By Roselee Papandrea
Copyright 2006 The Daily News
The Daily News (Jacksonville, North Carolina)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
An Onslow County paramedic charged last week with soliciting sex from a woman he met while providing treatment, was involved in a wreck that killed two people while driving an ambulance in Lenoir County in 1997.
Terry Turner, 48, of Hubert, was charged by the Onslow County Sheriff’s Department Oct. 26 with solicit for prostitution and obstructing justice. Turner was suspended with pay Oct. 27 pending an internal investigation, which is expected to be completed Monday, said Tom Morgan, the county’s director of human resources.
A local background check was done on Turner when he was hired by the county in 1999, Morgan said but couldn’t verify whether Onslow County was aware of Turner’s driving record at the time.
“Because of state statutes relating to the confidentiality of personnel records, we cannot legally respond in regard to this specific employee,” said Morgan who was hired as the human resources director last December.
In August 1997, Turner was driving a Lenoir Memorial Hospital ambulance west on U.S. 70 at 60 mph in response to a call and went through a red light at the intersection of U.S. 258. Turner had his lights and siren on, but he hit a Nissan Maxima traveling south on U.S. 258, according to a Kinston Free Press report.
According to North Carolina law, emergency vehicles can cross intersections through a red light as long as they use due caution.
The wreck killed Bruce and Lorri Ferguson of Virginia and injured two of their children, according to the Kinston Free Press.
Turner was charged with two counts of misdemeanor death by a motor vehicle. In September 1998, Turner pleaded no contest to careless and reckless driving in Lenoir County District Court. He was sentenced to 30 months probation, 60 hours of community services, ordered to pay a $250 fine and his license was suspended for six months, according to the Kinston Free Press.
Turner would also have incurred five points on his license for three years for the reckless driving charge, according to the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles Web site.
Paramedics hired in Onslow County cannot have more than three points on their driving record. Onslow County employees who drive county vehicles also cannot have more than three points on their driving record, Morgan said.
Morgan couldn’t say whether the county knew how many points Turner had on his license. While Turner’s criminal record is listed on the N.C. Department of Correction Web site, the county didn’t use the Department of Correction Web site as part of its background checks until November 2005. At that time, the county also added the Consumer Reporting Agency and the N.C. Sex Offender’s Registry to its background checks, Morgan said.
The county reviews the criminal records of job applicants on a case-by-case basis, Morgan said.
“The ultimate decision is dependent on several factors, including the position for which they are applying, the date of the incident and the nature of the incident,” Morgan said.
Turner’s most recent charges stem from an alleged incident that occurred last month. A woman was charged with driving while impaired. The officers who handled the arrest noticed the woman had lacerations on her arm and called EMS. Turner was the paramedic that responded to the call, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said.
Following the treatment, the woman received several phone calls from a man who allegedly said he could get the DWI charge dismissed or reduced in exchange for sexual intercourse or oral sex, according to warants.
The woman went to the sheriff’s department Oct. 25 and reported the phone calls. She told authorities that she couldn’t identify the caller, but he wanted her to meet him in the parking lot of Albert J. Ellis Airport, Brown said.
The woman went to the airport to meet the caller along with sheriff’s deputies. It was at that time that Turner was identified as the caller and was arrested and charged, Brown said.
Delma Collins, the chairman of the Onslow County Board of Commissioners, said he couldn’t comment on Turner’s case because it’s a personnel matter. Collins was not aware of Turner’s past driving record.
“I’m very surprised to learn of the history,” he said. “I can tell yout that. I’m just going to have leave it at that.”