© 2024 WFAE
90.7 Charlotte 93.7 Southern Pines 90.3 Hickory 106.1 Laurinburg
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ride Operator Charged after State Fair Accident

Police have filed charges against a man who operated a ride that injured five people on Thursday at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh.

The fair announced Saturday that 46-year-old Timothy Tutterrow, of Quitman, Georgia, has been charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Witnesses said the ride – the Vortex - had stopped and people were getting off when it started moving again.

The Wake County Sheriff said an investigation found that someone had tampered with the ride and its safety devices. Tutterrow works for a fair contractor. He couldn’t be reached for comment.  

Three people are still in the hospital after the accident. And the incident may be dampening enthusiasm for this year’s fair. The state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says attendance Friday night was just over 82,000. That was more than 10,000 fewer than the same night last year.

AIR PASSENGER CHARGED AFTER LOADED RIFLE FOUND IN LUGGAGE 

A 23-year-old Tennessee man was arrested at Kennedy Airport in New York Saturday morning after he tried to board a flight for Charlotte with a loaded weapon in his luggage. Police found a loaded rifle with the serial numbers defaced in the man’s luggage.  The man also was carrying another defaced rifle and two handguns as well as high-capacity ammunition magazines, which are illegal in New York. Federal rules allow only unloaded weapons in checked luggage.

MOTORCYCLIST KILLED IN WRECK

A motorcyclist died early this morning when he struck a utility pole on Capps Hill Mine Road, off Beatties Ford Road. Police were called to the scene at around 12:45. A witness told police the motorcycle was passing a car on a double yellow line as it entered a curve in the roadway and then went off the road. The motorcyclist was wearing a helmet. He was pronounced dead at the scene

TRAIN STRIKES AND KILLS MAN IN CHARLOTTE

And a man who was sitting on railroad tracks along Nations Crossing Road in southwest Charlotte was struck by a train and killed Saturday morning. The conductor of the southbound train saw the man, sounded the horn and put on the brakes. But the man didn’t move and the train was unable to stop. Medic pronounced the man dead at 11:10am.  Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600

CHURCHES CUT TIES TO BOYS SCOUTS

Boy Scout Troop 7 at Calvary Church in Charlotte has produced 57 Eagle Scouts over the past 20 years, but that’s coming to an end. The Charlotte Observer reports the church plans to drop its scout troop Jan. 1. It’s among several troops in the Charlotte area that are cutting ties to the Boy Scouts of America. Calvary leaders said the Boy Scouts no longer fit with its mission of making “authentic followers of Jesus Christ.”  He wouldn’t say if the move was in response to the Boy Scouts’ decision to allow gay members. At least two other churches in the Mecklenburg County Council also have dropped their scout troops.

INMATE DIES AT SALISBURY JAIL

Salisbury police are investigating the death of an inmate at Piedmont Correctional Institution. Authorities say 44-year-old Kevin Barrett was found dead early Friday. Authorities say he appears to have killed himself by hanging. Police say Barrett had returned to prison Oct. 9 after violating his supervised release in connection with an Aug. 28 armed robbery.  He previously had served 13 years in prison on other charges.