Deputies arrest duo for long string of car break-ins
By John Joyce
Published in News on March 24, 2013 1:50 AM
By its own admission, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office had been run ragged chasing down a string of 36 vehicle break-ins that occurred over the last four months -- that is, until Wednesday.
Sheriff's deputies forced their way into a mobile home at 121 Windy Acres Lane in Goldsboro just before noon and arrested Joseph Wilson Hasty, 20, and Nicholas Ray Cutway, 17, in connection with 28 reports of vehicle break-ins, a residential burglary and a robbery at a food mart.
Hasty, the alleged instigator of the crimes, was charged with three counts of felony breaking and entering a motor vehicle, two counts of breaking and entering, four counts of felonious larceny and four counts of felony possession of stolen goods.
He also was charged with a single count of felony financial card theft and is currently jailed under a $100,000 secured bond.
Cutway, the apparent accomplice in the case, has been charged with a single count each of breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, and possession of stolen goods, all felonies. His bond was set at $7,000 secured.
Hasty and Cutway also are believed to be responsible for a March 10 burglary at a home on Windy Acres Lane. The value of the property stolen in that heist was estimated at more than $7,700.
In addition, the two are thought to be the pair responsible for drilling through a side wall of concrete block at Johnny's Food Mart on N.C. 111 South in December 2012 and stealing $500 worth of tobacco products.
Maj. Tom Effler of the Sheriff's Office investigations division said that the suspects in this case were opportunists who preyed on unlocked vehicles and likely traveled on foot.
"There was only one vehicle that they broke a window, that we know of," Effler said.
And that, he explained, was why the suspects were so elusive. But, he said, thanks to some good breaks, assistance from private citizens and "some real good work" by Investigator L.N. Mitchell, the suspects were finally arrested and some of the stolen items were recovered and have been returned to the rightful owners.
The investigation remains open and additional charges against Hasty are expected.