SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
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Spartanburg, South Carolina

December 19, 1996

Blacksburg Police Capture Escapee from Georgia Prison

BLACKSBURG - An inmate who failed to return to a Georgia prison after a weekend pass last April has been captured here after an anonymous tip. Ray Douglas Aldridge Jr. was found early Wednesday by Blacksburg police, who got a call from someone who said the inmate was staying at his cousin's apartment.
Aldridge, 22, was being held in the Cherokee County jail. He will be extradited to Georgia within a few days, Chief Bill Mauldin said.
Aldridge was serving time for burglary in Rome, Ga., and is wanted by Gordon County, Ga., authorities for escape and probation violation, Mauldin said. He also is wanted in North Carolina on burglary, assault and failure to appear charges, Mauldin said.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
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Spartanburg, South Carolina

November 21, 1996

Funeral Escorts: All or Nothing

By Janet S. Spencer

Representatives of two area funeral homes say they want law enforcement to lead funeral processions for all families or drop them altogether.
Tom Hatcher, manager of Shuford-Hatcher Funeral Home, said escorts are needed for all processions for safety reasons and to prevent the appearance of discrimination. He and Danny Gibson, location manager of Gordon's Mortuary in Blacksburg, said too often grieving families don't understand the escort policy and think police deny them assistance if the family is not well known.
Police concede they cannot provide an escort to every family who requests one, and they say the escorts are a courtesy that overextends their manpower. Sheriff Bill Blanton said his office does not have a formal policy about funeral escorts but generally provides them if given a 24-hour notice and if they have officers available. Most larger cities have discontinued the practice. "No police department can do it every day," Blanton said. "On-duty officers may have to be pulled off escorts for emergencies."
Hatcher and Gibson believe the county needs a policy that applies to all families. "I feel it is time for our government leaders to make a stand. Either provide a police escort on a daily basis or ban escorts all together before someone you know is injured or killed," Hatcher wrote in letters to the county's police and governmental agencies. "It's a tradition that goes way back," Gibson said. "We need to be sure police agencies are getting our requests to help with all funerals and not just a select few." Hatcher said almost everyone wants police escorts for funerals in Cherokee County. He also said that in the past several months he has witnessed several 'near accidents.'
Police say most reserve officers work day jobs and are not available to assist with funeral processions. Blanton said his officers will continue to provide an escort when available and should be able to handle the majority of the funeral homes' requests.
Gaffney Police Chief John O'Donald said his department has provided Shuford-Hatcher Funeral Home with 151 escorts so far this year. Gilmore's Mortuary was given 18 funeral escorts and Foster's Funeral Home has had 42. O'Donald said his office does not assist with Gordon's Mortuary in Blacksburg because the Sheriff's Office usually leads the procession from Blacksburg.
Rufus Foster, owner of Foster's Funeral Home and a Cherokee County councilman, said he favors escorts, even if an additional officer must be hired. "We still don't get enough escorts," he said. "A funeral is when a family needs help the most. They don't need to be worried about traffic accidents." Foster said in counties where no escort is provided, the minister asks those attending the service to meet at the cemetery, as much as an hour later. "Some people still don't get there. Especially people not familiar with the community. A stranger can lose his way. It leaves a bad taste in people's mouth," he said.
Blacksburg Police Chief Bill Mauldin said it is important that funeral homes and the community know that efforts are being made to resolve the problem. "Our number one concern is the safety and welfare of the community," he said.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
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Spartanburg, South Carolina

October 30, 1996

Hit-and-run Victim Found in Blacksburg

Blacksburg Police were investigating a hit-and-run accident Tuesday night.
An unidentified man was found just before 8 p.m., lying in a ditch near Highway 198 and Seven Springs Road, said John Gelok, an Upstate Carolina Medical Center EMS shift supervisor.
Authorities didn't know how long the victim had been lying in the ditch before someone discovered him. Medics took him to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, where he was being evaluated Tuesday night.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
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Spartanburg, South Carolina

September 21, 1996

Blacksburg Toughens Cleanup Standards

BLACKSBURG - The Town of Blacksburg wants to clean up its vacant lots, limbs, brush and abandoned cars. The council has amended its health and sanitation ordinance, which governs the cleanup process, by adding a review board to hear appeals from citizens. Town Administrator Trudy Martin said the board will be composed of the town clerk, the public works foreman and a member of the Beautification Committee.
Citizens can file complaints or appeals with the board after the city notifies them by letter to clean up their property, Martin said. The board will decide whether citizens have had enough time to complete the work, or whether extenuating circumstances warrant an extension of the deadline. If the cleanup is still not done, the police will issue a ticket, and the town's judge will decide whether the citizen is guilty of violating the town ordinance. "It's a way to give the citizens every benefit we can," Martin said.
Previously, the judge would rule on tickets without the appeal process. Blacksburg police officers will recommend to Martin areas that need to be cleared, and letters will be issued. Council gave final approval to the ordinance last week. Town personnel can clean up the property of anyone who fails to comply with the ordinance after being notified. The property owner will be billed for the labor, and a 50 percent administrative surcharge will be added.
In another cleanup effort, Martin said Thursday that residents need to separate limbs from other items at the curbside to be picked up for disposal. A few months ago, the town purchased a wood chipper for grinding limbs. One truck will pick up limbs, and a second one will haul used appliances and household items discarded by residents. The town expects to have mulch available to its citizens from the chipper machine.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
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Spartanburg, South Carolina

