Two sentenced to life up for parole

Dover

Small

By Jessie Burchette

jburchette@salisburypost.com

Two men sentenced to life in prison for major crimes two decades ago in Rockwell and Kannapolis could soon be free.

The state Parole Commission is considering releasing Kenneth Allen Dover and Richard Dwight Small Jr.

Small was convicted in 1990 of armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and being a habitual felon.

If approved for parole, Small will have served 20 years.

Small, whose nickname was "Boggie," was convicted of robbing the Food Lion in Rockwell. He insisted the clerk put the money into a paper bag rather than plastic.

During the robbery, he fired a shot at the safe, with metal fragments hitting a clerk in the face and arms.

Two customers pursued Small as he left the store. He put the .357 handgun to the head of one of the men and pulled the trigger, but it misfired. The men grabbed him and held him for police.

While awaiting trial for the robbery, Small escaped from a state prison in Carteret County and came home to Rowan County, where he was quickly caught in Rockwell.

Small was one of three men charged with murder and armed robbery of an elderly Clark Road man, but the charges were dismissed when one of the three pleaded guilty.

Small, now 53, is being held in the Craggy Correctional Center in Asheville.

Dover was convicted in 1982 of first-degree sexual offense and second-degree kidnapping.

If approved for parole, Dover will have served 28 years in prison.

According to published accounts, Dover, who was 21 years old and a resident of Landis, pulled a knife on two store clerks at the Fast Fare on West C Street in Kannapolis, kidnapping and sexually assaulting one and trying to rob the other.

Dover, now 48, is being held in the Tillery Correctional Center in Halifax.

The state's Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission has sent out notices that the commission is conducting an investigation and will render a decision.

The commission is required to review all offenders for parole on an annual basis.

The state's current Structured Sentencing eliminates parole for crimes committed on or after Oct. 1, 1994.