,000 bond as well as a February 11 court date.

In June, Grant, of Maria Avenue, was arrested by Ball after the officer reportedly noticed suspicious activity in the parking lot of the former Winn-Dixie shopping center off Tenth Street, his report noted at the time.

The investigation into the case noted that 11.20 grams of powdered cocaine was seized, as well as a device for smoking marijuana, currency and cell phones.

Grant was charged then with maintaing a vehicle to keep a controlled substance; possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine and possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school. He also faces charges of sell and deliver schedule II; felony possession of schedule II and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

On Friday shortly after 12:15 a.m., Officer Ryan Cross and Lieutenant Jeff Baggett responded to Washington Street on a disturbance call.

Chief Chuck Hasty said the officers spoke with the victim about the case that involved damaged property inside the residence.

The officers, with additional assistance from Officer Gerald Morris and Sergeant Richard White, charged Torrey Ivey, 28, with damage to property and resist, delay and obstruct. Hasty said Ivey was reportedly uncooperative.

Ivey received a $10,000 bond and January 16 court date.

On Sunday around 2:30 p.m., Sergeant Mike Moseley conducted a traffic stop.

John Wesley Hamilton, 38, of Roanoke Rapids, was charged with driving while license revoked and simple of possession of marijuana. He was jailed on $2,000 bond and given a January 23 court date.

“We're basically looking for two representatives from each township,” he said this morning. “It's definitely a volunteer seat.”

The 20 is representative of two people from the county's eight townships and four at-large members, he said.

“Basically, they are representing their community. It's a way for us to get feedback and give them information they can take back to their community and take advice on what we can do to do a better job. It's also an avenue to take constructive criticism.”

Tripp said his goal is to have the first meeting the last week of January and from there to meet quarterly, with the possibility of having special meetings.

In a statement the sheriff said, “This program isn't just creating another avenue for communication between the sheriff’s office and the community. It will connect each area of the county by identifying problems and working together to provide recommendations for solutions.”

Included in these meetings will be discussions on contemporary crime trend information in each area of the county. “Community representatives will be notified of the variety of programs that are in place, with an emphasis on bringing the information back to their communities,” he said in the statement. “The sheriff will ask for input on a variety of subjects to include improvements of service, resource development, and ideas for development of new strategies to address community and agency needs.”

The Citizen Advisory Board will meet quarterly and board member terms will be one- or two-year staggered terms.

If you are interested in being on the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office Advisory Board, please go to www.halifaxsheriff.com

Click on contact and send an email with your full name, address and telephone number.

If you have any questions call the sheriff at 252-578-6761.

Roanoke Rapids Police Chief Chuck Hasty today said no preliminary details of that study have been released.

The reconstruction team was at the crash site, located at the intersection of East Tenth Street and Becker Drive, last Tuesday, using surveying equipment to plot key coordinates at the scene.

Hasty said there still has to be inspection of the vehicles involved before a determination is made on whether charges will be filed in the death of 25-year-old Leslie Fishel. “We have to find the facts. It's an open investigation. We are trying to determine what happened. We will be consulting the district attorney before any charges are made.”

The preliminary report filed Friday by Sergeant Richard White of the city's police department shows a total of four vehicles were involved in the crash, which occurred shortly after 5 p.m. that Saturday.

White's report notes that Marquis Jarvis Whitmore, 26, of Sugarberry Road, Roanoke Rapids, was driving a 2013 Toyota owned by Hertz Vehicles LLC out of Charlotte while Fishel was driving a 2000 Honda.

Others involved in the crash were Eboni Burgess of Roanoke Rapids who was driving a 2013 Toyota and Howard Shearin of Roanoke Rapids who was driving a 2014 Toyota.

The narrative of White's report says Whitemore was traveling south on Highway 125 — Tenth Street — “at an extremely high rate of speed in the left turn lane.”

Fishel, according to the narrative, had the green light and was proceeding through the intersection east when Whitemore entered the intersection against a red light, striking Fishel's vehicle. Whitemore's vehicle flipped on its side and crashed into Burgess's vehicle that was sitting at the red light in lane 2 heading north.

Shearing, according to the report, was coming to the light north in lane 1 and was struck by Whitemore on the driver's side. Fishel was ejected from her vehicle and died later.

