SALISBURY — A Salisbury man stole hundreds of dollars worth of meat from local grocery stores, then sold it so he’d have money to buy drugs, police said Thursday.

Cody Ryan Bell, of the 400 block of Heilig Avenue, was charged with multiple thefts this month, including taking more than $700 worth of meat from Harris Teeter supermarket.

Bell is charged with four counts of misdemeanor larceny.

Police say Bell, 24, was arrested Saturday at Brenner Avenue and Standish Street for outstanding warrants for larcenies that occurred Oct. 8, Oct. 9 and Oct. 10.

He was charged Wednesday while in the Rowan County jail with misdemeanor larceny for a prior incident.

Bell was seen on surveillance video at Harris Teeter taking plastic bags out of his pockets, filling them with $750 worth of meat and walking out of the store, said police Capt. Melonie Thompson.

Thompson said Bell took the meat into area neighborhoods and sold it. He used the money he made from the sale of the meat to purchase drugs, she said.

On Sept. 25 and Sept. 26, local authorities went to Bell’s Heilig Avenue home to respond to reports of drug overdoses.

Bell has previous convictions for felony possession of cocaine, obtaining controlled substances by fraud, possession of drug paraphernalia and a couple of traffic infractions.

Bell remains in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $8,500 secured bond.

Contact reporter Shavonne Walker at 704-797-4253.