More charges for man accused of chain of church break-ins

Published 12:00 am Thursday, September 28, 2023

SALISBURY — A man accused of breaking and entering into multiple places of worship all across North Carolina and in Rowan County has had more charges brought against him.

According to Rowan County Sheriff’s Office reports, Mykal Othnel David Charter, 21, was charged on Tuesday with two more counts of breaking and entering a place of worship, two counts of larceny after breaking and entering, one county of possessing stolen goods and five counts of failure to appear.

Charter is being held in Rowan County Detention Center, now with a bond of $482,000. He is accused of crimes in Gaston, Guilford, Brunswick, Wake, Randolph and Durham counties.

Charter was first arrested after an Aug. 7 traffic stop where Rowan County deputies were able to connect him to an alleged theft of a keyboard from Cornerstone Church in Salisbury. Deputies also discovered Charter had multiple warrants for his arrest in Virginia.

At the time, detectives for the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office investigated and linked Charter to similar break-ins across the East Coast, in states including South Carolina, West Virginia and Florida.

In addition to the new charges, Charter has also been charged as a fugitive of the state and with possession of burglary tools.