Newspaper Page Text
On The Record
The
Commerce News
JUNE 10,2009
PAGE 7 A
Six-Year-Old Killed In Sunday Shooting
Law enforcement vehicles from five agencies block Troy Street in the after-
math of Sunday’s shooting.
Even Without
Murder, City
Police Are Busy
Cont. from Page 1A
dent started when Michael
dropped a watermelon,
although he was not sure
whether that information
came during the 911 call
or from interviews with the
other child on the scene at
the time.
The incident occurred at
about 1:00 Sunday after
noon. Twenty minutes later,
it was all over, but officials
are still trying to piece
together what happened
and why.
According to Knight, Mrs.
Clark called 911, and the
call was dispatched as “gun
shots with a barricaded sus
pect in the house."
Knight said a Commerce
officer was patched through
to Mrs. Clark by 911 and
talked Clark into releasing
a 5-year-old boy who was
unharmed but who had wit
nessed the shooting, and to
allow his wife to leave.
“He let the child out and
a Jackson County deputy
scooped him up and got
him to safety," Knight said.
“Then the woman came
out and one of our officers
picked her up and they got
her to an ambulance."
The standoff ended when
Clark came to the door,
refused repeated demands
An attempted shoplifting
at Ingles went bad when
packages of meat fell out
of the thief’s pants, accord
ing to the Commerce Police
Department.
The incident report said
a 29-year-old white male
store employee confronted
a white male he spotted
headed for the door “with
an obvious bulge in the
back of his pants."
The employee said it
was obviously packages
of meat, and he ordered
the suspect to remove the
product, which ripped in
the process and fell to the
floor. The suspect fled out
the front door.
But an alert shopper had
noticed what was going on.
She told police the suspect
pulled a knife and waved
it in the employee’s face
before exiting. She called
911 and was able to provide
police with the tag num
ber of the vehicle in which
the suspect drove away. She
noted that another white
male and a white female
were also in the vehicle.
Four Burglaries
Reported Last Week
City police investigated
four burglaries during the
past week.
A 76-year-old white female
at Country Boys RV Park,
Mount Olive Road, called
police to a break-in at one
of the campers. The thief
pried open the door, went
through all the cabinets and
stole a battery, two 30-gal-
lon propane tanks, a tool
set and an awning holder.
The total value of the items
that he drop his weapon
“and the situation was
such that police responded
with deadly force," said
Gaissert.
Police had been to the
residence at 228 Troy Street
in the past. Knight said a
number of calls came to
911 from the house over
the past year, a lot of them
hang-ups. Neighbors told
police that Clark was prone
to anger and cursing at and
in front of his grandsons.
stolen and the damage was
placed at $380.
A 51-year-old Latino male
reported that someone stole
tools, a generator and other
items from his Pine Street
residence. Entry was made
via an unlocked back door.
A Hillcrest Street resident
told police someone broke
through the sliding glass
doors to steal an X-Box, a
guitar for the X-Box and a
bag of radio amps. Later,
her husband called to say
they’d found some of the
missing items and had
heard that a Jefferson boy
was selling others.
A 64-year-old white
female told police that
when she returned to her
Heritage Hills apartment
after being out of town that
someone had taken a deco
rative bird cage, a number
of wicker baskets, a toaster,
coffee pot, blender, pots
and pans, a 60-inch round
table and chairs, plates,
bed sheets and pillow
cases valued at $1,300. The
woman said maintenance
had recently replaced the
dead-bolt locks, but the
officer saw no indication
of forced entry, according
to the report.
Other Incidents
Also during the past week,
officers investigated:
• damage to property
reported by a 52-year-old
white male who said as he
was driving on Interstate
85 a piece of wood fell off
a log truck and struck his
windshield.
• harassing calls at a
Crossing Place apartment,
“I would characterize the
family dynamic as dysfunc
tional," Gaissert comment
ed.
