Pair arrested in Saturday shooting

By Thadd White (Contact) | Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald

Published Tuesday, March 31, 2009

AHOSKIE – Two teens are in custody and two others are being sought in a Saturday morning incident on Main Street here.

According to Lt. Jeremy Roberts of the Ahoskie Police Department, shots were fired at BJ’s Sports Bar & Grill at approximately 2:20 a.m. Saturday leaving bullet holes in the front windows and door.

The APD was called and, upon investigation, learned the subjects may have been operating a gray Cadillac. Lt. Roberts issued a BOLO (be on the lookout) alert to all Hertford County agencies.

“When we put out the BOLO, (Hertford County Sheriff’s) Deputy M. Beard was behind a gray Cadillac on the Ahoskie-Cofield Road,” Lt. Roberts said. “He initiated a traffic stop and got the car to pull over.”

Deputy Beard got the driver’s license of the vehicle’s operator and then returned to his car at which time the suspects decided to flee. A car chase ensued with the suspect vehicle coming to rest in a ditch about a mile from the original traffic stop.

“It was rainy at the time and the roads were wet and slippery,” Lt. Roberts said. “They lost control and slid into a ditch.”

The four suspects then fled the vehicle and ran on foot through a field. Deputy Beard, however, was able to apprehend one of them and detain him until Lt. Roberts arrived.

“Once I arrived, we conducted a search of the vehicle and found three guns,” Lt. Roberts said.

The officer confirmed those guns matched the ones they believed had been used to shoot into the business on Main Street in Ahoskie.

The suspect that was caught by Deputy Beard was Alex Roshjuan Beverly, 19, of Cofield. He was arrested and charged with firing a weapon into an occupied building, going armed to the terror of the public and discharging a firearm in the corporate limits of Ahoskie. He was placed in the Hertford County Detention Center under an $85,000 cash bond.

A day later, the operator of the vehicle, Pierre Deshawn Weaver, 18, of Cofield, - whose license Deputy Beard had taken - turned himself in at the Hertford County Sheriff’s Office. He was served with warrants by Deputy Stroud and charged with the same charges as Beverly. He was placed in the Hertford County Detention Center under a $140,000 cash bond.

Lt. Roberts said investigation had led Ahoskie Police to believe the other two who were in the vehicle were Raleigh Parker and Derrick Joyner, both of Cofield. He said warrants were being drawn and the two subjects were being sought in connection with the incident.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Parker or Joyner are asked to call the Ahoskie Police Department at 332-5011.

Ahoskie Police Chief Troy Fitzhugh said it was everyone working together that led to the two arrests and the identification of the two additional suspects.

“It started with the dispatcher doing a good job of getting officer on the scene,” the Chief said. “The officers went to the scene, got the information and got it out which led to a deputy being able to stop the vehicle. All of it working together helped us make two arrests and be in a position to make more soon.”

Hertford County Sheriff Juan Vaughan said he was pleased his office was able to assist in the investigation and was proud of the work done by his deputies.

“I want to commend Deputy Beard for apprehending one of the suspects and for getting the car stopped,” Sheriff Vaughan said. “With three weapons in the vehicle, it was a very dangerous situation. I’m glad no one got hurt.”

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