Charges dropped against Miller; another man to be charged

This press release was just issued by the Lincolnton Police Department:

Lincolnton Police Department

Criminal Investigation / Narcotics Division

Press Release

Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Case Type: Obtaining Property by False Pretense, Larceny

Case Number: 2010-000419

Victim(s): Zaxby’s

On January 19, 2010 a pocketbook was stolen from Redemption Outreach Church. The pocketbook contained a number of gift cards. Some of the gift cards that were in the pocketbook were used at Zaxby’s in Lincolnton on January 21^st and 22^nd, 2010. Security videos were obtained from Zaxby’s for the two dates in question. Both videos show a white male using the stolen gift cards. In one of the videos a second older white male was shown accompanying the suspect using the stolen gift cards. The video shows no evidence that the second older white male was involved in the use of the stolen gift cards. An individual came forward after seeing the video on the local news. The individual gave a statement identifying the person in the video using the stolen gift cards as Jamie Miller from Mooresville, NC. Along with that individual’s statement and other information, warrants were issued for Jamie Miller reference to using the stolen gift cards. The older white male was NEVER identified by the individual that gave the statement identifying Jamie Miller.

After the warrants had been issued, anonymous information came into the Lincolnton Police Department identifying other names as being the individual in the Zaxby’s video. The leads were followed up on by the Lincolnton Police Department. Stephen Eugene Travis was interviewed reference to stolen gift cards and he confessed to being the individual on the Zaxby’s security video. Two of the stolen gift cards were recovered from Stephen Travis along with other items that were purchased with the cards. Stephen Travis is cooperating with the investigation at this time. Stephen Travis will be charged reference to the use of the stolen cards. The investigation in the original larceny of the pocketbook is on going.

Jamie Miller was never arrested by the Lincolnton Police Department on the issued charges. The warrants issued on Jamie Miller reference to the stolen gift cards were taken to the District Attorney’s office by the Lincolnton Police Department so the charges could be dismissed. The District Attorney’s office dismissed all charges on Jamie Miller reference to the use of the stolen gift cards. In addition there have been news reports that the second individual in one of the videos was the father of Jamie Miller, Harold Miller a Captain at the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office. None of the witnesses that identified Jamie Miller as the suspect could identify the second individual. The Lincolnton Police Department NEVER identified the second individual as Harold Miller. The investigation of the case has revealed that neither, Jamie Miller or Harold Miller was involved in the use of the stolen gift cards at Zaxby’s.

Man disputes police report; says plants weren't his

“There are two things in life – right and wrong, black and white. There is no gray area,” said Chris Davidson in a friendly, candid talk with the Report yesterday afternoon.

Davidson’s name is in a 1999 police report from the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office. According to the report, two officers received a tip about marijuana plants growing in a garden owned by Davidson. Upon arriving on the scene, Davidson gave the officers consent to search his property. During the search, the officers reportedly located seven marijuana plants growing in pots in Davidson’s garden.

The report narrative states that when the officers called Davidson to the yard and asked him about the plants, "Davidson stated he had already called Sheriff Redmond at the office and that we could not charge him with the plants." When the officers explained to Davidson that he could, in fact, be charged, Davidson responded: "Fuck it, it wouldn't stick." Davidson was never charged.

Davidson said that isn’t the way he remembers it. In fact, he said he never spoke to Redmond at all that day – because Redmond was at the beach with his wife.

“It was on a Friday as best as I can remember,” Davidson said. He said his secretary called him and stated that two officers from the Sheriff’s Office needed to speak with him. Davidson said he met the officers, who asked for consent to search, and Davidson said he consented without hesitation.

It all started when the animal shelter had set up a cage on his property to catch an animal, Davidson said, adding that the cage had been set up for about a week. Apparently when animal control checked the trap, the county employee stumbled upon the plants and reported them to the sheriff’s office.

The two deputies responded to the call and found the plants in Davidson’s garden. “They were found in 5-gallon buckets,” Davidson remembered, adding that the stalks had already turned brown.

Davidson said emphatically that he does not grow or use drugs. And he said he knows who is responsible for the plants in his yard – a former, disgruntled employee. “I loaned him some money, and he spent the money on doping,” Davidson said. “That’s where the pot plants came from.”

