One Week Later Still Few Details About The HT SouthPark Robbery

Harris Teeter's Flagship Store at Morrocroft was the scene of a strong arm robbery last Sunday. Yet still details are few.

However here's one detailed take sent CP's way:

Interesting story there at the Taj MaTeeter.  I was in there the next day with my 88 year old Mom, was unaware of what took place.

I looked at four different written media accounts of the incident and this is how the "suspects" were described:

"...the unknown suspects..."

"...three suspects, two females and one male. They left the scene in an unknown vehicle."

"...a group of people tried to get away with items from the Harris Teeter..."

"...unknown suspects attempted to steal merchandise from the business..."

So the full extent of the the facts known about the suspects is:  1. There were 3 of them.  2.  One man, two women.

With so many people at the Teeter witnessing and/or being involved in this surely the press was unable to secure any details like height, weight, hair color, clothing details, race, etc...?  Make/model/color of the vehicle?  Surely there were cameras all over the place, why aren't pictures of these criminals being circulated?

I commend those Teeter employees for not allowing them to leave with the merchandise.  That said, obviously there are risks to stopping thugs like this but the trend we are on cannot be allowed to continue.  I routinely see this happen at the Park Rd. Shopping Center Teeter and the employees don't do a thing about it, and said employees have confirmed they have been instructed to look the other way.

Thing about it is, those same employees know exactly who is going to be doing the stealing the moment the enter the store...

To the credit of the East Blvd. Teeter, during a recent visit I noticed they had a very large, burly, ARMED, security guard on duty.  I chatted him up and he absolutely no way anyone's just walking out with merchandise on his watch!

I think it would be interesting to reach out to Harris-Teeter corporate and write a story on this topic.  How often do they allow people to leave without paying?  How much do the losses add up to?  What is their official policy on people actually having to pay, or not?  How much extra are those of us who actually pay for our groceries charged to account for those who don't?

It's so bad at Park Rd. that recently I saw a guy [6'2", 240lbs, black hair, African American] put a bunch good in a cart, walk straight out (with the cart) completely unimpeded, turn right and head up the driveway and then left on the sidewalk, and then proceed down Park Rd. to locations unknown, with the shopping cart.  The Harris Teeter people did nothing.

Funny thing is the guy who did the stealing was panhandling in front of the store on my way in, asked me for $10 to "put gas in my car".  Those employees knew he was going to steal the moment he walked in, and I'd bet it wasn't his first time doing so in that store. 

Do you ever read this website?  https://meckburbia.blogspot.com/2024/08/burning-man-festival-charlotte-style.html

The blogger/s is/are very well connected in to police and legal community and many of the posts in the comment sections (can get a bit unhinged!) are made by active Charlotte PD. 

What's it going to take to get back to holding people accountable?  You know during the crack epidemic things were worse and finally regular folks had had enough and the police were allowed to restore order...

President Trump is advocating for restoring stop & frisk*....CMPD needs to be allowed to bring back the Jump Out Boys!

End of rant!!

*PS...I support stop & frisk and having lived in NYC for 20 years I can personally attest that those stopped aren't limited to young black males.  As a middle aged white male it happened to me on 3 different occasions.  Nothing ever came of it but I did modify my behaviour going forward!

CP's The last word. 

Big hat tip to the above writer. 

You have to wonder why the silence from the local media why the dismissive and apparent acceptance that Charlotte is a big city and these things are to be expected. 

Note that the original story from WCNC was broadcasted stating the the bear spray came from someone trying to stop the theft. Almost as if people who try to stop smash and grab thieves are the bad guys. No WCNC the bear spray that injured HT shoppers and employees was the weapon used by the thieves. 

stated . 

Observer Home Delivery Comes To The End

Death of The Observer

Seriously have you noticed? The Charlotte Observer will no longer be that "wet thing" in the driveway. The "local paper" has suspended or rather ended home delivery and now will offer a print edition only on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The print edition will be delivered by the US Postal Service.  

The sound of the paper hitting the driveway before dawn has been notice that dawn is on the way for my entire life. Latey the Charlotte Observer in the driveway was a sure sign that the home belonged to a retired "boomer" locked in the past.

