Staff report

GRANITE QUARRY — The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, assisted by other local law enforcement agencies, caught a pair of women Wednesday afternoon who are thought to be responsible for their own personal crime wave through stores in eastern Rowan County, Stanly County and Davidson County.

A search of the women’s vehicle Wednesday turned up approximately 170 stolen items, including air fresheners, body washes, shampoos, lotions, over-the-counter medications, clothing and fuel treatments. The merchandise, stashed in garbage bags and purses, had an estimated value of over $1,200.

Reports from the Granite Quarry-Faith Police Authority say the items were taken from Dollar General stores in Granite Quarry, Rockwell, Richfield and Denton, along with the Walmart Express in Richfield.

The women arrested were Belinda Johnston Perez, 39, of Asheboro, and Misty Dawn Bates, 41, of Lexington.

Perez was charged with two counts of misdemeanor larceny and was placed in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $2,000 bond.

Bates was charged with two counts of misdemeanor larceny and held in the Rowan County Detention Center under $2,500 bond.

Additional charges are pending from other agencies in Rowan County, Stanly County and Davidson County.  Anyone with information concerning crimes related to these women should contact investigator Todd Taylor of the Granite Quarry-Faith Police Authority at 704-279-2952.

At roughly 4:10 p.m. Wednesday, Rockwell Police Department reported a shoplifting having just occurred at the Dollar General in Rockwell. Police were looking for a gray Ford Mustang with a black convertible top that was occupied by two women.

The car had been spotted traveling toward Granite Quarry, and it was located in the parking lot of the Dollar General there by a sheriff’s deputy.

Authorities stopped the Mustang as it was trying to leave the Dollar General lot in Granite Quarry, and the women inside matched the description of the suspects from the shoplifting incident in Rockwell.