Judge Finds North Carolina PCO Guilty of Assaulting Inspector

RALEIGH, N.C. – Robert L. Jones, owner of Budge Pest Prevention, Monroe, N.C., recently was found guilty of assaulting an employee of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at Jones’ pest control business.

Union County District Court Judge Joseph J. Williams found Jones guilty of assault on a government official and sentenced him to 30 days in jail, which was suspended if Jones paid a $100 fine and court costs. Williams also ordered Jones not to assault a state official again.

Jones filed a notice of appeal to Superior Court.

On April 28, Rick Reid, a supervisor with the NCDA&CS Structural Pest Control Division, and Mark Flynn, a field inspector with the division, went to Jones’ business as part of a routine inspection. Reid and Flynn were seeking copies of files when the altercation occurred. Reid told PCT that he and Flynn were investigating claims that, in two instances, Jones’ business was improperly using termite bait monitoring stations per label instruction. At issue was Jones’ failure to remove termite bait monitoring stations that used product from a manufacturer that had stopped selling to Jones in 2002.

Reid said that due to Jones’ past uncooperative behavior towards inspectors, he brought with him a (portable) copying machine to make on-site copies, and that Jones became distraught upon learning of his intent to copy the files. According to court records, Jones grabbed Reid and pushed him against a door, then put his hands on Reid’s neck. He then let go, and Reid and Flynn left the office. Reid took out a warrant against Jones.

During the court proceedings Jones claimed self-defense and that, in fact, he was actually assaulted by Reid. PCT contacted Jones, who had no comment.

Carl Falco, director of the North Carolina Structural Pest Control Division, told PCT that Jones has had a history of being uncooperative in providing inspectors access to his records. Falco said that on one occasion he called the police in an attempt to have inspectors removed from his property. Upon producing the required documents, the police allowed the inspectors to proceed on the basis that they had the authority to do an inspection during regular business hours.

Falco added, “Our inspectors have jobs to do in order to protect consumers, and we take assaults, threats or other intimidating tactics very seriously. Fortunately, situations like this rarely occur, but when they do, we pursue charges.”

Assault on a government official is a misdemeanor.

Note: Additional information for this story provided in a press release from the NCDA&CS Structural Pest Control Division.