SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line March 31, 1998

After Chase, Five Arrested in Blacksburg Robbery

By Julie Woodcock

When an elderly man was robbed at gunpoint in Blacksburg Saturday, more than 10 law enforcement officers joined the chase, according to Blacksburg Police Chief David Gibson.
Gibson said Zeb Maynor, 72, was selling produce at his home on Cherokee Street Saturday afternoon when a brown Honda pulled up and two men got out. Three men remained in the car. According to Gibson, the two men approached Maynor with a gun and demanded money, but he refused to give them any. They knocked him over, then took his wallet, which contained $267. The men got back in the car and drove off, and Maynor called 911.
After the robbery, Gibson said the five men drove into Blacksburg. A Blacksburg businessman who had been listening to his scanner recognized the Honda as it drove by and called police. Two Blacksburg police cars intercepted the car, but the driver turned around and fled. The Blacksburg police followed and were joined by four Cherokee County deputies.
Gibson said the pursuit continued into Cleveland County, N.C., where six more police cars gave chase. Finally the Honda pulled over in a residential area and the five suspects scattered, Gibson said. "But there were so many police officers there they caught all the suspects within a few minutes," Gibson said.
Police recovered the money and three handguns, he said. He also has high praise for the businessman who alerted the police, though he said the man asked not to be identified. Gibson said the five men are being held in Cleveland County but will be brought back to face charges.
The five include a 15-year-old juvenile, who will be charged in family court with armed robbery and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. His name is being withheld because of his age. Also facing charges of armed robbery and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature are: Frankie Lamar Moore, 28 of Pryor Street, Shelby; Rodney Van Maddox, 18, Bankhead Road, Shelby; Reggie Allison, 17, Wildwood Drive, Shelby; Jay Lewis Glover, 19, Oates Drive, Shelby. Glover, who was driving, also will be charged with failure to stop for police. Gibson said the charges will be filed and bail will be set once the men have been brought back to Cherokee County.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line March 28, 1998

Spring Drug Sweep Nets 18

By Julie Woodcock

Eighteen people were arrested during a drug sweep called "Operation Spring Clean" Friday.
The suspects are accused of selling crack to undercover officers. Sheriff Bill Blanton said the raid was led by members of the Cherokee Metro Narcotics Unit. The unit is made up of members of the Sheriff's Office and Gaffney and Blacksburg police departments. They were assisted by uniformed police officers.
"It's hard putting one of these things together, and they've done a good job," Blanton said. "And it will give some of these neighborhoods some relief, until they (suspects) get out on bond or somebody takes their place."
Metro Narcotics agent David Parker said deputies started Operation Spring Clean Friday about 5 a.m. The sweep will continue into next week. Parker said agents were looking for nine more suspects. The team targeted people who have sold drugs to an undercover officer over the past six months. The transactions were captured on video and audio tapes. In each case, the officers spent $20 to $40 on crack, Parker said. "It's mostly street dealers," Blanton said. "These are the kind of folks who go into a neighborhood, and we start getting a lot of complaints on them. We try to do this three or four times a year." He said many of the accused had multiple convictions for drug offenses. Four juveniles also were arrested in the sweep, but their names are being withheld.
Charged with one count of distributing crack are: William Byars, 22, of King Street; Winford Dover, 18, of 118 Moss St.; Terry Jenkins, 119 Deal St.; David Parker, 21, of Blacksburg; Thomas Tate, 40, of 206 Third Ave.; and Gwen Evon Tate, 35, of 206 Third Ave. Joseph Goode, 23, of 5D Berkley Apartments and Keisha Tate, 17, of Blacksburg, are charged with two counts of distributing crack.
Charged with three counts of distributing crack are: Luther Eugene Dawkins, 26, of 32-B Berkley Apartments; Telly Gregory, 22, of 206 Third Ave.; and Ricky Tate, 18, of 206 Third Ave. Scottie Eugene Norris, 21, of 212 Leadmine St. and Stevie Charles McCord, 19 who is in prison, are each charged with one count of distributing crack and one count of distributing crack near a school.
Robert Watkins of 16-C Berkley Apartments is charged with two counts of distribution of crack and two counts of distribution of crack near a school. Bonds had not been set Friday afternoon for the 14 adults who remained in the Cherokee County Detention Center.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line March 15, 1998

