Two suspects are in jail and more arrests are pending in a two-state theft ring that targeted mobile home dealers and construction sites.
Elvis Geronimo Oxendine Jr., 29, and Deanna Marie Lambert, both of Lumberton, were arrested Friday, according to warrants. Oxendine faces four counts of breaking, entering and larceny, property damage and first degree trespassing. Lambert was charged with conspiracy. Oxendine was also wanted in Robeson County for discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, possession of a firearm by a felon, resisting an officer and a probation violation.
Chadbourn Police Chief Ken Elliot said more arrests are anticipated in the case. Oxendine and Lambert were arrested by the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office, but they also face charges in eight other jurisdictions in North and South Carolina, including Chadbourn and Whiteville.
CPD officers found a U-Haul truck back up to a mobile home at the Oakwood dealership in Chadbourn on Aug. 22, Elliot said. Officers were doing a routine security check when they spotted the suspect vehicle, which had several appliances inside. They did an immediate search of the area for suspects but found no one on the property, Elliot said.
“When no suspects were found officers did a detailed search of the dealership and found that several of the mobile homes on display had been broken into and the appliances had been removed,” he said.
Chadbourn Police have been working on the case almost non-stop since the thwarted theft was discovered, Elliot said. The suspects allegedly hit dealers and construction sites in Myrtle Beach, Clarendon County and Florence County, S.C., as well as Chadbourn, Lumberton, Whiteville, Fayetteville and Scotland County. More than $100,000 in property was taken in the thefts, Elliot said.
“By working together and sharing information agents in these jurisdictions will be able to bring the offenders to justice,” Elliot said. “This case is a perfect example of how multiagency cooperation can make a positive impact on our community.”
This is a developing story.
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