The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina (2024)

December 23, 1973

Publication:

The Charlotte Observeri

Location:

Charlotte, North Carolina

Issue Date:

Sunday, December 23, 1973

Page:

6

Extracted Article Text (OCR)

Nt Section (t1iarlot4 Oburva Carol News 0 Sunday December 23 1973 GI Heft In Si eais Police To I 0 1 0 4 4 1 I 0 111 k9 II I 11: (6'1' C) Ill'P 1 Illotill '77! rl -1" -e- li 1 I ri 0 7 1 :1 :1:4 I 3::::::: l'HI: i 4 6 ii 1::: ili ciew t-! 4 26: 's: eilooi 1" -4 'io :4 Ai i ofee ::44 i 0 1 4 I -1 i t'''''S 1 4 tdi 1 (i: 4 Li 0 i 114 -IT- 't1: 51: i 01 8'11 4: tt's 1 4: 4-o t)lit 1-- 41: fl4 -'''''f'4 I ''S tr le' 15A i -4 c- it If '31 '( 14 ''ii''' :1 'N i 4 3i' k'''' if i' I ti 4 t-'s 4 "'7-' i-: 1fP31 egi' 4 'f''a r': it 1' 1 ti: '-i 011-7: ''-'434- '''''i: '1 "::::1 '-''4'''': 5: im'kivs i zt 4-F VP'- 4t1 A rii :1 1-k4 -eA 44'4 kq 8::4 ri' A 0ilb '7 I ii A'''1: 1 l' AN 0 Vi 1 '7- i Nt i I i 0 1 1 liti: 1 I b4 0 14 I I 4 4 4 A 'it'''': i'A'-'-'' I I 4 116 PIO Off di It gh et 0 4) A 010 el Observer Photo Officer 00 Escorts Suspects To Jail Worth Williams I) Gary Maxwell (center) )bserver Photo 10 Jail (center) A Desperate Chase Ends In Blockade Shootout Ends out 4 Observer Photos by JOHN DAUGHTRY Of Charlotte Talks With Kurt Marwitz "kids may be little but they're not dunzb" I I Santa Ageless ruths The map reconstructs the chase which began at 1-77 and Clanton Road exit (1) where a speeding car exited and entered again at 1-77 but the car was lost (2) City police picked up the car again on Highway 160 just past Douglas Airport (3) and pursued 'the car south where they pulled the car over at Garrison Road (4) But the car took off when officers left their cars The car was picked up again when South Carolina deputies spotted the car on Highway 160 west of Ft Mill Again police pulled the car over and the suspects took off this time shooting at police The car went through Ft Mill and turned onto Business 21 and headed north Highway Patrol officers were involved in shooting with the car A running roadblock was set up at (7) The car ran the first roadblock but was caught at Wood-lawn and 1-77 (8) where a second roadblock was set up an at 1-77 car exited St (2) City 160 just car south Road (4) cars The ta deputies Mill Again took off hrough Ft ded north )oting with (7) The at Wood-ma set up 11110 OWNED MEMIER MEMO IIIMInk I 21 On HILL classified Ads Malibu shot at the man in the Cadillac SATURDAY MORNING all three were in jail The Cadillac driver Arthur Lee McClain 17 of 3300 Barringer Drive was arrested on charges of posSession of illegal weapons two sawed-off shotguns that the trooper said he found in searching the car The Malibu's occupants Worth Grayson Williams 31 of Charlotte and Gary Dan Page alias Gary Dan Maxwell 32 of Greenville both of whom have long police records were charged with at least 20 counts of assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a police officer Found in the Malibu police said was $5000 worth of dental gold taken from a Charlotte dental supply firm last week and two sawed-off shotguns two 38 caliber pistols and a 30 caliber carbine rifle THE II A BEGAN in earnest minutes a ter Coley lost the Malibu and Charlotte patrolman Peterson spot ted it on Boulevard near Woodlawn Peterson tracked the Malibu through residential south Charlotte in neighborhoods like Broadmeor and Sedgefield Believing the men had shot at the trooper Peterson kept his distance awaiting help before moving in Then came the radio message that the Then hadn't shot at Coley and Peterson -was ordered to stop the car Ile pulled it over on 160 at Garrison Road But something still bothered Peterson "The driver of the car didn't put the vehicle into park when he pulled over" Peterson said "I don't knew exactly how I knew that but when you're a policeman you just know" Following his instincts Peterson drew his pistol and delayed getting out his patrol car for a moment For 10 tense seconds Peterson one hand on See PATROLMAN'S 3C I le man in the MINING all The Cadillac McClain 17 Drive was ges of two Is that the iund in search occupants illiams 31 of lry Dan Page Jewell 32 of both of whom records were least 20 counts vith a deadly ult on a police Malibu police worth of den)m a Charlotte rm last week -Off shotguns istois and a 30 rifle BEGAN in after Coley and Charlotte Peterson spotoulevard near the Malibu ial south Charhborhoods like