Deputies say the two men responsible for a string of metal thefts were caught red handed.
Detectives J.T. Grindstaff and Nathan Mace of the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office charged 33-year-old Scotty Dean Burleson of Clark Loop in Morganton and 35-year-old Roby Kenneth Greer of Sugar Hill Road in Marion each with three counts of obtaining property by false pretense, three counts of misdemeanor larceny, two counts of felony larceny, one count of conspiracy to commit a felony and one count of attempting to obtain property by false pretense. Both men were taken into custody in lieu of $70,000 bonds.
McDowell County sheriff’s deputies received reports on Jan. 25 of oil barrels stolen from residences on U.S. 70 East and Jacktown Road. The homeowners described the suspect vehicle as a gray Ford Ranger truck occupied by two white men, according to Grindstaff.
Detective Lt. Dan Shook found that Greer had sold one of the oil barrels at M&R Scrap Metal, and Burleson had sold parts from a heat pump, Grindstaff stated.
At Patton’s Scrap Metal, investigators found three more oil barrels sold by Greer, said the detective.
When Grindstaff went to Ray Roland’s junk yard to check for any stolen property, the gray Ford Ranger truck passed him pulling a hay baler stolen from property on Epley Drive on Jan. 27.
Grindstaff stopped the vehicle and arrested the occupants, Burleson and Greer.
Further investigation revealed that the pair also took a tractor scrape blade from property on Hurst Drive on Jan. 21, according to Mace.
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