Police have arrested two suspects after they allegedly stole two wheelchair access ramps from a church in North Carolina. The robbery occurred around 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 28. Rivermont Baptist Church is located on U.S. Highway 258 in Kinston, NC. Police report that two men have been charged with the theft. Darrell Smith, 40, and Michael Bridwell, 41, have been arrested and charged on suspicion of multiple felonies.
The two men were arrested by detectives after they executed a search warrant at a property on Lang Skinner Road in La Grange. Smith was charged with felony obtaining property by false pretense, felony conspiracy to obtain property by false pretense, felony possession of stolen goods, and a misdemeanor count of obstructing justice. The other man was also brought up on a massive list of charges.
Bridwell was charged with Felony larceny felony obtaining property by false pretense, felony possession of stolen goods, and felony conspiracy to obtain property by false pretense. According to police, Birdwell was already in custody from previous charges. His bail was raised by a $20,000 secured bond. Smith was arrested and transported to the Lenoir County Jail. He was not given bail.
We reported on another crime attacking Christians. The Wilson County Sheriff’s Department has arrested a man in connection to a drive-by shooting at the Tennessee home of Pastor Greg Locke. On September 3rd, Police responded to Locke’s residence where they found 30-40 shell casings at the property. After the shooting, authorities recommended that Locke not return to his home. The Locke Family has been forced to relocate for their safety.
Authorities announced that “On December 4, 2024, detectives with the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division, with assistance from the Metro Nashville Police Department, executed a search warrant at 8234B Terry Lane, Hermitage, TN, about the shooting that occurred on September 3, 2024, at 1729 Chandler Road, Mt. Juliet, TN.”
After they searched his residence, police arrested 20-year-old Tyler Pool on an outstanding indictment. He was charged with our counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, two counts of vandalism, and aggravated assault. All were related to the shooting at Locke’s home. No injuries were reported and the suspect is being held on a $50,000 bond at Wilson County Jail.
Initially, the Pastor thought that someone was throwing beer bottles at his home. Greg Locke explained, “All of a sudden I began to realize it (bullets)went through the wall and the headboard and Destiny’s room, and you know, riddle the truck up and the garage, and we’re talking about from the bottom of the driveway all the way up through the back of the truck, the middle of the truck, out the front of the truck, through the garage door, all the way out the back of the garage, into the fence, at the very back of the property.” He quipped “We’re not talking about a Daisy BB gun.”
Locke armed himself and as his wife called the authorities, he went looking for the attacker. “I’m running around the house like a madman with an AR in my hand and a 9mm in my back pocket, not knowing what’s going on,” he explained. “And, by the way, you can criticize that all you want to, but I’m here to tell you one day, the government’s not going to protect you, and the police aren’t going to show up in time, and you better know how to protect your family, you hear me?”