But beyond the loss of home delivery there is also the lack of news reporting.

The Observer doesn't have the staff or perhaps any staff. No they will report news on line but only print the news 3 times a week.

I give them two years tops a total merger with Raleigh's New and Observer within six months.

CMPD

The CMPD PIO seldom reports about shootings, local news media has limited coverage, the few reporters who do work weekends are not covering the crime "beat" and generally unless it is a major news event your best hope for learning of a shooting, murder or robbery is on NextDoor.

Steel Creek has become "Da Hood" known as "Da Creek" crime is 24 / 7 there and it is Charlotte's biggest crime meca.

Still this is the only report of a shooting in "Da Creek" from overnight:

Two people are currently in the hospital after a shooting overnight in southwest Charlotte.

Medic said it happened outside of a business in the Yorkmount neighborhood off of South Tryon Street.

Emergency crews were called to the area around 1:30 a.m.

We are asking CMPD what led up to this shooting and if anyone will face charges.

This is a developing story and we will provide updates as they become available.

If you want to know about Crime in the Q City you might as well watch television:

In the criminal justice system..... 

South Charlotte makes the news because normally bad things happen elsewhere:

A child is dead and four others are seriously hurt after a crash in a south Charlotte neighborhood Saturday afternoon, Medic said.

Medic confirmed it responded to a crash near Sharon View Road and Chadwick Place, just off Colony Road around noon. A total of five people were taken to the hospital, Medic said. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department later confirmed a the child was pronounced dead by hospital staff.

Sharon View Road between Chadwick Place and Beckford Drive is expected to be closed for several hours, according to CMPD. 

As of publication, further details about the child were not yet available.

Karen Farst, a neighbor in the area, said she heard a "huge bump" Saturday.

"Then I looked and said 'my gosh there's been an accident,'" she added.

Ellen Yingling also lives nearby and said drivers along the road don't tend to follow the speed limit.

"We walk out here regularly, our kids ride their bikes out here," she told WCNC Charlotte. "The speed limit is 35 - no one really ever goes 35."

Farst lamented the child's passing.

"They just don't understand what it's like. In a split second, the person you love most is gone," she said.

The news is of course seriously lacking but that's what we get. Tease headlines and spam camouflaged as news links are the new normal.

Street Take Overs - CMPD Makes Arrests - Meck Judges and DA Dismiss Charges

The headline grabbing stories from last weekend:

"Two people were arrested and 20 citations were issued" show up all around Charlotte's conventional news sources.

Last weekend local news spoke of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department disrupting “street takeovers,” 

CMPD said it worked with the N.C. State Highway Patrol to respond to six locations throughout the night, including one where a person was hit by a vehicle. The person was transported to the hospital with serious injuries. In May, CMPD seized a vehicle and issued seven citations during street takeovers in uptown and NoDa.

From the local paper:

Police seized five cars and two guns last weekend. One of the cars in south Charlotte had erupted into flames and was left abandoned at Arrowood Road and Interstate 77, police said. CMPD’s public affairs unit did not respond to questions Wednesday about where the six locations were and what the two arrested people were charged with. Street takeovers are when drivers close off streets for racing and doing tricks like burnouts in an intersection while onlookers gather to watch and film.

Last year, CMPD held a news conference about street takeovers, and said police towed or seized 12 vehicles in February 2023 alone. During that press conference, the department said policing street takeovers can be difficult because officers cannot quickly identify drivers, and often, the drivers aren’t the owners of the vehicles and lack proper registration. Plates are often removed or switched with another vehicle. 

Drivers rarely stop for police, and CMPD’s pursuit policy does not allow officers to chase unless someone committed a crime dangerous to life, police said. Reckless and aggressive driving doesn’t meet the threshold. But a law went into effect in December to introduce new penalties for these events.

But once the headlines fad, little is done to these thugs and idiots and the street racing continues.

Here's the story of just of one of these clowns arrested back in July from a local news station:

CMPD says a repeat street takeover suspect has been arrested. Police say 21-year-old Dekhole Figueiredo-Clark was arrested following a vehicle pursuit.

