Crime on our western NC mountain: Strange tales from strange times.

[DemoTex]

I just hosted a neighborhood meeting at the mountain house tonight. We have had a little crime out here (burglary), so we are addressing that. We had a detective from the Transylvania Sheriff's Dept. out to brief us on the case(s). It is wild!

They have a suspect, Kerry Lee Jones (not his real name), who lives in a camping trailer behind his dad's double-wide near the county dump. Kerry Lee is a methamphetamine junkie who has been a suspect in many county burglaries, presumably to support his habit. He has stolen firearms and is considered armed and dangerous. One of his drug dealers is thought to be his dad, Gary. Kerry used to sell drugs for Gary, but now that Kerry is strung out, dad doesn't trust him any more. The Transylvania Sheriff's Dept. is close to nailing dad (Gary). It gets better (or worse, depending on point-of-view).

Kerry Lee Jones is, or rather was, friends with the Stringfellow brothers who live in a small rental house on a private road on our mountain. They too are meth freaks. The Stringfellow brothers and Kerry Lee Jones have gotten into beaucoup trouble together in Transylvania County. Presumably, the Stringfellow brothers cased houses out here for seasonal vacancy, ease of entry, etc., and passed the info on to Jones.

The Stringfellow brothers, however, are now in the Transylvania slammer. Last Thursday, it seems, the Stringfellow brothers developed an "issue" with Kerry Lee Jones. They got in their old Dodge van, armed to the teeth, and set out to murder Kerry Lee. They almost succeeded. Jones's early 90s dark-blue Jeep Cherokee (which the detective described so well for us two weeks ago) now has another identifying characteristic: numerous bullet holes meant for Kerry Lee Jones's body.

The discussion in my living room tonight, with many extra chairs moved in for the crowd of twenty five, got political. The sheriff's detective told us of massive budget cuts (due to tax cuts). He blamed the county council (R). Someone asked if our Congress-Critter, Charles Taylor (Ultra-right R) has been any help to law enforcement agencies in Transylvania County. "No help," he said. "In fact his Washington policies hurt us."

[havocmom]

1. So much for getting away from it all, huh?

Your dog like guarding of is it a napper? Sounds a lot like the BS that goes on here in Tiny Town in the far north country. Good, old time values :eyes:

You did well hosting the neighborhood meeting. Things like that mean a lot. Instead of sitting around, wringing hands, hoping somebody does something you got them together to address the issue. Sets a good precedent! Might get folks thinking what else they might like to change via direct participation.

Democracy and defense are NOT spectator sports! Cudos to you and your neighbors.

Have a good, peaceful Christmas, DT!

hm

[DemoTex]

2. Thanks H-M. The Peace of Christmas to you too. To us all.

Funny you mentioned dog-like guarding. I had meant to ask the detective about the deterrent effect of barking dogs (I have two with excellent, big-dog barks which echo in the gorges) but I forgot. Why? I put the boys, Sirius and Nick-Nick in the master bedroom before the crowd showed up. They were so quiet, I forgot about them. Great guard dogs, eh?

[DemoTex]

3. Oh-Oh! Ask and you shall receive!

The dogs just went wild! Blue and red lights flashed in the driveway. It was the sheriff's response to my request: more visibility and welcome on my property. They got cookies and big cups of hot coffee. They are here to scare the Stringfellows.

[William Bloode]

4. We have bad meth problems up here.

I have had my cabin robbed 3 times in the past yr!and my house twice about 18mnths ago.

Have gotten to the point where someone stays at home at all times, and my big bulldogs run loose at all times.

My advice get some big loud dogs(i see you have them), and maybe a nice Adt or similar security sign. Most times just the site of a security sign will scare off most burglars. If not large loud dogs scare the shit out of them.

[Tsiyu]

5. Demo-Tex my heart goes out to you

This is the way things are in this poor economy. Not that this is an excuse for the criminals, but tight law enforcement budgets and the release of meth heads by the boatloads isn't helping things at all.

We have the same program going on around here. And we, too, know who the main suspects are and hold neighborhood meetings and keep one another informed.

Up here, they are using four-wheelers to sneak up behind properties and thieve. They stole a neighbor's deer stand, tried to steal the deer camera, but it ended up snapping their picture instead.

It's been fine at my place because we almost always have someone at home. But the staying up all night kills me. Last night I was up til 4.

