Suspected Serial Burglar Takes Clothes And Food From Charlotte Home, Leaves Behind Valuables
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Gastonia man is in custody after being found inside a Lincoln County home wearing the owner’s clothes.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says it has a warrant of its own to serve to this suspected serial burglar who is accused of crossing county lines to break and enter.
The suspect is sitting behind bars in Lincoln County with no bond. Deputies arrested him Monday for breaking into two homes. A charlotte resident says his ring camera captured that same man going in and out of his house more than 30 miles away just days before.
Phil Mericle says he was in Charleston for work on Saturday. He woke up ready to head home, when he noticed 80 notifications from his ring door bell back in Charlotte.
“They started at midnight the night before up until 6:30 a.m.,” Mericle said. “And it’s this random guy.”
That random guy has been identified as 46-year-old Tanou Chittamath from Gastonia. Mericle says his ring door bell caught Chittamath going in and out the front door nearly 20 times, never in the same outfit.
“Every single time he came in, he had a different one of my shirts on, a different pair of socks, shoes, hat,” Mericle said.
Mericle says in the six hours the burglar was in his home, nothing of great value was touched. The only things missing from his house were a bag of clothes a passport and a bag of cherrys.
Mericle is not concerned with what was taken. He is instead worried about what Chittamath was doing inside where cameras couldn’t see him.
“I’m in there, wiping things down with bleach because I don’t know what he touched. I don’t know what he slept on. I don’t know what he did,” Mericle said.
He says Chittamath left his home for good around six in the morning. The burglar was then found down the street asleep on the lawn of a home for sale. Neighbors scared him off not realizing his crime.
Chittamath is in jail in Lincoln County with no bond. He’s charged with two felony counts of breaking and entering and possession of stolen goods. CMPD is also working to charge the Chittamath with second degree burglary and larceny after breaking and entering.
