RICHMOND COUNTY — A Rockingham man was served with an arrest warrant in an ongoing financial fraud investigation the same day he was released from prison.
Hillard J. Weatherford IV, 46, is accused of ordering a debit card to “receive financial benefit” from the account of the late John T. Grant, who died Dec. 19, 2023, at the age of 98. He also allegedly used Grant’s financial information and Social Security number to pay a bail bondsman to secure his release from jail.
A warrant for Weatherford’s arrest was issued Oct. 29, 2025, and he was served Feb. 24. He faces one felony count each of identity theft, financial card theft, and obtaining property by false pretenses, as well as a misdemeanor count of possession or manufacture of a fraudulent ID. Weatherford was booked into the Richmond County Jail on a $50,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in court March 12.
In a separate case, a homeless man is accused of fleeing from a police officer. Warrants allege that a patrol officer with the Rockingham Police Department found Christopher Wayne Grant, 41, at a closed business and attempted to serve him with outstanding warrants when he fled on a bicycle Feb. 26.
Grant was charged in August 2025 for allegedly conspiring with four others to steal multiple items, including clothing, food, laundry products, storage bins, cat food, body sprays, conditioners and razors, valued at $941.20 from the Dollar General on Fayetteville Road on Aug. 10. A warrant charging Grant with misdemeanor larceny, misdemeanor conspiracy and possession of stolen goods or property was issued Aug. 28 and he was served Feb. 26.
Court records also show an arrest order was issued July 3, 2025, after Grant failed to appear in court on charges of possession, sale and delivery of methamphetamine.
Grant is being held in the Richmond County Jail on a combined $13,000 secured bond. He is scheduled to appear in court March 12 on the larceny charges and March 18 on the resisting charge.