I Sedgefield men had shot Peterson kept waiting help in Then came ige that the at Coley and rdered to stop led it over on rison Road' still bothered of the car vehicle into pulled over" "I don't know knew that but policeman you Instincts Fe pistol and out his patrol it For 10 tense in one hand on LIN'S 3C 6001b i 1 ''''4k "4 i 1 i 1 I '1' i 'A V'' 'i 4t ir t' le' 5 1: 1 4 7 6 It 10 tii: 1 14s I tti: 1 '4': 't 4 li Ill Tf' 4''' tj 4 Chris Brut 21yg Fin 1 4 IL By HAROLD WAR Observer Staff Wri Santa Claus finishes 6 afternoon shift at So strolls away waving a down the escalator On the Wall of the basem*nt dressini memorandum on stationery from his 1314 Tillman the shop ter's assistant pi director begins: "To: Eddie Kurt at From: Burl Tulin Santa area "THIS ROOM looks and raunchy as a have ever seen You keeping it orderly clean The night shift Sant Galarde is waiting' i duty already pill( roughed Ile needs beard Santa whips of and beard unsnaps Tenders from his shucks his red velvet pulls on jeans allt dered knit shirt And that quickly t' Santa is once agair UNCC biology major old Kurt Marwitz 'Ma itz sighs scratches his itchy fa his stiff legs rubs posterior and slump chair He has longi hair sprightly blue full reddish-blond bet own "It's been an expel never forget I'll tell 3 says Marvvitz who ti real Santa in the Nc has to switch suits night-shift Santa memos about neata the boss who isn't Mn Contrary to legend Claus does not see you do Yet even I his seat on a red throne in SouthPark's does see the gamut strength and frailty pathos love and It! and fear genero greed sensitivity ani ness And he says wink times might be dant Kurt AIarwitz it is I softest job on earth Santa Oh sure there are pleasures of sw et bright-eyed children his neck who "ma worthWhile" BUT BE'S also upon kicked clawed and had his nose thu his curly white bear Not to mention havi up with the adults "I love children guess I love people he reflects "I'l 1 4 7 vfil' rrme: --4 1k77 ''-mk ''''1011 I i tt4s 1: 1 1 l': 4: -44: i'l yi i'' i11 1 1 4 4A: it: ili'' i) tiv- 'f- i :3:3:: 11 '0 t1 lik'-'11" i L'-' Chris Bruton 21mYe Fin i By HAROLD WARREN Observer Staff Writer Santa Claus finishes 6 afternoon shift at strolls away waving down the escalator On the all of the basem*nt dressing memorandum on stationery from his Tillman the shopping assistant director begins: "To: Eddie Kurt and From: Burl Tillman Santa area "THIS ROOM looks and aunchy as have ever seen You keeping it orderly clean The night shift Santa Galarde is waiting' duty already roughed Ile needs beard Santa whips off and beard unsnaps penders from his shucks his red velvet pulls on jeans and knit shirt And that quickly Santa is once again UNCC biology major Kurt Marwitz 'Dilarwitz sighs scratches his itchy his stiff legs rubs posterior and slumps chair He has longish hair sprightly blue full reddish-blond beard own "It's been an never forget I'll tell says Marvvitz who real Santa in the has to switch suits night-shift Santa memos about neatness the boss who isn't Mrs Contrary to legend Claus does not see you do Yet even his seat on a red throne in SouthPark's does see the gamut strength and frailty pathos love and and fear generosity greed sensitivity and And he says while times might be difficult Kurt Marwitz it is softest job on earth Santa Oh sure there are pleasures of sweet bright-eyed children his neck who "make worth hile" BUT BE'S also upon kicked clawed and had his nose curly white beard Not to mention having up with the adults "I love children guess I love people he reflects "I've The following story was written by Kays Gary based on reporting by Gary Henry Eichel Nancy Brachey and Claudia Howe Observer staff writers LINCOLNTON Tommy Lee York 28 and discharged from the Army only days ago was charged Saturday with the Friday night fatal stabbing of Mrs Betty Parker Atwell 38 of Sberills Ford Catawba County The wir 5-6 155-pound Green Beret veteran of Vietnam insists that he has slain six other persons including three Lincoln County women Skeptical police authorities are searching for the six alleged victims but at least one of the claimed victims was found alive Saturday York a 1964 graduate of West Lincoln High School was arrested just before midnight Friday on a public drunkenness charge as he sat in a parked car some four miles from Lincointon TWO HOURS later after his father Harvey York appeared at the jail the younger York