The High Point Enterprise from High Point, North Carolina • Page 18

tB High Point Enterprise, Friday, October IS, 1974 MATERIALS TAKEN FROM Police Officer Tells Of Attempted Frame By.YEN CARVER Enterprise Staff Writer A High Point police officer alleged Thursday that Chief Laurie Pritchett had arranged to involve him in an attempt to frame Capt. George Leverett, "The sole purpose (of the affair) was to get me so that a Leverett," Lt. J. T. Rich testified Thursday in the police hearings.

"You can believe it or you can not believe, 1 don't care. I've been waiting two years to tell it." Rich said the incident began during the July 4 weekend, shortly after news of the police theft ring scandal broke in 1972. While at dentist's office, he said, he was summond by Maj. Stewart Hartley to appear in i i i mediately. Upon arriving, he found "the chief, Capt.

a McSwain, Maj. Hartley and a tape recorder." Rich was told then, he recalled Thursday, that an Officer Anderson had involved him in the theft ring. Earlier on Thursday, Officer Jerry W. Cook testified about a trip to Kentucky in 1972 seeking Anderson, who had moved there shortly before. The reason that Rich may been suspected as a part of the theft ring, according to the two men's testimony, was a conversation during a tennis game involving Anderson, Cook and Rich in late June.

Rich said he was supposed to have stated "some of the police officers seem to live better than others." The lieutenant added on the stand, however: "If the conversation happened, I don't remember it." During the meeting in the chief's office, Rich was told to appear before a larger meeting two days later with all of the captains in the department. "I said I would be there with my lawyer," Rich testified. When he arrived at the meeting, he found that three of the captains a a a "weren't going to have any part of the frame." Only Capt. a a he said, appeared in favor of the chief. Academy Orgy' Related By Pen dry By FORREST CATES Enterprise City Editor "I like the man.

He has been good to me." That statement came Thursday from High Point Police Capt. Larry Pendry. He was talking about Police Chief Laurie Pritchett. It had an unfamiliar ring. Until Pendry took the stand, no one had been so emphatic in declaring allegiance for the police chief in Council hearings into alleged misdeeds within the department.

Chief Pritchett, absent because of illness, has been the central figure in much of the testimony from officers in the hearings being held by the City Council. Now is the time for rebuttal of previous testimony, and more is being heard which is favorable to the chief. Pendry said the fact that the chief prompted hirft from lieutenant to captain just before he went on sick leave two weeks ago has nothing to do with his regard for the chief. "I've been accused of being a Pritchett man. I guess I am.

I like the man. He has been good to me. I don't mean just because he gave me a promotion." The 18-year veteran of the department gave the Council his version of a platoon party at the police academy in 1968. He said he was invited by an officer to attend "I was asked to come, I believe, by A. C.

Ray, to have a steak and drink a little whisky," he stated. Later in the evening, while the party was in progress, he said, two of the officers came in with a woman. He said he ordered them to "get that woman out of here" and they left, only to reappear inside later. That happpened four times in all, he stated. When he would order the woman removed, officers would take her out, but show up later in another section of the building.

At one point, he said, he saw the woman on a table and several gathered around her. Asked if he saw a sex orgy, testified to earlier, Pendry replied: "No, I didn't." He said he finally ordered all the officers to leave the premises, and he closed up the academy. Pendry said he was dismayed over the interest which has been stirred in the academy incident. "People seem to have lost all human compassion for people. There are 12 families (of men who attended the party) involved here.

I don't know who's getting a kick out of this. I don't know what turns some people on," Pendry declared in a sudden outburst. In further testimony, he branded testimony given by Patrolman James Keever as concerning him as a lie. "Mr. Keever is a liar," he stated.

Keever has testified that Pendry told him to stay away from the Rac 'n Cue, an alleged gambling operation, if "I value my job." Pendry said he stopped ofr under his command from using loud speakers on patrol cars to harass the management of the Rac 'n Cue from outside the establishment. "We got a complaint. I said, 'Knock it off. You can't do this. If you can get in (the building), do it, but don't harass the whole neighborhood." OFFICIALS OPTIMISTIC (FROM PAGE IB) aware that inventories at some furniture stores are high; On the other hand, he said retailers know that in order to keep their businesses going, they are "going to have to have attractive merchandise" including new designs and "prices that are attractive." The retailers, he said, face the same problems with customers at home as manufacturers do at the market: they must do all they can to entice people to buy.

Meeks said manufacturers have put "a total effort" into making goods desirable and saleable. He said they have brought out a great amount of new offerings and that they have' made very effort to price these as attractively as they can. He pointed out that this "is still an undecided market" and that manufacturers can't really assess how business will be and whether retailers will buy. Fine said manufacturers have been saying wait until Friday. He said their attitude is "yes, we have merchandise, yes, we can ship it, and yes, when would you like it." He also called attention to new fabrics from Belgium and France and to new stylings "up to as much as at any market." A number of manufacturers are getting into new areas, such as case goods a a i accessories also.

