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Man shot during home invasion
Two men wearing hoodies and masks broke into a northern Charlotte home Friday night, robbed some of the occupants and shot one man.
The home invasion happened around 9:30 p.m. on Victoria Avenue near West W.T. Harris Boulevard and Old Statesville Road, said Capt. John Williams of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Police had only a vague description of the suspects and are not sure of a motive.
The shooting victim was shot in the abdomen and the groin and was in surgery at Carolinas Medical Center late Friday. Investigators were waiting to interview him, Williams said.
Williams said about a dozen people were inside the house when the assailants broke in.
Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600. Tipsters can remain anonymous and are eligible for rewards for information that leads to an arrest. Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
Meck briefs
Charlotte
Members of a church-based motorcycle ministry will join Keep Charlotte Beautiful for a graffiti cleanup program today in south Charlotte.
The graffiti paint-over will take place in the pedestrian tunnel underpass in the 7700 block of Fairview Road, near the Foxcroft community. That tunnel is used by residents of Foxcroft as a way of crossing Fairview Road to the Foxcroft Racket and Swim Club.
The volunteers are from Hickory Grove Baptist Church's Cruise Motorcycle Ministry. The cleanup is planned from 9 to 11 a.m. Steve Lyttle
Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont is marking the grand reopening of its Cornelius store and donation center with festivities this morning.
Located at 19710 Kunkleman Drive, the store opened in 2000 and is the busiest Goodwill in the region, the group said.
Its new look features extensive interior renovations, including new fixtures, merchandising and signage. Opening events from 9 a.m. to noon include free coffee, doughnuts and giveaways for shoppers and donors. Jen Aronoff
An inventor who has licensed more than 20 products in the last 30 years and holds a dozen patents will conduct two seminars today in Charlotte for prospective inventors. There is no admission charge to the seminars, which are open to the public.
Stephen Key, who operates Invent Right, a company that helps people patent and license their inventions, is in the Carolinas to visit family members, according to a spokeswoman for his company. His latest invention is a device that would help parents correctly measure the amount of medicine to give children.
The Saturday seminars are at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Charlotte, 4800 South Tryon Street. Details: www.inventright.com/charlotte. Staff reports
Huntersville
A federal appeals court has upheld a 20-year prison sentence for a former Huntersville teacher convicted of taking children out of state to have sex with them.
Jimmie Grubbs, who taught at a Huntersville middle school, pleaded guilty to 12 counts in 2006. He did not appeal his conviction but claimed his sentence was excessive.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond on Friday rejected Grubbs' argument that a judge improperly lengthened his sentence for additional offenses for which he hadn't been convicted. The court said a sentencing judge can consider "uncharged conduct" that's proven by a preponderance of the evidence.
Investigators said they believed Grubbs, now 69, may have sexually assaulted as many as 15 minors on campus and during trips to South Carolina between 2002 and 2006. Associated Press
Police digest
Mecklenburg County Charlotte
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police spent several hours Thursday night and early Friday looking for a 4-year-old child who had been kidnapped, they were told.
Now police say the story was phony, and the man whose report sent officers on alert status has been arrested.
Jeffrey Boyd Gaither Jr., 22, was charged Friday morning with carrying a concealed weapon and filing a false police report to a law enforcement agency, authorities say.
Police say Boyd told them Thursday evening that he had been carjacked and robbed, and that a 4-year-old girl was in the carjacked vehicle. Officers across the city were put on alert, looking for a silver four-door Mercedes with 20-inch rims.
However, according to police Officer Rosalyn Harrington, Gaither told detectives overnight that there was no kidnapping and no child involved. He had been the victim of an armed robbery in the 1900 block of Eastway Drive while he was walking along the sidewalk, he told police. Steve Lyttle
Two teens were arrested overnight in connection with vehicle break-ins along North Graham Street near Interstate 85, police say.
The teens - one 16, the other 15 - were caught after a caller contacted police shortly after midnight and said two people were breaking into vehicles in the 4800 block of North Graham Street.
Police said they spotted the teens when they arrived, and a foot chase ensued. One of the youths was captured immediately, and police caught the second teen around 1 a.m. on nearby Oneida Road. Officers say the second teen ran through a wooded area in an effort to escape.
According to the police report, a car and an SUV had been damaged in the area. Steve Lyttle
Burke County Morganton
Morganton police say a man drove his car into the Burke County courthouse early Friday, got out of the vehicle, smoked a cigarette for a few minutes, and then calmly walked away.
Nobody was injured in the incident, police say, and court proceedings took place as usual Friday. Courtrooms are on the second floor of the building, but an undetermined amount of damage was done to offices on the first floor.
Morganton police said Friday afternoon that they would like to talk to a man, whom they identified as Herbert Bristol, about the incident. They did not give details as to why they listed Bristol as a "person of interest" in the case. Staff reports
