North Carolina News – March 14, 2022

North Carolina News – March 14, 2022

MAIL FACILITY-OSHA REPORT

OSHA: Worker lost arm from injury at US mail facility in NC

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — The U.S. Labor Department says the arm of a mechanic working at a mail facility in North Carolina was amputated last year after coming into contact with a machine that had a safety guard removed. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it inspected the facility in Greensboro following the injury in late September. The agency released its findings in a news release on Friday. The U.S. Postal Service operates the Greensboro Network Distribution Center. The federal inspection identified repeat and serious safety violations.

FATAL ACCIDENT

Officials: Teen visiting Outer Banks struck by truck, dies

NAGS HEAD, N.C. (AP) — A 15-year-old girl who was visiting North Carolina’s Outer Banks from the European country of Albania died Saturday after being struck by a pickup truck. The Virginian-Pilot reports that the incident occurred Saturday evening in Nags Head. The Town of Nags Head said in a news release that the teen was trying to cross the main highway at about 7:40 p.m. The girl’s name was not released. Town officials said that off-duty EMS employees who were nearby were able to restore a pulse. But the teen later died at The Outer Banks Hospital. The news release said that neither speed nor alcohol are believed to be factors in the crash. No charges are expected to be brought against the 65-year-old driver.

ROAD RAGE SHOOTING

Police: Pregnant woman wounded in road-rage shooting in NC

SANFORD, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina say they are investigating a suspected road-rage shooting that wounded a pregnant woman. The Raleigh News & Observer reports that the incident occurred Tuesday at a Circle K near Sanford. The town is about 50 miles southwest of Raleigh. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the woman was in a pickup truck at about 12:25 a.m. when a car began following the truck. The truck drove onto Highway 87 before someone fired at the passenger side of the vehicle. Authorities said a 26-year-old woman in the truck had a bullet wound to her arm, and the bullet had entered her abdomen. The sheriff’s office said the woman was treated and released from a hospital.

AP-US-LGBT-DOMESTIC-VIOLENCE-NORTH-CAROLINA

NC top court decision keeps domestic violence ruling intact

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that said domestic violence protection orders must apply to same-sex dating cases. The state’s highest court affirmed and altered on Friday a Court of Appeals decision from 2020. The case involved a woman who ended her relationship with another woman and feared for her safety. The appeals panel ruled that a state law treated LGBT people differently and therefore violated the North Carolina and U.S. constitutions. The law allowed protection orders between former and current spouses and couples who live or have lived in the same household. But it prevented protection orders for people in same-sex relationships who are not spouses or former spouses and who are not current or former household members.

BC-US-WINTER-WEATHER

Late winter storm blasts South, Northeast with snow and wind

A late winter storm has blasted the U.S. Northeast with strong winds and heavy snow, sending temperatures plunging after first taking aim at the Deep South. Forecasters say the fast-moving storm late Friday and Saturday left heavy snowfalls across a big stretch of the eastern U.S. Southern states including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee also reported accumulated snow. Forecasters say an intensifying low pressure accompanied the storm, fueling high winds and plunging temperatures that would freeze any moisture on roadways and make travel hazardous. Winds gusted up to 45 mph in some areas and gale warnings were posted in coastal New Jersey and Delaware.

INMATE DEATH-FORSYTH COUNTY

Sheriff: Inmate, 19, found dead at Forsyth County Jail

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina are investigating the death of a 19-year-old inmate at the Forsyth County Jail in Winston-Salem. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that Jack Jeffery Murphy-Renzi was found unresponsive in his cell early Saturday morning. The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said that detention officers immediately began life-saving measures and medical personnel were called after Murphy-Renzi was found at about 2:15 a.m. Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. said that “any loss of life is a loss to our community.” The Winston-Salem man had been in jail since March 4 on a charge of driving while impaired. The sheriff’s office declined to release further details. But it has asked the State Bureau of Investigation to investigate Murphy-Renzi’s death.

POLICE CHASE-FATAL CRASH

Sheriff: Bank robbery suspect dies after police chase, crash

NASHVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say a man suspected of robbing banks in North Carolina and South Carolina has died in a car crash after a police chase and a “forced stop” by a sheriff’s deputy. Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone said the crash occurred Friday night on Interstate 95 near Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Stone said at a news conference Saturday that the deputy conducted the “forced stop” maneuver with his police vehicle because the man was driving at dangerous speeds toward populated areas and would not pull over. Stone said the man’s vehicle crashed into a tree. The man was identified as 60-year-old Thomas Lester Ketelsen of Conover, North Carolina.

DEPUTY FIRED-EXCESSIVE FORCE

Deputy fired after putting knee on Black man’s neck

PLYMOUTH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina sheriff’s deputy has been fired after he was captured on video putting his knee on a Black man’s neck, and a state agency is looking into the incident. Washington County Manager Curtis Potter told WITN that Deputy Aaron Edwards was no longer working for the sheriff’s office as of Tuesday. Sheriff Johnny Barnes said the deputy was fired after an internal investigation and a review of body camera and security footage. Barnes said state investigators have been called in to look into whether criminal charges should be brought. The family of the man provided video last week showing him being arrested on a charge of marijuana possession.

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