My dogs do bark and help immensely. And I only investigate if I've heard that low hum of a four-wheeler in the nearby woods. I will cut loose with the meanest badass lecture I can summon in the night. These fools are stealing from people who have little and work hard for it.

We have no Christmas tree or gifts to steal. We are scraping by like most around here. It hurts that one of the gals connected has turned this neighborhood into her crank circus. It hurts that I offered her help so many times and she chooses to hurt good people.

The funny thing is, her parents do these old time revivals in the woods in the summer. Guess that old time religion didn't catch this piece of work. I feel so sorry for her kids...

[elehhhhna]

7. a huge spotlight w/ a motion or sound detector might help...

[Tsiyu]

8. We do have one of those million candle power jobs

Works great. And blasting off a round or two has helped.

Another neighbor has informed me that four of the group have been caught and that 2 more warrants have been issued for the last two.

I'll be happy when we can all stop being so vigilant and go back to living in peace.

I am not a Drug War afficianado to say the least but Crank is another animal altogether.

[NNN0LHI]

6. I have noticed the reporting of violent crimes has risen in my local paper

Wife beatings, drunks beating someone up, child molestation, attempted murder, automobile drivers going postal on one another, everything. The paper is either just reporting it more or it is actually going up. I am not sure, Mac. But I do have my suspicions.

The FBI numbers say violent crime is going down. But I don't believe it. I think they are fudging the numbers like everything else since Chimpy became king. Figure don't lie, but liars figure. Thats my take on it anyway.

Don

[Tsiyu]

9. *87% of statistcs are made up on the spot!"

:)

[G_j]

10. is Transylvania County as

Republican as Henderson County? I know Henderson is overwhelmingly R and this has helped insure Charles Taylor's repeated wins.
Charles Taylor is as corrupt and RW as they come!

[DemoTex]

13. Transylvania is worse!

It is more rural. More mountain red-neck. Fortunately, I have a southern accent and a chamelion ability to adapt to the situation, conversationally. I dress down, drive a dirty Subaru wagon, and "Aw-shucks" with the locals. I might run against Charles Taylor in 2006. Depends on lotsa things, including whether or not I get into Clemson's landscape architecture program.

[Lindsay]

11. May I just say that Charles Taylor is worse than useless.

I'm also a constituent (Polk County) and I think he should be in jail, not in Congress.

Good on ya, DemoTex, for being involved. I'm thinking we're all going to have to do more of that, given the way our public services are being trashed by BushCo.

(edited for my usual forgetfulness)

[DemoTex]

14. High semi-neighbor!

Charles Taylor is being sued for a bank scam, but I don't know the details. He is also being sued for a security breach in a bank (that he owns, or part-owns) near Greenville, SC, in which three or four people (customers and tellers) were murdered last year during a robbery.

Charles Taylor and Bu$h are loved by the mountain rednecks in their trailers close to the county dump. They fly the stars and bars (Confederate flag) and worship the ones that do them the most harm. Go figure!

[MadHound]

12. I'm sorry to hear of your problems friend, we have the same here in Mo

And quite frankly, the only answer to this is to legalize this and other drugs. The drug war is a failure, and quite frankly was never meant to succeed. It enriches the pockets of a few on both sides of the law, allows the ongoing onslaught on our Constitution and civil liberties, and doesn't curb drug use at all. Instead, it promotes the erosion of our rights, collateral crimes, a police state mentality, and death due to bad drugs, drug related crimes, or law enforcment mistakes.

Quite frankly we should legalize all drugs, much in the manner of alcohol is legal. Have stiff penalties for drugged driving, and minimum ages of consumption. Make the stuff safely, put a decent tax on it(though not enough to encourage illicit manufacturing), and sell it over the counter to citizens. Yes, I realize that you will have an intial wave of people who will use and abuse the drugs due to new found legality euphoria. But I don't think that wave will be very big, and in the long run the use and addiction rates will go down. Without the mytique of illegality, people will not be so inclined to use drugs thinking that they're the "rebel" thing to do. In fact I think that the curve on use and addiction will be much like the curve on alcohol was following prohibition, an initial wave, with the curve steadily sinking to levels lower than during Prohibition.

And with legal drugs, we won't have to worry about the attendant crimes. And we can reclaim our neighborhoods from the drug lords. What a concept eh.