Home Crime Hamlet felon allegedly caught with 2 handguns, stolen rifle

Hamlet felon allegedly caught with 2 handguns, stolen rifle

HAMLET — A previously convicted felon is facing several charges after allegedly being caught with firearms last week.

An investigator with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office was on Eddie’s Lane south of Hamlet on an unrelated case Friday, March 11 when he recognized 42-year-old Joseph Charles Perakis leaving his home, according to a press release issued Monday.

The investigator reportedly knew that Perakis had an outstanding warrant and initiated a traffic stop on Mount Moriah Church Road.

The investigator reportedly spotted a handgun on the floorboard and a box of ammunition on the center console when Perakis got out of his vehicle.

Perakis was reportedly taken into custody and deputies searched his vehicle, allegedly finding two handguns and a semi-automatic rifle with extra rounds and magazines.

Perakis is charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a felon for an incident that reportedly occurred two days prior to the stop, as well as three additional counts for the weapons found during the search and a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed gun, according to the sheriff’s office.

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Investigators, according to the press release, learned that the rifle was reported stolen out of Winston-Salem, which led them to charge Perakis on March 13 with a single count of possession of a stolen firearm.

Richmond County Jail records show Perakis is also charged with two counts of failure to appear on a misdemeanor.

Perakis is being held on a combined $179,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in court March 31.

Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Perakis’ only two felony convictions were in 2001 for maintaining a place for a controlled substance and in 2015 for selling a Schedule VI controlled substance (marijuana).

He has also been twice convicted of driving with a revoked license (2000, 2003); and has been convicted of driving while impaired and resisting an officer (2004), as well as two counts of injury to real property (2014).

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

 



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