HAMLET — A man is facing a trio of charges after police say he stole electrical equipment from Richmond Community College.
According to the Hamlet Police Department, 40-year-old Brandon David Busby on Nov. 17 broke into an outside lab at the college, damaging the door and frame.
Busby is accused of stealing six 12-inch battery cables, an 18-inch battery cable, two 96-inch inverter cables, a Schneider inverter charger and a clamp voltmeter.
He also allegedly damaged a Schneider mini power panel during the break-in.
Police arrested Busby Nov. 21 and charged him with one count each of breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering and injury to personal property.
He is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 3 on those charges.
Online court records show Busby has several pending criminal charges from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office — breaking and entering a motor vehicle, misdemeanor larceny and possession of a firearm by a felon — as well as a few traffic-related charges.
Busby’s most recent conviction was in 2017 for misdemeanor larceny in Moore County, according to records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction.
His record dates back nearly 20 years earlier when he was convicted of larceny after breaking and entering in 1998.
Busby’s probation was revoked the following year when he was convicted of felony breaking and entering, resulting in a seven-month incarceration.
In June 2002, Busby was convicted of wanton injury to personal property. Three months later he was convicted of breaking and entering and attempted misdemeanor larceny, records show.
He was given a suspended sentence both times, but his probation on the latter conviction was revoked the following year when he was convicted of attempted breaking and entering and misdemeanor larceny. His sentences ran concurrent and he spent five months behind bars.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