Blacksburg Woman's Death Leaves Questions. Police Chief: Mary Alice Cashion's Life was Destroyed by Crack Addiction

By Julie Woodcock

At Blacksburg High School, Mary Alice Cashion was remembered as one of those dream students, one who never gave her teachers trouble, had good grades and was popular with her classmates.
Yet, a couple of weeks ago, the former cheerleader and 1990 graduate of Blacksburg High was murdered after what police describe as a night spent smoking crack.
Cashion, 26, was killed March 2 at her Carolina Townhouses apartment by a .25-caliber gunshot wound to the back of the head. Her death has left behind a 2-year-old daughter, Macie, a suffering family, a bewildered community and many questions about how something like this could have happened.
"I didn't approve of what she did, but she didn't deserve to die like that. Nobody does," said Cashion's mother, Brenda, a teacher's aide at Blacksburg High School. "She'd give you the shirt off her back. She just got in with the wrong crowd."
Art teacher Cynthia Link taught Cashion as a senior. "She was a very upbeat child," Link said. "She did nice work. She just worked hard in everything we tried."
Guidance counselor Billy Transou added, "When she was a student here, she was bubbling over with personality. She was a great kid to have in the school." Transou said he also remembered 18-year-old Napoleon "Buster" Thompson III, the man accused of murdering Cashion. "He was in a lot of trouble, and I believe he was eventually expelled. But no matter what a child's problem was, you never expect anything like this," he said.
According to Blacksburg Police Chief David Gibson, the cocaine derivative was responsible for ruining the lives of both Cashion and Thompson. Gibson said Thompson had bought cocaine the night before the murder. He took the drugs to Cashion's apartment to cut into $500 worth of crack, which he intended to sell. While Thompson slept, Cashion took the crack to a friend's apartment, where they smoked it. When Thompson discovered the crack was gone, he killed her, Gibson said.
It's not an isolated incident, even in a town as small as Blacksburg. Gibson said 80 percent of the crime he's seen is drug-related. "People on crack will steal from their parents. They'll do anything to get another rock," Gibson said.
The secret of cocaine's destructive power lies in the way it affects the brain, according to Bonnie Shannon, clinical director for the Cherokee County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. "Cocaine specifically works differently from some other drugs in that it goes directly to the pleasure centers of the brain, and it creates a very strong craving," Shannon said. "A lot of people have found that they feel addicted the first time they smoked crack. But addiction isn't a bad habit, it's a disease." Shannon said crack can overcome everything else in the victim's life, even a strong family upbringing like Cashion's. "I don't think it depends on who you are or where you come from," she said. "Once you're introduced to crack, it takes over your will, and you don't have a will anymore."
Police said one witness reported she knew Thompson would be angry over the missing crack, but she kept smoking anyway. "It was not her will anymore at that point," Shannon said. "Once you're addicted, you're not making good choices. And once you're high, you can't make good decisions anymore." Still, it is possible for crack addicts to escape their disease, though it isn't easy.
Shannon said hospitalization at a psychiatric facility is the first step in treatment. "I think crack addicts need inpatient treatment," she said. "You can't treat this outpatient; it's too strong." However, Shannon said, few people are eager to be hospitalized, so it's hard to get addicts to take that step. Sometimes the parents of addicts must have their children committed involuntarily, though that's a step hospitals permit only when the patient's life is at risk. But voluntary or not, Shannon said the results are worth it. "Clients come back and say 'I didn't want to go, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It really helped,'" she said. "They say it wasn't what they expected, that they learned about their disease and the things they could do to stay straight and sober. They learned they have a choice. And they don't have a choice as long as they're using."
After patients are through the first part of recovery, organizations like the Cherokee County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse can help with outpatient treatment. Shannon said the commission offers a number of programs. "The relapse potential is very high, but they have a choice they didn't have before," Shannon said. She said Cashion's death made other addicts more aware of how dangerous it is to be without those choices. "Some of our clients knew this young lady, and they've had the opportunity to talk about their feelings," Shannon said. "I think we have seen a few more people because of this tragic incident." Unfortunately, however, others didn't follow through on the impulse to seek help. "We had some people call, but they never showed up," Shannon said.
For information on surviving drug or alcohol addiction, readers can reach the commission at (864) 487-2721. The Spartanburg Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission may be reached at 582-7588.