On July 13th, officers who were proactively monitoring for street racing and street takeover events responded to a Dodge Charger doing donuts in a parking lot off Freedom Drive.

During the donuts, the vehicle hit a pedestrian and fled the scene without checking on the pedestrian’s condition.

The Charger proceeded to drive recklessly onto I-485 and West Boulevard, speeding over 100 mph, weaving through traffic and running red lights, according to CMPD.

Officers attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle on Clanton Road but the driver did not stop, resulting in a vehicle pursuit with assistance from NC State Highway Patrol and the CMPD’s Aviation Unit.

The pursuit ended when the vehicle was disabled by stop sticks, according to a news release.

Figueiredo-Clark was arrested and charged with the following:

Felony fleeing to elude (2 Counts)

Reckless Driving

No Operator’s License

Displaying a fictitious tag

Street takeover

Possession of marijuana

Figueiredo-Clark’s Dodge Charger was towed for evidence and officers seized 25 grams of suspected marijuana, according to a news release.

On Thursday August 1, 2024 Figueiredo-Clark appeared in Mecklenburg County Courtroom of Judge Fritz Mercer, Jr.  The assistant DA Maria Fernanda Caino represented the Meck County DAs office.

Within 30 minutes all charges were dismissed and Figueiredo-Clark's car was released back to him.

Liberal Mecklenburg County Judges are not just soft on crime they just don't give a truck.

The suspect hit a spectator then hit a light pole drove at speeds of 100 miles a hour doesn't have a driver's license, the CMPD Helo had to be called in to follow him and the costs to tax payers is insane and less than two weeks later the charges are dismissed.

In fact since 2020 Figueiredo-Clark has been arrested or ticketed in 15 cases all but 3 have been dismissed. 

The 2020 charges appear to all have been dismissed due to COVID.

A January 2024 arrest resulted in a guilty plea tp speeding and the charges for No Operators License and Reckless Driving were dismissed. 

But Figueiredo-Clark's troubles might not be over just yet because on August 19 the DA's office refiled the dismissed July 13th charges via a grand jury bill of indictment which was returned in the state's favor. The defendant will have to appear once again in court on September 30th.

Charges from a December 9, 2023 street take-over has been continued until later this month.

Then the NC SHP stepped up and filed charges based on evidence determined during the investigation of the July 13th incident. State Troopers issued charges stemming from a chase that occurred during the same night. Those charges are:

Flee/Elude Arrest with a Motor Vehicle (Felony)

Fail to Heed Light or Siren

Speeding (150 in a 55)

Aggressive Driving

 Figueiredo-Clark's first appearance on those charges is October 21, 2024.

CP will let you know if and when those charges are dismissed.

. 

Throw-Back Thursday

Things have become far too serious so y'all just keep this in mind. My guess is this is how you'd like to be remembered:

Jim Rhyne, 91, spent his days chasing moonshiners and keeping the roads safe.


Jim Rhyne's memories are lampposts along a forgotten road.

They help us see the unsung early days of North Carolina's highway patrol.

Leaving Lincoln County in 1939 to become a trooper, Rhyne had a colorful career that included chasing moonshiners over dizzying mountain roads.

Among those wild runners of genuine bust-head white liquor was future NASCAR legend Junior Johnson.

Rhyne, who turned 91 back in 2008, worked manhunts and roadblocks, hurricanes and routine traffic stops. The N.C. Highway Patrol was born in 1929, the year the stock market crashed.

Rhyne came on board 10 years later. He lived in the Long Shoals community of Lincoln County and worked in a textile mill.

Rhyne spent June, July and August at the patrol's Basic School in Flat Rock. A classmate was Ed Guy, later known as the “father of the Breathalyzer” system in North Carolina.

The starting salary for a trooper was $100 a month. Rhyne drove a sleek new Ford coupe, known as a “Silver Bullet.”

Trooper Jim Rhyne standing next to his 1939 Ford coupe,

“The Silver Bullet.” COURTESY OF THE RHYNE FAMILY

The car had no heater or air conditioner. The radio had better night-time reception from South America than North Carolina.

Rhyne wore a felt hat, and his uniform was the same weight in the summer or winter.

