Donald Melvin addressed the Bladen County Board of Commissioners on Monday night regarding two different incidents during which he was incarcerated. These incidents ocurred in 2008 and 2014. He shared some documents with the Commissioners outlining the two incidents, but he did not specify what redress he was seeking from the board.
Melvin offered the board some background on himself. He has owned Tar Heel Outdoors since 1978 and at one time had a weekly feature that appeared in the Fayetteville Observer titled, “Tar Heel Outdoors with Don Melvin.” He has served as Vice-President of an eastern outdoors landscape firm, held a job as a long distance truck driver, and has been active in his community and church.
“I’m here to address two different things,” said Melvin.
He told the board about two different arrests that ocurred in 2008 and 2014. Melvin claimed to the board that he was mistreated by both Bladen County Sheriff’s Deputies and state officials. He also alleged that there was no evidence that warranted either arrest.
Melvin also alleges that he was mistreated while he was being held for observation at Dorthea Dix Hospital.
He presented the Commissioners with an Associated Press article written in 2011 that outlined abuses and mistreatment of prisoners at Central Prison in Raleigh, one of the locations Melvin claimed to have spent time during his arrests for “safe keeping.”
According to reports, Melvin has threatened to file a civil lawsuit against the county, the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office and the state regarding his treatment.
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