Six people received deferred prosecution and another was scheduled for an afternoon trial today on charges filed in the Nov. 13 occupation of the Yates Motor Co. building on Franklin Street.
Sonia Katchian, 63, of Chapel Hill, was found guilty of delaying and obstructing a police officer, a misdemeanor, after she was arrested for approaching Chapel Hill Police Officer Scott Taylor and asking him several times why he was carrying an assault rifle.
Katchian said she did not think what she did was wrong, although she refused Taylor’s order to step back. She did not hear him ask her to move to the other side of the street, she said.
“I didn’t. I stepped back, watched him and felt it necessary to advise him there wasn’t a need for such strong weapons,” Katchian said. “He was following his orders, but, honestly, there comes a time when you have to call it like it is and say what you have to say.”
The seven other defendants were charged with misdemeanor breaking and entering.
Of them, Jack “Ryan” Jarrell, 24, of Carrboro, pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled for 2 p.m. today.
A seventh person charged with breaking and entering – Kassandra Ofray, 21, of Pittsboro – did not appear in court. Her attorney said neither he nor her mother has been able to contact her, and a missing persons report has been filed with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
The judge issued a warrant for Ofray’s arrest and set a $200 bond.
The brief building takeover has divided local residents. A town advisory group has requested an outside investigator to help compile a factual timeline of events leading to the Special Emergency Response Team raid. The Chapel Hill Town Council could vote on that tonight. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.