Cranking up the “Silver Bullet,” Rhyne began patrolling Yadkin County, his first duty station.

During Rhyne's years as a trooper, he also chased many a moonshiner.

“One incident stands out in my mind,” he told me. “I stopped this car and he (the driver) had taken out the back seat and had a blanket with his children sitting on it. And underneath the blanket were 5-gallon cans of moonshine.”

Rhyne's tires squealed all over country hills and hollows, and staying on the road was sometimes a challenge.

“The roads were paved but very crooked,” he said. “When chasing moonshiners, I cleaned out more ditches than the highway department did.”

In 1963, Rhyne retired from the patrol and moved to Titusville, Fla. Twenty years later, he retired from the Brevard County (Fla.) Sheriff's Department as a lieutenant.

Rhyne and his wife had honeymooned at Fontana Village Resort in 1952 and liked the area so much they settled there when they moved back to North Carolina.

Away from the city, fishing, hunting, golfing and gardening took up much of his time. He was proud of his three children. A son, James III, is retired from the Florida State Highway Patrol and teaches Criminal Justice at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Rhyne saw his job this way: “A state trooper is not out there to catch you,” he said. “He's working to make it safer to travel.”

The above story was by Joe Depriest a Charlotte Observer columnist who wrote great stuff and serves as the perfect filler when Cedar Posts could find nothing of importance to drone on and on about. - I posted it because being a North Carolinian this is how I'll always remember my state. 

In fact the fictional story The Legend of Master Trooper Darrell Higgins was inspired by Trooper Rhyne.

Update:

James Pinkney Rhyne Jr., 92, of Robbinsville, died peacefully Monday, June 21, 2010, at Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva following a period of declining health.

Mr. Rhyne was born on Nov. 8, 1917, in Lincoln County, to the late James Pinkney Rhyne Sr. and Frances Hope Rhyne.

He was a U.S. Navy veteran and served his country during World War II.

He retired as a North Carolina State Highway Patrolman in 1963 after serving for more than 20 years. Mr. Rhyne also retired from the Brevard County Sheriff's Department, Titusville, Fla.

Upon his retirement in 1983, he and his wife, Melrose, relocated to Robbinsville where they resided until his death.

In 2008, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol ceremoniously recognized Mr. Rhyne as being the oldest living member of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

Mr. Rhyne was a member of the Robbinsville Masonic Lodge No. 672, Scottish Rite and was a Shriner. Mr. Rhyne was also a member of the Eastern Star.

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Melrose Amburn Rhyne; daughters, Catherine Rhyne Zayatz and her husband, Richard, of Asheville and Susan Rhyne Worner and her husband, Douglas, of Orlando, Fla.; son, James P. Rhyne III of Robbinsville; five granddaughters; two great-granddaughters, one great-grandson; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his daughter, Pamela Rhyne; and his nine sisters.

A Masonic graveside service was held at 3 p.m. Thursday at Ladonia Baptist Church Cemetery in Mount Airy. Military honors provided by the U.S. Navy and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol ceremonial team.

Future Meck County Commissioner on the Gaston County Most Wanted List?

A Gaston County judge issued an arrest order for Mecklenburg County Commission candidate Yvette Townsend-Ingram after she didn’t appear in court Friday morning for a pending DWI charge. 

Townsend-Ingram then told a local paper by phone that her lawyer was supposed to appear on her behalf to tell the court she had COVID-19. 

She declined to comment further. 

Townsend-Ingram is one of three Democrats running unopposed in November for three at-large seats on the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners. 

She was arrested for driving while impaired and an open container violation back in May of this year.

Photo Courtesy Gaston County Sheriff's Office

After she didn’t show up in court Friday, Judge Craig Collins issued a bench warrant to "produce the defendant" he also set her bond at $20,000 secured.

She had been released on a written promise to appear. 

Speaking with a local paper after her arrest in May, Townsend-Ingram said she “was not in a good mental state” and went to a park in Belmont. 

There she parked her car and began drinking a bottle of wine. 

She previously said she was struggling with the recent death of her brother and being unexpectedly laid off from her job at the time of her arrest. 

Townsend-Ingram said in her candidate survey before the primary that she was the director of foundation relations at Johnson C. Smith University.