told police he had slain his companion and led them to a wooded area off tar town Road five miles north of Lin colnton where Mrs Atwell's nude body was found spread-eagled in the snow There Was a knife slash across her abdomen and four stab wounds in the chest which were determined as the cause of death A short time later York told eriff Harven A Crouse that he had slain three other local omen one on Wednesday another on Thursday and a third besides Mrs Atwell en Friday night York gave the narries State Bureau of Investigation agent Barrett said Saturday that one of the three lhad been located land 'told them that York was "telling a co*ck-and-bull story" SATURDAY afternoon a night York accompanied a police search party to several areas here he 'said the other women were slain No bodies 'were found York with a long record of alcotiolism in and out of the Army and dating bait to is high school days also claimed he had killed a Columbia SC couple 11 months ago 'but Columbia police said they had no reports of a couple being murdered or missing Neither ecould they find any trace of 'Lucille and ottie Moon" mbo York said had been his victims York claimed to have killed a "Robert Brian" in Fayetteville six months ago but late Saturday night authorities had no confirmation of such a killing Talking from his jail cell York told Observer reporter Claudia Howe Saturday afternoon that he had "killed them all with my hands" and that he hadn't used a gun "Tommy" reporter said "aren't you sorry?" "No" he said Of the stabbing of Mrs 1 See EX-GI Page 3C Col 3 driv in in South Carolina Now the assigned-risk system with its high rates and high percentage of driver with clean driving records has unleashed such outrage and frustration that some change is almost inevitable in the coming legislative session A legislative study committee headed by Sen Ralph Gasque D-Marion has been looking into the issue and discovering that more than half of the drivers in the assigned risk program have I a records no traffic violations or chargeable accidents in three years For those people the assignment is expensive The minimum standard policy liability coverage of $10000 per person and $20000 per accident for bodily injury and $5000 for property damage costs $ao to $60 a year If you're in assigned risk you pay $119 Car reeks: After Chase 41 4" '44t) I e' 4'''t''''i1 1 pf 41 0 4 '1 t' 07i' 1 4 1 t4444 A i 11 CI 2t-P'16 it41 "It really hurts when some innocent child gets on my lap anti says 'I asked you last year to bring me a certain thing and you said you Ivould but you didn't' Cs OMNI lb INI MOMIlli 5Ci 40Mi le Chase Bullets Charged COLE RADIOED in the description of the Malibu and turned his attention back to the man in the Cadillac What began as a more-orless routine speeding ease in Coley's lone nighttime patrol developed into an extraordinary running gun battle involving dozens of Charlotte and Mecklenburg policemen high way patrolmen and York County SC sheriff'sdeputies According to several police reports Saturday this is what happened: THE CHASE slowed from time to time as the men in the green Malibu eluded their pursuers at speeds up to 115 miles an hour consumed nearly 100 minutes covered more than 40 'A his 2 to South Park and glides cramped room a SouthPark boss Burt center's promotions Arden Re: as rough anything I are not neat or Arden to go on pillowed and Santa's the cap the sus pillow suit then embroidered the 2 to 6 a trim 2I-yearold deeply face bends his aching into a blond eyes and a of his experience I'll you that" unlike the North Pole with the and read from Claus Santa everything limited to and gold mall he of human joy and hate trust and callousness it being hardly the being old the warm bubbly hugging it all then they'll ask for something for a br other or sister or friend Actually the kids are not much trouble the only trouble is with some of the parents" The excited kids are herded through a gate in Santa's white corral past a sign reading: "Photo with Santa VA plus See KIDS Page 2C CA 1 IS WHICH Im Map Reconstructs Speed Three By SAM COVLNGTON and MARTIIA FOWLER Observer Staff Writers North Carolina state trooper Arthur Coley was cruising along Interstate 77 just south of downtown Charlotte Friday night when he spotted two cars streaking down the interstate just ahead He pursued and one of the cars a 1969 two-tone blue Cadillac pulled over The driver told Coley that two men