Dual state thief nabbed
Published 11:16 am Thursday, July 20, 2017
MURFREESBORO – A combined effort between law enforcement agencies in two states led to the arrest of a Murfreesboro man for alleged crimes in North Carolina and Virginia.
Murfreesboro Police Sgt. David Griffith said 50-year-old Brian O’Neal Cherry faces charges in both states following his arrest on July 8.
In Murfreesboro, Cherry stands charged with larceny of a motor vehicle, breaking and entering, possession of stolen property, and injury to property.
Cherry
Meanwhile, the Southampton County (VA) Sheriff’s Office lodged charges of burglary and grand larceny against Cherry.
According to Sgt. Griffith, Cherry allegedly stole a pick up truck from the premises of Metal Tech of Murfreesboro on June 22.
“Through our investigation, we believe Mr. Cherry drove that truck from Murfreesboro across the state line to Courtland, VA at which point he stole several lawn care items from Grigg’s Lawn and Tractor,” Griffith stated.
He added that Cherry then returned to Murfreesboro and sold those stolen items to several individuals.
“One of those individuals used social media to sell the items they purchased from Mr. Cherry,” Griffith said.
The break in the case came when the owners of Grigg’s Lawn and Tractor saw an online ad for a brand new Echo string trimmer, and they alerted authorities that it was possibly one that had been stolen during the burglary.
“We were able to set-up a purchase based on the offering made on social media and once we recovered that item, one thing led to another and we were able to recover the majority of the items and returned them to their rightful owner,” Griffith noted.
To date, two of the string trimmers and four of the chainsaws that were stolen during this burglary have been recovered.
Griffith added that no charges were brought against any individual that had purchased the stolen items from Cherry.
“We at the Murfreesboro Police Department would like to thank the work of our community that provided tips and the tireless efforts of investigators at both the Murfreesboro Police Department and the Southampton County Sheriff’s Office which led to this arrest,” stated Murfreesboro Police Chief Chris Sumner.
Sumner also thanked the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office for their help in locating Cherry.
About Cal Bryant
Cal Bryant, a 40-year veteran of the newspaper industry, serves as the Editor at Roanoke-Chowan Publications, publishers of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald, Gates County Index, and Front Porch Living magazine.
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