| February
19, 2004 |
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| Rose
Arrested in Daring Patrol Car Theft |
| |
The Burke
County Sheriff's Office, plagued with a shortage of patrol cars due to county
budget woes, find themselves even more lacking after a theft of a patrol
vehicle from their parking lot.
The theft wasn't perpetrated in the
usual manner of a car thief, however. Authorities say they witnessed a
Morganton man in a logging truck pick up a patrol car with the truck's
hydraulic arm, put it in the back of an International box-type truck, and drive
off. |
Jeffery Rose |
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 |
Deputies ran
after the man, later identified as Jeffery Grady Rose, 33, of 4064 South Park
Boulevard, Morganton, in the parking lot and shouted for him to stop as he
drove away, but the man ignored their commands. |
|
| Several officers got into patrol cars and chased
the International truck to the intersection of Government Drive and Enola Road,
where the truck was disabled after a Burke County Narcotics Task Force officer
shot out the front tire. Witnesses said Rose was driving toward the officer
when the shot was fired. |
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| After a brief struggle, Rose was taken into
custody and brought back to the Sheriff's Office as detectives prepared
warrants for his arrest. |
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 |
The carnage was evident in
the parking lot of the Sheriff's Office, as glass was littering a parking space
from the patrol vehicle's shattered windows. Another patrol car parked beside
the spot where the cruiser was taken appeared to |
be damaged in the incident. Officers secured the
area with crime scene tape until detectives could photograph the scene. |
| |
| "I've been in law enforcement for twenty-seven
year, and thought I had seen it all," said Burke County Major Lee Turner. "This
is a first for me." |
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| "He's a disturbed individual who has a vendetta
against law enforcement," stated Major David Pendley. "The Burke County
Narcotics Task Force had a recent incident with him in which they almost were
forced to shoot him." |
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| According to several deputies, Rose was seen in
the parking lot the day before in the same International truck. |
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| "We believe he was checking the parking lot
yesterday in order to plan his attack, and obviously he brought the plan to
fruition today," Pendley said. |
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| Rose was charged by Detective Robert Beall with
assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly vehicle, felonious larceny,
possession of stolen goods, and damage to personal property. He was jailed
under a $50,000 secured bond and will have a first court appearance tomorrow.
|
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| Officials also learned that outstanding warrants
were issued against Rose on February 10th by the U.S. Marshal's Office,
accusing him of manufacturing methamphetamine. Service of the federal warrants
are pending. |
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