By Shavonne Potts
shavonne.potts@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Two Salisbury women were charged this week after they were caught breaking into a vacant home on Allen Lane.

The two women told a Rowan County Sheriff’s deputy they went inside to allegedly steal two air conditioning units, department reports show.

The initial call was the result of a neighbor who told 911 they could see two people with flashlights walking inside a vacant home in the 200 block of Allen Lane. A total of three deputies arrived to find two women inside the home.

The women were identified as Brittany Lauren Smith, 28, of South Church Street and Taylor Lea McKnight, 24, of Barrier Lane. Both women were charged with felony breaking and entering, felony larceny and misdemeanor injury to real property.

The women said they were there to get two air conditioning units because Smith did not have air at home, according to the sheriff’s office. McKnight said she knew the units were there because her boyfriend took one in the past and she intended to sell it to Smith, a report said.

The deputy asked McKnight if she knew the property owner and she told him no one owned it and that it was vacant. The deputy said that just because it was vacant didn’t mean the property didn’t have an owner. Smith said she thought McKnight owned the property until they got to the house.

Another deputy found a section of the wall around the air conditioning unit was broken. The deputies contacted R&D Real Estate, which owns the property. Both women were issued a $5,000 secured bond and have since been released from the Rowan County Detention Center.