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Volume 129 • Issue 9
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KM’s longest serving Police Chief Son arrested always likes a challenge in father’s death Proctor He’s served
Kelly Sarvis, 18, is accused of killing his father, Darren Reid Sarvis, 58, who was found un- KELLY SARVIS responsive by Kings Mountain Police at 9 a.m. February 21 inside the residence he and his DARREN SARVIS son shared at 311 Carpenter Street. The teen faces charges of first degree murder and one count of felony larceny of a firearm. KMPD Cpl. K. L. Hamrick arrested Kelly Sarvis on February 22. He is being held under no bond at Cleveland County Jail. Police have not released the cause of death or given any indication of a motive in Darren Sarvis’ death.
This is the first homicide investigation of the year in Cleveland County. Lt. Lisa Proctor said the case is still under investigation. If anyone has any additional information about this incident they are asked to contact the Kings Mountain Police Department at 704739-0444. Darren Reid Sarvis was a native of Cleveland County, son of Ralph Gary and Frances George Sarvis. A veteran of the US Navy, he was a mechanic and played drums and guitar. Surviving are his parents; his twin sons, Kelly of Kings Mountain and Cameron Sarvis of Gastonia; and his brothers, Dean Sarvis and wife, Carrie, of Garner, NC and Dana Sarvis and wife, Chris, of Cathedral, CA. The memorial service was conducted Saturday, Feb. 26, 2017 at 2 p.m. at Ollie Harris Memorial Chapel at Harris Funeral Home.
15 years as Chief Goal-oriented, Kings Mountain Chief of Police Melvin Proctor, 52, has always liked a challenge and as the city’s longest-serving Chief for 15 years he has led the department to set high standards in community policing. Modest about taking the credit for his mastery of successful leadership he built a bridge or trust with the community – first by establishing a Mission Statement and Core values – which his employees helped develop- and leading a tough approach to fighting crime. He gives drug dealers three choices: You can stop selling drugs and be proud to live in the city; you can move out of the city limits; or you are next and you will be caught. During a big drug bust in recent years, one suspect told the officer, “tell your Chief we are moving.” ‘‘As long as our churches
POLICE HONOR CHIEF – Some of the officers are pictured at a surprise party honoring KMPD Chief Melvin Proctor, celebrating his 30th year with the City of Kings Mountain and the city’s longest serving Chief for 15 years. From left to right, standing, Lt. Lisa Proctor, Chaplain Doug Allen, K9 Officer David Warlick, Sgt. Todd McDougal, Assistant Chief Jerry Tessneer, Lt. Chris Moore, CID Assistant Landon Hulsey, Cpl. Paul Alexander and Cpl. Bryan McGinnis. Seated, left to right, Administrative Assistant Toni Mode, Reserve Commander Thomas Bell, Chief Melvin Proctor, Officer Josh Bryant and Cpl. Lance Hamrick. stay strong and united by faith as they are now I don’t see a crime problem,’’ said Proctor, When crime rates peaked in 2000 and 2001, Proctor, who became Chief in 2002, decided something needed to change. “We reached out to the faith-based community and by 2014 the reported
crime in the city was 371. The crime rate has been low for the past 10 years and significantly below what it was in 1993. Proctor credits the strong faith-based community as the key for the down turn in crime. Led by Proctor, police reached out to the churches.
