County to release statement re: animal-services manager

More details on Iredell County Animal Services Manager Chris Royal should be released tomorrow.

Human Resources Director Sandra Gregory declined to comment on Royal's current employment status with the county. Royal was suspended with pay on March 15 pending an investigation into an anonymous letter that alleged Royal has improperly euthanized animals and sold county-impounded livestock for her own personal gain.

Gregory said Iredell County Manager Ron Smith will issue a press release tomorrow afternoon.

A few more details ...

For more details on this week's suspension of Chris Royal, Iredell County's animal-services manager, read the Statesville Record & Landmark's article here.

Iredell's animal-services manager suspended; investigation underway

Iredell County has placed its animal-services manager, Chris Royal, on paid suspension pending the results of an internal investigation.

The investigation is in response to "some reported issues at Animal Services and Control," Iredell County Human Resources Director Sandra Gregory said this morning.

She said Royal was placed on "investigatory suspension" on March 15. "This, of course, is not an indication of Ms. Royal being guilty of any accusations, but rather to allow the management team to conduct a thorough and unbiased investigation," Gregory said.

Citing personnel, Gregory said that at this time, "information from the investigation is not public record." She said, however, that the county should be completing its investigation this week. "Perhaps after the investigation is completed, there may potentially be information that can be released to the public."

Redmond a no-show at mediation for sexual-harassment suit; case now moves to court

It appears the sexual-harassment civil case against Iredell County Sheriff's Deputy Ben Jenkins is headed to court, after mediation yesterday proved unsuccessful.

In fact, apparently Sheriff Phil Redmond - who is named in the suit - didn't show up.

Two women - Suzanne Wick and Lisa Mangiardi - say that Jenkins sexually harassed them after they turned to the sheriff's office for help when they found themselves victims of domestic abuse.

They are suing Redmond for failure to investigate Jenkins, who is still employed by the sheriff's office.

A trial could begin as early as January 2014, said Joshua VanKampen, attorney for Wick and Mangiardi.

For more, read this from WSOC-TV.

Meanwhile, an online petition has been created in an effort to garner enough support to move Iredell County's board of commissioners to investigate the Domestic Violence Unit of Iredell County's Sheriff's Department. So far, the petition has more than 4,000 signatures, though it is unclear how many of those are specifically from Iredell County residents.

A Facebook group - "Stop Sexual Abuse of Domestic Violence Victims" - has also been formed.

Former commissioner hoping for return to town board

Does the name Frank Owens ring a bell?

The former Mooresville commissioner - who served two terms on the town board before losing his seat to Frank Rader in 2005 - wants back in.

Owens announced yesterday he plans to seek Mac Herring's Ward 3 seat this November.

You can bank on the town's purchase of MI-Connection being a major talking-point in Owens' campaign. Not only was the former police captain ousted in 2005 by Frank Rader, who became MI-Connection's loudest cheerleader (and was later voted out of office himself), but Mac Herring - who currently holds the Ward 3 seat - voted in favor of the town's purchase of the system. Herring was re-elected to his seat four years ago, despite his vote.

For more on this news, check out the Mooresville Tribune.

Ex-wife of accused deputy to help case against him

The ex-wife of Iredell County Sheriff's Deputy Ben Jenkins is helping the women who have filed a sexual-harassment lawsuit against the deputy:

Read more by WSOC-TV here:

WSOC story

Cops kicked out of local restaurant; owner later apologizes

The owner of Isy Bell's restaurant has issued a Facebook apology for apparently kicking three Mooresville police detectives out of his establishment during lunch yesterday.

“I am deeply sorry for the words that I spoke,” reads a statement that Owner Mike Kabouris posted on Isy Bells' Facebook page earlier this afternoon. “I welcome all detectives and officers into my establishment. The world needs more people like you to protect our community.”

Calling the incident a “misunderstanding,” Kabouris' statement continued: “Isy Bell's Cafe welcomes all law enforcement and has the utmost respect for you.”

But apparently, officers haven't felt welcomed or respected by Kabouris for quite some time. Of yesterday's incident, Mooresville Police Chief Carl Robbins said: “I don't know the story behind his reasoning, but I have known for a long time that he does not care for us.”

While the detectives themselves aren't speaking officially about what happened, Facebook has been abuzz the past 24 hours with statuses and messages about yesterday's incident, some of them speculating that Kabouris is angry at local law-enforcement officers because of the September arrest of his son for speeding to elude arrest.

Kabouris wasn't available for comment at Isy Bell's this afternoon.

“In all fairness to him,” said Robbins, “I don't know if his displeasure is directed toward all law enforcement or just the Mooresville Police Department.”

Robbins said police officers must understand that “some people will not like us as law-enforcement officers for a variety of reasons.” However, he said, “We have to accept this and continue to treat everyone with respect and fairness.

“As a business owner, (Kabouris) can make decisions that we may not agree with, but we need to respect them and stay above the fray as professional police officers.”

Robbins said Kabouris has not called him to complain or to ban officers from Isy Bell's in general.