ROCKINGHAM — A man wanted on an attempted murder charge has been picked up by Richmond County sheriff’s deputies.
Richard James Richardson Jr. is accused of shooting and robbing a man in Union County.
According to Lt. Bobby Manus with the Monroe Police Department, Richardson, 26, and Markeith Carelock, 21 approached 34-year-old Dwain Lamont McNeely in the early morning of June 25 and demanded he put his hands up.
Monroe police responded to the scene around 5:24 a.m. and found McNeely had been shot in the groin area during the hold-up, and the two suspects had made off with his wallet and cellphone.
Carelock was arrested later that day and charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Deputies in Richmond County arrested Richardson last Saturday, a month after the incident.
He was booked into the Richmond County Jail under a $250,000 secured bond on charges of attempted first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon. He has since been transferred back to Union County and has an additional $1,000 bond on a failure to appear charge.
Online court records show Richardson is currently facing other charges in Union County, including two felony counts of cocaine possession, one misdemeanor count each of possession of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia and several driving infractions.
Carelock has pending charges on a misdemeanor count of second-degree trespassing, a felony count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and three felony counts of probation violation.
Both men are felons with multiple convictions, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction.
Richardson spent 13 months behind bars following a Union County conviction on counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied property and possession of a firearm by a felon.
He also served time in 2007 after being convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon in Mecklenburg County.
Records show Richardson was also convicted in 2005 of misdemeanor larceny, felony receiving a stolen vehicle and misdemeanor reckless driving and in 2013 on a misdemeanor count of resisting an officer.
Carelock was incarcerated for three months in 2013 following convictions on two counts of possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance and a count of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.
Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_Toler.