Beauty Queen charge with Road Rage
Fayetteville beauty queen accused in crash
By Sarah A. Reid
Staff writer
SOUTHERN PINES - A Fayetteville beauty queen is accused of veering through traffic to block another car, then driving recklessly up and down a five-lane road in an apparent attempt to intimidate the other driver.
Miss Fayetteville 2007 Jenna Racine Walters was charged Nov. 9 by the Southern Pines Police Department with aggressive driving, according to a crash report. She is scheduled to appear in Moore County District Court on Feb. 22.
The five-member board of directors that oversees the Miss Fayetteville pageant is expected to meet soon to decide whether to take any action. Walters won the pageant last year. The previous year, she didn't win, but she was chosen Miss Congeniality.
"I am flabbergasted," said Betty Burkett, the executive director of the pageant. She learned about the accusations against Walters when a reporter asked her about it.
Walters did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Witness report
On Nov. 9, Tammy Abercrombie and her husband were headed to Lowe's to pick up some supplies for a home improvement project. They said they were shocked when - seemingly out of nowhere - Walters pulled out of Pinehurst Avenue, crossed three lanes of traffic and slid sideways to block another car on U.S. 15-501. Walters car bumped the second car.
"We were sitting there thinking, `Oh my goodness, what is wrong with this girl,'" Abercrombie said.
The two vehicles were next to the Abercrombies, who watched as Walters got out of her car and started circling the vehicle she had blocked off, according to the police report.
"She kept screaming, `Get out of the car! Get out of the car!'" Abercrombie said.
Angela Thomas, 22, was in the other vehicle. Thomas stayed in her car, Abercrombie said.
When Thomas didn't get out, Walters got back in her car and sped down the turn lane on U.S. 15-501, Abercrombie said. She turned around at the next intersection and sped back, stopping just short of Thomas' front bumper. Then she pulled around Thomas' car, went to another intersection and turned around again, Abercrombie said. This time, she sped back and stopped just short of the rear bumper.
Walters was out of her car and yelling at Thomas again when an unidentified plainclothes officer stopped her. He had the two women and the witnesses pull into a nearby parking lot.
The Abercrombies and four other witnesses gave statements to the Southern Pines police.
"She really did endanger a lot of people with the way she was driving," Abercrombie said.
Thomas refused to answer questions about the car crash or what prompted it. People who know the women say they are friends.
"It was an accident, that is all that needs to be stated," Thomas said Thursday.
Thomas did not pursue assault or vandalism charges against Walters, despite the reported $400 in damage done to her car, according to police reports.
Rest of reign
Walters' reign as Miss Fayetteville 2007 is scheduled to end on March 29, when the next pageant is held.
No matter what the pageant committee decides about her status, the $3,500 scholarship Walters won can not be rescinded, Burkett said. Walters is a junior at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
Staff writer Sarah A. Reid can be reached at reids@fayobserver.com, or 323-4848, ext. 280.
By Sarah A. Reid
Staff writer
SOUTHERN PINES - A Fayetteville beauty queen is accused of veering through traffic to block another car, then driving recklessly up and down a five-lane road in an apparent attempt to intimidate the other driver.
Miss Fayetteville 2007 Jenna Racine Walters was charged Nov. 9 by the Southern Pines Police Department with aggressive driving, according to a crash report. She is scheduled to appear in Moore County District Court on Feb. 22.
The five-member board of directors that oversees the Miss Fayetteville pageant is expected to meet soon to decide whether to take any action. Walters won the pageant last year. The previous year, she didn't win, but she was chosen Miss Congeniality.
"I am flabbergasted," said Betty Burkett, the executive director of the pageant. She learned about the accusations against Walters when a reporter asked her about it.
Walters did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Witness report
On Nov. 9, Tammy Abercrombie and her husband were headed to Lowe's to pick up some supplies for a home improvement project. They said they were shocked when - seemingly out of nowhere - Walters pulled out of Pinehurst Avenue, crossed three lanes of traffic and slid sideways to block another car on U.S. 15-501. Walters car bumped the second car.
"We were sitting there thinking, `Oh my goodness, what is wrong with this girl,'" Abercrombie said.
The two vehicles were next to the Abercrombies, who watched as Walters got out of her car and started circling the vehicle she had blocked off, according to the police report.
"She kept screaming, `Get out of the car! Get out of the car!'" Abercrombie said.
Angela Thomas, 22, was in the other vehicle. Thomas stayed in her car, Abercrombie said.
When Thomas didn't get out, Walters got back in her car and sped down the turn lane on U.S. 15-501, Abercrombie said. She turned around at the next intersection and sped back, stopping just short of Thomas' front bumper. Then she pulled around Thomas' car, went to another intersection and turned around again, Abercrombie said. This time, she sped back and stopped just short of the rear bumper.
Walters was out of her car and yelling at Thomas again when an unidentified plainclothes officer stopped her. He had the two women and the witnesses pull into a nearby parking lot.
The Abercrombies and four other witnesses gave statements to the Southern Pines police.
"She really did endanger a lot of people with the way she was driving," Abercrombie said.
Thomas refused to answer questions about the car crash or what prompted it. People who know the women say they are friends.
"It was an accident, that is all that needs to be stated," Thomas said Thursday.
Thomas did not pursue assault or vandalism charges against Walters, despite the reported $400 in damage done to her car, according to police reports.
Rest of reign
Walters' reign as Miss Fayetteville 2007 is scheduled to end on March 29, when the next pageant is held.
No matter what the pageant committee decides about her status, the $3,500 scholarship Walters won can not be rescinded, Burkett said. Walters is a junior at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
Staff writer Sarah A. Reid can be reached at reids@fayobserver.com, or 323-4848, ext. 280.
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Oh, a complex woman...
[:X]0 -
The arresting officer said, "Well I am going to have to take this one into the back room and strip search 'er. She may well be hiding cocaine in that bra." 0 -
Is that the best Fayetteville has for beauty queens.....What a skank. 0 -
Apparently the C word used, congeniality, was not the correct one in this case.
However, I would not be doing a strip search for drugs in the bra.
Wulfmann0 -
You guys are acting like PMS is something new.
Ben0 -
This reminds me of a saying my uncle used to say.BIG WOMAN--BIG C*#T SMALL WOMAN--ALL C*#T 0
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