Davidson said if he were going to manufacture marijuana, it would make no sense for him to grow the plants in 5-gallon buckets and keep them in such an obvious spot – especially when he owns a sprawling 140 acres. Davidson said he even told the officers he would take a drug test to prove that he does not use drugs, including marijuana.

He said things turned a little heated when one of the officers said to him: “ ‘I’m going to take you down and charge you’.”

At that point, Davidson said he told the deputies: “Phil (Redmond) knows me, and the Narcotics boss (then Jimmy Craven) knows me – I would like to speak to them first.”

Davidson said he called the Sheriff’s Office and was told that Redmond was at the beach with his wife and would not return to the office until Monday. “His daddy had died shortly before that,” Davidson recalled of Redmond. He said the Sheriff’s Office also stated that Craven would not be available until Monday.

So Davidson said he asked the two sheriff’s deputies if the matter could wait until Monday: “I told them, ‘Let’s let it go until Monday.’” He said he assured the officers that he would meet them on Monday and that the officers had no reason to doubt that he would stick to his word. “I own a business; I’m not going anywhere,” Davidson said he told the officers, adding that he has never been arrested.

He said he told the deputies “to just call me, and I’ll come by to see you (Monday).”

Davidson acknowledged that he was a little heated because he was being accused of something that did not belong to him. He said he told the officers: “I’m not guilty, and you’re not going to ruin my good name. If you charge me, I’m going to sue the hell out of the sheriff’s department.” Davidson said he told the officers: “I’m just trying to save you a lawsuit.”

Davidson continued: “I received a call from Phil and Jimmy” (on Monday)." He said he then attended a meeting with Redmond, Craven and the narcotics officer from the scene, whose name Davidson could not recall.

Davidson said the men “didn’t give me an answer then” regarding whether he would be charged.

However, he said, “It was handled professionally. There were no strings pulled. Thank God the detective let it go until Monday.”

“They handled themselves in a very professional way,” Davidson said.

Drug suspect calls sheriff; dodges charges

Iredell County Sheriff Phil Redmond is widely known for his "war on drugs," thanks in large part to his officers’ impressive drug-busts on Iredell’s two interstates. 

But how about Redmond’s “war on drugs” in our backyards?

Five years after Redmond was first elected – and the same year his deputies seized $6 million in drugs, according to the sheriff’s webpage – the sheriff's office did not file charges against a man who two deputies arrested for manufacturing marijuana in a Statesville backyard.

The sheriff may have had something to do with that, according to the reporting officer’s narrative in the 1999 police report.

According to the report, the two officers received information about marijuana plants growing in a garden owned by Christopher Davidson. Upon arriving on the scene, Davidson gave the officers consent to search his property. During the search, the officers located seven marijuana plants growing in pots in Davidson’s garden.

According to the report, when the officers called Davidson back to the yard and asked him about the plants, "Davidson stated he had already called Sheriff Redmond at the office and that we could not charge him with the plants."

When the officers explained to Davidson that he could, in fact, be charged, Davidson responded: "Fuck it, it wouldn't stick." To read the full narrative from the police report, click on the document below.

Then nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. No court records, nor any other documentation, showing that Davidson was ever charged for manufacturing marijuana. A cursory review of Davidson's court records, in fact, turns up only simple traffic violations.

So did Sheriff Redmond himself truly talk to Davidson on the phone that day? Did Sheriff Redmond himself truly embolden Davidson to tell his deputies not to charge him for manufacturing marijuana? That's anybody's guess. Redmond didn't respond to Report questions this week asking if he recalled the conversation alleged by Davidson and referenced in his officer's police report. We also left a message for Davidson, but he did not immediately call back. As soon as we receive comments from him, we’ll post them.

We asked Sheriff Redmond if he, in fact, assured Davidson that charges could not or would not be filed against him or that charges wouldn’t stick if they were filed. Redmond did not respond.

We asked the sheriff to confirm that Davidson, in fact, was never charged. We asked him if “manufacturing of marijuana” is a felony charge and if the State of North Carolina has a statute of limitation on felonies (i.e. can Davidson still be charged today for something that happened in 1999?).

We also asked Redmond if he ever instructed, requested, encouraged or in any other way indicated to his officer(s) that they not file charges against Davidson – and, if so, why. We also asked Sheriff Redmond if he is personal friends with Davidson and in what capacity he knows him.

But Redmond did not respond.