That seems to be in dispute. 

She also claims she was laid off, yet no one seems to recall any staff cutbacks at JCSU.

Townsend - Ingram stated that she not driving the vehicle, although sitting in the driver's seat, and that she left it running to keep the air conditioning on and fell asleep. Because the car was turned on, she was charged with a DWI, she said. 

A police report said Townsend-Ingram was arrested at Kevin Loftin Riverfront Park at 8:55 p.m. on May 1, 2024.

She was booked at 11:34 p.m. for DWI and “open container after consuming alcohol.” Gaston County Sheriff’s Office records show.

Gaston County Booking Info.

Local media reports that she was released hours later on a written promise to appear in court.

A breathalyzer test showed that her blood alcohol content was more than two and a half times the legal limit.

The legal limit in North Carolina is .08 which would give her a solid .20 BAC.

Townsend-Ingram finished third out of five candidates in March’s Democratic primary for the three at-large seats on the county board. 

She received 23.67% of the vote. 

The top three Democratic primary finishers are unopposed in November’s general election because no Republicans filed to run in the race. 

She previously said she was “taking responsibility” for her actions and said her experience helps her understand the importance of mental health care.

“I want people to understand that, one, I can empathize with issues that come up in life and, two, mental wellness is a critically important thing to me, and the county has services for mental health … It’s important how you go through, how you move forward after you’ve made a mistake,” Townsend-Ingram said. 

The pending court case is not expected to affect her eligibility as a candidate.

However several sources claim that Yvette Townsend-Ingram is also known as Yvette Benita Ingram and that she's no stranger to being "locked-up" as this 2023 mugshot below shows.

Arrested for a felony charge of Assault or affray on a firefighter, or emergency personnel ...

(a). A person is guilty of a Class I felony if the person commits an assault or affray causing physical injury on any of the following persons who are ...on an emergency room physical or personnel, emt, firefighter and or other.

Photo Courtesy of MCSO

As with so many cases in Charlotte, the Mecklenburg County DA's Office dismissed the charges after countless continuances.

As for the Gaston County charges that will likely now go to trial in the coming months.

But if Yvette Townsend-Ingram is the same person as Yvette Benita Ingram how is she one of our next Mecklenburg County "at-large" Commissioners? 

How is this possible? 

And who really is she? 

Yvette Townsend-Ingram or Yvette Benita Ingram? Is she the same Yvette Ingram with a charge of "Assault With a Deadly Weapon in 1993?" Case number 93CR073606-590?

And then there's the 2016 assault charge filed by Cheryl Latrice Lankford of Capitol Heights, Maryland. Ingram also took out an assault warrant on Lankford. Both cases were dismissed,

If so she is clearly "unburdened by what has been" but how does that explain why the local media is silent?  

To quote a local source "It just never happened".

Cedar's Take:

Elections have consequences but clearly the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party doesn't care what type of person runs for office.

Frankly replacing long serving Pat Cotham with this idiot seems like an obvious mistake and just another reason to cut expenses and merge city and county governments.

Finally, why hasn't any local media mentioned these prior arrests? Never mind the civil cases against Ms. Townsend-Ingram or Benita Ingram.

And no you can't unvote her in November.

Cedar Update:

As of Monday October 21, Ingram is still on the October 25 docket for the AM court session in Gaston County. Maybe someone should remind her?

.

Burning Man Festival Charlotte Style

Karma is sometimes slow in coming but not for a Charlotte man with a long criminal history of auto theft, traffic violations including, Weapons Charges, DWI and fleeing from police as well as theft of catalytic converters.

Photo NC DOC

Alexander Komthongpane had outstanding probation warrants and was listed as an absconder with the North Carolina Department of Corrections when a North Carolina State Trooper saw a driver not wearing his seatbelt with a vehicle without a tag and initiated a traffic stop. 

That driver later ID'd as Komthongpane apparently assumed the Trooper would break off the chase like CMPD usually did, and he took off.

But the NCSHP has different rules and pursued Komthongpane as he reached speeds nearly 70 miles per hour. Continuing to refuse to stop the 33 year old lost control of his car hitting the medium and a tree near the intersection of Fred D. Alexander Boulevard and Freedom Drive.