Gruenberg said manufacturers are offering "the greatest amount of new merchandise in the past few years." This includes Early American, Country, Traditional and Contemporary. He said there is not as much Mediterranean as in past years. Fine said he had expected to see more early American for the approaching bicentennial. Overall, more than 900 manufacturers are expected to show in display buildings and in factory showrooms. They will use about 4,000,000 square feet of space to set out their offerings.

Gruenberg said 465 of these manufacturers are in the SFMC. Pendry said that he hasn't been "saUsifed" with the department since he joined it in 1957. "That's when the split was going on. It's just different players now," he stated. "If it's just to get Pritchett, I don't know why.

They will just get a new one (chief) and get rid of him in two weeks if they don't like him," he said. Pendry acknowledged that he once offered to make available a test paper for a Civil Service test for the position of captain on the police department to another officer. He said he told the now- Maj. Stewart Hartley, that there was a copy of the test for captain in a desk at the academy at a time when Hartley was competing for a promotion. He said he was kidding Hartley, knowing that he would not accept.

Hartley declined, he stated, adding: "I didn't even have a key to the academy." BRUTALITY (FROM PAGE IB) was kicking. She got back up, and we went "down on the floor. I wound up sitting on top of her. I handcuffed her and lifted her up by both arms." About this time, Hill said, Woods was becoming "a little loud" and had to be returned to the chair he was sitting in twice by the other officer present, J. D.

Walton. Under questioning from Investigator Luke Wright, Hill denied the charges that he had beaten Miss Elkin's face in the floor or that he had pulled her hair. Hill was also asked by Councilman Roy Culler whether he had manhandled Woods, and he issued an equally strong denial. Hill conceded that no test was administered on Woods, but pointed out that such tests are given only those people arrested for drunken driving. The charge against Woods was public drunkenness.

The magistrate, Mattocks, gave testimony similar to Hill's. He said that when Woods was brought into his office that night, Miss Elkins grabbed Hill "around the neck and was slapping him in the face." J. D. Walton, the last witness to the incident to testify Thursday, also confirmed the other men's Zoo Displays Three Bison ASHEBORO The North Carolina Wildlife Federation has donated three bison from a a to the North Zoological Park which are now on display at the zoo on Purgatory Mountain. Bill Hoff, zoo director, announced the arrival of ths bison Thursday when they were placed on public display.

The wildlife group got the bison, including an 8-year-old cow, from the Nebraska fish and wildlife department. Hoff said the cow can be bred and offsprings may be put into a planned animal petting section for children. In addition to the cow, 2- year-old bull and a female calf were donated. (NtOMFAGf II) whether the bill was for cling or plywood. Howell testified that he was told by Lt.

James Pagan, now retired, that the wiring for the lake cabin was "at the academy." When he ran out of materials, he said, Fagan said: "I think we've got some more at the academy." Howell said Pritchett paid him $75 for his work. The chief also paid him for electrical work he did in remodeling a garage at the chief's house, he stated. While he was on the stand, Howell took the occasion to a a a leadership from stem to stern. Stating that the Council had heard from a "bunch of professional liars" in the hearings, he said: "I hear talk that there are no cliques. I can go back three chiefs and tell you that is a lie.

There were cliques under the administrations of Chief (Roy) Teague and (C. Stoker. When they got to i i a ministration, there was a three-way split and it's been like that all the time under this administration." The i i of leadership in the upper ranks is the beat patrolman, "the a department," he said. "I am speaking this in a of a of patrolmen who are scared of their jobs they are petrified. These patrolmen a i a a leadership." The patrolmen, whom he characterized as "peons," are kept in the dark about their retirement benefits and i i a department's PI (planning and inspections) Unit, he stated.

Pritchett once hired a policeman who had been fired from the Greensboro force for "shacking up" with another policeman's wife, Howell stated and assigned him to PI. "He was brought into the department and put on PI to go out here and spy on good officers." The men were very resentful, he stated, and finally the officer left the force. A by a i member why this was not reported, Howefl exclaimed: "Who was I going to say it to in the department? Who was i i (Pritchett)?" "Since I've been in this a I've seen enough good honest men fired because a supervisor didn't like him to reach from Knox Bridge to Mechanicsville, if you know where that is," Howell told councilmen. Howell said he had been a i contributions to the police retirement fund, but had never received an accounting of its status. "This has baffled the entire work force for years," he said.

