Police nab three suspects in thefts of go-cart, ATVs
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on July 25, 2005 1:47 PM
A go-cart was stolen Sunday night from a Goldsboro business and two four-wheelers were stolen from another business before dawn today. Goldsboro police arrested two juveniles in the first theft and an 18-year-old in the second.
Officers answered an alarm at 11:30 p.m. Sunday at Tractor Supply Co. on Cashwell Drive. The first officer to arrive, B.J. Gilstrap, and an employee determined that a Fox Vortex two-seater go-cart, valued at $1,549, had been stolen from the front of the store.
Other police helped searched the vicinity and Officer C.L. Hayes recovered the go-cart in woods northwest of the store.
Gilstrap then was alerted by a citizen about two boys, about 14 years old, acting suspiciously nearby. The officer found the juveniles, and after a further investigation, he took them into custody.
The suspects were charged in juvenile petitions with felony larceny and then taken to the Pitt County Juvenile Detention Center in Greenville.
About an hour later, at 12:43 a.m., Capt. Glenn Barnes saw a four-wheeler all-terrain vehicle being driven illegally at the intersection of North George and Murray streets. When Barnes tried to stop the vehicle, it sped away.
After a chase of more than two miles, the operator jumped from the ATV and ran into woods off Jeffrey's Lane. Barnes found the suspect and apprehended him.
The Polaris Sportsman 400 was recovered. Other officers went to the local dealer, Performance East at 1306 W. Grantham St., and found that a fence had been cut and two ATVs had been stolen.
Employees confirmed that the ATV that the suspect had been operating was one of those stolen. The other ATV was found later by a Performance East employee a short distance from where the suspect was seen at first.
Nigell Jerome Hocutt, 18, of North Virginia Street, was charged with felony possession of stolen goods and seven traffic misdemeanors -- reckless driving, failure to heed blue lights or siren, no operator's license, no liability insurance and three stop-sign violations. He was placed in the Wayne County Jail in lieu of a $15,000 secured bond.
The ATVs were valued at $7,000 each. Damage to the fence was estimated at $400.