Witnesses said the car burst into flames upon impact.

North Carolina State Troopers pulled Komthongpane from the burning car and performed CPR on the driver but he died at the scene.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say that between Aug. 18 and Aug. 20, they found three BMWs stripped of their wheels and tires on the drivers’ sides. This was along Old Dowd Road and Josh Birmingham Parkway, at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

They discovered that the wheels on Komthongpane’s car were the ones taken from cars at the airport.

Komthongpane was already known to CMPD because he was involved in several catalytic converter theft and larceny of motor vehicle theft cases across Charlotte.

Turns out our "Burning Man" Komthongpane has a long history of arrests in Mecklenburg County.

Photos Courtesy MCSO

But no convictions. Out of more than 3 dozen charges there are no convictions only dismissed cases. Once again the liberal Mecklenburg County DA giving a free pass to repeat felons.

Over in Iredell County however where they take crime and public safety seriously the burning man had tallied up 3 convictions including larceny, flee elude arrest, one that seems to have  resulted in death. Those charges were prosecuted and resulted in felony and misdemeanor convictions and Burning Man was sentenced to 3 months active time followed by a year probation. 

Sadly Komthongpane known to his family as "Keysaun" found himself trapped inside a burning car with the temperature quickly climbing to 1,500 degrees, that heat and accompanying smoke likely claimed his life.

Proving once again that incarceration saves lives.

CMPD Command Seeks to Terminate Officer

According to a local news station CMPD has suspended an officer who logged off on the afternoon of deadly shootout, and has transferred another.

An internal email confirms the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department took action against two officers who logged off before and during April 29 ambush which left 4 law enforcement officers dead.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks, Task Force Officers Alden Elliot and Sam Poloche and CMPD Officer Joshua Eyer died at the hands of a gunman on the afternoon of April 29. 

Several other officers suffered injuries. A federal task force was attempting to serve a warrant on the fugitive at the time of the ambush.

The report:

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department suspended one of its own in the days after WCNC Charlotte questioned why some police logged off their radios before and as a gunman killed four officers, public records show.

CMPD won't reveal why the agency took action against that patrol officer. A spokesperson said, by statute, the department can't release certain details about personnel matters, calling that "confidential and not a matter of public record."

"From his file, it appears that the officer has been suspended pending the civil service review," CMPD Director of Public Affairs Sandy D'Elosua Vastola said in an email to WCNC Charlotte. "We don't have anything further to share at this time."

As of Thursday afternoon, the Civil Service Board had yet to set a hearing date for the officer, according to the city clerk.

In the aftermath of the deadly east Charlotte shootout on April 29, multiple officers shared concerns with WCNC Charlotte about a small number of their colleagues who were seemingly unavailable to respond that afternoon. WCNC Charlotte brought questions to CMPD on behalf of the hundreds of on- and off-duty police who responded to the Galway Drive shooting. In response, the agency dismissed their concerns and called WCNC Charlotte's reporting "irresponsible" and "a slam job."

Since May, WCNC Charlotte has repeatedly requested information about two officers in particular. An internal email sent to Vastola on May 29, recently obtained through a public records request, confirmed both officers were among those who logged off the radio on April 29. Upon sharing that revelation with the department, the spokesperson, citing state law, told WCNC Charlotte CMPD should not have released portions of that email.

"I would respectfully request that you do not publish that portion of the email as it was sent to you in error from our Public Records Department," Vastola said. "Specifically, the (logoff) sentence is protected personnel information."

A month-and-a-half before CMPD suspended the one officer, WCNC Charlotte filmed him working desk duty in June. That change to his employment lasted for weeks, but despite WCNC Charlotte's repeated questions, the department never reflected the temporary work assignment in the publicly releasable portions of his personnel file.

When asked, the department spokesperson said North Carolina public records law does not allow agencies to release public information about "current" work assignments or work schedules.

The officer's work status officially changed to suspended on July 31, according to his file. The suspension came just days after WCNC Charlotte aired its investigation and followed a Facebook post by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police criticizing the department's response to WCNC Charlotte's reporting.

