NHSO

Archive for the ‘Community Alert’ Category

Protect yourself, your loved ones and your environment.
Practice proper disposal of your unwanted medications.
How: Bring your unwanted medications to New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s
FREE Medication Disposal Event
With Drive-Thru Service!
When: Saturday, March 24
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Where: Medical Mall beside NHRMC
2243 South 17th Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
Medications should be in their original containers to help identify the medication.
Law enforcement will be on hand to accept controlled substances.
Medications can be prescription, over-the-counter, vitamins, or herbal.
Having unnecessary medications in the home can be a hazard to yourself, your loved
ones and the environment.
• You could confuse old medications with current medications.
• Children could ingest them and be poisoned.
• Pets could be harmed if they ingest a pill that is dropped and not picked up.
• Teenagers may be tempted to sell the medications to their classmates.
• Flushing medications down the toilet or washing them down the sink puts
medications directly into the public water system.
• Throwing medications in the trash allows them to break down
and leach into the groundwater.
For more information, contact Kathy Rawlings
at 910.815.5152 or kathy.rawlings@nhrmc.org

NEW HANOVER – Common sense tells you to be wary of someone knocking on your door and asking for personal information.  But if you didn’t complete and mail in your 2010 Census form by April 1, a federal government worker will appear on your doorstep with some important and personal questions.

This situation leaves citizens vulnerable to con artists.  How do you comply with a federal law without falling victim to a scam?  According to the Better Business Bureau, here’s how to protect yourself:

• U.S. Census workers will go door-to-door from April through July, stopping only at households that have not returned the census form mailed in mid-March to every household.  If you have already completed the form and mailed it in, you do not have to answer any questions from a census worker.
• A U.S. Census worker will have a badge, a handheld data storage device, a Census Bureau canvas bag and a confidentially notice.  Ask to see the worker’s identification and badge before answering any questions.  Even if the person is a legitimate census worker, never invite anyone you don’t know into your home.
• Trust your instincts.  If at any time during your exchange with the census worker you begin to feel uneasy or that the questions are intrusive, step back inside your home, lock the door, and call 911.
• Do not give your Social Security number or any financial information to someone who knocks on your door or calls on the telephone.  The standard census form has nine questions that pertain to how many people live in the household, who they are (name, age, gender, race and ethnicity), and then ask for a telephone number, in case the Census Bureau has any questions about something on the form.  To view the 2010 Census questions, visit www.2010.census.gov.
• You do not have to answer any questions about your financial situation, even if you are mailed a long survey form, known as the American Community Survey.  The ACS has a location where you indicate your salary range, but it does not ask for any documentation of your answer, nor does it ask for any other information about your finances.
• If you are contacted by e-mail, no matter how official looking, you are being scammed.  Do not respond.  Delete the email without clicking on any links or opening any attachments.
• The Census Bureau will not work with ACORD (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) on gathering information.  If anyone claims to be working with ACORN to collect census information, this is a scam.  Do not give that person any information.
• Share this information with anyone who might answer your door.

“To better protect themselves, citizens should be informed on how to identify the official Census Workers and know the questions being asked of them,” said Sheriff Ed McMahon.

WILMINGTON – A joint investigation between the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and the Social Security Administration leads to the arrest of an individual who claimed the identity of someone who died in 1983.

Detectives were notified by the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, that an individual in Wilmington was applying for Social Security benefits using the identity of a Virginia native who died in 1983.   The investigation revealed this suspect had obtained a Georgia Drivers License in the name of the deceased, William Bolyn Garrett, one month after his death.  Subsequently, a North Carolina driver’s license was issued in 2008.

On Wednesday, Detectives apprehended and arrested the suspect without incident at the Social Security Administration Office in Wilmington, as he arrived for a scheduled appointment.

When interviewed by Detectives, the suspect continued to claim to be 70-year old William Garrett, even after being shown a certified copy of the death certificate.

The suspect, facing charges of Financial Identity Fraud and False Pretense, was felony processed at the New Hanover County Detention Facility as John Doe.  Doe received a $200,000 secured bond.

Overnight, the Sheriff’s Office was notified by the FBI of positive fingerprint identification.  Through coordination with law enforcement authorities in Florida, Detectives determined John Doe was actually 69-year old Charles Lee Sparks.  Mr. Sparks is a twenty-six year fugitive, who escaped after serving one year of a twenty-year sentence for drug trafficking.

A fugitive from justice has been served on Mr. Sparks who is being held without bond at the New Hanover County Detention Facility.

MONKEY JUNCTION – At 10:35 a.m., New Hanover County Sheriff’s Deputies, along with Fire & EMS responded to Watson Portable Welding, located at 5679 Carolina Beach Road regarding a fatal workplace accident.  The victim, 28-year old Walter Noel Argueta Banegas of Wilmington, was operating a fork lift at the time of the incident.  Employees immediately responded and contacted emergency services upon locating the victim.  Mr. Banegas was pronounced dead upon assessment by EMS personnel.  Although Detectives do not suspect foul play, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is leading the investigation.  An autopsy has been scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

 Additional information will be released as it becomes available.

UPDATE:  Friday, February 26, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.

Detectives continue to work with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Division of the NC Department of Labor on the workplace fatality that occurred Tuesday.  Preliminary information received from the NC Medical Examiner’s Office indicates asphyxia as the cause of death. The examination further indicated no signs of blunt force trauma to the victim.  This investigation continues.

NEW HANOVER - At 10:35 a.m. New Hanover County Sheriff’s Deputies, along with Fire & EMS responded to Watson Portable Welding, located at 5679 Carolina Beach Road regarding a fatal workplace accident.  The victim, 28-year old Walter Noel Argueta Banegas of Wilmington, was operating a fork lift at the time of the incident.  Employees immediately responded and contacted emergency services upon locating the victim.  Mr. Banegas was pronounced dead upon assessment by EMS personnel.  Although Detectives do not suspect foul play, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is leading the investigation.  An autopsy has been scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

 Additional information will be released as it becomes available.