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GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) - Two fired Greenville police officers and one officer who was suspended have filed a lawsuit against City Council member Kandie Smith.
In a news conference Monday, North Carolina Police Benevolent Association executive director John Midgette said three members of the Greenville Police Department's gang unit, Brock Flannery, Joshua Smith and Travis Brinkley, were targeted by Smith.
The officers allege Kandie Smith took efforts to get them fired after they pulled over assistant Nash County superintendent Leonodus Farrow Jr.
On May 13, the officers pulled over a vehicle they said was speeding.
The officers said Farrow, a passenger, yelled "Get the **** out of here!" at them.
When they asked for identification, the officers said Farrow refused.
The officers asked Farrow to get out of the vehicle, and when he did, they said they saw an open container of Corona Light that had been poured out onto the floorboards, with some beer still in the bottle.
The officers said Farrow was intoxicated, and they detained him in handcuffs.
The officer said Farrow repeatedly claimed there was in no beer in the container despite it being visible, and officers said he told them he 'had some drinks' before he entered the car.
Farrow was eventually arrested and charged with being intoxicated and disruptive and being in possession of an open container.
The driver was given a speeding ticket.
Following Farrow's arrest, the officers allege Kandie Smith submitted a complaint to Greenville's police chief on Farrow's behalf.
The officers said Greenville police officials told them it was Farrow who reported the complaint, but they said the complaint form itself lists Kandie Smith's name.
Greenville police launched an internal affairs investigation into the arrest.
Following the investigation, Brinkley and Flannery were fired and Joshua Smith was suspended and received additional disciplinary action.
The three officers allege the investigation was "biased, inept, unfair and incompetent, and was conducted less for the purposed of determining what occurred than to find 'reasons to discipline" them."
One officer, Joshua Smith, claims Greenville police Chief Mark Holtzman told him he was taking disciplinary action for political reasons.
The officers claim she was motivated by a hatred of police stemming from a 2010 arrest, and they also allege she was motivated by a desire to establish a civilian review board and to benefit her run for the District 8 House seat.
In their suit, they state Smith “wrongfully and without justification abused her authority as a city council member to pressure the GPD into taking disciplinary action against Plaintiffs, two of whom were fired as a result.”
According to a release from the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association, the three officers are "but a few of the Greenville officers who have found themselves on the receiving end of complaints filed by Ms. Smith for incidents of which she had no personal knowledge."
In the conference, NCPBA executive director John Midgette said Smith has staged encounters with officers with the goal of provoking, confronting and inciting them.
Midgette said Smith's efforts to harm officers dates back eight years.
Smith said she does not have a comment because she has not been served yet, and she does not know the merits of the suit.
The city released a statement saying it does not comment on pending litigation and said it will review any public records requests in a reasonable amount of time.
After more than a year running the Global Transpark, former Greenville Mayor Allen Thomas said continued regional cooperation is critical for the growth of eastern North Carolina.
On Monday night, Thomas came before City Council to give a presentation on the state of the massive industrial park located in Kinston. Thomas began as executive director of the park in June 2017, after stepping down as mayor to accept the role.
In the 14 months since taking over, Thomas said the park has been steadily expanding, including the construction of the North Carolina Emergency Management headquarters, an $8 million resurfacing project and a $55.7 million expansion of Spirit Aerosystems, the park’s biggest tenant.
Additionally, Thomas said he and his staff have accomplished their goal of forming a detailed action plan, as well as redesigning the park’s website in preparation for increased advertising efforts. Thomas’s presentation to Council Monday is one of many he is giving to different economic groups and municipalities.
Overall, Thomas said the park is as ready as ever to welcome more development by expanding business. He said one of the ways to ensure the continued success of not only the park, but of eastern North Carolina, is for all the involved municipalities, governments and stakeholders to realize their success relies on each other.
“It’s time for us to get over all the type of small-minded thinking and understand that we need to work together as a region and leverage our assets,” he said. “I know you’re working on some of that right now and I encourage you to keep doing that.”
