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Town of Littleton News Archives

Home Invasion Leaves Sheriff’s Searching For Suspects

By Theresa Raymond

LITTLETON - Halifax County Sheriff’s are searching for two suspects after Halifax County Dispatchers received a phone call September 13 regarding a possible break-in.
According to Halifax County Sheriff Jeff Frasier, Halifax County Dispatch received a call at approximately 11 a.m. on September 13 saying there was a break-in. When Sheriff Deputy’s arrived on the scene at 55 Agrijohn Rd. and interviewed the victim, they learned two men aggressively entered the home demanding money.
Frasier said the two men kicked the door in and entered the house armed with handguns. Sheriff Frasier then said the men held up the victim and demanded money from her.
According to the report, when the men did not get money from the victim, they tied her by her hands and feet and put her in another room. They then searched the house looking for anything of value, and allegedly took several things before leaving in a small vehicle. The victim was not able to identify the vehicle as she was tied up and put into a room on the opposite end of the house.
The victim was in the house alone with a minor child. They were not injured in the incident.
Frasier is unsure why the victim was targeted and feels the incident could possibly have been a random target.
The incident is still under investigation and Frasier urges anyone with information to call Halifax County Crime stoppers at 583-4444 or the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office at 583-8051.

Jenkins Named Sergeant

By Theresa Raymond

LITTLETON - As the Littleton Police Department’s new sergeant, Vernon Shane Jenkins feels his compassionate and caring attitude are part of his job description. These traits, along with dedication and support for his coworkers and the citizens he protects makes Jenkins the right man for the job.
“I enjoy helping the people in this community,” Jenkins said. “this is a close community where we don’t receive a lot of calls or have a lot of problems.”
Jenkins was promoted to the sergeant position at this months Littleton Town meeting. During the meeting commissioner Terry Newsom made the motion to promote Jenkins at the request of Police Chief Mike Suggs. “We need to have someone in charge when I’m not here,” Suggs explained. “Anything could happen. In the event that something would happen or I would retire in 10 - 15 years I would like to leave the town of Littleton with someone who knows exactly what to do.”
With the new position Littleton Police will now have a more extensive chain of command which would leave someone in charge to handle the paper work or investigations on more hours of the day. Suggs explained Jenkins would now be able to cover for him at meetings with local groups and handle certain investigations, once he has finished his training. Jenkins will work closely with Suggs over the coming weeks to learn his duties.
The word of Jenkins promotion traveled to him quickly as he found out after the meeting ended. “I was honored to be recommended,” Jenkins said. “When I found out I had gotten the promotion and it was official I was excited and happy.”
The new sergeant says he owes his success in Littleton to the Police Chief because he was the reason Jenkins started working full-time in Littleton. “I was working here part-time for about six months and the chief asked me to come on full time,” Jenkins said. “He ‘s a great person to work for.”
Officer Kevin Lonesky feels the promotion was well deserved. “Jenkins is a good guy and he’s a good person to work with,” Lonesky said. “He earned this (promotion).”
Jenkins felt the same about Lonesky saying they enjoyed working together and the department runs smoothly and is successful because everyone gets along so well.
Jenkins new duties will included scheduling officers days on duty as well as helping and possibly leading investigations as well as attending meetings with local organizations such as the Department of Social Services and E911 board. He will also continue his duty of patrolling the streets of Littleton, answering calls and all the normal duties of protecting and serving the citizens of Littleton.
Jenkins was born and raised in Durham. He graduated from Durham High School and went on to study Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) at the Police Academy at Vance Granville Community College in Henderson. He graduated BLET in 1997 and immediately starting working at the Henderson Police Department. He was an officer with Henderson for seven years. He then became an officer with the Norlina Police Department for two years before joining Littleton as a part-time officer about 15 months ago. He’s been a full-time officer since January.
Jenkins lives in the small community of Cokesbury, which is just outside of Henderson, with his wife of eight years, Heather. They have two sons, Shane Jr., 7 and Wesley, 2.

