Updated Jan. 17 10 a.m.
Two people were charged with larceny after allegedly stealing a burn barrel near Tabor City.
Tara Little McPherson, 52, of 10625 Swamp Fox Hwy. Eat, Tabor City, and Steven Best, 53, of 1088 Vinson Blvd., Brunswick, were charged with misdemeanor larceny and released on $2,500 secured bond each, according to detention records.
Alicia Hinson contacted the sheriff’s office Tuesday after seeing a man and woman remove the barrel from her property in the 8000 block of Swamp Fox Highway, the report said. Deputy T. Stewart located the couple nearby.
“Initially the pair claimed that they were on the property because Ms. McPherson needed to use the bathroom,” the report said.
Security cameras showed the couple in a truck registered to Best loading the burn barrel and leaving. They were arrested and told not to return to the Hinson property, the report said.
The barrel was recovered and returned to the owner. It was valued at $10.
McPherson was out on bond at the time of her arrest on Tuesday. She was arrested in December after a man was shot and wounded in a van near Pireway. Deputies called for SWAT after someone reportedly pointed a firearm out the window of a van where a man was wounded inside. Two other people, including Best, were detained while McPherson, 52, was taken into custody on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, assault on an officer and more.
In 2021, McPherson was placed under a $500,000 bond for shooting her previous boyfriend, Steven Cox, in his home near Tabor City. Cox received life-threatening wounds to the face and head. McPherson told investigators that another man shot Cox.
