ROCKINGHAM — A man recently indicted on weapon and drug charges temporarily eluded deputies before being apprehended late Sunday night.
Deputies were dispatched to a home on Loch Haven Road just after 10 p.m. to serve 37-year-old Dennis James Little with outstanding warrants, according to a press release issued Monday by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
Little had been indicted on charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, discharging a firearm into an enclosure and simple possession of a Schedule III controlled substance, the release states.
When the deputies got to the home, they reportedly were told that Little had run out the back door. A search of the surrounding area, including nearby woods, was fruitless.
Deputies were called back to the home around 11:24 p.m. and were reportedly told Little was in a bedroom and “possibly had several firearms.”
The release states that other occupants of the home were removed to keep them safe, due to the threat of firearms.
Deputies reportedly tried to get Little to come out of the home, but “he would not comply.”
The RCSO Special Response Team was brought in.
After reportedly trying numerous times to get Little to come out, the SRT launched a gas canister into the home — and he still wouldn’t come out, according to the release.
Investigators reportedly discovered that Little had an escape hatch in the bedroom, leading under the home.
SRT officers removed some of the underpinning and found Little, who finally complied, according to the release.
Investigators say no firearms were found in the home.
Little was taken into custody and served with warrants on the aforementioned charges. He was also charged with resisting a public officer.
He was booked into the Richmond County Jail where he is being held on a combined $56,000 secured bond.
Online jail records show Little is scheduled to appear in district court Aug. 25 on the drug and resisting charges, and in superior court Sept. 5 on the weapons charges.
Online court records show no other pending charges.
According to records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction, Little was first convicted in 2006 on a misdemeanor count of maintaining a place for a controlled substance. Later that year, he was convicted of possession or purchase of alcohol under the age of 21.
In January 2011, Little was convicted on a single count of selling a Schedule I controlled substance. His probation was revoked the following October, sending him to prison for 13 months.
Little’s most recent conviction was in 2015 on two counts each of delivering or selling a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of a firearm by a felon. Again, he was given probation and again it was revoked, resulting in a three-month incarceration.
All defendants facing criminal charges is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
