IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA No. 52PA25 Filed 17 October 2025 RICHARD DEVAYNE CREECH v. TOWN OF CORNELIUS, ELECTRICITIES OF NORTH CAROLINA, INC., and IAN CHARLES KENNER

On discretionary review pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-31 of a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeals, 297 N.C. App. 31, 910 S.E.2d 675 (2024), affirming a judgment entered on 19 September 2023 by Judge George Bell in Superior Court, Mecklenburg County. Heard in the Supreme Court on 10 September 2025.

Patterson Harkavy LLP, by Christopher A. Brook and Narendra K. Ghosh; and Charles G. Monnett III for plaintiff-appellee.

Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo LLP, by M. Duane Jones; and McAngus Goudelock & Courie PLLC, by John P. Barringer, Meredith Cushing, and Jeffrey Kuykendal, for defendant-appellants.

PER CURIAM.

Having considered the opinion of the Court of Appeals, the record and briefs, and the oral arguments before us, we conclude that defendants’ petition for discretionary review was improvidently allowed.

DISCRETIONARY REVIEW IMPROVIDENTLY ALLOWED.