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On Oct. 14, an 80-year-old man killed a would-be burglar in his home. On Thursday, the Guilford County's District Attorney's Office decided not to press charges against the shooter.

Why not?

Assistant DA Howard Neumann said, according to state law, homeowners are justified to use force against intruders (1) when in fear of death or serious bodily harm OR (2) when they believe an intruder intends to commit a felony within the residence.

A reader from Madison questioned that law, so I sent him a link to the law and added it to the story online. You can check out Chapter 14, Article 14 of the N.C. General Statutes, also.

Thank you, Madison reader.
 

Here's the press release Attorney General Roy Cooper sent today:

Some consumers have recently gotten mailings that claim they’ve won a prize from the State of North Carolina Commissioners of Registration. To claim their prize, consumers are told to sign the form and return it along with a payment of $20.

The mailings look official and include a fake state seal, but the promised prizes don’t exist, and there is no state agency called the Commissioners of Registration. If you receive a similar mailing, do not reply to it or send any money. It’s illegal to require consumers to pay any fee to win a prize, and money sent to scammers is usually difficult or impossible to recover. Responding to one type of scam also puts you at greater risk for becoming the target of other scammers.

Attorney General Roy Cooper’s Consumer Protection Division is currently investigating these mailings. If you’ve responded to a prize notice like this one, contact us for assistance at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM. For more information on how to protect yourself including tips on prize scams, visit us at www.ncdoj.gov.
 

The N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety has launched a new tool to communicate with the public.

They've jumped on the Facebook wagon.

An e-mail I received this morning indicates they will post news releases and other information on the site. So far, there are a variety of posts on the page detailing what the division does.

It's an interesting initiative and makes me wonder if we'll see some of the local authorities link into the social media networks.

To see the page or to become a fan click here.
 

There has not yet been an arrest in the hit-and-run accident that killed David Sherman, but the Burlington Times-News reported Tuesday that the woman accused of striking Elon professor Eugene Gooch with her car has pled guilty to misdemeanor death by vehicle.

Elon police say Mary Davis Murphy, 82, of Hebron Church Road in Mebane struck 57-year-old Gooch on April 3 while traveling west on University Drive.

Gooch was an avid bicyclist who joined the faculty in 1988 to teach chemistry. 

Danville Va. police are warning motorists to beware of gas pumps that are locking in the on position and causing gas to spew for unsuspecting motorists looking to fill up.

I think it would be safe to say this isn't a Danville-only problem, and it probably explains why the locking devices were removed from my neighborhood gas station recently.

Anyone experienced this sort of thing here?

From a Danville police news release:

The Danville Police Department is currently receiving reports and information concerning the safety of self- service gasoline pumps in the surrounding area.

In the incidents reported to us the fuel dispenser nozzle has been left in the locked open position when hung back on the gas pump. When the next customer turns the pump on by selecting the fuel grade, fuel begins dispensing before the nozzle has been inserted into the vehicle’s tank.

At this time this information has been corroborated with other localities and motorists are urged to take precautions when refueling their vehicles.

The possibility for fire, damage or personal injury is of great concern and the Danville Police Department encourages the public to check the position of the handle on the fuel dispenser nozzle before selecting the fuel grade.

The hit-and-run accident near Summerfield that claimed the life of avid bicyclist David Sherman has many people wondering if bikes and cars can coexist on the roads – 'can' being the operative word.

In April, Elon professor Eugene Gooch was killed while riding his bicycle. UNCG professor Mark Schulz is on the mend after being seriously injured when a texting driver's car struck his bicycle in 2008.

The Greensboro Department of Transportation still believes a peaceful coexistence is possible, especially with the proper education. The DOT has tried to make residents aware of bicycle safety through the "GSO Shares the Road" program.

Here are some tips about sharing the road.

Safety tips for motorists:

• Remember that bicycles are vehicles and are allowed to ride on the roads.
• Look for bicyclists before turning and before opening doors.
• Do not overtake a bicyclist before making a right turn. Instead, slow down, merge, and then turn.
• Do not assume that a bicyclist will ride as far to the right as possible. Good cyclists ride about 3 feet from the edge of the road, which makes them more visible to motorists and gives them space to maneuver around road hazards.
• Allow bicyclists to enter your lane to make a left turn.
• Do not drive or park in bike lanes. You may, however, cross them when turning or exiting a legally assigned parking space.

Safety tips for bicyclists:

• All traffic laws apply to bicyclists: stop at red lights, yield the right-of-way, signal when turning and ride on the road in the same direction as traffic.
• Wear a helmet.
• At night, wear reflective clothing and use bicycle lights.
• Ride on the right side of the road, but stay away from the edge of the pavement.
• Avoid riding on sidewalks. Motorists may not see you on the sidewalk until it's too late.
• Pass on the left.
• Watch for cars turning into bike lanes.
• Obey signs that prohibit riding, such as on interstate highways.

Today's blotter:

Here's the story from The Orlando Sentinel's Anthony Colarossi.

