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When Jason Fowler was escorted from former Sen. R.C. Soles‘ property early Thursday morning it was not by Tabor City police, but by private security guards.

Three men Eugene Brown, Roger Watts Jr. and Brandon Watts were called by Soles to catch and remove Fowler from his estate next to Lake Tabor, according to police reports.

Two of the three security guards have criminal records in North Carolina.

Tabor City Police Chief Donald Dowless said Soles hired the men to keep his former clients from beating up his property.

“It was cheaper to buy security than fix up his property,” Dowless said Soles told him. “It is time he puts this stuff behind him and he does everything he can to bring this to a halt.”

For years, Soles, 76, has called the Tabor City police, who have spent hundreds of man hours chasing off his former clients. But Thursday marked the second time private guards showed up in police reports protecting Soles’ home.

An attempt to reach Soles was unsuccessful. A receptionist at Soles’ office said the former senator was in a mediation hearing. An email to Soles’ lawyer seeking comment was not returned.

It is unclear how long Soles has been employing the guards. Brown first appeared in a police report earlier this month as head of security for the property. He met police after Frankie Jernigan, another former client, allegedly trespassed and damaged Soles’ property.

Brown, who owns an auto repair and towing service in Tabor City, declined to discuss his security job for Soles or Thursday’s incident.

“I don’t want to talk about nothing like that,” Brown said.

Brown was convicted of felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury in May 2010 and is serving a 30-month probation sentence, according to N.C. Department of Correction records. He was also convicted in 1993 for selling drugs, another felony.

On Thursday, Brown was joined by Brandon and Roger Watts Jr. Neither one could not be reached for comment. Roger Watts was convicted in 2004 of misdemeanor larceny.

Each guard told police they had received calls from Soles that Fowler was at the property, beating on the doors and windows. Fowler was carrying a pipe, according to a surveillance video, Dowless said.

In the police report, Brandon Watts says Fowler fell to the ground after trying to attack the guards. Fowler is charged with trespassing, assault and communicating threats. Dowless said Fowler was also wanted for failing to appear in court.

But Fowler, while at an emergency room at the Loris Community Hospital, told police he was called to come to the property. When he got there, he said, he went over the fence to the house and was hit in the head by three masked men with flashlights. He also told police Soles hit him in the head but didn’t hurt him.

Fowler’s girlfriend, Toni Dew, told the StarNews Thursday she dropped Fowler off at Soles’ house and waited for him to call. Dew said when Fowler finally called, he’d been injured and needed help. When she got to Soles’ house, Fowler’s head was cut open. She said the wound on his head was near the crown.

Thursday’s incident was the latest in a cycle of violence that some of his former clients claim put them on a path to drug addiction, prison stints and a dependence on Soles for money, food and shelter. Several men have made allegations of sexual assault. Soles has denied the allegations and has never been charged with any crimes related to the accusations.

For the last three years, about a dozen of Soles’ former clients have made an occupation out of hounding him until he pays them. They claim Soles has given them thousands of dollars. The times Soles doesn’t, they go on a rampage, smashing his surveillance cameras, breaking windows and vandalizing his property. Soles’ office has also been damaged.

Two of the biggest offenders Allen Strickland and B.J. Wright are in jail. Strickland, 19, pleaded guilty last month to 10 counts of vandalizing and trespassing on Soles’ property, driving while his license was revoked and underage drinking. He was sentenced to eight months. Wright is awaiting trial. He was released on bond but was detained earlier this month and held under a $1 million bond for failure to pay owed fees to his bondsmen and for missing required weekly check-ins.

Shelby Sebens: (910) 343-2076

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