ROCKINGHAM — A man charged last month with shoplifting from the Family Dollar store in Hamlet is facing new charges for a Friday crime spree — this time with alleged accomplices.
Investigators with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office say 65-year-old Marion Little, along with John David Reeves and Gabrielle Reeves held up people at three locations Feb. 8 before eventually getting caught.
The trio allegedly first went to the Family Dollar Store on Airport Road in East Rockingham brandishing a knife wrapped in a blue Food Lion grocery bag. Investigators say when the clerk didn’t hand over money, Little took two cigarette lighters.
He is also accused of grabbing the victim “about her arm and chest leaving visible marks.
They are also accused of robbing a woman at the Dollar General on U.S. 1 of $198.37.
Warrants show Reeves also robbed the clerk at the Alco on U.S. 74 West of $19.08.
Little allegedly had an unspecified amount of cocaine and a crack pipe on his person.
Investigators say when deputies went to arrest him, the trio spotted deputies and took off. Little jumped out of the vehicle and ran and was eventually caught by a deputy in a yard in the Briarwood community.
John and Gabrielle Reeves turned themselves in, according to the sheriff’s office.
Little is charged with two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, and one felony count each of second-degree kidnapping and possession of cocaine; as well as one misdemeanor count each of assault on a female and possession of drug paraphernalia.
There was at least one other warrant for Little that had not yet been returned to the Clerk of Superior Court’s office. Online court records show he is facing the same drug charges from the Rockingham Police Department.
He was charged last month by the Hamlet Police Department with misdemeanor larceny. According to a summons issued Jan. 23, Little stole two sets of earphones, two speakers, Febreze plug refills, 12 necklaces, a T-shirt, a set of hair clippers and assorted clothes from the store on Jan. 18. The total value of the items is estimated at $198.
John and Gabrielle Reeves are each charged with three counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon — one count from the sheriff’s office and two counts from the Rockingham Police Department. Gabrielle Reeves’ charge from the sheriff’s office does not appear in online court records.
They are all scheduled to appear in court on all charges Feb. 21.
Little was jailed under a $525,000 secured bond, John Reeves under a $125,000 secured bond and Gabrielle Reeves under a $75,000 secured bond.
Little has an extensive criminal background with previous convictions in four counties.
His record dates back to the mid-1970s when he was convicted on felony charges of common law robbery, forgery and receiving stolen goods in Richmond County. Records show he attempted to escape prison while serving time in Anson County.
Little was released in 1984 after spending nearly a decade behind bars. He soon wound up back in the slammer for another three years following 1986 convictions of common law robbery and breaking and entering.
In 1989, Little received four consecutive sentences when he was convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon and three counts each of felony larceny and breaking and entering in Cumberland County.
Little was released in 2001, but just days after his probation expired in April 2002, he was again convicted, this time in Rowan County on charges of first-degree kidnapping, common law robbery, larceny and fleeing to elude arrest.
Records show Little was released March 28, 2018 and his parole ended Dec. 23 — less than a month prior to allegedly robbing the Hamlet Family Dollar.
John Reeves was first convicted in 1980 on misdemeanor charges of operating a motor vehicle without a license and a miscellaneous motor vehicle violation, according to state records. He was also convicted in 1984 of breaking and entering and larceny.
Gabrielle Reeves has no prior convictions in the state.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
