UPDATED 4:45 p.m. May 27 with additional information.
The man who pleaded guilty to the motor vehicle death of a Whiteville firefighter has been charged with stealing a roadside monument to the victim.
Danny James Smith, 49, of 6041 Ludlum Rd., Ash, was served with a summons for misdemeanor larceny Friday, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor death by vehicle in the May 2020 collision that killed Michael Stanley, a Whiteville firefighter. As part of the plea deal he did not serve jail time. He was sentenced by Judge Scott Usury to restitution. A civil suit is pending in the case.
Court documents show Smith is alleged to have removed the roadside monument, valued at $200, from where it was erected by firefighters in 2020. Smith reportedly said he was “tired of looking at it”. Stanley’s wife Angela obtained the warrant.
Stanley died May 11, 2020, from injuries sustained when his motorcycle was struck by a pickup driven by Smith at the intersection of Ludlum Road and N.C. 130. David Ballengee, himself a retired firefighter, lives within sight of the crash site.
Ballengee said he did not see the crash, but heard it and immediately ran to the scene.
“I didn’t know he was a fireman,” Ballengee said. “I just knew someone was hurt, and I was going to do what I could to help.”
After Stanley’s funeral, members of the Whiteville Fire Department erected a memorial at the site. Ballengee said members of the community joined together to maintain the area around the cross, adding flowers and a solar light.
“Nobody was going to let it get unsightly,” he said. “The Whiteville guys had permission from the landowner to put it up. It was taken care of. We wanted him to be remembered as a husband, a dad and a firefighter.”
On May 21, Ballengee said he got a phone call that the memorial was missing. A man identified as Smith was seen driving an offroad utility vehicle down the road with the cross in the back of the vehicle, Ballengee said.
When Ballengee got to the site, everything had disappeared.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “The stones around the base, the light, everything was gone.” Ballengee said the four-wheeler used to take the cross is a specific model. Very few of the machines are in the area.
Whiteville firefighters replaced the memorial the very next day.
Ballengee said the marker is not on the state right of way, and WFD had permission from the landowner to place it on his property. He began posting daily photos from the site on social media, both before and after Whiteville firefighters replaced the memorial.
“I said I was going to post about this every day until the original cross was put back in place,” he said in one post. “Well, the fire department having placed a new cross where the old one was stolen from kind of makes that an unnecessary goal.
“So now what I will do is post about this every day until the responsible party comes forward on one of these posts and apologizes. I don’t want an apology. I’m not asking for an apology for the fire department and the men who were responsible for building the memorial in the first place. I want an apology for the family. Not asking for an explanation not asking for an admission of guilt. I know you’re on Facebook. I know you have access to my account. just come on one of these posts and type the words ‘I’m sorry’.
“I have no realistic expectation that this will ever happen, but if by some chance it does, I will stop posting about it. Until then, these pictures will get posted every day.
“I am not going to let people forget what happened,” he said.
Ballengee said he has since been threatened by a family member of Smith’s.
While visiting a neighbor several days later, Ballengee said, he was approached by the relative, who asked to speak privately with him. Ballengee said he met the man further down the road, where he challenged Ballengee and threatened to assault him.
“I’m a cancer survivor,” Ballengee said. “I can’t fight anybody. I might have years ago, but I physically cannot and I will not.”
Ballenger said the relative cursed him repeatedly.
“He asked how I thought Jamie felt seeing that every day,” Ballengee said. “I asked him how he felt knowing that a wife and child felt every day about what was taken from them.”
After several minutes of back forth discussion and more threats, Ballengee said he drove off and contacted the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office. The case is still under investigation.
Ballengee said he will continue to share photos of the site, including the new memorial. His posts about the memorial have been shared hundreds of times, and continue to receive positive comments. He said he has also been warned privately to stop talking about the memorial.
“I am not going to let this go,” he said. “I didn’t know Michael, but he deserves better. No one has the right to steal this just because they don’t like it.
“All the people who did this have to do is publicly apologize.”
