Public records
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on August 13, 2004 1:57 PM
Thief gets away
Wayne County sheriff's officers recovered $41,000 worth of stolen equipment Thursday, they said, but were unable catch the culprit.
At about 2:15 a.m., Deputy Chris Peedin saw a suspicious vehicle parked along U.S. 13 in southern Wayne. It was a 1999 Ford pickup truck with a double tandem trailer and a new Bob Cat on the trailer.
Peedin turned his car around and tried to stop the truck. A brief chase ensued, and the truck abruptly turned off the road and stopped.
The driver ran away. Dogs were brought in to track the man for about five miles in the rural wooded area. Officers believe someone may have picked up the man on King Road.
Aycock Tractor at 304 U.S. 117 S. reported the theft of a $28,000 skid steer loader that the Sheriff's Office said was recovered on King Road.
An investigation revealed that the Bob Cat also had been reported stolen Wednesday from Aycock Tractor.
The pickup truck had been reported stolen on July 29 in Pender County. The trailer had been stolen on July 30 in Pitt County.
A joint investigation is continuing with agencies in Wayne, Pitt and Pender counties and the Goldsboro Police Department.
The Wayne Sheriff's Office credits Peedin's alertness in the recovery of the property.
Sheriff's Capt. George Raecher said a lot of lawnmowers and utility trailers have been taken from people's yards. Johnston and Wilson counties have had more cases reported than Wayne. It's been going on for about two and a half months now, he said.
He said he doesn't know if this case is related to an incident reported on Aug. 2 where two men were stopped in Johnston County with equipment that turned out to have been stolen from Wayne County. The two men who were stopped were released, because the equipment had not been reported stolen. The report came in the following morning.
Trailer theft
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office has charged two Wilson County men with felony larceny of an enclosed trailer with go-cart racing equipment inside.
The trailer was reported stolen Aug. 9 from Buck Swamp Road.
Michael Jasper Garris, 25, of Black Creek was charged with felony larceny in Wayne and felony possession of stolen property in Wilson County. His bond was $30,000.
Charles Mikey Harris, 25, of Wilson was charged with felony larceny in Wayne and felony possession of stolen property in Wilson County. He bond was $3,500.
The case was investigated with the Wilson County Sheriff's Office. They executed a search warrant at Michael Garris' home on Morningside Road in Wilson and recovered more stolen property.
Investigations
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office is investigating the following crimes:
*A dog that was thought to be lost has ended up stolen, according to a report filed Thursday. Tabitha Nichole Jacobs, 83, of Cambria Lane told investigators it was April 5 when she last saw her $800 St. Bernard, chow and boxer mix who answers to the name of Robbie. She went out to feed him and he was missing. She reported him missing, but Wednesday, she said, her cousin told her a man she knows picked up Robbie and gave him to a farmer to run loose.
*A woman reported some people threatened her at an intersection Thursday while she was driving home from work. She had stopped at N.C. 581 and U.S. 70 West when another car came up beside hers, and several occupants shouted threats out the window. She said one of the occupants threw a beer can at her car.
*Someone reportedly stole $300 worth of items, including a Sawzall, 15 CDs and a half-inch drill, from the shop at David Scott Boyette's home on North Beston Road, LaGrange.
*Amber Lynn McCammon told investigators Thursday that someone started a fire in the storage room attached to her house on Colonial Drive. They placed a carpet over some Christmas china, candleholders, an art set and a dog house and set them on fire. The officer said he observed the odor of lighter fluid. The fire was extinguished, and there was no structural damage. The burned items were valued at $256.
*Someone cashed several counterfeit checks totaling $131 written on the account of Shelby Associates on South John Street before First Citizens Bank could freeze the account.
*A woman reported her purse containing $1,219 worth of items lost or stolen while she was eating at the Huddle House at 2509 E. Ash St. Bessy Mae Hollis of Asheville said she left her handbag containing cash, jewelry and documents, remembered and came back into the restaurant. It was gone. She said nobody in the restaurant saw anybody leave with it.
Missing
Lakeesha Joy Fuller, 17, was reported missing by her mother, Edith Fuller of Dove Place, Thursday morning. She did not return home from school that afternoon.
Traffic accidents
*Goldsboro police investigated a collision Thursday afternoon involving $6,500 in damage to two cars. Nellie Rhodes of South Slocumb Street was charged with failure to yield the right of way after the 2004 Kia she was driving struck a 1998 Ford head-on. The Ford was driven by Korinthia Atkinson of North Madison Avenue. The report said Ms. Rhodes turned right onto Madison Avenue from Holly Street and then made a left turn into the path of Ms. Atkinson. Neither was recorded as treated at Wayne Memorial Hospital. Damage to the Kia was $3,000. Damage to the Ford was $3,500.
*Carrie Grant of Snow Hill was charged with a stop-sign violation around 9 p.m. after the 1999 Oldsmobile she was driving ran into the side of a 1992 Ford driven by Jeffrey Kincaid of LaGrange. The collision occurred at the intersection of New Hope Road and Berkeley Boulevard. Damage was $5,000 to the Oldsmobile and $2,000 to the Ford.