Grandson Suspected in Beating

On December 27, 2003, at approximately 10:30 a.m., Macon County deputies responded to a report of a breaking and entering at a residence in the Cartoogechaye community.

Officers and a family member located the homeowner in one of the bedrooms, suffering from an apparent assault. The family member had believed that his 83-year-old mother was not home because her vehicle was not at her residence. The son told detectives it was common for his mother to leave early in the morning because she often volunteers.

The victim told detectives that she was awakened around 2:30 a.m. with someone standing over her, at which time her assailant began choking her. The victim was unable to identify her assailant at the time because it was dark and she was not wearing her glasses. The assailant never spoke.

The victim was unable to call for help because the phone was inoperable. During the investigation, detectives discovered that the phone lines had been cut outside the residence and a phone cord that connects to the receiver in the victim’s bedroom had been removed.

Sheriff Robert Holland states, “Detectives conducted numerous interviews and determined that the victim’s grandson was their prime suspect, but they were having difficulty locating him.” Detectives had received information during interviews that Donald Rorie Chapman, the grandson, was seen driving a white Chevy Monte Carlo in the early morning hours of December 27. Detectives immediately placed a statewide broadcast to all law enforcement agencies attempting to locate the victim’s vehicle and Chapman.

Sheriff Holland immediately required additional officers to be on duty in order to provide additional patrols of Macon County. With the assistance of the State Bureau of Investigation, detectives were able to trace a phone number they had to the Taylorsville and Statesville area of North Carolina. At the same time detectives were on the phone with dispatchers in the Statesville area, Macon County detectives were on the phone with a female who had just been with Mr. Chapman.

That female unknowingly was speaking with an individual that was with Macon County detectives and telling them that Chapman was being stopped by an officer in the town of Taylorsville at a local pool hall.
According to the female and police dispatchers, Chapman immediately fled, driving the vehicle that was registered to his grandmother. After more than 20 miles and at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour, Chapman wrecked the stolen vehicle and sustained several injuries. Chapman remains in Baptist Medical Center in serious condition.

Sheriff Holland concluded, “I am glad that an alert Taylorsville officer was able to get to Chapman. I will be the first to say I don’t like police chases. There are pros and cons to police chases, but I hate to think what Chapman would have done next if he had not been caught when he was.”

While Chapman remains in the hospital, Macon County deputies are maintaining 24-hour security. His grandmother remains in Memorial Mission in critical condition.

Charges filed against Chapman include: First degree burglary, felony larceny of a motor vehicle, felony possession of stolen property, first degree kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury with intent to kill, assault inflicting serious bodily injury, assault on a female, injury of telephone/electric or telegraph wires.

The investigation is continuing and additional charges are likely.

Click here to go back.