3 agencies weigh options against accused kidnapper

JERRY CASE ...Remains under guard at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center A North Carolina man shot by Cherokee County Sheriff's Deputies following a kidnapping incident Saturday is likely to remain at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center until the weekend.

But he won't be going home once he's released from the hospital, as three different law enforcement agencies are currently weighing what charges to bring. Cherokee County is prepared to move forward regardless of what the others decide, Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton said.

Blanton had previously confirmed Jerry Douglas Case, 52, was going to be charged in Cherokee County with four counts of kidnapping and two assault charges — assault and battery with intent to kill a police officer and assault with intent to kill a police officer — before he is medically cleared to leave Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.

But Blanton subsequently confirmed Tuesday afternoon the Federal Bureau of Investigation had contacted his office and that the federal agency could end up handling some of the charges since the alleged kidnapping crossed state lines.

Even if that happens, however, Blanton said Case will be charged locally.

"We will still charge (Case) no matter what they (the FBI) do with shooting at the (Cherokee County Sheriff's Office) officers," Blanton said.

The Gaston County (N.C.) Police Department also has plans to charge Case but an official said Tuesday that Gaston County, too, was working with the FBI.

In the meantime, Cherokee County Sheriff's deputies have been guarding Case around the clock since he was taken to the hospital and they will continue doing so until he is released from the hospital and brought back to Cherokee County, Blanton said.

Case suffered at least two bullet wounds after he fired at officers tracking him through a swampy area near Interstate 85 on Saturday. Case was armed with a gascharged pellet pistol that Blanton said looked exactly like a real firearm when he shot at the pursuing officers, striking one in the leg, and the officers returned fire.

The officers and Case were just seven to eight feet apart when the officers found him waiting in a small clearing.

"He (Case) didn't have anywhere to go," Blanton said. "They kind of had him surrounded. There was really only one way in and one way out."

Deputy Steven Bright, a member of the sheriff's office tracking team, sustained a graze to his leg when a pellet from Case's gun tore through the thick pants worn by tracking team members to protect themselves from cuts and scrapes as they traverse difficult terrain and briar patches.

Deputies fired three shots during the incident. Blanton said it appeared Case had been struck twice.

Blanton said all three guns involved in the incident, two belonging to his deputies and the pellet gun used by Case, all were taken into evidence by SLED, which is handling the investigation of the officer-involved shooting.

"We're thankful and fortunate that none of our folks were seriously hurt," he said.

According to the Gaston County Police Department, the entire incident began hours earlier near the Canal Road fishing access area in Belmont, N.C. where Case approached a grandfather, William Payne, and his 7-year-old grandchild from behind and robbed the grandfather of his money and credit card.

Case then allegedly held the two victims until their ride arrived and he ended up kidnapping the grandfather's daughter, Natasha Payne, and her 9-monthold infant child, too.

Police said he then forced the two adult victims, while taking the two children with them, to drive him to multiple locations in Gaston and Mecklenburg counties in North Carolina before they ended up at a Cherokee County gas station Saturday morning.

Gaston County Police Capt. Joe Ramey said Case had his victims stop for gas, alcohol and beverages and even items for the infant while driving around North Carolina.

At about 5:30 a.m. in Cherokee County, Case had the victims stop at the Kangaroo convenience store and gas station near Highway 18 and Interstate 85. When Case got out of the car, the victims were able to escape and call police.

Case fled on foot from the scene and the manhunt began. Deputies tracked Case for approximately 30 minutes before encountering him in a thick swampy area near the convenience store.

Capt. Ramey said Gaston County planned to pursue state charges for kidnapping and armed robbery and was investigating a second robbery that might have been committed by Case in the same area as the kidnapping.

"Additional charges may be coming after that," he said.

At this time, Ramey couldn't comment on any motivation for the incident. "We'd really like to get that from (Case)," he said.

Case has a long criminal history and previously spent time on North Carolina's death row. He was sentenced to death in 1986 for the kidnapping and murder of a taxi driver but his sentence was overturned. He later pleaded guilty to second degree murder in connection with the same incident in 1992 and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Prison records show he was paroled last year.

The incident involving Case was the second time in recent weeks that a North Carolina parolee has ended up in Cherokee County, and the second time in the same time span that Gaston County Police have been involved in a cross-border investigation with Cherokee County.

Alleged serial killer Patrick Tracy Burris, 41, who police say killed five people in Cherokee County between June 27 and July 2, was paroled from the North Carolina prison system in April. Burris was shot and killed July 6 in Gaston County when Gaston County Police responded to a break-in call.

Capt. Ramey said Gaston County will send notice to Cherokee County that Case is wanted in North Carolina.