TAVARES, Fla. (MCT) — On the YouTube video-sharing Web site, Edward Muscare is known by his user name "Edarem," and his recordings show an older man lip syncing and singing songs such as Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman." Many of them have drawn hundreds of thousands of page views.

Muscare's online fame, though, helped land him back in jail.

Muscare's videos have become so viral that law enforcement in Florida and South Carolina, where he has been living, became aware of his online presence. The former Lake County, Fla., resident was jailed for violating probation and for not complying with conditions related to his status as a registered sex offender.

One of those conditions was that he not use the Internet or other computer services, according to court records.

Now, some of Muscare's YouTube followers are coming to his defense by posting messages online, urging "Freedom for Edward Muscare" and "Libertad para Edarem."

One Muscare supporter has posted a lengthy message addressed to Lake Circuit Judge Mark Hill on YouTube.

"I am writing you on behalf of an individual who is now in jail for posting videos of his dogs and advice on how to scratch your back ..." the YouTube user wrote. "If there is any justice in the world Edward Muscare will be liberated."

Muscare, 77, has an arraignment scheduled for Monday. His case ultimately will go before Hill, who sentenced Muscare two years ago for failure to comply with sex-offender reporting requirements.

Court records show Muscare avoided a five-year prison sentence when he pleaded guilty in 2007 and received five years probation with special conditions of sex-offender probation. He had apparently moved out of his Lady Lake, Fla., home and up to a new residence in Orangeburg, S.C., but he failed to notify officials about the move as required.

In a letter sent to Hill at that time, Muscare wrote, "In the past 21 years, the only law I broke was leaving Florida in December 2005 without notifying the Sheriff's Office. And I did that only because of threats to my life and property."

Muscare declined a request for an interview Friday at the Lake County Jail.

Many people have been upset about the possibility of 20 convicted felons, mostly for murder and rape, being set free and with little supervision. Gov. Bev Perdue didn't like the idea, either.

In a press release Thursday, she said:

"Like most of my fellow North Carolinians, I believe life should mean life, and even if a life sentence is defined as 80 years, getting out after only 35 is simply unacceptable."

Read Perdue's full press release and comments from Attorney General Roy Cooper here.

She said legal issues involving credits for good behavior must be resolved first.

She questions whether the N.C. Department of Correction had the legislative authority to apply the credits to inmates serving life sentences. Until the issue is resolved, the inmates won't be released, she said.

We've had a lot of information in the newspaper lately about home break-ins. In a story we ran Wednesday on the recent spat of break-ins hitting north Greensboro we ran a short list of some things you can do to protect your home. Due to space, some of the information had to be shortened.

Here's the full list that I came up with riding around with Sgt. Bud Blaylock with the police department's central division Community Resource Team. If you have any other suggestions of things you've done to protect your residence, feel free to share.

What can I do to protect my home?

• Get to know your neighbors. Sgt. Blaylock says looking out for one another is one of the best crime deterrents residents can have. Get to know your neighbors, know when they are usually home, what they drive, when they will be out of town and more to get a sense of what is and isn’t out of place. Police also suggest being active in Community Watch and e-mail groups with neighbors if available.

• Invest in a burglar alarm. Police say having an alarm on an audible mode is likely to deter a burglar, causing them to leave if they break-in draws attention. Officers also suggest to have the alarm company call 911 first, and then the homeowner so police can be one step ahead if there is an actual problem.

• Check the screws on the strike plates on your doors. Blaylock said having longer screws on the strike plate of your doors make it more difficult for burglars to break-in. The more they have to work to get inside a home, the more likely they are to give up or be noticed.

• Inventory your home and keep records. Blaylock suggests engraving your driver’s license or name on your possessions to make them easier to track, keeping records of all serial numbers and making a video of the inside of your home and valuables with audio descriptions of items.

• Make your presence known. Many residents will not answer the door or pretend to not be home when the doorbell rings. Blaylock suggests residents to make their presence known by asking the person what they want through a locked door or from a safe distance. Many burglars will knock on the door first to see if someone is home before trying to kick in the back door.

• Report suspicious activity and make note of suspicious vehicles. Blaylock said residents need to be vigilant in reporting things out of place in the neighborhood to police. Such calls are logged in police database and can be great investigative tools when developing leads should a burglary happen around the same time.
 

Today's blotter:

Here's the story from The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Police say a gunman spent nearly 10 minutes on his knees praying with the clerk at an Indianapolis check cashing business before fleeing with her cell phone and $20 from the register.

Security video from the Advance America branch clearly showed the man's face during Monday's stickup, and a 23-year-old man surrendered Tuesday on a preliminary charge of robbery.

The robbery took an unusual turn after the gunman came around the counter as the clerk told police she began crying and then talked about God. The man said he had a 2-year-old child to support and asked for prayers about overcoming his hardships.

Sgt. Kevin Wethington says the clerk's actions "certainly didn't hurt" prevent more troubles in the store on the city's east side near Washington Square Mall.