Charges are pending the reconstruction of the crash, the report said.

The purpose of the 10 a.m. meeting is to enter closed session and discuss an economic development project code-named Project Freebird.

Commissioners are expected to take action in open session on the matter.

Details of the negotiations and the amendments remain under the scope of closed meeting laws, County Attorney Glynn Rollins said.

An option to purchase the land the company could possibly locate on expires Wednesday night. That land is located on Highway 301 next to the Klausner Lumber construction site in the Enfield area.

Since August, the Medical Center has documented more than 30 confirmed cases of influenza, an increase of 600 percent from the same period last year.

Flu vaccinations are still available.

HRMC said in a statement that getting vaccinated is still the best measure to increase chances of avoiding the flu and decrease the risk of influenza spreading to others, particularly those at greater risk. In October 2011, Halifax Regional implemented mandatory flu shots for all physicians, staff, board members, and volunteers.

In response to this exceptionally high spike in influenza activity, Halifax Regional is implementing immediate visitation guidelines to decrease the spread of influenza among patients, visitors, and Medical Center staff. Effective immediately, Halifax Regional will implement the following visitation restrictions:

• Children age five and under are not permitted in the Medical Center unless the child has an appointment or needs medical treatment.

• Teens and older children are asked not to visit due to the high rate of influenza among those age groups

• Pregnant women and adults age 65 and older are discouraged from visiting the Medical Center;

• Visitors with any flu-like symptoms — fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea — will not be permitted in the Medical Center.

• Only one adult will be allowed to accompany a patient in the Emergency Care Center.

• Visitors should wash their hands before entering a patient room and upon leaving the room.

Hand sanitizer is available throughout the hospital in convenient dispensers.

Flu prevention stations have been set-up at all entrances and are placed throughout the Medical Center. The stations include personal protective equipment, such as hand sanitizer and face masks, to keep patients, visitors, and staff safe.

Basic precautionary measures should be taken as proper hygiene remains the best defense to prevent common viral respiratory diseases. Personal hygiene and prevention of germ-spreading includes:

• Frequent hand-washing with soap and water.

• Cover mouth when coughing and sneezing.

• Sanitary disposal of discharges from mouth and nose.

The flu is a respiratory virus that poses a serious public health risk.

The flu can lead to hospitalization and in some cases death. While the flu can make anyone sick, certain people are at great risk of flu-associated complications.

Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headaches, chills, and fatigue.

A person may also have vomiting and diarrhea.

Bowser

Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp said this evening while not all of the men reportedly had weapons the four were alleged active participants in the slaying in which the motive appears to be robbery.

Tripp said the victim, 29-year-old Derrick Anthony Arp, was shot more than once, although he declined to say what type of weapon was used. Arp was found outside on Marlbrook Drive near the P&J Mobile Home Park area off Highway 48 outside Roanoke Rapids.

“Through being persistent and diligent the investigators in this case led it to being presented to the district attorney's office,” Tripp said. “There are further charges to come on all four individuals.”

Tripp said the four men are acquainted.

“Our sympathies and prayers go out to the victim's family and we hope this gives them some type of closure,” the sheriff said.

Arrested and charged with murder in the case are 31-year-old Christopher Barry Harvey, of Roanoke Rapids; 19-year-old Gaston resident Kentrel Orlando Davis and 19-year-old Roanoke Rapids resident Semaj Marquan Prince.

Harvey was arrested Monday while the other two were taken into custody today. They were all jailed without the opportunity for bond and have February 25 court dates scheduled.

Still on the lam is 38-year-old Clintonio Lamont Bowser, of Roanoke Rapids, who frequents the north end sections of Weldon and Roanoke Rapids.

Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is encouraged to call the sheriff’s office at 252-583-8201or Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.

Despite several days of probing the waters of Doolittle’s Millpond near Milwaukee as well as the adjacent wooded area, the 45-year-old man remains missing.

Northampton County Sheriff Jack Smith said the next step in the search would be to send divers into the millpond.

“We’ve got that lined up for Wednesday or Thursday of this week,” Smith said Monday afternoon. “We’re hoping the weather will break by then.”

On Saturday, personnel with the Gaston Rescue Squad and Conway-Severn Rescue Squad — using long poles as they stood inside their respective boats — inched their way along the road bank of the millpond. That search produced no clues.

