HAMLET — A man with a history of theft was charged this weekend with stealing a vehicle.
According to the Hamlet Police Department, an officer was flagged down by the nephew of the victim, saying he had located his aunt’s stolen vehicle at West Hamlet Grocery.
The vehicle was allegedly stolen from N. Grace Chapel Road, east of Hamlet, near U.S. 74.
When the officer arrived on scene, he questioned 49-year-old Carey Antonio Robinson Jr. who reportedly “played dumb” and told the officer he didn’t know where the vehicle came from.
However, police say surveillance video showed Robinson driving the vehicle to the store and getting out.
Robinson was arrested and charged with a single felony count of possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
He was booked into the Richmond County Jail at 3:20 a.m. Sunday and is being held under a $2,500 secured bond. He is scheduled to appear in court June 27.
Online court records show Robinson has no other pending charges.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Robinson has a history of theft dating back more than 30 years.
He was first convicted of shoplifting in 1998.
Then, in 1992, Robinson was convicted of three counts of misdemeanor larceny and one count of breaking and entering a motor vehicle. He was initially given probation, which was revoked a few months later, landing him behind bars for a month.
Robinson was imprisoned for another month the following year for misdemeanor larceny.
He was convicted in 1994 for felony larceny and selling a Schedule II controlled substance. Records show that before his scheduled release in October of 1997, he committed and was convicted of possession with intent to sell a Schedule II controlled substance and two counts of misdemeanor larceny.
Robinson was released in March of 1998, but convicted again in November of felony breaking and entering, resulting in a four-month incarceration.
In 2001, Robinson was convicted of being a habitual felon, breaking and entering, larceny and possessing stolen goods and was sent back to prison for a decade.
Records show he was released in May 2011, but sent back on a post-release revocation eight months later.
Robinson was again convicted of breaking and entering in 2015, serving another year behind bars. He was released in 2016 but imprisoned again the following year on another post-release revocation.
Records show he was last released Jan. 19, 2018.
