Man Says Deputy Started ‘Cussing’ Argument

Published 12:00 am Friday, February 4, 2011

By Beth Cassidy
Enterprise Record

A Mocksville man who got into a shouting match with a sheriff’s deputy apologized for his behavior in Davie District Court last week – but insisted that the deputy started the argument.
Eric Dean Fortune, 49, of Fireside Lane, represented himself in court and explained the events surrounding being charged with unsafe passing on a yellow line.
On the afternoon of July 14, Fortune and his cousin, Cicero Henry Jones Jr., were traveling on US 601 South near Kaydon in a 1998 Ford pick-up truck owned by Fortune’s brother-in-law.
“We were just passing Kaydon Drive, and a car was turning into Kaydon Drive with no brake lights, no turn signal, nothing. I was behind him. I glanced in my mirror at the traffic behind me, and I chose to go around him, to keep from being rear-ended, because I couldn’t stop in time. I’ve got a metal plate in my neck, I can’t tolerate a rear-end collision. So I used the turn lane for safety reasons,” Fortune said.
Deputy Cody Stephens testified he was traveling in the opposite direction and saw the car pulling …