***

The sheriff’s office vice/narcotics unit reported $14.6 million in seized drugs and $276,000 in seized cash in 2009 alone. Working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, the vice/narcotics unit “utilizes undercover operations to identify and arrest individuals that are involved in prostitution, illegal gambling as well as the distribution of illegal drugs.”

Iredell County Commissioner Godfrey Williams passes

I just received word that long-time Iredell County Commissioner Godfrey Williams passed away earlier this morning.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today...

Still no public release of video

Two days after questions were posed here about whether a second man in a Crime Stoppers video is a high-ranking law enforcement officer in Iredell County, the video still has not been publicly released.

Suspicions continue that a man in the video of suspected thief Jamie Miller – recently aired on WSOC-TV – bears resemblance to Capt. Harold Miller (Jamie Miller’s dad) who supervises the criminal warrant service unit and patrol division of the Iredell County Sheriff’s Department. Jamie Miller is being sought by Lincoln and Iredell County police. In Lincoln, he is accused of stealing gift cards from a woman in church; the Crime Stoppers video, according to police, captures Miller in a restaurant, using a stolen gift card for his purchase.

Asked in e-mails over the past two days to confirm or deny whether it is him in the video, Harold Miller wrote in an e-mail to the Report today: “A simple answer to your simple question is NO it's not me."

As of today, a second video has apparently surfaced, which according to Donna Swicegood of the Statesville Record & Landmark “shows Harold Miller was in Mooresville 2 minutes after his son used the card at the Zaxby's in Lincolnton.” This new video was apparently captured at the courthouse in Mooresville (the Iredell County Government Center).

Swicegood said the sheriff’s department showed the new video to the Record & Landmark and WSOC-TV. After viewing both videos, Swicegood concluded: “Harold is clearly shown in the one from the government center. And the one from Lincolnton doesn't look anything like him.”

Asked if the Record & Landmark plans to post both original videos – time-stamped and dated – to its website, Swicegood said she didn’t know.

She said “Harold is in the video at the (Mooresville) government center at 3:12 p.m.”

But the time-stamp on the Lincoln County restaurant surveillance video offered little help in determining where Miller was at the time, because apparently, the time stamp was inaccurate. “The restaurant video is time stamped but it's clearly the wrong time because it is stamped early in the morning, like 3 a.m or something when Zaxby's is not open,” Swicegood said.

She said Lincolnton PD records the time of the crime in the restaurant as 3:11 p.m., which would mean Harold Miller was in Mooresville at the time his son used the gift card in Lincolnton. It is unclear at this time how the Lincolnton Police Department pinpointed the time of the crime at 3:11 p.m. and what documentation has been provided to substantiate that.

Swicegood said WSOC recorded the videos that the Sheriff’s Department showed today and that the news station plans to air both videos. It’s unclear when the videos will play on Channel 9.

Capt. Darren Campbell – who supervises criminal investigations, community policing and lake enforcement for the Iredell County Sheriff’s Department – e-mailed the Report yesterday in an effort to set up a meeting this morning with the sheriff. In a reply, I expressed my appreciation to both Campbell and Redmond for their willingness to meet and accommodate my schedule. However, as most readers know, I do not participate in closed-door meetings with government officials. I added in my reply to the sheriff and Campbell: “I’m sure the sheriff would agree that having written answers to the questions I posed would be in the best interest of everyone involved. The questions are simple and straight-forward, and they warrant simple, straight-forward answers.”

I also thanked the two men for offering to share the information they have in regard to this particular case. “I look forward to receiving the information and hope it clears up this situation once and for all,” I concluded.

But no one responded to that e-mail. The information was not shared. And still, neither video is available for public viewing.

Mid-day today, the Report e-mailed Redmond, asking if he planned to add the two videos from Zaxby's and the courthouse to the sheriff's website to help calm some of the suspicions that have been circulating the past couple weeks.

Redmond’s response: “Thank you for your email. I had a message emailed to you yesterday requesting you come and meet at the Sheriff's Office so you could look over several items of interest from this investigation. I invited you first because, I wanted you to see all the evidence before anyone, since you asked me to answer some questions first. I was made aware of your policy which will not allow that type of meeting. I was sorry, to hear that you did not want to meet and review all the evidence in the case.”

In response, the Report asked the sheriff – again – if he planned to add the two videos to the Sheriff’s Department website. So far, that e-mail has gone unanswered.

