By Nathan Hardin
nhardin@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS — Two men were arrested Thursday after authorities say they tried to rob a man during a drug deal in a restaurant parking lot. The man they tried to rob was an undercover Rowan County Sheriff’s Office investigator.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the investigator was meeting with Demario Demoane Fisher, 4459 Saint Catherine’s Court, Concord, in the parking lot of Burger King on North Cannon Boulevard on Thursday.
Fisher met with undercover investigators in early October and sold them prescription pain medication, the Sheriff’s Office said.
On Thursday, Fisher made contact with detectives and offered to sell prescription pain pills and a pound of marijuana.
When Fisher arrived, the report said, another man, Theodore Tyrone Blackwelder, was in the vehicle’s passenger seat. As the detective spoke to Fisher, Blackwelder got out of the vehicle, and punched the officer from behind while Fisher grabbed the undercover officer’s money.
The deputy immediately arrested Blackwelder and Kannapolis detectives who were assisting in the investigation arrested Fisher after he pulled a knife.
Detectives discovered Blackwelder, 21, was on probation in Cabarrus County for a robbery conviction, the report said.
Fisher, 20, was charged with three counts of felony trafficking opium, felony conspiracy to traffic opium, felony possession with intent to sell and deliver prescription pills, felony conspiracy to sell and deliver a controlled substance, felony conspiracy to commit robbery, felony robbery with a dangerous weapon and misdemeanor simple assault.
Blackwelder, 289 Georgia Street, Concord, was charged with felony conspiracy to traffic opium, felony conspiracy to sell and deliver a controlled substance, felony conspiracy to commit robbery, felony robbery with a dangerous weapon and misdemeanor assault.
Both suspects were taken before Magistrate W. Ruth, the report said. Fisher was given a $50,000 bond and Blackwelder was given a $38,000 bond.
After being taken to the Rowan County Detention Center, officers found an additional bag of marijuana in a pocket of Fisher’s jeans, the report said. He was then charged with felony possession of a controlled substance on jail premises and issued an additional $25,000 bond, a total of $75,000.
The undercover officer suffered minor injuries in the assault.
According to N.C. Department of Corrections records, Blackwelder was convicted in 2008 of three counts of felony robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Fisher was released in August after being convicted in 2010 of felony larceny from a person, felony larceny of a firearm by a felon, and felony possession of cocaine.
He had previously been convicted of felony common law robbery in 2007.
Contact reporter Nathan Hardin at 704-797-4246 or nhardin@salisburypost.com.