“Our community is behind us,’’ he says. The past 15 years has seen many changes in policing, programs, and also in the many improvements that the city has made in giving police more tools to work with. “What sets Melvin apart See PROCTOR, Page 7A
30 years on the job Suspect Anti-bullying Melvin Proctor doing Program Thursday accused ‘What God wants me to do’ of starting trash can fires
East Elementary School will be the first school to host “Wooly, No Bully,’’ the new Cleveland County School’s mascot and Cleveland County’s newest anti-bullying advocate, Thursday, a highlight of ‘Read Across America’ which features special readers all this week and special emphasis on “no bullying.” Through a hoof on the ground, grassroots effort, Wooly plans to have faceto-snout interaction with students. He will be visiting East and scheduling visits at other schools to introduce himself and his bully prevention program. He also hopes to provide new children’s literature about his adventures and encounters. “Wooly, No Bully” is a handful, but wholeheartedly cares about the well-being of every student,’’ said Greg Shull, Wooly’s current handler. “He has already visited with principals and Central Services and will be making his debut at East Elementary on Thursday for presentations to Grads 3-4 at 1:15 p.m. and grades K-2 at 1:45 p.m.,’’ he said Wooly will be working alongside school leaders to educate students about the importance of positive behavior and commits all his time and energy in the prevention of bullying. “Wooly has a ton of energy and is certain to make an enormous impact,’’ said Ronny Funderburke, Director of Administrative Ser-
WOOLY NO BULLY vices for Cleveland County Schools. “All pun intended, he plans to grab bullying by the horns and show it to the door as it is not welcomed in our schools or our community.’’ A guest reader will read daily to each class during the week of activities. Monday was Mustache Day. “I mustache you to be kind and not be a bully.” Each student and staff member wore a mustache. Lions are Jean-iuses day on Tuesday. Students are too smart to be bullies and students and staff were jeans and an East school shirt in blue and yellow. Wednesday is Jersey Day against bullies and students and staff will be wearing their favorite team jersey. Thursday is Dr. Seuss’ birthday and a special presentation buy Wooly No Bully. Friday is Crazy Day. Bullying makes us crazy. Any type of crazy hair, crazy socks or crazy clothes can be seen on the East School campus.
Thomas Jeffrey Weathers, 23, of 609 Floyd Street, has been charged with allegedly starting fires in trash cans and cabinets under sinks in men’s bathrooms at five Kings Mountain businesses last Wednesday. Cpl. D.K. Davis said police starting getting calls about suspicious fires at 2:38 p.m. Suspicious fires were reported by Battleground BP, 724 York Road; Taco Bell, 704 York Road; Subway, 105 York Road; Rite Aid, 601 E. King St., and Auto Zone, 611 East King Street. KMPD Assistant Chief J. H. Tessneer said the suspect was located after several minutes and was taken into custody without incident. Weathers is charged with four counts of burning other buildings, all misdemeanors, and one felony count of burning personal property. He is jailed in the Cleveland County Detention Center without bond.
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Chief Melvin Proctor knows without a doubt police work is what he was meant to do. Now, after 30 years on the job and the city’s longest-serving Chief for 15 years, he has added Associate Minister of Penley’s Chapel to his list of “doing what God wants me to do.” He fills in for Pastor Doug Allen but says he hasn’t been called to pastor a church and leans more to doing evangelistic work. Officers and staff at KMPD roasted their boss at a surprise drop-in Friday afternoon and presented a blue and gold cake decorated with a police badge, showed off other memorabilia of Proctor’s service and congratulated him on being Kings Mountain’s
MELVIN PROCTOR longest-serving Chief. Proctor didn’t know a thing about the event which also included refreshments and gifts. They reminisced over headlines of The Herald, particularly an August 10, 1995 edition “Kickboxer
cop wants to KO crime.” Proctor was a professional kickboxer who gave up the light heavyweight title to fight crime and then got hooked on the rodeo circuit by a longhorn bull. “And that’s no bull,’’ he told then-Herald Editor Gary Stewart who wrote the story. He learned to ride after he stayed on the bull for eight seconds, an experience that was at first horrifying because he literally could not turn loose of the bull and then he found he liked the thrill of it all and qualified for rodeo events in Boiling Springs. “That’s really what I learned in kickboxing and riding the rodeo circuit to get up and try again and I See MELVIN, Page 7A
Musical ‘Fantasticks’ opens in KM next weekend K i n g s Mountain Little Theatre and corporate sponsor Harris Funeral Home announce performance dates for “The Fantasticks.” Show dates are March 10, 11, 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. and March 12 at 3 p.m. at Joy Performance Center, 202 S. Railroad Avenue. Jon Jones is director, Marianna Bracciole is assistant director and Jondra Harmon is music director.
Musical staging is by Jones and Bracciole. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and senior citizens. Reservations may be placed by phone at 704-730-9408 or at tickets@ kmlt.org. “The Fantasticks” is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play “The Romancers’ by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who
trick their children Luisa and Matt into falling in love by pretending to feud. The fathers hire traveling actors to stage a mock abduction, so that Matt can heroically seem to save Luisa, ending the supposed feud. When the children discover the deception, they reject the arranged love match and separate. Each then gains disillusioning experiences of the real world, seen in parallel fantasy sequences. They return to each other See FANTASTICS, Page 7A
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