Work to begin soon on Window Fashion Resource

By Maurice Emery

LITTLETON – It seems everyone in Littleton is interested in any movement surrounding the opening of Window Fashion Resource. So, when a couple of vehicles sat parked outside the new plant in Littleton it seemed like a good decision to stop and see if things were moving forward.

Much to our surprise Don Yauger, Corporate President of Window Fashion Resource and Don Willis, Littleton Economic Development Coordinator, were on hand discussing what had to be done and what funds they could use to get things moving on the project.

Yauger and Willis told the Observer that it is a done deal. Everything is all agreed upon and the paper work is at the attorneys being finalized. They let it be known that it is time to get things moving. According to Willis the initial work should start in the next thirty days. Yauger added that 180 days after the work starts they would be ready to operate.

We took the opportunity to clarify a few things regarding the plant. We asked Yauger if the information we had that this plant would be used to open up the European Market for the company he told us that he had no intention of doing anything overseas. The purpose of the Littleton plant was to have a facility on the east coast to serve the many customers they already had. He said it will allow the major players from his west coast operation to expand.

The Littleton plant would produce all the items that are produced in California plus one item that they cannot produce in California. He then informed us that the Littleton plant will be producing shutters.

Throughout our conversation he expressed how impressed he has been with the area and especially with Littleton. He was also pleased with the opportunity to be able to expand his product line in a way that was not possible in California. Yauger told the Observer that he was looking forward to getting started.
Observer photo by Maurice Emery
Don Willis (l) and Don Yauger, President of Window Fashion Resource outside of the, soon to be, new plant in Littleton

Attempted break-in leaves Littleton Police with little to go on

By Theresa Raymond

LITTLETON - Alarms rang loud late Thursday night as an unknown assailant attempted to break into the Lake Country Pawn Shop on Main Street.
Officer Kevin Lonesky of the Littleton Police Department was the first to respond to the call of an alarm going off at the Littleton store at 11:48 p.m. on September 21. According to the report filed, Lonesky arrived to find the left door glass broken and a metal pry bar hanging from the security cage.
Lonesky then called the Halifax County Sheriff’s Department to track the scent of the assailant. Halifax County Sheriff’s and the Littleton Police Department investigated any leads well into Friday morning.
Owner Bobby Pernell and his wife arrived to assess the damage, although they knew it wouldn’t be much, since they believed it would be hard to break through the security cage.
“I didn’t think they would get past these things,” Pernell stated while pointing out the security bars on the inside of the door. “It would have taken them a long time and a lot more than a crowbar to get in.”
The store suffered $452.20 in damages to the glass door, which was repaired early Friday morning.
The case is still under investigation.
littleton break in
Observer photo by Theresa Raymond
Lake Country Pawn Shop on Main Street was the target of thieves last week. Good security and response from the Littleton Police Department prevented further damage.
Hale Resigns - Clara Debnam Appointed

By Maurice Emery

LITTLETON – At a Littleton Town Meeting last Thursday Marilyn Hale, a Littleton town commissioner since 1997, resigned her position and recommended former town Commissioner Clara Debnam for her replacement. In her letter of resignation, effective Friday, Oct 6th, Hale, who was Mayor Pro-tem, also recommended that Commissioner Betty Willis be appointed to that position.

In a short Board of Commissioners meeting that had been recessed from October 2, 2006, Mayor Mason Hawfield read Hale’s letter of resignation to Commissioners. Hale, Terry Newsom, Billy Matthews, and Al Cooke were on hand and reluctantly voted to accept her resignation. Prior to making the motion to accept her resignation, in a humorous comment Commissioner Terry Newsom asked the Mayor “if we don’t make the motion to accept her resignation, does that mean she has to stay.” This was a way of highlighting how highly they regarded Hale and appreciated her service to the community.

Matthews then made the motion to accept Hale’s resignation and Cooke seconded it. It passed with a unanimous vote.

It did not take the four board members and the mayor long to make the necessary motions and vote to appoint Clara Debnam as a town commissioner and commissioner Willis as Mayor Pro tem. Willis has gone from being defeated in the last election, by Noland Parham, who won the election by a write in vote, to Mayor Pro-tem, which is a strong positive statement of how the board feels towards her.

