Second arrest made in firearms theft

Published 3:32 pm Sunday, December 21, 2008

JACKSON — A Windsor, Va. man who eluded a police dragnet earlier this month is now in the Northampton County jail and faces multiple charges after allegedly breaking into a home there with a second man from Windsor, Va. and trying to steal several weapons. Robert Fulgham, 22, of the 23000 block of Stave Mill Road, faces charges of felony breaking and entering, injury to real property, misdemeanor larceny and larceny of firearms, according to Lt. Detective Brenda Burnette of the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office. Jesse Braswell, 19, of the 11000 block of Blue Ridge Trail, faces the same charges. Each man is incarcerated under a $50,000 secured bond, Burnette said. According to Capt. Joseph Willard with the Isle of Wight County, Va. Sheriff’s Office, Fulgham was arrested Dec. 11 on a fugitive from justice warrant at the Isle of Wight courthouse after he made an appearance there for an unrelated crime. Fulgham is the defendant in several other cases in both Isle of Wight and Southampton (Va.) counties. Isle of Wight County Circuit Court records indicate Fulgham was previously arrested on Aug. 14 for an unrelated incident that occurred on July 25. He is charged with grand larceny and breaking and entering for that incident and his trial date in Isle of Wight is scheduled for Feb. 18, 2009. In Isle of Wight General District Court, Fulgham faces two charges — grand larceny and burglary — over an incident on Jan. 6 for which he was arrested on Sept. 20. A preliminary hearing on those charges was finalized Dec. 4. Fulgham also faces two additional grand larceny charges for offenses from April 22. He was arrested on Nov. 4 and a preliminary hearing was finalized on Dec. 11. Meanwhile, Fulgham also faces charges in Southampton County. According to circuit court records, Fulgham was arrested on Sept. 20 for two separate incidents that occurred on Dec. 18, 2007 and Jan. 7 of this year. He faces two charges of both grand larceny and breaking and entering. Fulgham was reportedly arraigned on Dec. 11 and entered a not guilty plea for the four charges in Southampton. The charges in North Carolina against Fulgham and Braswell stem from a Dec. 2 burglary at a residence on Galatia Road near Pendleton. According to Burnette, weapons were stolen from the home and the victims of the burglary discovered the crime in progress. The burglars escaped in their vehicle and the victims drove after them. During the pursuit, the burglars allegedly threw several weapons out the window of their vehicle. Southampton police recovered three shotguns and a BB gun. Southampton County law enforcement officers performed a traffic stop on Braswell’s 1995 Isuzu Rodeo over on General Thomas Highway near Newsoms, Va. They arrested the driver, Braswell, but Fulgham escaped as the vehicle was coming to a stop. Officers from several jurisdictions searched nearby woods and fields for Fulgham — even using a K9 unit and a state police helicopter — but he eluded capture until his recent arrest. (Charlie Passut is a Staff Writer for the Tidewater News in Franklin, Va., a sister publication of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald.)