ROCKINGHAM — Police are warning residents to be wary of purchasing phones from sources other than direct service providers, following an early morning cellphone store break-in.
Officers responded to an alarm around 4:55 Tuesday morning at Cricket Wireless on East Broad Avenue to find the door open and a large quantity of cellphones of varying makes and models missing, according to Police Chief Billy Kelly.
The Rockingham Police Department issued a statement Wednesday urging residents to contact the department if they, or someone they know, has purchased a phone from a third-party source “such as Facebook, One Man’s Junk, or any individual not authorized to sell such a device” as it “may be stolen property and aid in an ongoing investigation.”
The specific makes and models of the stolen phones were not disclosed.
About two hours prior to the break-in Tuesday morning, Kelly the Alco convicence store on East Broad Street was robbed.
A white man walked into the store with his face covered and the clerk, who was reportedly on the other side of the store, ran outside and asked a customer to call for help, the chief said. The suspect then jumped over the counter with metal tool, opened the register, took the money and fled the scene.
A detective was called to the scene to collect evidence and is still investigating.
Kelly said officers are still looking for a pair of suspects accused of stealing a crossbow from a pawn shop on Aug. 12. Photos of the suspects from surveillance video were posted to the department’s Facebook page on Aug. 17, but Kelly said Wednesday that the two men had not yet been identified.
Anyone with information on the pawn shop theft, or the other crimes, is encouraged to contact police at 910-895-2468 or Richmond County Crime Stoppers 910-997-5454.
ARRESTS
Police also announced Wednesday a pair of arrests on drug-related charges.
Megan Elvis Johnson was arrested by the Narcotics Division on Aug. 10 and charged with larceny by an employee, a felony, for allegedly taking hydrocodone pills from the Walgreen’s pharmacy.
Narcotics investigators also arrested Rex Brayboy on Tuesday, charging him wtih felony counts of: obtaining a controlled substance by using legal prescriptions that have een obtained by the knowing and willfil misreprenstation to or by the intentional withholding of information from a practitioner; and trafficking opium or heroin.
Both are scheduled to appear in court Sept. 7.
Brayboy has previously been convicted on charges of driving while impaired, assault on a child and felony larceny, according to records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction.
Johnson has no other pending charges or prior criminal convictions, state records show.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Reach William R. Toler at 910-817-2675.