"Now we know now several weeks later that this was 100% true; that your facts were 100% correct," FOP President Daniel Redford told WCNC Charlotte. "There's validity to what you were asking about. We know for 100% certainty that an officer has been punished for logging off. Granted, there may be some other things behind it, but (that) was one of them. It goes to show that your 'irresponsible' 'slam job' article that you wrote wasn't irresponsible on your part."

Even as a former FBI agent and a retired FBI assistant director called for more openness in the wake of the deadliest day for law enforcement in Charlotte history, CMPD's spokesperson "strongly" cautioned WCNC Charlotte from moving forward with a story, noting the sensitive nature of the day's events.

Ultimately, the department refused "to speculate" about why some officers were seemingly unavailable.

"It's not that they logged off. It's what their logging off represents as far as the response from the department," Redford said. "As tragic as it is, I don't want to see people using it as an excuse to forgo answering questions, because it might not fit a certain criteria of what they want their agency to look like."

Redford said the department's dismissive response prompted the FOP to take a public stand against the spokesperson's handling of this situation.

An internal email confirms the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department took action against two officers who logged off before and during April 29 ambush.

The Char-Meck FOP FaceBooK Post:

Whether you agree with Nate Morabito on this article or not, we can say the concerns he raises in this article are true and our Lodge received the same information. We can say that not every officer who logged off did so intentionally; however, questions remain on a few and is why Nate felt the need to inquire about it and later publish an article about it.

The point of our post is not so much on the topic of Nate’s story, but on Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s response to it. Nate cites that CMPD is not going to speculate; however, they have the ability to conduct an easy and quick Internal Affairs (IA)Investigation. It would raise enough concern that officers intentionally logged off and would be in the wheelhouse of IA, as there were nearly 20 who logged off in the minutes around the shooting. We feel every officer would expect an investigation be conducted and appropriate action taken IF someone logged off to purposely avoid responding to a call for help. Again, not everyone who logged off did so nefariously.

CMPD’s IA is fully capable of quickly getting these answers for CMPD to provide to Nate without identifying anyone. IA pulled over 40 people in for interviews over memes being made - so they could ask questions here too.

It’s pretty bad when the former Assistant Director of the FBI says CMPD should be a bit more transparent. Instead of more transparency, CMPD PIO Director Sandy D’Elosua Vastola attacked Nate Morabito calling his article “irresponsible” and a “slam job.”

All Nate did was ask a question that CMPD refused to answer and one that several of CMPD’s own employees were concerned with. CMPD conveniently hides behind state personnel law when there is the appearance something is amiss, yet CMPD Chief Jennings couldn’t wait to spill the name, punishment, and intimate details of an officer involved in an arrest that went viral. You can’t use law to skate answering questions then forget a law exists when it’s a good look for you.

Chief Jennings says he has fought so hard to make CMPD a premier agency, yet the mouth piece of his department resorts to petty nastiness whenever she doesn’t like the questions being asked.

Sandy, we are not public affairs experts but this is how we would have handled this: (these are how we envision a conversation going if we were in Sandy’s position)

WCNC’s Reporter: Hi CMPD, some officers have raised concerns about a handful of officers who logged off during the April 29th shooting, can you provide any details?

How we would respond: WCNC Reporter, thank you for the inquiry. While we are unaware of this specifically, we’ll be glad to ask and get back with you.

WCNC’s Reporter: Thank you

How we would respond: WCNC Reporter, sorry for the delay but we found an answer for you. We do see that there were several log offs around the time the incident occurred but (depending on what was found) 1) none were found to have intentionally logged off, or 2) most were found to have not intentionally logged off and we are looking further into 1 or 2 to get more details. We thank you for you the partnership and do want to point out the heroism of all law enforcement officers that day. What you may not know is that dozens of CMPD officers who were on their day off came in wanting to help. We would like the public to know about them while we sort out and get answers on those who logged off.

WCNC’s Reporter: Thank you for the reply and answers. You all have a lot of heroes and it’s comforting to know. (News article not published because CMPD was transparent).

To Sandy D’Elousa Vastola, try being little nicer, you are representing the department, its employees and the City of Charlotte.