THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501250426
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
A Dare County Sheriff's Department vehicle transporting three Norfolk men to state correctional facilities in Raleigh collided Tuesday morning with a soft-drink truck in Martin County . No one was seriously injured.
The three prisoners - Norman Lee Robinson Jr., 37; Lenoris Gregory Fleming, 19; and Ralph Lamont Fleming - were convicted last week in Dare County Superior Court in connection with a robbery-shooting at a Burnside Road residence in Manteo on July 26.
The three inmates and two deputies - Rusty Rawls and Jimmy Ray Watts - were treated for minor bumps and bruises, and the trip to Raleigh resumed about 11 a.m., Dare County spokesman Charles Hartig said.
Hartig said the accident occurred on N.C. Highway 903 in Williamston about 8:30 a.m. when a Pepsi Cola truck attempting to make a left turn moved back into the right-hand lane and pushed the county vehicle into a ditch.
The two deputies and the three inmates were taken to Martin County General Hospital in Williamston for observation and treatment for the minor injuries.
Robinson was being taken to Central Prison at the time of the wreck, while the Fleming brothers were en route to the Polk Youth Center.
Gregory Fleming had been sentenced to 140 years in prison after being convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, three counts of second-degree kidnapping, two counts of armed robbery, and one count of first-degree burglary.
Ralph Fleming had been sentenced to 77 years in prison after being convicted of the same charges.
Robinson was found guilty of a lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to injure, along with the kidnapping, armed robbery, and burglary charges.
He was sentenced to 107 years in jail.
A Dare County jury had deliberated one hour and 40 minutes before returning a guilty verdict in the case. A fourth man, 30-year-old Scott Terrell Perkins, was acquitted of all charges stemming from the incident.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC INJURIES PRISONERS by CNB