Man charged with damaging Hamlet solar farm

Posted

HAMLET — A Scotland County man is accused of causing thousands of dollars in damages to a local solar farm.

According to court documents, 27-year-old Derek Allen Locklear, of Laurel Hill, trespassed at the facility run by Strata Solar on Old Laurinburg Road, just outside Hamlet, to steal metal on Jan. 8 and 16.

County GIS records show the 36.94-acre tract is owned by Peggy Mill Property, LLC based in Hillsborough.

Locklear allegedly caused $200 in damage to a chain link fence around the property and an additional $10,000 in damage by cutting and mutilating company property each time.

While the case was being investigated by the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, Locklear allegedly gave the detective a false name.

Locklear was arrested and charged with two felony counts each of first-degree trespassing to disrupt infrastructure and injury to property to obtain nonferrous metals. He was also charged with two misdemeanor counts of injury to personal property and one count of resisting a public officer.

Jail records show Locklear was also arrested on a charge of misdemeanor larceny from Scotland County.

He is being held on a combined $21,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 23 for the Richmond County charges and Jan. 28 for the Scotland County charge.

All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

CORRECTION: This post has been edited to remove the criminal history. The history originally published was for another person. 11:16 a.m. 1-17-25.

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