In the only other business at the meeting Mayor Hawfield told the board that the owners of Casa Mia’s and the Manager of ABC store had asked that they allow some parking in front of the two businesses. After a short discussion a motion was made and passed to have one handicap parking space in front of Casa Mia’s and two more one hour parking spaces in front of the ABC store.

With the parking sign situation resolved the meeting was adjourned.

Law Laid Down at Town Meeting
By Theresa Raymond
LITTLETON - This month’s Littleton Town Meeting may have been short, but it was highly informative and told citizens what was lawful and unlawful.
After the usual business of approving last months budget and town meeting minutes the Mayor opened the floor to citizen’s comments.
A concerned citizen asked what was being done about the excess trash on Ferguson Street. Mayor Mason Hawfield replied the town was trying to stay on top of the problem but the street proves hard to maintain. “They trash that street,” Hawfield stated. “It’s the worst street in town.”
Commissioner Betty Willis stated if the local media did an article emphasizing the importance of not littering, then others wouldn’t litter the town’s streets. “When people see it in the paper, maybe they will follow it,” Willis said after the meeting.
Several citizens stated the problem was many people under the age of 27 don’t really have pride in their town and something needed to be done. Once person stated they saw a group of young people throwing empty soda bottles right out their car windows as they drove down that street, leaving many home owners to pick up trash in their yards. “I do the same thing at my house,” Hawfield stated. “When I come home I have to pick up trash out of my drive way as well.”
When asked if there was a law against littering, Hawfield replied there was but it’s hard to catch them. “I’m sure they aren’t going to throw trash with the police behind him,” Hawfield stated.
Hawfield did say to Littleton Police Chief Mike Suggs to look for litters and fine them accordingly.
Another citizen then asked if it was unlawful to blow grass into the street when they mow their lawns, to which the Mayor replied it was and wasn’t good for the sewer system. “It stops the sewer lines up.”
The Mayor asked for the help of Littleton Police, saying to Suggs to stop people and issue a warning at first offense. If the person continues to blowing grass into the street, he said for the police to give them a fine.
The final citizen’s comment was about broken pavement on several streets in Littleton. The Mayor replied the town wanted to make sure the funds were available before fixing any other places but asked Willis to look into.
Commissioner Willis then gave her report talking about the drop by the driveways where Ferguson was paved. After a brief discussion she resolved to put some Crush N Run to ease cars from their driveway to the road, but urged that drivers were going to have to drive slowly across it as the town was only going to put it down once.
The Mayor stated the company who paved the road was going to give him a call back on the issue.
Commissioner Al Cooke gave his report saying he was satisfied with the cemetery, looking to the citizen’s he said, “You want a good looking cemetery and you’re going to get it.”
Keith Hamm of the Waste Water Treatment Plant gave his report. He let the board know the plant suffered some damage as a result of a lighting strike on August 30. The damage has been assess and submitted to the insurance company.
After Hamm gave the water report, the Mayor asked him if he coordinated hydrant flushing’s with the Littleton Fire Department. “I do not, but I’ve informed them they don’t need to flush any hydrants anywhere,’ Hamm explained. “We are only required to flush once in a 12 month period and I flush each hydrant once even six months.” Hamm said he gives a copy of the reports from flushing the hydrants to the local fire department each time the hydrants are flushed.
The final order of business was to withdraw last month’s motion to give Halifax County 75% of tax revenue from the factory for the first five years. Hawfield said after talking with town attorney Gilbert Chichester he learned the town had to hold a public hearing before making that decision. He said Chichester is in the process of getting the notices out for the public hearing. The motion was carried to resend the previous motion pending a public hearing.
The Mayor called for the meeting to be in recess until Thursday October 5 at 6 p.m.
Once the meeting was over Cooke asked all commissioners to visit the town cemetery next week and see the changes he has made.
Town installs generator for backup to prevent backup

