ROCKINGHAM — What started as a possible domestic disturbance call Monday resulted in $5,000 worth of Xanax being taken off the streets.
According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, the first deputy to respond to the call at home on Winsor Drive, southwest of Rockingham, noticed a car in the front yard with the doors open.
As the deputy was getting out of his patrol vehicle, he reportedly saw a man walking from the car toward the home with a fast food bag.
The deputy reportedly told the man, identified as 25-year-old Nashton Ryan Kranz, of Rockingham, to stop. While talking to Kranz about the initial call, the deputy reportedly saw several Xanax bars on the ground.
Two members of the RCSO Community Impact Team arrived as backup and the investigators reportedly found more pills inside Kranz’s hoodie during a pat-down.
Kranz was taken into custody and investigators reportedly found 800 Xanax bars inside the bag.
Investigators found and seized a total of 1,034 Xanax bars with an estimated street value of $5,100, according to the sheriff’s office.
Kranz was arrested and charged with one felony count each of possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a Schedule IV controlled substance, and possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance.
He was booked into the Richmond County Jail under a $50,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 3.
Online court records show Kranz has pending felony charges in Superior Court from earlier this year and in 2021: two counts of possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a Schedule IV controlled substance; one count of possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver marijuana; one count of maintaining a vehicle, dwelling or place for a controlled substance; and a probation violation.
Kranz also has pending misdemeanor charges: two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia; one count of possession of marijuana paraphernalia; and carrying a concealed gun.
Records show Kranz is also facing one count of driving while license revoked in each Richmond and Moore counties.
Kranz is currently serving an 18-month suspended sentence following an April conviction on two counts of possession with intent to sell a Schedule I controlled substance, according to records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
