Two men from North Carolina were arrested by the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office on Christmas Eve in connection with a burglary at Duke’s Antique Center.
Joseph Lee Walker, 37, of Graham, N.C., and Phillip Anderson Williams, 55, of Whitesett, N.C., were each charged with one felony count of entering a building at night with intent to commit larceny, conspiracy to enter a building at night with intent to commit larceny, possession of burglary tools and destruction of property.
Additionally, Williams has been charged with one felony count of possession of a schedule I or II drug, one felony count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, while Walker was charged with a misdemeanor count of petit larceny.
At approximately 4:15 a.m. on Dec. 24, deputies with the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of a truck in the ditch in front of Duke’s Antique Center on Lee Highway north of Lexington.
Upon arriving at the scene, deputies found the vehicle abandoned and saw what appeared to be burglary tools in the bed of the truck. Tracks from the truck led back toward the store where deputies found that the door had been forced open.
Deputies made contact with the owner of the antique store who lives above the store and he said he’d heard a noise in the store around 4 a.m. and had gone downstairs to investigate. He hadn’t seen anything at the time, so he hadn’t call the police. He also mentioned that a door to the store had been broken a few weeks earlier and $300 had been stolen from the cash register. Nothing was reported stolen from the antique store on Christmas Eve.
While deputies were on the scene, a tow truck driver stopped by and said he had taken the driver of the abandoned truck to Lee Hi Truck Stop and was able to provide a description of the individual. Deputies went to the truck stop but were unable to locate the suspect, but did find a man walking on the side of the road, who said he’d left his car at the truck stop. Deputies gave him a ride back to the truck stop and found his car, which had a man matching the description the tow truck driver had given sitting inside.
Sheriff Tony McFaddin said the arrests were made due to “a combination of the deputies being observant and doing good police work and connecting with other agencies.”
He added that the investigation is ongoing and other charges may be pending, including potential charges from an incident at Wal-Mart a few days earlier that is being investigated. Both Walker and Williams have hearings scheduled in Rockbridge County General District Court on Friday regarding arrangements for their attorneys.