Redmond had told the Report earlier in the day that he has a copy of the original Crime Stoppers video. “I received a copy of the original video and your request the same day,” he said, adding that he “ordered an internal investigation into this matter” after being contacted by WSOC.

Redmond said the man in the Crime Stoppers video is “absolutely not” Harold Miller. “Based on evidence that we have and are willing to make available to you, it is proven this is not Captain Miller. I am again extending you an invitation to come and view the evidence.”

It is unclear why Redmond will not post “the evidence” on his websites or in an e-mail.

When asked if the Sheriff’s Department has video-enhancement equipment that could enhance the Crime Stoppers surveillance footage and clear up suspicions about the man on the clip, Redmond acknowledged that the department has such equipment. However, he said, “The video did not need enhancing. It was very clear from the first time it was reviewed; the man in the video was not Captain Miller.

“Based on our investigation which Captain Miller cooperated with, he was at another location in Mooresville on secured video, approximately one minute prior to the man in the video using the card in Lincolnton. We will assist Lincolnton Police Department in any way if requested.”

Redmond also posted a statement today on his Facebook page and the Iredell County Sheriff’s Department website which reads in full:

“My agency was contacted by WSOC-TV in Charlotte late last week in reference to reports that they had received about a video clip the Lincolnton Police Department requested them to run to assist them in an investigation that they were conducting. In the video there were two men, one was the suspect and the other was a by-stander.

“Questions came to WSOC-TV that the by-stander was an employee of my office.

“An internal investigation was conducted based on this inquiry. It is the policy of this office not to release any information while an investigation in ongoing.

“Several questions have been raised in various media outlets wanting information and several rumors were started.

“Based on information that was uncovered during the investigation it has been proven beyond any doubt that the person in the video clip WSOC-TV aired, was not an employee of my office. My employee was in the courthouse in Mooresville. He is seen on encrypted tamper proof security camera footage at 3:12 pm. The crime occurred in Lincolnton at 3:11 pm.

“I have been asked specific questions by a freelance media outlet and have answered them. I have made it clear on numerous occasions that I would meet with her and show her the evidence. My office received correspondence from her. She stated she would not ‘Participate in closed-door meetings.’ My door is open and I am willing to provide any and all evidence that was gathered to prove my employee was not involved in this matter to anyone.

“Because of the rumors and speculation that have swirled around this issue I am coming forward with this information to put these questions to rest.

Thank you,
Sheriff Phillip H. Redmond”

Hopefully the sheriff will make the videos publicly available soon. Once he posts them, we’ll link to them here.

***Added Friday, March 5, at 10:08 a.m. - Despite the Statesville Record & Landmark and WSOC-TV apparently meeting with Sheriff Phil Redmond yesterday to view the newly surfaced video from the Mooresville courthouse, as of this morning, no stories are posted on either website. Once they print/air their information, I'll link to the stories here.****

What's spooked WSOC and the Lincolnton PD?

What does it mean when two organizations dedicated to publicity suddenly clam up?

Crime Stoppers is a non-profit organization that is supposed to work with citizens, the media and law enforcement to fight crime in communities. The purpose of the media, on the other hand, is to serve as community watchdogs – critical observers of government, digging for the truth and exposing it.

So why has it been like pulling teeth this week to obtain a copy of a Lincoln County Crime Stoppers video that shows surveillance footage of a man, Jamie Miller, who is being sought after by both Lincoln and Iredell County police? Miller is accused of stealing gift cards from a woman in church. The Crime Stoppers video, according to police, captures Miller in a restaurant, using a stolen gift card for his purchase.

Det. Sgt. Matt Painter with the Lincolnton Police Department said Miller has a warrant out for his arrest in Lincoln County and also numerous outstanding warrants in Iredell County.

The Lincolnton Police Department recently released the Crime Stoppers video to WSOC-TV, which broadcast the surveillance footage several times until last weekend.

But it's a second man with Miller in the video that has raised some local suspicion. A growing number of people believe that the man pictured in the surveillance footage with Miller is a high-ranking law enforcement officer in Iredell County.

To determine if that is the case, only the Crime Stoppers video is needed. But obtaining a copy of it from police and the one media outlet that has a copy of it has proven to be quite a struggle.