One day later, Northampton Sheriff’s deputies were joined by PERT (Prison Emergency Response Team) to conduct a ground search of the wooded area surrounding the millpond. That effort also failed to produce any results.

“We’re doing everything we can think of to locate Mr. Williams,” Smith stated.

Smith said the search was initiated on Tuesday of last week after his office was notified by family members that Williams was missing. Williams resides in the Lincoln Park area of Rich Square, but a family member told the News-Herald on Saturday that he also lives part-time in Conway.

“We were unable to search on Wednesday (of last week) due to the bad weather (an all-day heavy rainfall) and then Christmas was on Thursday,” Smith said. “We were back out here first thing on Friday where we were joined by NC CERT and our local rescue squads.”

The CERT boat was able to use sonar in an effort to locate Williams in the water, but with no results.

Smith said his office was acting on information from a reliable source that led the searchers to the millpond.

“According to the information we have, the man was seen wading into the millpond and wasn’t seen again after that point,” said Smith. “To our knowledge, this man is unable to swim.”

The News-Herald has learned that Williams has a pending case in Hertford County Superior Court on Jan. 12. There he was scheduled to answer charges for felonious possession of stolen property.

In an unrelated case, Captain M.D. Deloatch Sr. reported on Tuesday the sheriff's office responded to a residence on Severn Road about two juveniles missing from the home.

Lieutenant D. Twine and Deputy C. Hamm spoke with the mother, who told the officers the juveniles had been missing for a couple of hours.

While deputies continued to investigate, the juveniles were located approximately two- to three-miles from the home.

“The Northampton County Sheriff’s Office takes all missing persons seriously and we utilized all resources that are readily available to us,” Smith said in a statement.

On December 16 the sheriff’s office received an anonymous call about a suspicious vehicle in the area of Ashely Grove Road and Purdue Hatchery Road.

Captain M.D. Deloatch Sr. said the vehicle was seen in the same area on December 15 and was possibly related to break-ins occurring in the area.

Detective Patrick Jacobs located the vehicle on Horne Road and initiated a traffic stop.

One occupant fled from the vehicle but was apprehended by Deloatch after a short foot chase.

All occupants were detained and a search warrant was issued for the vehicle.

After searching the vehicle several items reportedly from different break-ins were discovered in the trunk of the vehicle.

Jacobs charged brothers Rumeal Daye, 23, and Marques Daye, 26, both of Conway. Also arrested was Larry Donnell Reid Jr., 21, and Raheem Basnight, 18, both of Murfreesboro.

Both of the Daye suspects along with Reid were given were given $154,000 secured bonds.

Basnight was given a $225,000 secured bond. Basnight was also charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon, second-degree burglary and felony larceny after breaking and entering out of Hertford County.

The Northampton County charges are two counts breaking and entering, two counts of felony larceny and two counts of possession of stolen property.

Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp called Kerry Kaprice Pittman of Tucker Street an alleged substantial player in the local drug trade with four previous convictions — one in Nash County and three in Halifax County.

Pittman was jailed on $100,000 bond after sheriff's office narcotics agents,with assistance from the Hazardous Entry and Arrest Team and Lieutenant H.G. Phillips and his dog Josh, reportedly seized 3 grams of marijuana, 54 grams of crack cocaine packaged in 27 bags for sale and 3 ½ dosage units of ecstasy.

The agents, who executed a search warrant shortly before 9:45 this morning, also seized a handgun and several items of paraphernalia that included a digital scale, multi-colored plastic bags, razors and Cigarillos.

Tripp said the arrest was sparked by an eight-month investigation that began with citizen complaints and officer information Agent D.R. Radford received about alleged drug sales coming from the residence.

Pittman faces charges of trafficking in cocaine; felony possession of cocaine; possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine; possession with intent to sell and deliver MDMA; possess marijuana up to a half ounce; possession of marijuana paraphernalia; possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a firearm by a felon.

The North Carolina Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction indicates that Pittman has four felony drug convictions — one in Nash county for possession of schedule I and three in Halifax County for possession of schedule II.

Tripp said in a statement the sheriff's office will continue to follow up on citizen drug complaints. Citizens are encouraged to call the narcotics division at 252 583-2282 or Crimestoppers at 252 583-4444 to report any drug activity in their community.