Articles Posted in Theft

Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “Can the police search my car without a warrant?”

In a sad case out of Lincoln County, police say that two men in the area have been arrested and charged with trying to steal a motorcycle from the home of a woman who had just been shot to death.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office says that the two men, Britt Fender and Wesley David Bollinger, were spotted trying to run off with the expensive Harley Davidson that was located inside an outbuilding on the woman’s property. The motorcycle belonged to Terry White, a man who had just been charged with first-degree murder for the death of his wife. Police say they believe the two men knew about the murder and believed the house presented an easy target since no one was around.

Both Fender and Bollinger have since been charged with felony breaking and entering a building, larceny and possession of stolen goods. Authorities say the two are free on a $10,000 secured bond and neither yet has a North Carolina criminal defense attorney.

Under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-54, it is a crime to “break or enter any building.” Plain old breaking or entering is a misdemeanor, but if the crime is committed with the intent to commit larceny or a felony in the building, the offense is a felony. The statute actually defines a “building” as “any dwelling, dwelling house, uninhabited house, building under construction, building within the curtilage of a dwelling house, and any other structure designed to house or secure within it any activity or property.” The law says that anyone found to breaks into any building with intent to commit any felony or larceny shall be punished as a Class H felon.

Continue reading

Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “What is the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony?”

An employee of Macy’s in Charlotte’s SouthPark Mall was charged yesterday with embezzling more than $2,000 from the department store. The woman, Shamika Freeman, 27, was arrested over the weekend and later released from Mecklenburg jail on a $3,000 bond.

The woman was a cashier at Macy’s and was questioned by company officials after they uncovered a series of suspicious transactions on her terminal. Managers at the store decided to inform policy after failing to resolve the situation and called Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Saturday afternoon.

The woman admitted to Macy’s management that she had made 17 fake refund transactions since last September. The cashier told her bosses that she knew in each case that the items that were being returned had never actually been paid for. The cashier then returned the items and placed the money on store gift cards and gave the gift cards to a currently unknown person.

Embezzlement is a kind of property crime. It happens when a person, who has been entrusted to manage or monitor someone else’s money or property, steals all or part of that money or property for their own personal gain. The key to charging someone with embezzlement is that the person had legal access to another’s money or property, but not legal ownership of it.

Continue reading

Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “Should I talk to the police?”

A North Carolina woman pled guilty to stealing from her neighbor’s dead child. The horrible incident took place in September of 2012 after a one-year-old boy drowned in a neighbor’s pond after wandering away from his Rowan County, NC house.

The day of the young boy’s funeral, two neighbors, Jessica Williams and Bobby Milam, broke into the family’s home. While inside they stole some expensive items including jewelry and electronics which were found at a pawn shop and inside the mobile home shared by Williams and Milam. Several personal items were also stolen including a wall ornament, a picture frame and a book that contained the boy’s birth certificate. Bizarrely, those same items were later found partially burnt in a fire pit behind their house.

A few days later police had zeroed in on the two and arrested and charged both with burglary. Just last week Jessica Williams pleaded guilty to her charges. Williams made what is known as an Alford Plea, meaning that she did not admit to the crime but did acknowledge that there was enough evidence to convict her. Under an Alford plea, the defendant must admit that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Continue reading

It must be true what they say; one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Though it may not sound particularly tragic, North Carolina is evidently gripped by an odd crime wave. The number of scrap metal thefts has skyrocketed across the state recently and legislators have taken action to solve the problem. Law enforcement officials across the state are hoping a recent state law that took effect on October 1st of this year will help reduce recent increased incidents of scrap metal theft.

Though the problem might not seem like such a big deal, such metal theft rings have grown enormously in recent years. The bad economy and rising commodities pricing has forced many people to consider stealing metal for even the little amount of money it can bring them.

The change may seem sudden given that legislators have altered the state metal laws only two years ago, but the recent changes to the Metal Theft Prevention Act are meant to further discourage the crime. Under the existing state law, people attempting to sell old scrap metal have to provide valid government identification. The newest iteration of the law goes one step further in saying that sellers must now have their picture taken with the products they are attempting to sell.