City a a Harold Cheek was asked about the retirement fund. He said that it is administered by a board consisting of himself, Chief Pritchett, Capt. O.K. Leak, City Councilman Sam Burford and Mayor Paul Clapp. i a audited, he said, adding: "I can tell you that the fund is in very good shape." During questioning by Council members, Howell testified that he had been warned in two telephone calls about testifying at the hearings.

He could not identify the callers, he said. Later in the Thursday session, one of Pritchett's staff officers, Sgt. C. R. Goff, was called at the request of a Council member, Bob Wells.

Wells questioned him primarily concerning his role in an investigation which the chief ordered after hearing Pugh Elected Oil Director ASHEVILLE Richard K. Pugh of Asheboro, outgoing president of the North Carolina Oil Jobbers was elected to serve as a director of the National Oil Jobbers Council at the annual convention held this week in Asheville. Pugh, a member of the Randolph County Board of Commissioners, will represent the state's oil jobbers at the national convention in Colorado Springs, Oct. The Randolph native has been active in the state oil jobbers association, having served as a director, fuel oil treasurer, vice president and president. He was honored at a reception and banquet Tuesday evening for this service to the industry through the association.

that another city employe, Horace Stepp, had made remarks about him. Goff Mid the chief sent him to interview persons who were supposed to have heard Stepp make the remarks. The chief, he said, had received reports that Stepp, chief technician in the traffic engineering division, had "made comments concerning his house at High Rock Lake. "He asked me to interview the people who were supposed to have been present when the comments were made," Goff said. He stated that he talked with three associates of Stepp but they didn't hearing the remarks.

He added that he was not instructed to interview Stepp and didn't. A a a Pritchett's response when he reported on his interviews, Goff stated: "Well, how about a shrug, you know? There was no particular reaction that would be significant in any way." Councilman Arnold Koonce pressed Goff as to whether he thought his investigation in the Stepp matter was a "proper function" of his position as head of the "plan- i i i i department. Goff repeatedly countered with the contention that he would not judge the chief's action. "I really have no opinion. It was just another assignment," he stated.

He said later, "Proper or improper, it was an assignment given to me by the chief." Questioned as to his opinion of department efficiency, Goff acknowledged that there is "disagreement with a i i i a procedures." "The chief," he stated, "has made every effort to bring the department together. hasn't been successful in every way, but it is not that he has not tried." As for the chief, he stated: "I will not judge him. I will leave that for somebody else." OFFICER (FROM PAGE IB) his account. Sometime afterward, the two pictures of the opossum i Pritchett's desk. Madden admitted making the pictures and was thereupon demoted.

He appealed to the Civil Service Commission, but the chief's decision stood. Greensboro Officer's Testimony Is Denied By JOE BROWN Enterprise Editor Lt. Woodrow Crlsco, with 21 years of police service, said Thursday that he was astounded by testimony a week ago from a veteran Greensboro detective captain that he (Crisco) had been involved in bungled investigations. Capt. W.

H. Jackson had said that in 1969 or 1970 the Greensboro department had learned details of a planned burglary in High Point, had notified police here and had come over to assist in an ambush. But Lt. Crisco and another officer had left him and his men cooling their heels in an office for three hours before they gave up and went home, the burglary went off as scheduled and was never solved. Not so, Crisco said Thursday night to the City Council as it sat as a hearing board.

Crisco said since the Jackson testimony, he had searched the files and come up with a 1967 report of a theft which largely paralleled the facts as Capt. Jackson had given them, but that was the extent of what he knew. "I've known Capt. Jackson for 15 years and have even been to the same schools with him probably since these events and he's never mentioned a word of what he said at this hearing I thought he was a friend of mine. I couldn't understand his testimony and think a i remember right." Crisco had the same reaction to Jackson's story about a burglarized safe and a subsequent telephone conversation in which he quoted Crisco as having said he might come over to Greensboro and "steal the money back." The lieutenant remembered a safe robbery -among hundreds, he said i i Jackson testimony description.

He related details of the 1968 bur- burglary and the subsequent covery of part of the money from a man thought to be a sometime SBI informant. But he categorically denied having any such telephone conversation with Jackson and added that he was entirely unaware of any Greenboro invoivement in that case. He described a as "a i respected officer. I've never had any problem working with him." And he added, in answer to questions, that he had never seen Jackson in High Point. "No, I've never seen" him over here in my life," As to the events which brought the police department to the point of a public investigation, Crisco said the revelation of a theft ring within the department in 1972 hurt everybody.

"Everybody began to doubt everybody else." "Does this feeling exist among new men in the department?" asked Councilman Arnold Koonce. "We've got a lot of good young men, but some of them say they will leave the department when this thing is over. They don't want to be a part of an organization in which everybody criticizes everybody else." As for himself, Crisco says he doesn't have the answers for getting the department "back together." He added that he has had no trouble getting along with other people. NO THREATS MADE, OFFICER TESTIFIES (FROM PAGE IB) fice. He said he picked up the pistol, and aimed it toward a filing cabinet, but never pointed it in the direction of the secretary.

