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One arrested for assault of mother; eight sought in unrelated robbery incident
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According to reports, shortly after 7 a.m., Rodney Lee Mack, 35, of Clinton told deputies he had been assaulted while on Wilmington Road. He was beaten by eight people and a rock was thrown into the window of his vehicle, which was stripped of several items.
Mack suffered minor injuries as a result of the assault, which was said to have occurred around 3 a.m. that same day.
Damage to the window of Mack’s 1995 Cadillac STS was estimated at $100. Two headrest DVD players, a .45-caliber Glock handgun and a sound system dispenser were all stolen. There was no value given for the dispenser, however the other items were estimated to be worth $500.
In the other incident, Charles Franklin King, 20, of 4551 Hobbton Hwy., Clinton, was charged with resist, obstruct and delay, assault with a deadly weapon and communicating threats. He was arrested at 6 p.m. Sunday after deputies were called to the Hobbton Highway residence.
Reports state that King resisted officers and assaulted and threatened his mother. A butcher’s knife was seized by authorities.
King was taken into custody, charged and placed under $2,500 secured bond for the offenses.
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D.A. Won't Prosecute Narcotics Deputy's Cases
Reece Murphy
Reporter
District Attorney Dewey Hudson has sent out a letter to judicial officials in Sampson County saying he will no longer prosecute cases involing a narcotics officer with the Sampson County Sheriff's Office.
The letter, dated June 30, says the decision was made after a review of dismissed felony cases assembled by Deputy Bobby Smith of the sheriff's Special Investigations Unit.
"Effective immediately, my office will no longer prosecute any criminal cases in which Sampson County Deputy Bobby Smith is a material witness," the letter says. "In the interest of justice, I am requesting judicial officials to not issue any new criminal process at his request or in which he is a material witness.
"I feel compelled to do so after a review of several dismissed felony cases for lack of evidence and false and misleading information contained in his reports," Mr. Hudson says in ending the letter.
The Daily Record missed phone calls by Mr. Hudson returned yesterday afternoon and he was unavailable for comment as of press time this morning.
It is not immediately clear how many cases were among the "several" mentioned in the letter and it is not known how many past cases the decision will affect.
According to sheriff's Chief Deputy John Connerly, Deputy Smith has 16 years experience in law enforcement. Chief Deputy Connerly said Deputy Smith originally worked for the Sampson County Sheriff's Office from 1993 to 1996 before leaving for stints at the Clinton and Goldsboro Police departments.
He said Deputy Smith returned to the Sampson County Sheriff's Office in 2006 and shortly thereafter began working as a narcotics officer in the Special Investigations Unit.
Sampson County Sheriff Jimmy Thornton stood by Deputy Smith and said he was a good officer who was dependable, conscientious and hard working and said none of the cases involved any illegal activity on Deputy Smith's part.
"He is a good officer and certainly has credibility and respect and would not do anything except what needs to be done," Sheriff Thornton said.
"It wasn't a matter of him doing anything that's not legal, it was not doing the reports correctly, in haste leaving things out that were omitted, not by design ... incomplete reports," he said. "When you field 25 to 40 calls a day (on drug tips), it's overwhelming. I make them investigate all of them."
Sheriff Thornton said he spoke to Mr. Hudson and his staff before the letter was sent and thought they had worked things out by checking the facts of the cases in question with Deputy Smith and devising plans with Mr. Hudson's staff to address their concerns.
Sheriff Thornton said he was not sure how many cases Mr. Hudson considered in making his decision. He said he understood Mr. Hudson did what he felt he needed to do as the district attorney though the sheriff disagreed with it.
Sheriff Thornton said he felt Deputy Smith should be given the same presumption of innocence afforded to all under the law.
"Certainly if a suspect in a crime is entitled to due process and consideration, you know certainly those of us in law enforcement are due the same," he said.
Sheriff Thornton said the move could potentially be career-ending for Deputy Smith as a drug agent. He said while the department is forced for the most part to accept Mr. Hudson's decision, he understood Deputy Smith is considering legal action on his own.
Sheriff Thornton and Chief Deputy Connerly both said Deputy Smith will remain employed with the sheriff's office.
Chief Deputy Connerly said he planned to move Deputy Smith to a position overseeing booking operations at the jail. He said Deputy Smith is currently out of work for reasons unrelated to Mr. Hudson's decision, but is expected to return to work soon.
He said he has spoken to him recently.
"He's very distraught over it," Chief Deputy Connerly said. "When the letter first came out he couldn't understand why it was done."