HAMLET — A man on probation is facing charges after reportedly being caught during a break-in.
Investigators with the Hamlet Police Department say officers were responding to a call around 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21 when they found 37-year-old Robert Allen Beck at the scene with a “full tool belt” including a crowbar and hammers.
Beck was allegedly stealing railroad nails from a building on Lackey Street.
Police say they caught someone else stealing from the same building several months back.
Beck was arrested and charged with breaking and entering, possession of burglary tools, and second-degree trespassing.
He was booked into the Richmond County Jail where he was still being held Thursday on a $12,500 secured bond. Beck is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 9.
Records with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction show Beck has several convictions dating back nearly 20 years.
Beck was first convicted of possessing stolen goods in 2005.
In March of 2014, Beck was given probation when convicted of felony breaking and entering. However, that was revoked less than three months later, just before he was convicted of delivering or selling a Schedule II controlled substance. He was incarcerated for five months.
Beck was convicted in December of felony breaking and entering and possession of a firearm by a felon, and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
