ROCKINGHAM — A man currently on probation is accused of having a vehicle and other pilfered property that was stolen while the victim was in the hospital.
According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, the unnamed victim reported on Sept. 4 that a 2004 Dodge Ram pickup, a Ford Aerostar van, a Bendix camper and a Wells Fargo utility trailer had been taken from his yard while he had been in the hospital for an extended period of time.
On Wednesday, Sept. 6, a deputy reportedly stopped the truck on East Broad Avenue in Rockingam, with 33-year-old Brandon Scott Williamson behind the wheel.
When the deputy explained that the truck had been stolen, Williamson allegedly said that he had bought it from someone else.
According to the sheriff’s office, the camper was at Williamson’s home and he admitted to selling the van to a local scrap yard. The press release does not mention the status of the utility trailer.
Williamson was arrested and charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle and obtaining property by false pretenses and was booked into the Richmond County Jail on a $20,000 secured bond.
(Note: Jail records show a second charge of possession of a stolen “automobile” with an additional $20,000 secured bond.)
The charges were not yet reflected in online court records at noon on Sept. 8, but jail records show Williamson is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 21.
Online court records show Williamson has the following pending charges in Moore County: felony possession of cocaine; and one misdemeanor count each of larceny, possession of stolen goods, simple possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Records with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction show Williamson was convicted May 16 on three felony charges — larceny after breaking and entering, breaking and entering vehicles, and receiving a stolen vehicle — and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
Williamson was first convicted in 2020 of felony breaking and entering and two counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. His probation was revoked the following year and the charge of larceny after breaking and entering was added.
Records show he was only incarcerated for six days, but returned to prison for nearly four months on a post-release revocation.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
