Liberty Police Department

09/01/2026

We thought we would highlight some of what goes on that you don’t normally hear about but we have had some “busy little beavers” lately. REMEMBER all persons are innocent until proven guilty (or plead guilty). Not all of these are Liberty PD charges but all are directly related to us, our town, our investigations or our assistance to neighboring agencies.
I offered to Facebook Jeff Causey to write our posts because he has a better sense of humor than I do but he declined….so here’s my attempt.
Now I have never been a Detective, but after reading this I think we all can see what they call “CLUES”. Most of what you will read below was taught to us in 2nd grade. I certainly know Sister Agnes and her metal edged ruler tried to break me of my feral desire to put sharp pointy things into my classmates hand for stealing my Jello. (Being poor, a 1” cube of moms Jello was worth it).
I would like to congratulate one of our regulars; the assault with a motorcycle helmet was a refreshing change of pace from the usual knife. But I am still wondering….no one there HAS a motorcycle…..where did the helmet come from????
Gary Blackwell, of 520 W Swannanoa Ave was arrested for ASSAULT ON A FEMALE and POSSESSION OF MA*****NA. (No Gary, you can’t have the dope back but thanks for asking and being a pretty chill dude!)
Justin Prado was arrested for 2 COUNTS SOLICITATION OF A CHILD BY COMPUTER, SOLICITATION OF PROSTITUTION OF A MINOR, 10 COUNTS 2ND DEGREE CHILD EXPLOITATION. It is alleged he tried to “purchase” a child.
Francis Yams was arrested for SOLICITATION OF A CHILD BY COMPUTER, INDECENT LIBERTIES WITH A CHILD, 3 COUNTS DISSEMINATION OF OBSCENE MATERIAL TO A MINOR, ATTEMPTED STATUTORY S*X OFFENSE WITH A PERSON UNDER 15 YEARS OF AGE, 2 COUNTS ATTEMPTED 1ST DEGREE S*XUAL EXPLOITATION OF A MINOR.
Atef Youness of 537 S Greensboro St was out on bond for previous pending charges of 2nd DEGREE TRESPASSING and HARASSING PHONE CALLS when he was arrested for FELONY ASSAULT BY STRANGULATION and MISDEMEANOR CHILD ABUSE. He avoided trial (and the playing of video evidence and testimony of victims and witnesses) by admitting guilt to CHILD ABUSE. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail, suspended.
Essie Mckenzie (Tasha Lee) of 137 w Kime Ave, was out on bond after a previous arrest for ASSAULT AND BATTERY and LARCENY when she was re-arrested for another ASSAULT AND BATTERY, LARCENY and INJURY TO PERSONAL PROPERTY. She also had a pending warrant for MISUSE OF 911. During the arrest she resisted and received an additional charge of RESIST DELAY OBSTRUCT.
Carrie Mote of 137 W Kime, was out on bond from a previous arrest for MISDEMEANOR LARCENY, LARCENY OF CHOSE IN ACTION, OBTAIN PROPERTY BY FALSE PRETENSES, FORGED INSTRUMENT AND A PROBATION VIOLATION. For these charges, a Randolph County Judge set her bond at $5000 secured. While out on bond, Mote was charged by Siler City for LARCENY. Then Chatham County Sheriff’s Office charged her with ATTEMPTED FELONY LARCENY, 2ND DEGREE TRESPASS, LARCENY OF A MOTOR VEHICLE (X3), FELONY CONSPIRACY, LARCENY OF MOTOR VEHICLE PARTS, POSSESSION OF STOLEN PROPERTY (X2), OBTAIN PROPERTY BY FALSE PRETENSES, and POSSESSION OF CATALYTIC CONVERTER. Chatham County released Mote under a $2500 unsecured bond (meaning she promises to pay if she doesn’t show up for court).
Jeremy Palmer of 137 W Kime, was charged with LARCENY OF A MOTOR VEHICLE (X3), FELONY CONSPIRACY, LARCENY OF MOTOR VEHICLE PARTS (X2), POSSESSION OF STOLEN GOODS (X3), AND OBTAIN PROPERTY BY FALSE PRETENSES by CCSO and arrested by Liberty PD.
Frenchi Blackwell of 520 W Swannanoa Ave was out on pending charges from Alamance for 2nd DEGREE TRESPASSING, DISORDERLY CONDUCT, COMMUNICATING THREATS AND POSSESSION OF MA*****NA when she was re-arrested by Siler City PD for ASSAULT, RESIST DELAY OBSTRUCT, ASSAULT A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL, INJURY TO PERSONAL PROPERTY, AND 2ND DEGREE TRESPASSING. Liberty PD then arrested her for ASSAULT, ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON, COMMUNICATING THREATS AND RESIST DELAY OBSTRUCT. While out on all these charges, Liberty PD arrested her again for the new charges of ASSAULT, ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON, COMMUNICATING THREATS, RESIST DELAY OBSTRUCT, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, VIOLATION OF A COURT ORDER and a PROBATION VIOLATION. Finally she was just re-arrested by Liberty PD for DISORDERLY CONDUCT, COMMUNICATING THREATS and RESIST DELAY OBSTRUCT.
Raymundo Gonzalez and Maurice Wallace were arrested for DWI.
Alex Presnell was arrested on a warrant for FELONY LARCENY, POSSESSION OF MA*****NA and POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA.
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James Taylor of 420 S Greensboro St was arrested for OBTAINING PROPERTY BY FALSE PRETENSES.
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Tatianna Beane was charged with MISDEMEANOR STALKING of a town resident.
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Brian Krizan was arrested for COMMUNICATING THREATS.
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Jordan Bryarly was arrested for FELONY LARCENY.
We wrote about 80 traffic tickets (down from our previous months by a good bit) and issued 16 parking tickets.
Contrary to the Facebook lawyers that will join the comments soon, we don’t like writing parking tickets, but one thing we know for sure, if we don’t write them people complain, if we do write them, people complain, if we run RADAR to slow speeders , people complain, if we don’t run RADAR …people complain.
Frankly if the people doing wrong are complaining we must be doing something right.