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line March 13, 1998

Murder Suspect Denied Freedom

By Julie Woodcock

A Circuit Court judge refused to grant bail for Napoleon "Buster" Thompson III after Solicitor Holman Gossett said he feared the 18-year-old might try to retaliate against witnesses.
Thompson has been charged in the shooting death of Mary Alice Cashion, 26, who was killed March 2 at her Carolina Townhouses apartment in Blacksburg. Gossett told Judge John Hayes that Thompson had been a frequent visitor to Cashion's apartment, and that he stayed there the night before the shooting. The two had apparently been smoking crack that night, Gossett said, noting that police found $500 worth of drugs in the apartment.
He told the judge that about 7:30 a.m. on March 2, while Thompson was asleep, Cashion went to the home of a friend. She took several crack rocks with her, and the two women smoked them. Gossett said the friend told police that Cashion was afraid Thompson was going to "jump on her," because they'd smoked so much of his crack. After Cashion went back to her own apartment, Gossett said, an elderly neighbor reported seeing Thompson leave the apartment, then return. The woman said she heard someone turn up the volume on a radio in Cashion's apartment. Then she heard a gunshot.
The solicitor told Hayes that Thompson had traded $100 worth of crack for a .25-caliber pistol the day before. Cashion died of a .25-caliber gunshot wound to the back of the head. Gossett said the woman, who was looking in the window after she saw Thompson return, said she saw Thompson pick up Cashion's head and scream. When police arrived, Thompson began telling them a version of events the woman said was untrue. When she contradicted him, Thompson began screaming profanity at her, Gossett said.
Police arrested Thompson on a charge of disorderly conduct. He was charged with murder the next day. Cashion's parents, Brenda and Larry Cashion of 102 Cashion Road, were present at Thursday's hearing and asked Hayes to deny the bail request.
Brenda, a schoolteacher, said she had known Thompson since he was in kindergarten, and he had always had a violent temper. She said Thompson had attacked Cashion twice before the shooting, breaking her jaw on one occasion. Now, she said, they have been left to raise Cashion's 2-year-old daughter, Macie. "I'm asking you to do right by her," she said. "We're 55 years old, and we have to raise the baby left behind." "I think he's a violent, cold-blooded killer," said Larry Cashion. "We've had people tell us that anybody who testified against Buster would be harmed."

SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL (on-line version)
http://www.GoUpstate.com/
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Posted on-line March 04, 1998

Blacksburg Man Charged with Murder

By Julie Woodcock

Police say the man who claimed he heard Mary Alice Cashion scream when she was shot was the one who actually pulled the trigger.
Cashion died Monday soon after being admitted to Upstate Carolina Medical Center with a bullet in the back of her head.
Blacksburg Police Chief David Gibson said he has charged Napoleon Thompson III, 18, of 207 E. Seven Springs St. in the shooting. Gibson said after shooting the woman, Thompson called the neighbors and said he heard a scream. "It's still an ongoing investigation, but we have enough probable cause to issue a murder warrant," Gibson said. He declined to discuss a motive until he had talked with Cashion's family.
Doctors recovered a .25-caliber bullet during an autopsy in Newberry County Tuesday, Gibson said. Police are searching for the murder weapon, which is believed to have been discarded after the shooting took place at Carolina Townhouses.