Late Night Snack Nabs Thieves

CHARLOTTE, NC — A group of thieves working their way through Charlotte neighborhoods, stealing whatever they can find from your car.
CMPD was able to snag the suspects and recover thousands of dollars in stolen property. And it’s all thanks to one man’s late-night cravings.

These thieves were busy. Rolling through apartment complexes and neighborhoods, hitting unlocked cars, stealing electronics, sunglasses, shoes, cash, checks, social security and credit cards; even a gun!

“They choose prospective areas and they drive around,” says CMPD Detective Danny Brathwaite. “They get dropped off. They walk around. They pull on door handles.”

“I-Pads and phones; I’m like really, you left that in your car?” says Claire Ambrose, who lives in one of the neighborhoods that got hit. And it’s not the first time.

“I think it’s more of a habit to make sure there’s nothing in it, because I don’t want anybody smashing my window to get to the things inside,” says Ambrose.

In the early morning hours, a group of four suspects was working their way through an East Charlotte neighborhood, pulling on car doors and seeing what they could find inside to steal. They made their way to a house on Pinstripe Lane where, little did they know, the man living inside was making a midnight run to the fridge.

“Just one of those midnight runs to the kitchen, and I saw my back motion detector light go on,” says Antonio James.

James went to the front of the house and saw the interior light on in his wife’s car.

“And that’s when I started noticing the flashlights going around, so I immediately called the police,” says James describing what the criminals were doing in his driveway. “They got ready to get to my car, and I came out the door, and she kind of started going directly to her vehicle. And that’s when the police showed up as well. They got here pretty quick.”

When CMPD oficers arrived to the scene on Pinstripe Lane they found two women; Christie Dominics and Michelle Morales. Around the corner on Barn Stone Drive they found two men; Joseph Stewart and Darius Jamison.

They also recovered 40 pieces of property, from at least five different crimes, including that gun.

The four suspects face an array of charges breaking and entering, possession of stolen property and possession of a firearm by a minor.

CMPD says these suspects would not have been caught without the quick thinking of Tony James. They also encourage everyone to lock your vehicle, and take anything of value inside.