Officials are working with
the Department of Family
and Children Services to
understand why the chil
dren were in the custody
of their grandparents, but
Knight said he did not
expect that to be a factor in
the case. Knight said Clark
had purchased a gun from
a dealer in 2008 — an indi-
Steve Reynolds Industrial
Parkway, where a 19-year-old
black female and a 22-year-
old white female reported
being harassed by two girls.
The black female said the
harassment is a result of one
of the perpetrators having a
crush on her — sentiment
that was not returned.
•a report of a missing
juvenile at a Williford Street
location. The child turned
up three days later.
•harassment at a
Williford Street address
where a 25-year-old white
male said his ex-girlfriend
“who may or may not be
pregnant with his child"
was putting malicious and
slanderous statements
about him and his new
girlfriend on a MySpace
page. The woman report
edly took down the page
and denied the comments
were about the two.
cation he did not have a
criminal record.
Knight said the depart
ment has “had dealings
with" the child’s father,
Andrew Levigne, in the
past. Officials have spo
ken with Levigne, but as
of Monday afternoon had
not spoken with the boy’s
mother, Crystal Levigne.
Clark will be charged with
murder, aggravated assault
and aggravated assault on a
police officer.
• criminal trespass at
Heritage Hills Apartments,
Minish Drive, where a
22-year-old black female
said a 33-year-old black male
slashed her tires, apparently
as a result of a break-up.
• terroristic threats and
acts at a Bellview Homes
apartment, where a white
female said the father of her
children, who is in prison,
has threatened to kill her
and her boyfriend when he
gets out of prison.
• simple assault report
ed by a 41-year-old black
female who said her juvenile
daughter was sitting on the
steps when another female
slapped her and accused
her of liking the suspect’s
boyfriend.
• criminal trespass at
Wildcat Lane address where
a 62-year-old white male
said someone broke the rear
window of his vehicle.
Even without a time-
consuming murder
investigation last week,
the Commerce Police
Department had its hands
full. The department made
14 other arrests including
a felony drug case, three
misdemeanor drug cases
and a domestic dispute
that had a potential for
violence.
Officers arrested Joseph
Alan Veal, 32, of 915 South
Broad Street Extension,
on charges of battery and
criminal trespass under
the Family Violence Act
and cruelty to children.
The charges came when
Veal’s girlfriend, a 31-year-
old white female, walked
into the police department
to report that she woke
up that morning with Veal
throwing kittens on her
head. She said she got up
to see why he was mad.
The woman told police
that a child had found the
kittens and Veal was mad
that the girl was “messing
with them." He slapped
the child in the face and
picked up the mother
cat and threw it against
a wall, she said. She also
reminded the officer that
she’d filed a report earlier
when Veal allegedly threw
a soda can at her, causing
a bruise, and claimed that
in the past he’d threatened
to “cut her throat" if she
called 911.
The officers went to the
residence and talked to
Veal, who claimed he was
mad because his girlfriend
would not clean the litter
box and because the child
was “messing with the kit
tens" and would kill them.
The officer indicated that
he thought Veal was speak
ing “aggressively," and
noted that Veal denied
throwing the cat.
Three minor children
in the house basically
confirmed the mother’s
account of events, the
report said.
Other Charges
Others arrested or cited
during the past week
include:
• Bryan Bradley Boyd,
18, 4068 Mount Olive
Road, Commerce, mis
demeanor possession of
marijuana and violation of
the city noise ordinance.
According to the arrest
report, the officer pulled
him over because of loud
noise coming from his
car, noted that Boyd was
extremely nervous and
shaking, and, because of
previous ties to narcotics,
called in the drug dog. The
dog, the report said, alert
ed on the vehicle, after
which the officer found a
marijuana cigar under the
front seat.
•Jessie James Loveless
Jr„ 57, 125 Carruth Road,
Commerce, possession of
crack cocaine, driving with
a suspended license and a
tag violation. The arrest
came after an officer saw
Loveless driving, knew he
had a suspended license
and stopped him. When
the officer asked Loveless
why he was driving on
a suspended license, the
suspect said he was going
to the store but forgot to
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Cont. on Page 8A
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Meat Thief Drops Load From Pants