08/27/2026

08/20/2026

08/20/2026

All accused are innocent until convicted in court. ICAC is doing the work. 99% of the public does NOT understand what this really means. You read the simple wording of the charges and don't think of what it truly means. The lifelong pain of the children. The trajectory of lives utterly and totally changed. Some people will come on social media and post they don't believe it.

We've seen it here in Liberty. They claim that it's a "set up". "They are a respected professional in the community", the police are "out to get them". Any number of things to deflect. The public isn't there for the interviews, the admissions of guilt, the videos on their phones that make you sick to your stomach.

In 6 months go online and look up these suspects in e-courts. See if they admitted, under oath that they did this. See if they plead guilty. See if they were found guilty or not guilty.

After the trial is over the children are still being punished.

08/20/2026

Town Hall asked us to post (again) the “Do’s and Do Not’s” of parking in town.

Sadly we lost OFFICER D a few years ago, he was WAY better at this than I am. It is clear by the number of parking tickets we are writing that some people didn’t read the previous posts, so let’s make this a game. Here are 22 statements, read each one and if you already knew that, you get one point! Keep count!

We quizzed a 13 year old and a new 16 year old driver, let’s see how they compare!

Yes all of these things have/do happen in Liberty……

1 Do park on the right side of the road.
2 Do park in a marked space
3 Do follow the parking schedules in Town Ordinance Chapter 71.
4 Do understand that “NO PARKING” does not have to be posted in a specific spot for it to be a violation of NC law or Town Ordinance.
5 Do understand town and emergency vehicles are exempt from Town Parking Ordinances while engaged in their duties. They also may be exempt from certain state laws.
6 DO NOT drive into oncoming traffic and park on the wrong side of the road (NCGS20-146), (71.01 (16))
7 DO NOT park for more than 2 hours in the 2 hour parking zones.(71.02 (A))
8 DO NOT impede the flow of traffic with your parking (71.01 (7))
9 DO NOT park in the lane of travel (NCGS 20-161, (71.01 (7))
10 DO NOT park in BOTH lanes of travel across the centerline (NCGS 20-161, (71.01 (7))
11 DO NOT park in front of fire hydrants, alleys or driveways. (NCGS 20-162, (71.01(2))
12 DO NOT pull up and block Police vehicles running RADAR and tell them to move because you don’t want them operating RADAR in town (NCGS 14-223)
13 DO NOT call police to report a fire truck, ambulance or police vehicle is in the fire lane with lights or hazards on and demand they get a ticket for being there because you got a ticket for parking there while shopping in Food Lion (NCGS14-111.4)
14 DO NOT park in a handicapped space (NCGS 20-36, (71.01(13))
15 DO NOT park in the road, at a stop sign (NCGS 20-162), (71.01 (3))
16 DO NOT claim you cannot get a parking ticket because your family founded this town, is wealthy, owns a business, or you are related to any of the aforementioned. (Should be common sense)
17 DO NOT claim you cannot get a ticket because last Thursday at 2:17 pm you saw someone do the same thing and they did not get a ticket. (We can’t catch everyone, every time)
18 DO NOT claim you are "not from around here" in an attempt to avoid responsibility (Although we are impressed you braved the wilderness, wild Indians, famine and dysentery to travel to Liberty from your registered address in Staley)
19 DO NOT drive around or through barricades at an emergency because you want to keep driving straight (into down power lines or vehicles that have decided to commingle parts)
20 The public parking space in front of a business is NOT for the exclusive use of that business owner, employees or customers…that is why it’s called PUBLIC
21 DO NOT come up to an officer while he is writing a speeding ticket or parking ticket, interfere and tell him to stop. He is busy and you have no idea what he is doing or why. (NCGS14-223)
22. DO NOT come to Liberty, get a parking ticket then drive home to Asheboro and claim Liberty PD stalked you to your driveway, trespassed and gave you a ticket in your carport.

