By Police1 Staff
CANDOR, N.C. — A bomb threat against a local business Saturday seems to be tied to the firing of four police officers.
According to an arrest warrant, Patsy Holyfield, 73, made a bomb threat Saturday against Candor residents John and Teresa Lamonds, who own J.L. Hosiery, WFMY reported. The couple funded the entire campaign of Commissioner Wayne Holyfield, who voted to fire the officers and now faces allegations from those officers that the Lamonds put him up to it because they were stopped by police in 2009.
Grandson of Patsy Holyfield, Wayne Holyfield led the initiative for the firings because “the biggest complaint he heard while on the campaign trail,” according to Fox 8, “was the police department.” The commissioner said citizens’ attitudes reflected a lack of professional structure within an agency that kept too few written records of complaints.
Police disagree, insisting the the department handled complaints appropriately. None they received had enough evidence to end in disciplinary action, according to former Candor Police Chief Randy White, who is among the fired officers.
Patsy Holyfield was booked into jail, and the mayor condemned the threat.
“If you don’t like somebody, when you try to take innocent lives, it’s very bad,” Mayor Richard Britt said. “It really upset a lot of people in town.”
Court records show Theresa Lamonds received a prior conviction in district court of communicating threats and resisting an officer.