HAMLET — A man has been charged with eight felonies after police say he pawned several stolen guns throughout the month of July.
Hunter Andrew Austin, 20, of Rollins Avenue in Hamlet, is accused of stealing two shotguns and two rifles from another man and exchanging them at a local pawn shop for a total of $335.
According to warrants, Austin stole a Browning 12-guage pump-action shotgun on July 13 and pawned it at Ned’s Pawn Shop for $125; a Ruger M77 .270-caliber rifle on July 14 and pawned it for $140; a Harrington and Richardson .410 shotgun on July 21, pawning it for $40; and a Marlin .22-caliber-rifle on July 28, receiving $30 for it.
Austin was arrested Aug. 3 and charged with four felony counts each of larceny of a firearm and obtaining property by false pretenses. He was booked into the Richmond County Jail under a $25,000 secured bond and has a court date scheduled for Sept. 3.
Online records show he is also facing a misdemeanor larceny charge and has no prior convictions in North Carolina.
— William R. Toler