At the end of the meeting during closing comments, Mayor P.J. Connelly said he agreed with Thomas about the need for greater collaboration and teamwork among cities and government in the region.
“I want to echo the sentiments from earlier,” he said. “It’s important we have collaboration, and we understand that this a regional issue that we have. It’s not just Greenville-centric issue. We want to partner on every level with the county, the other municipalities and neighboring counties. That’s extremely important if we all want to be successful.”
He said on a recent trip to Raleigh he had discussions with other city officials about the growth of the areas around prospering cities in the Triangle, and how it benefited everyone.
“Sometimes it comes across that a center area is trying to take the lead on things,” he said. “But our success is success for all the communities around us, and their success is our success as well.”
Also on Monday night, during their pre-meeting workshop, the council:
Received the results of a study of potential industrial sites in the region that the city could better leverage to attract growth. The study identified specific sites that the consultant recommended the city take steps to better develop and market.
Held a closed session meeting, in part to discuss an ongoing lawsuit against the city, board of education and several state officials over the city’s red light camera system installed in late 2017.
CVB just issued a press release--Greenville will host the USA Ultimate Mixed Regionals Tournament 11/9-11.
As someone who was moderately involved in this get, it's nice to land this tournament. If we crush it, it's very reasonable to believe that larger (and more lucrative) USAU tournaments will come to Greenville in the future.
CVB just issued a press release--Greenville will host the USA Ultimate Mixed Regionals Tournament 11/9-11.
As someone who was moderately involved in this get, it's nice to land this tournament. If we crush it, it's very reasonable to believe that larger (and more lucrative) USAU tournaments will come to Greenville in the future.
This is excellent news. I'm assuming ultimate Frisbee? Where are they playing? With Rocky mount getting a bunch of basketball/volleyball tournaments in their new events center, it's good to see Greenville be able to attract different tournaments of their own.
This is excellent news. I'm assuming ultimate Frisbee? Where are they playing? With Rocky mount getting a bunch of basketball/volleyball tournaments in their new events center, it's good to see Greenville be able to attract different tournaments of their own.
Ultimate Frisbee - North Rec Center. ECU and Greenville have 14 regulation fields for ultimate in the metro, all of which are in pretty good condition, so we're a prime location for follow-up tournaments assuming it's not a catastrophe. We're actually better positioned than most similarly-sized cities in our region (AC for those who know the USAU structure). Would not be surprised to see this Mixed division tournament parlayed into a College Open or Club Open divisions in the near future--either of which would be HUGE lands for the city.
I think this will be a great opportunity for Greenville to showcase its "new" downtown. What's not to love about this...a local band with Greenville/ECU roots that has become national playing a free concert in the heart of downtown Greenville...blocks away from two new housing complexes that just opened and blocks away from a slew of new small businesses that have opened. If it is received well, this might be the biggest single event downtown Greenville has ever seen...and set the tone for what can be.
For those that complain that there is nothing to do in Greenville....bring a little cash and spend the EVENING downtown.
Anyone know what UNX is asking for in order to relocate from the Ficklen Warehouse downtown? @HP91, I think it was you that mentioned figures before.
There is a Cleveland, OH-based group that is interested in learning more about the warehouse. They've done many warehouses in NC and specialize in historic buildings redevelopment. Check out Cleveland's warehouse district for examples.
Anyone know what UNX is asking for in order to relocate from the Ficklen Warehouse downtown? @HP91, I think it was you that mentioned figures before.
There is a Cleveland, OH-based group that is interested in learning more about the warehouse. They've done many warehouses in NC and specialize in historic buildings redevelopment. Check out Cleveland's warehouse district for examples.
That warehouse can be a jewel to downtown Greenville if renovated into mixed use space or convention space. Was talking with someone recently about the APA conference in Greenville last year and they noted that while Greenville was ok, it was a completely different conference feel because there was nothing within walking distance of the conference, like they have in Charlotte, Winston Salem, Raleigh, Wilmington, and even New Bern.
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