Home Crime 3 charged with stealing catalytic converters in Richmond County

3 charged with stealing catalytic converters in Richmond County

Robert Hurley, left, has been charged by the Richmond County Sheriff's Office with stealing a catalytic converter. Christopher Dixon, center, and Peter Miles, are facing a similar charge from the Hamlet Police Department.

ROCKINGHAM — Three men are accused of stealing catalytic converters in unrelated cases and two of the defendants reportedly had meth.

According to an arrest warrant, 48-year-old Robert Kevin Hurley, of Northside Park Drive north of Rockingham, stole a catalytic converter from a vehicle on Dec. 14.

Hurley also possessed an unspecified quantity of methamphetamine along with a glass smoking pipe and a “methamphetamine smoking device with a glass smoking pipe attached.”

Hurley was arrested Dec. 15 by investigators with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and charged with one felony count each of larceny of motor vehicle parts and possession of methamphetamine, as well as a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Records show Hurley was booked into the Richmond County Jail, where he is being held under a $25,000 secured bond.

There are currently two other inmates at the jail charged with stealing a catalytic converter: 24-year-old Christopher Dillon Dixon and 46-year-old Peter Allen Miles. 

Both were arrested by the Hamlet Police Department, charged with larceny of motor vehicle parts, and booked on Dec. 26. 

Dixon is also charged with possession of a Schedule II controlled substance for having an unspecified quantity of suspected meth, according to investigators.

Each is being held under a $10,000 secured bond.

Hurley is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 6, Dixon and Miles on Jan. 13.

Following a spike in catalytic converter thefts in Richmond County and across the state, Sen. Tom McInnis, R-Moore, sponsored a bill that would make the crime a Class I felony. The bill was signed by Gov. Roy Cooper on Sept. 16 and went into effect Dec. 1.

Online court records show Hurley is also facing a previous count of larceny of motor vehicle parts in Richmond County, in addition to: one count of larceny of a motor vehicle; two counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle; second-degree trespassing; and injury to personal property.

Hurley is also facing two counts each of larceny of a motor vehicle and possession of a stolen motor vehicle in Anson County, as well as multiple traffic citations in Richmond, Anson and Union counties.

Miles also has several pending charges, including: two counts each of possession of heroin, larceny of a firearm, breaking and entering a motor vehicle, and possession of drug paraphernalia; and one count each of maintaining a vehicle, dwelling or place for a controlled substance, breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, possession of stolen goods or property, resisting a public officer and violating a domestic violence protection order.

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Records show Miles also has pending traffic citations in both Richmond and Scotland counties.

Dixon has no other pending charges in the state.

According to online records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction, Hurley was previously convicted in Stanly County of assault with a deadly weapon in 2012; and in Anson County of speeding to elude arrest and assault on an officer or state employee in 2013. He received probation in both cases.

Dixon was given a suspended sentence in February when he was convicted in Richmond County of unauthorized use of motor conveyance, records show. He was also given probation in 2019 when convicted of breaking and entering a motor vehicle and possession of a Schedule I controlled substance.

Miles was convicted in 1995 of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury in Scotland County; and in 2006 of obtaining property by writing worthless checks in Richmond County.

In 2010, Miles was convicted on two counts of misdemeanor larceny. His initial probation was revoked the following year, landing him behind bars for more than three months.

Miles was given probation again in 2014 for a conviction of possession with intent to sell a Schedule VI controlled substance. But that probation was revoked two years later, resulting in a nearly six-month incarceration.

Miles’ most recent conviction was in 2017 for misdemeanor larceny. He has also had several traffic-related convictions, records show.

All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

 



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