In her testimony, Ms. Hargett said that she had been told by an officer on one occasion that policemen had i themselves" to merchandise following a break-in at Sears- Roebuck across the street the police station. Under examination, she identified that officer as Cooley. Cooley testified Thursday that he had no recollection of any such conversation. While testifying before the supper break, Smith told councilmen that he had searched the files and found only two instances of break- ins at Sears since 1969, which was as far as current records go- Mayor Paul Clapp advised Council members that he knew of another break-in and had supplied Luke Wright, the investigator for the Council, with a copy of the theft report.

Wright could not find it among his papers. When the Council convened a the a Smith presented reports for three break-ins at the Sears store and warehouse. He said he searched and found them during the supper break. He said all but one had been cleared by arrests. Clapp also had secured another copy of the break-in report to which he had 'earlier referred.

It occurred on Dec. 24, 1969. The report showed that a i a $3,500 in merchandise was stolen, but only $186 worth recovered when the alleged culprits were arrested. Clapp drew no conclusions from that, stating only that he "thought the Council would a this i mation." The break-in occurred about two years before the operation of a theft ring within the police department was disclosed. Smith said that things within the police department have come to such a state that he is ready to quit after eight years of service.

"1 have every when my name is cleared, to turn in my badge," he told Council members. "When I think that one person in this town could get up here and tell all the lies that have been told on me, then my job is not worth it." That statement dismayed several members of the Council who were obviously impressed by Smith's rebuttal to the a a i "Please don't do that," com-, menled Councilman Frank Wood. Smith amended his statement by saying that he would quit "unless something drastic happens to improve this department." CITY COUNCIL MUST DECIDE (FROM PAGE IB) not to believe their story. And that's all I have to say about that." Mrs. Gray: "It seems to me that common sense would tell you to get both sides." Wright: "I think I've used as much common sense since I've been here as you have." The exchange brought a round of applause from the audience.

As Sgt. H. G. Smith was testifying about records of burglaries at Sears- Roebuck, Mayor Clapp asked about one case which Smith had not mentioned. Mrs.

Gray snapped out a question at Clapp about how he knew of such things when it became apparent that he had furnished data to i Clapp snapped back, "Didn't you know, Mrs. Gray? I'm a detective." A little later, Councilman Frank Wood had a brief exchange with Clapp over the same matter. Shortly after the evening session began, Wood left the hearing room and did not return. Much of the evening testimony was in the form of monologue presentations by three senior officers of the department, all of. whom identified themselves at one time or another as generally considered to be "Pritchett a fact for which they offered no apology.

Lt. Woodrow Crisco said, "I've never had any trouble working with anyone. Some people label me as a Pritchett man. I'm not. But as long as I work for him I am a Pritchett man." He, like the others, suggested that the open hearings were producing permanent rifts within the department.

Capt. Larry Pendry, who won his promotion from lieutenant two weeks ago, decried the fact that "people seem to have lost all compassion for people." He commented on the occasional bursts of applause from the audience: "It seems to a somebody cuts somebody down. I just don't see it." He continued: "People have come up here and lied not stretching the truth they have LIED." And he said the divisions in the department have extended to divisions in the court system, among magistrates, in the City Council and among attorneys. "Even in this courtroom, the Pritchett people are sitting on that side and the Leverett people on the other." As for Pritchett: "Hike the man. He's been nice to me And Lt.

Shaw Cooke, whose recitation was cut short by a court stenographer's tape machine malfunction and then a decision- to adjourn until Monday, described both himself and Pritchett. as i a "I'm a professional," he said. "I don't care if people like me or not. All I want is your respect. I don't want you to give it, I want to earn.it." The Thursday witnesses also included former Mayor William Bencini who had been absent on Wednesday when Wright called up a number of business and school people to be heard on their thoughts of the successes of the department.

Bencini said that during his administration (1971-73) the police department and the fire department were the two phases of city government of which he was most proud. "It distresses me that anything would happen to tarnish the good opinion" that he said visitors to the city get from their contacts with police and firemen. Our Purpose: HTo Serve You Well With Respect handle lptaih, make all arrangements, in strict compliance ii-ith the family's every rrfiitfilinn in upon concern for nil. HAIZLIP FUNERAL HOME, INC. Phone 882-4131 206 Fourth Street High Point 108 Church Street -Thomasville i Oakwood Memorial Park Mausoleum Nearing Completion Pre-Consrruction Prices Cost Less Than Ground Burial 312 Montlitu Higft Point T.I.

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