BONUS ROUND (+2 points each!)
1 DO NOT stab your brother because he won’t share his joint.
2 DO NOT shoot at your drug dealer (I fully realize some of you may see a moral dilemma here)
3 DO NOT call the police wanting us to arrest public works employees for trespassing, making too much noise or otherwise bothering you while they are fixing a sewer line; they literally are deep in the….well you can figure it out.
4 DO call 911 to report you took warrants out on your roommate for trying to stab you especially when you have violated probation and are now a wanted person.
5 Do understand when you get arrested, the officer gets to go to Asheboro where there are milkshakes and donuts…Don’t tempt us with a good time!
6 DO NOT get a parking ticket, move your car, take pictures in the new location and come to the PD claiming the ticket is illegal and you are going to sue us….. we have cameras too. (NCGS 14-223)
7 DO NOT call the PD or post on social media that “People are flying down our street” and then when your son gets stopped for speeding claim he can’t get a ticket because you were the one telling us about OTHER PEOPLE.
8 DO NOT download, create, or share child po*******hy, nor attempt to purchase, or sell a child for these purposes (or any other purpose)

If by chance you found yourself reading the bonus round and felt like we might be talking about you personally….well it’s probably not just you, but put the phone down, go outside, touch the grass look at the sky and think about how lucky you are to be alive and healthy and focus on the good things.

While on the topic of social media, George Washington had a famous quote from the Gettysburg Address…. “Don’t believe everything you see on social media…it ain’t real life”.

Ok for the scoring, the 13 year old (minus the bonus round) got 19 points. The 16 year old got 37 points

08/14/2026

URGENT PRESS RELEASE

WATER RESTRICTION MANDATE FOR THE TOWN OF LIBERTY UNTIL MONDAY MORNING 8/17/2026 AT 9 AM

Due to a Fire Suppression system failure / break overnight last night at a business, the Town of Liberty is REQUIRING all Liberty Residents to reduce water usage.

NO Watering your yard or plants
NO Washing Cars
REDUCE Shower times if possible
REDUCE washing clothes, if possible, until after the weekend

Water Tank Levels are very Low and need time to refill back to normal levels. We are currently unable to keep up with the demand and the Tank Levels are continuing to lower.

NOTE: All water is safe to drink and use as normal during this time for the uses allowed

Please help to do your part to conserve water this weekend!

08/01/2026

Asheboro working hard for all of Randolph County!

08/01/2026

Its been a busy week for us!

A huge shout out to Asheboro PD! Every year they organize a week of Rapid Response training pulling together EMS, Fire Communications, schools, staff, role players and LEO agencies to practice a top to bottom, county wide response to a critical incident. (The sharp eyed will notice our Lt Scala in the hallway, be sure to tell him.you saw him.on Facebook....he'll LOVE it).

Next, THANK YOU ACC for staying late Friday night so we could use your amazing indoor range to get some more trigger time! (Lt. Scala making another appearance)

Lastly another shout out to ACC for running a Solo Responder to an Active Shooter that several officers will be attending this week.

As your Police Department slowly gets back closer to full staff we can get back into a training schedule!

08/01/2026

Success!! She has been caught! Well they BOTH have!! This is the pup running around on S Greensboro near Liberty Glass. Thanks to all the people trying to save her@

07/30/2026

Good morning, Lets talk about our favorite topic! PARKING! I know we all love this as I hear it around town quite often lately. As a new driver (yes back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth....) I was taught some basic parking rules. Maybe this isn't taught anymore or perhaps people just seem to ignore the laws about this so, lets recap!

Parking in front of fire hydrants, in fire lanes, on the wrong side of the street and in handicapped parking spaces or within 25' of stop signs or 15' of intersections (although the town can modify this one) are violations of NC State law. Citations and towing are possibilities. Let's say that again......TOWING.... and TOWING costs the owner a lot of hard earned money.....so let's not do it.

In addition to state laws there are local parking ordinances, and NO they do not have to be posted (go to www.Liberty-nc.com, "Departments"-->"Administration"-->"Ordinances"-->"Traffic Code".).... so let's review SOME of these here!
No parking in or on the street unless marked as allowed, no parking longer than posted times, no parking the wrong way, no parking at or near stop signs, no parking in front of alleys or drive ways, no parking more than 18 " away from the curb, no parking in more than one space --->(I'm looking at you black BMW 325i driver), AND NO FIRE LANE PARKING! (or standing)......

As we have more and more businesses coming back into Liberty our meager parking is becoming strained. Be considerate of others!

Finally...We hear a couple things pretty often..."Greensboro doesn't enforce fire lane parking" Well, dear, this isn't Greensboro.... Or, "Do you know who I am?" Yes, yes we do, and here is the parking ticket, the same as another person who does this......

So let's follow the state laws, and the Town Ordinances and move on with our lives!

If you need us, call us!