Haltom Denies Damaging Car

One of the UNC students charged with a felony for damaging a car after the North Carolina-Duke basketball game says he is in more trouble than he deserves.

James Auman Haltom, a 20-year-old sophomore, was arrested and charged with felony rioting by Chapel Hill police after he turned himself in last Friday. But Haltom, who lives in the Chi Psi fraternity house, said he isn't responsible for the vandalism of a car that was flipped on Franklin Street and that he even tried to protect the car from further damage.

Haltom, who spoke Tuesday with his lawyer present, said he was on top of the car for a few minutes to watch and photograph the crowd that swarmed Franklin Street, but he got off when people started damaging it.

"I got on top of the car to take pictures," he said. "Someone started jumping on the trunk, so I got off and walked away. As I was walking away, I wasn't more than 10 or 15 feet away when I heard, 'they're flipping the car.' I stood on the car, I readily admit it, but I didn't participate in flipping it."

He said he and his friends tried to collect some of the things that fell out of the car when it was flipped and put them back in the vehicle.

Haltom said that once the car had been flipped back over, he stood guard with some friends around the car to protect it from further damage. "I realized the situation was getting out of hand," he said. "People wanted to jump back on it, kick in the windows. They were maliciously trying to do stuff to the car.

"People came by asking if that was my car. I said we don't do this at Carolina. Maybe they do this at Duke, but not here."

Haltom said he turned himself in to police after his picture on top of the car appeared with several others in local newspapers. He said he does not have any information about others who appear in the police pictures and might be involved in the incident. "I saw myself in the paper -- I am willing to take responsibility for what I did.

"Though I was wrong for standing on the car, I did defend the car for a while -- I thought that would help."

The damage to Mindy Guadagnino's 1997 Honda Accord is estimated at $1,500, which is the minimum for a felony charge to be pursued, said Matthew Martin, Haltom's attorney.

Several friends also have come to Haltom's aid, claiming they saw him defending the car. Freshman Ben Ablin said he saw Haltom with his arms outstretched in front of the car.

"He was very adamant about protecting the car, but more importantly, getting people to realize that what had happened was not right, that things had gotten out of control," Ablin stated in a letter to The Daily Tar Heel. "James Haltom was charged with one count of felony rioting, but in my eyes, the eyes of an eyewitness, he was one of the most important forces in preventing something worse from happening."

Chapel Hill police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said she could not comment on the investigation or whether Haltom would receive a lesser charge from police. "At this time, we've arrested two people, both who have been charged with felony rioting," she said. "We're continuing to investigate, but I can't comment on the investigation."

Haltom said he tried to alert the police that the situation was getting out of hand but said he did not get a response. "I saw three cops walking to our left -- I sent a guy who I was with to tell the cops they've flipped a car. He came back and said they told him there's nothing they can do about it now."

Cousins said she could not comment on that night's events.

Martin said Haltom has been charged with a class H felony, which means he could face a minimum of four months in prison, probation and community service or unsupervised probation.

At worst, Haltom could face more than two years in prison, Martin said.

"It's a complicated statute I'll have to research -- there are a number of elements the state has to show James did so the courts can prove probable cause," he said.

Martin said he was a senior in high school in 1982 when UNC won the national championship and was on Franklin Street for the celebration.

"The same stuff was going on then."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.