A Choate Road man whose home was broken into tracked his missing items to a nearby scrap metal dealer. A Mocksville man was charged with taking the items and remains in the Rowan County jail.
The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office charged Christopher Lee Bowens, 24, of the 1100 block of Daniels Road, on Thursday with two counts breaking and entering, two counts felony larceny, two counts obtaining property by false pretenses, one count possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts failure to appear/comply.
Roland Cohen called deputies to his property because he noticed a file cabinet he had at the back of his property was missing. He saw a Ford Explorer leave his yard, but was unable to get a license plate number. There were a number of items taken from inside the home, including a laptop.
Cohen went to Holmes Iron & Metal Recycling Center in Spencer where he saw an item that was sold to the business that still had a tag on it that Cohen had gotten from an auction. A deputy went to the business where an employee said the car the officer was looking for was still at the business. The driver of the vehicle was later identified as Christopher Bowens. Bowens could not explain to the deputy why a laptop computer that matched the description of the one taken from Cohen’s home was in his back seat.
Bowens told the officer he “didn’t know whose it was,” a report said.
The report also said Bowens had receipts where he’d taken items to the recycling center on two occasions — the first time he was given $154.50 for the items and the second time, $99.95.
A passenger in the vehicle was cooperative and was not charged, the report said.
The deputy searched Bowens and found a pipe used for smoking drugs on him and a plastic bag.
Bowens remains in the Rowan County jail under a $25,000 secured bond.