Since the new law went into effect, officers are saying they have seen a decrease in the number of reported metal thefts, as those attempting to turn the products in for money are wary of having to pose for a picture with stolen goods.

Under the updated law, police have the right to stop by and check scrap yards to ensure they are complying with the newest laws whenever they want. Though legislators wanted the increased power to crack down on metal thefts, the broad powers seem like overkill to others who worry about police power to constantly intrude in the scrap metal business.

Another component of the recent change grants law enforcement officials more discretion in deciding what charges they can bring against suspected criminals. Before the implementation of the new law, criminals faced misdemeanor larceny charges for whatever they stole. Now, if they cause damage to the property they steal from, they also could face felony charges.

Property damage valued between $1,000 and $10,000 could result in a Class H felony. If convicted, an offender could be sentenced to between five and 20 months in prison. Damage estimated to be more than $10,000 would be a Class F felony, carrying a sentence of one year and one month to two years and 11 months in prison.

Continue reading

A recent online article discussed a seemingly boring but ultimately important issue that may be raised before the Supreme Court in a coming session: pocket litter. “Pocket litter” is a phrase used in law enforcement circles to refer to items of miscellaneous information carried on a person. This comes into play when a person is arrested or otherwise detained by an officer and are subject to some sort of search.

When law enforcement officers arrest someone, they conduct a thorough search of the suspect and his or her immediate possessions. This is what is known as a “search incident to arrest.” Any and all items found during this search are deemed admissible in Court. During a typical search, officers are trained to look for items that might provide useful evidence for the case or that might cause harm to themselves or others. Another use of such searches is to gather information that might provide a clue about other individuals involved in the alleged criminal activity.

Seemingly mundane items found in people’s pockets or purses can provide a significant amount of information. Slips of paper with quickly written messages, phone numbers, names, addresses business cards, etc. all make for great leads. Beyond these obvious examples, scraps of paper including receipts, bus passes or airplane tickets also provide valuable information to those seeking to identify a suspected criminal and any possible criminal associates.

One thing that has happened on this front given the technological changes seen recently is that the items that often make up such pocket litter have changed. Originally the term referred only to small scraps of paper generally containing only a relatively small amount of information. Today, the term has grown to include electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, iPods, and even laptops from which huge amounts of information can be collected. These devices carry voice mails, call and text logs, photos, Internet browser history and even GPS information.

The question facing many appellate courts today is just how far such a search can go when high value electronic pocket litter is involved. Cellphones, in particular, present a puzzling gray area, as there have been conflicting rulings between various U.S. Circuit Courts. This conflict makes it more likely that the issue will end up before the Supreme Court at some point to help clarify the issue. Judges confronted with such facts often find themselves lost, comparing cellphones to diaries while trying to analogize to prior cases from decades ago that have little if any relevance to the challenges they face today. The Supreme Court will more than likely be stepping in and shedding light on the issue, hopefully catching the legal system up to changes in technology.

Continue reading

One North Carolina thief didn’t know what he was in for when he decided to break into Jonathan Moss’ house in Raleigh, NC and take his brand new MacBook Air. Unbeknown to the burglar, Moss was an IT specialist who had, just days prior, downloaded a GPS tracking software to his laptop.

Moss had just been given the laptop by his wife as a wedding present and the two left for their honeymoon in Aruba when Moss’ landlord emailed him saying there had been a robbery. Moss then accessed his Prey software from his villa in Aruba which allowed him to use wireless networks near the stolen laptop to send location information and even take pictures with the computer’s camera.

Moss went to police in Aruba who contacted Raleigh police with the information he had gathered. Moss was able to collect not only the location of the laptop, but a photograph of the man who stole it and the email address of the new user.

Given the overwhelming amount of information stacked against him, it did not take long for police to arrest Johnny Howard Fogg Jr., 29. Fogg has since been charged with felony possession of stolen property in connection with the case. His bail has been set at $3,000.

Under North Carolina law (North Carolina General Statutes § 14-72), people who possess stolen property face Class H felony charges when the value of the property exceeds $1,000 and they know or have reasonable grounds to know that the property was obtained through theft. The value of the property can make a significant difference to an accused person, as the state treats possession of goods valued below $1,000 as a less-serious Class 1 misdemeanor.

Continue reading