September 14, 1996

Blacksburg Eyeing New Police Station

BLACKSBURG - The Blacksburg Town Council is buying property next door to the Volunteer Fire Department, preparing to build a new police station. Police Chief Bill Mauldin said the proposed facility, on East Cherokee Street, will give his department much needed space.
The police department is presently located in an annex to the former town hall, which was built about 1896 and has been vacant for almost 15 years. "We will have a number of offices for police use and will be able to expand our evidence storage facilities," Mauldin said.
The new police station will be about 3,000 square feet. The building will include a booking room, reception area, expanded storage space for records, and a garage. Mauldin said his eight-member department is desperate to finally get a new home.
The former jail, located in the old town hall, was closed in the early '80s, said Town Administrator Trudy Martin. Blacksburg entered an agreement with Cherokee County to house its prisoners at the county jail, and the police department stayed in the building for about 10 more years. The police department moved two more times before locating in the annex. "But it's too small for them," Martin said. "They have four rooms. It's pretty crowded."
The council voted recently to proceed with buying the lot, which is 171 feet by 74 feet, for $20,000. Martin said the council will probably purchase the land over a five-year period and is considering its options to finance the new facility's construction.
The two-story police department will have the same metal and brick facade as the adjacent fire station. "By matching the fire department's exterior, the two buildings will look like a complex," Mauldin said.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
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Spartanburg, South Carolina

August 27, 1996

Juvenile Accused of Murder Undergoing Evaluation on Unrelated Gun Charge.
Cherokee Teen Charged with Murder Pleads Guilty to Pistol Possession

GAFFNEY - A 15-year-old accused of murder pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of possessing a pistol in a Family Court hearing Monday in Spartanburg. His lawyer said the Cherokee County teen-ager is very sad and remorseful about what happened.
A hearing on the gun charge originally was scheduled for Wednesday but was moved up to Monday, the date of his detention hearing on the murder charge, said his lawyer, Usha Bridges of Gaffney.
The judge ordered the youth to undergo mental evaluation for 30 to 45 days before a ruling on the gun charge is made, Bridges said. Blacksburg police lodged the gun charge in July, when the youth was caught with a weapon. Bridges said the gun used in the fatal shooting was purchased the day of the incident.
"He bought the gun off someone for a cheap price the day of the shooting. He never intended for anybody to be hurt or killed," Bridges said.
The murder charge will not be addressed until another detention hearing is held to determine whether the youth will be released to his parents and whether he will be tried as an adult.
The petition accusing him of murder was filed by the Sheriff's Office after they investigated an argument and the death of a 50-year-old man Aug. 20 in the road in front of a Blacksburg residence.
Chief Deputy Joel Hill of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said the suspect and a 14-year-old were walking on Freeman Road just before 9 p.m., talking loudly. Orville Douglas Rickman, who lived on Freeman Road, heard the boys and went outside.
Rickman was shot in the neck after he went into the road and an argument took place, Hill said.
The 14-year-old was not charged.
The mother of the 15-year-old said that her son stays in Blacksburg with his grandmother while school is in session.
The shooting happened on the first day of school, and the youth is a student at Blacksburg High, she said.
Bridges said her client is grieving. "Unfortunately, the tragedy did occur. It's hard on everyone - the victim's family and the young man," she said.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
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Spartanburg, South Carolina

June 14, 1996

Blacksburg Officer Injured During Fight

BLACKSBURG - Police arrested two people, including a teen-ager, Thursday after an officer was injured during a fight and required surgery.
Ralph Jennings III, 17, of 138 Seven Springs St., Blacksburg is accused of resisting arrest and violating the town ordinance of obstructing streets and sidewalks.
Acting Blacksburg Police Chief Dana Allen said Officer Andy Walker was released from the hospital Wednesday night, after undergoing surgery twice for an injury to his kidney. Walker, who had been slammed into the mirror of his patrol car, got into the fight after he had approached about seven people loitering on Highway 198 Monday night and asked them to leave. Two, however, fought with Walker, according to Allen.
Walker told Allen he sprayed Jennings with Capstun, and Jennings ran. Walker kept the other man, Yul Lamar Black of Black Road, Blacksburg, in custody. Black also is accused of violating the town ordinance of obstructing streets and sidewalks. After Walker arrested Black and rode the neighborhood looking for Jennings, he began having pain in his kidney area, Allen said.
While Walker was also a patient in the emergency room, Jennings showed up at the hospital, asking for treatment from the spray to his face. But the Blacksburg police were not alerted about Jennings until the teen had been released. Jennings turned himself in to authorities Thursday. Both Jennings and Black were released from jail on bond.