“I was on the point of trying to dismount from Seymour’s car when going at a fast clip it turned sharply at the Matthews and Water street corner, and I fell to the pavement. I do not know whether Seymour struck me or not, but I do know that before I fell he was striking at me continually.”
The foregoing statement was made by Chief of Police Charles A. Gregory to visitors at his bedside Sunday. While Chief Gregory does not know whether he was hit or not, it is said that there is at least one witness who will testify that Seymour struck Gregory on the chin and it is a fact that there is a blue bruise on the Chief’s chin such as might have been inflicted by a blow from a fist. The back of the Chief’s head struck the pavement when he fell from the car, and it hardly seems reasonable he could have been injured on the chin in the fall.
Chief Gregory was taken to the Elizabeth City hospital Saturday night shortly after 9 o’clock in an unconscious condition, and it was not until 1 o’clock Sunday morning that he regained consciousness. The man charged with assault in connection with the Chief’s injury is Horatio Seymour of Camden, who is under a $2,000 bond for appearance before the recorder on a charge of assault with intent to kill next Monday, October 1st. The bond was returnable Monday of this week and Seymour was here Monday morning when the bond was continued and the date of the trial set for next Monday. Chief Gregory is expected to be out of the hospital in three or four days.
Chief Gregory says that Seymour came to him Saturday night to complain that an automobile had been so parked on Matthews street that it was impossible for Seymour to get his own automobile, parked near the rear of D.M. Jones’ store, out until the former automobile was moved.
Chief Gregory went with Seymour to help him extricate his car and from the latter’s conversation saw that he was under the influence of liquor. He told Seymour, therefore, that he was in no condition to drive his car home and Seymour replied that he had a man with him who could drive it for him. Accordingly with John Barnard, also of Camden, at the wheel, Seymour got in his automobile and started for home. As the engine started up Chief Gregory says that Seymour began to curse him. The Chief ordered the Camden man to shut up, and when he did not do so sprang on the running board at the Culpepper Hardware store corner and ordered the car stopped. Seymour, however, told Barnard to drive on and Barnard obeyed the owner of the car rather than the chief of police.
The automobile gained headway on the way to the City Drug Store corner and there it was that, according to what is said to be the testimony of eye witnesses, Seymour’s fist caught Chief Gregory under the chin and the police officer crashed to the pavement unconscious.
Examination at the hospital disclosed, in addition to the bruise on Chief Gregory’s chin, a star-shaped cut near the base of the skull where his head struck the pavement as he fell from the running board. Common report had it Sunday night that Chief Gregory would not live until morning, but he regained consciousness about four hours after the occurrence, and has continued to improve since that time. No serious consequences of his injury are now looked for.
Seymour was found by Camden authorities and Elizabeth City police at his home about two miles from Camden Court House Sunday night and placed under arrest. He protested that he did not strike Chief Gregory, but that the latter fell from the running board as the car was turning the corner of Water street. Seymour also is said to have claimed that the Chief threw a gun in his face, but when the Chief was picked up his pistol was found in his pocket along with his flashlight.
Horatio Seymour is a former deputy sheriff of Camden County and was one of the posse headed by Police Officer George Twiddy, members of which were charged with the shooting of David Overton, colored, as the negro boy fled from the posse to escape arrest. Three members of the posse were convicted at last September’s term of Superior Court, but Seymour was found not guilty.
From the front page of The Daily Advance, Elizabeth City, N.C., Monday, Sept. 24, 1923
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