The law enforcement community often uses Crime Stoppers to work with the mainstream media to broadcast photos and surveillance videos of criminal suspects. The hope is that someone at home reading or watching the news may recognize the suspect and call Crime Stoppers – even anonymously – with tips about the suspects’ whereabouts. “Crime Stoppers programs, through its police coordinators, are an investigative body working with citizens as one crime fighting unit,” states the website of Crime Stoppers of Lincolnton-Lincoln County, Inc. (http://www.lincolncounty.org/index.aspx?NID=421). Crime Stoppers allows callers to remain anonymous but often offers cash rewards for tipsters who provide information that leads to the suspect’s arrest.

But the Lincolnton Police Department, after releasing the Crime Stoppers video of Jamie Miller to WSOC, has apparently decided it won’t share it with anyone else. In fact, Lincolnton’s Sgt. Painter referred the Report to WSOC for a copy of the police surveillance footage. “The only chance you can get … to get a copy of it is either find something online on WSOC (from) when they ran it or if they’ll release something,” Painter said. “You might can call the assignment desk at Channel 9 or something.

“As far as the actual video itself, the raw footage,” he added, “my chief said we can’t release that to anybody.” The reason, he said, is because “we’ve already run it and got an ID (identification). We can’t release (the video) once an ID has been made.”

But that doesn’t make sense. After all, when WSOC broadcast the footage, written in bold, all-capital letters, under a photo of the suspect’s face, was “JAMIE MILLER,” (the suspect’s name – or, in police lingo, his “ID”). In fact, here’s a still-photo captured from one of WSOC’s more recent broadcasts (click the image to enlarge):

The news broadcaster did not state that Crime Stoppers was looking for the suspects’ name – because, after all, his name was Jamie Miller. And police already knew that. Rather, she said that police needed the public’s help in tracking Miller down. In fact, she announced that Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $1,000 for anyone who provides information leading to his arrest.

Miller has not yet been found or arrested, Painter said today.

The Report had already contacted WSOC last weekend to request a copy of the video. But the news desk refused to release the clip, responding to repeated requests for it by stating: “I don’t know what to tell you.” The representative said WSOC adds only “Top Story” videos to its website over the weekend. He said to check back on Monday. So I did. The video still hasn't been added to the website.

Both Painter and WSOC confirmed that they had heard the suspicions about the identity of the second man in the video, but both said that their respective organizations didn’t want to be “in the middle of it.”

When pressed on the issue that several people suspect that the second man in the video is a high-ranking law enforcement officer in Iredell County – who, one would assume, would be aware of the numerous outstanding warrants for Miller’s arrest – WSOC confirmed that people were calling the news station with the same suspicions and concerns. But, still, the station wouldn't agree to share the video.

Lincolnton Police Sgt. Painter encouraged the Report to “go to the source” (the law enforcement agency that employs the officer in question). But without a video, how can that agency confirm or deny whether the man captured in the surveillance is among its officers?

What gives? The Lincolnton Police Department and WSOC have been informed of citizen suspicions that a high-ranking law enforcement officer is aware of the whereabouts of a man with outstanding warrants in two counties. So why are they sitting on their hands?

WSOC – whose job it is, as a member of the media, to dig for the truth and expose it - appears, instead, to be turning its nose up to the truth. In fact, when contacted by the Report, the news station asked if our sources would agree to point out the man in the Crime Stoppers video and confirm he is who he is believed to be. Here's the rub: WSOC would require those sources to go on-camera. Right now, all we have are suspicions because we've seen only quick clips on WSOC's newscasts. Positively identifying the man in the video requires, well, the video. But WSOC refuses to share it.

The Lincolnton Police Department – whose job it is to follow leads and track down people who break the law – is instead telling the Report to “go to the source” to find out if the person with Miller is a law enforcement officer. My response: Happily. But to "go to the source" and ask if the man in the video is who he is suspected to be, I need, well, the video. But the Lincolnton Police Department refuses to share it.

What about WSOC’s intent to “go to the source”? Being the only apparent news organization with the full video clip in-hand, why isn’t the news station "going to the source" itself? Over the weekend, the news desk said that it had received a call from someone denying that the man in the video is who people suspect him to be. A call from whom? Is the news station taking that person’s word for it? And did it not occur to WSOC that it would be odd for someone to deny something that the news station has not accused him of?

If the man in the video isn’t the official he is suspected to be, why the hesitation to share the video? If the man in the video is the official he is expected to be, why the hesitation to share the video?

Once again, something isn't passing the smell test. And while they dig in their heels, all we're left to do is speculate …