By Maurice Emery and Karen Hughes

The Town of Littleton has installed a generator at the waste treatment plant to help prevent backflow and overflow in the sewer system if the power goes out. If the power were to go out at the plant, the generator will automatically turn on within 10 seconds. It takes 230 kilowatts of power to run it and was installed, subcontracted and will be maintained by Cummins Atlantic Inc. out of Kenly, NC. To insure it’s operation when needed, it has scheduled times when it will turn on and run self tests throughout the month. The $130,000 investment is part of an overall upgrade of the Town’s sewer system. Town Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tem, Betty Willis, has been instrumental in seeking out and obtaining necessary funds for the improvements. Pictured above is Rick Foerderer installing the new generator.
LITTLETON GENERATOR
Town to push for Magistrate

By Maurice Emery

LITTLETON – The Littleton Town Board held its monthly meeting Monday night. The board welcomed newly approved Commissioner Clara Debnam; heard an update on the long delayed condemnation of two houses on Mosby avenue; discussed bids for new roof to the Town Hall; approved a request for the Martin Luther King Parade; approved a request to allow a retiring army man access to build a house in a limited access area of town; agreed to increase efforts to have a magistrate office in Littleton; and approved a request for a maintenance agreement for the new town generators.

Mayor Mason Hawfield called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. town commissioners in attendance were
Commissioner, Mayor pro tem, Betty Willis, Commissioner Clara Debnam and Commissioner Billy Matthews and Commissioner Al Cooke.

After opening the meeting and reciting the pledge of allegiance Mayor Hawfield welcomed Clara Debnam to the Town Board. He then moved on to the business of the board including approving the previous month’s minutes and approval for payment of a few of the town’s bills. There was a brief discussion on whether or not the town should pay for labor necessary to plant new grass seed at the cemetery. Willis felt the labor was part of a contract that the town had with West Land Services. The mayor felt this was an additional request outside of the contract and should be paid. The board agreed to table it for now.

Out of the three citizens in attendance only one had a complaint for the board. Agnes Atkins told the board there were plenty of stray dogs on Halifax street, especially around 3 p.m. Police Chief Mike Suggs acknowledged her concern and agreed to make it point to look into it.

The board then adopted a resolution in appreciation of Commissioner Marilyn Hale’s service to the Littleton community. Hale resigned her position last month when she moved out of Littleton.

The next major business was an update on the progress of trying to remove the two dilapidated homes on Mosby Ave. that the Town feels should be condemned so they can be removed. Gilbert Chichester, Town Attorney, came prepared for the discussion and apologized for the continued delay. He noted that the delay has been due to the serious illness of the Halifax County attorney. He noted that Halifax County had to handle this for the Town, but the delays have gone beyond what had been expected. He informed the board that the county attorney has apologized for the delays and assured him (Chichester) that it will be given top priority starting today.

The next major point of business was approval for getting the Town Hall roof repaired. Betty Willis went into depth in explaining the four bids that have been received. In the end it was agreed a decision would be tabled until Willis could get more information from the bidders and the insurance company.

At that point of the meeting the Mayor presented a request from Oak Grove Baptist Church to hold a Martin Luther King March on January 15th at 10 a.m. providing the state also approved. The board approved the request noting that last years parade was a success and good for the town.

The board then heard a request from a retiring army man who had land given to him in Littleton, but the unfinished town road to the property prevented him from getting to the land. After a discussion that the town attorney would draft a response to the man that the town would not improve the road but would provide an easement over the present road, without transferring title to the road, for the man to gain access to his land to build his house.

Willis then presented a request to the board to enter into a service maintenance contract for the new town generators. The board approved the request, subject to the town attorney’s approval, noting that a maintenance contract would be better to maintain the generators.

Commissioner Billy Matthews then sought approval from the board to persistently pursue Judge McCoy until we get a magistrate based in Littleton. The discussion centered around the time lost by business owners and town police personnel to go to Halifax to take care of tickets and other items handled by a magistrate. Matthews noted that some business owners could not sacrifice the time to go to Halifax to pursue legal remedies against shoplifters and other issues.

Chichester told the board that he and Suggs have talked to McCoy and feel he is close to approving a magistrate. The board agreed to stay on this issue until it is resolved.

The final business was presented by Commissioner Al Cooke who took issue with the board members who did not visit the cemetery as he had requested.
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