Phelon suit says threat was known

Wounded lieutenant purports that company was aware of potential for violence but didn't alert security

Web posted March 14, 2000

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By Greg Rickabaugh
South Carolina Bureau

AIKEN -- Court documents in a civil lawsuit sparked by Arthur Hastings Wise's 1997 rampage through R.E. Phelon Co.'s plant show a security guard had warned plant officials of the need for more safety measures.

Wise's account Here is Arthur Wise's written version of what happened during a June 20, 1997, confrontation with a supervisor: ``I came in at 10:30 p.m. and after clocking, I noticed 2nd shift was still running my machine. I proceded (sic) to find something to. So I got a hammer and proceded to do work on rework with two other workers. ``I'd been working on rework about thirty minutes when Ray said that he wanted to find something for me to do. As if it wasn't enough that I was already working. He said that he wanted me to work with Lester on his machine. ``I got up from my seat (and) went over to the machine, thinking I would show him how much of a problem it was going to be putting three men in a tight and uncomfortable situation & hope he would be reasonable. He (Ray) put his finger in my face & I `snat' (sic) & told him to remove his finger & then he told me to clock out. ``I never told him I would not do as he ask (sic), I simply said he needed to get his finger out of my face.'' A note on the bottom of the statement notes that Mr. Wise ``admits saying, `Get your hands out of my face. I'm not going to be your ... boy.''' Source: Aiken County court records

The court records tell specific details about why Mr. Wise, who is awaiting trial on capital murder charges, was fired and what may have sparked the slayings.

Stanley L. Vance, a former security guard at the plant who was injured in the shootings, is suing R.E. Phelon Co., claiming plant managers were negligent in failing to warn him that Mr. Wise was dangerous and prone to violence. The company denies allegations in the lawsuit.

Mr. Vance was the first victim shot in the rampage on Sept. 17, 1997, and he suffered severe personal injuries, according to the lawsuit.

The civil trial is set to begin Monday in Aiken County Court of Common Pleas.

In a court affidavit, Mr. Vance said his security service, Regent Security Systems, wasn't treated as an essential element at the plant.

``Phelon regularly disregarded recommendations by security service personnel, including those made by me,'' Mr. Vance said in the affidavit. ``Those recommendations would have helped to prevent the events out of which this lawsuit arises.''

In a February 1997 memo to Phelon managers, Mr. Vance encouraged the plant to install a camera system, pointing to seven bomb threats in the previous year, the lawsuit states.

``The camera system would help security do a more precise job of security for the plant and its employees that work here,'' Mr. Vance wrote.

Additionally, Mr. Vance contends that Larry Mathis, an employee in Phelon's human resources department, spoke with Mr. Wise two days before the shootings and was told by the fired employee that he intended to return to the plant to kill Mr. Mathis and human resources manager Charles Griffeth.

None of those threats were passed on to security officers, Mr. Vance said.

In his affidavit, Mr. Vance recalls the day he was shot, telling how he saw Mr. Wise drive through the front gate of the plant where he was manning the guard house. Mr. Vance, who was a lieutenant with the security service, said he believed Mr. Wise was returning to the plant to retrieve two boxes of personal belongings that had been in the gate house since he was terminated on July 2, 1997.

``No one from Phelon had given me any information which would have put me on guard,'' Mr. Vance wrote. ``As Wise approached the guard house, I bent over to prop open the door to the guard house to permit Wise to remove the boxes. ... Wise then entered the guardhouse and shot me.''

After the shooting, Mr. Vance learned that Mr. Wise had been discharged from Phelon for insubordination and creating a disturbance.

``It now appears that when Wise was dismissed by Phelon, he threatened several fellow employees and supervisory personnel,'' Mr. Vance wrote.

The threats came after a confrontation with his boss on June 20, 1997. He was fired July 2.

Mr. Vance said information about the confrontation would have helped him determine how to react to Mr. Wise, which could have prevented the shootings.

``Phelon regularly withheld information from me and from the security service altogether,'' Mr. Vance said. ``Phelon made a conscious, intentional decision not to provide me with this information.''

Mr. Vance's wife, Donna, is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit claiming the plant's negligence led to the shooting and to loss of consortium with her husband. Aiken attorney John Harte is representing the Vances.

Mr. Wise is accused of walking into the plant and killing four employees: Sheryl Wood, 27; David Moore, 30; Leonard Filyaw, 30; and Mr. Griffeth, 56. Mr. Vance and another employee, Jerry Corley, were wounded.

Reach Greg Rickabaugh at (803) 279-6895.