in a 1973 green Chevrolet Malibu had shot at him Coley took off after the Malibu Within a mile the fleeing car turned off the interstate and disappeared into residential south Charlotte The committee is now considering two plans either of which would do away with the assigned risk program The first system called a "state und" is dear to Gasque but anathema to insurance firms Under it the state itself would run an insurance program and would offer polities to any drivers whom private insurers refused to service Its backers say it would lower rates for those clean drivers now bogged down in the assigned risk program cost less to operate than a private company plan because it wouldn't worry about making a profit and give the state first hand information to judge how well private firms are performing OPPONENTS say it would involve the state too deeply in private enterprise and that eventually the state would Auto Insurance Plan Likely miles crossed the state line and reached Fort Mill SC and finally ended in a hail of police bullets at a Charlotte roadblock on Interstate 77 at Wood lawn Road just a mile from where it began Altogether six police cars and the Malibu were damaged or wrecked dozens of rifle shotgun and pistol shots fired by suspects and police Several police cars and the Malibu were riddled with bullets Yet almost incredibly no One was shot and no one was hurt in the wrecks "I don't know how we came through it" Charlotte police Lt George Hager sighed afterward "but we did" Police still didn't know Saturday why the man in the ered the driver to be a bad risk All companies would belong to the ilool and would contribute to it in 'proportion to their share of the state's insurance business Claims made under policies placed in the pool would be paid by pool funds so eiach ance company would share in the losses BACKERS of reinsurance say it would pr vent clean drivers from being charged excessive rates In addition the insured driver would not know his policy had been placed in the reinsurance pool thus there would not be the stigma now attached to being in the assigned risk program Opponents say reinsurance would result in rate increases for drivers not now in the assigned risk plan since the poor risk would be absorbed In the See AGENTS Pge 3C Col 2 Kurt 3Iarm itz had an easy rapport with children "If you talk to a child like he's a human being he'll respond as a human being They're very smart They're honest "The kids are very surprising for example they're not nearly as greedy as I thought they might be A lot of them want maybe one or two things QUESTION New ri- 4 Pk 1 11 SEN RALPH GASQUE would like to see a state insurcmce fund for drivers refused service by private companies 0: ''ki r- i'-w t714- lvt IA: rf rl g4 :4 4 4 1 I "A s' 4 4 ilk A A 1 tt o' absorb more and more of the insurance market The second system being proposed called "reinsurance" may ultimately emerge as an acceptable compromise Its b'ackers include the State Insurance Commission the South Carolina Association of Insurance Agents the Amen-an Insurance Association end several legislators Gasque has said that under certain condli tions he too would accept reinsurance The system would work this way: All insurance firms would be required to write policies for 'anyone who requested them Although drivers with poor records would pay higher premiums all drivers with clean Tecords would within broad Categories pay roughly equal rates Ilowever once a company had written the policy it could decide to put it in a special "reinsurance" pool If it By CARL STEPP Observer Columbia Bureau COLUMBIA Let's say you are a married man about 30 with two small children a spotless driving record a '72 Ford a home in Chester County and a job down the street You want to buy the minimum auto liability insurance policy allowed by law so yoti hunt up a friendly agent If the agent likes your looks and decides you are a good risk he'll write you a policy But if he doesn't like your looks literally he can refuse: And if you can't find an agent to write you a standard policy you'll have to ask one to place you in the state's "assigned risk" plan a privately administered state-supervised program designed to handle poor dr i ving risks Your premium doubles THAT'S HAPPENED to some 200000 people currently '4 been wet insulted thumped and yanked to put well I in genet- always.

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