Press Release —
The Vance County Sheriff’s Office obtained warrants for the arrest of Wesley Edward White of Windsor N.C. on the 6th day of May 2021. White has been charged with forty (40) counts of Felonious Larceny of Motor Vehicle Parts and Larceny of Nonferrous Precious Metals and Felonious Breaking and Entering Larceny. All charges stem from two separate reports filed with the Sheriff’s Office by the North Carolina Department of Transportation Lot located on Gillburg Road in Vance County.
The DOT Lot is alleged to have been targeted by White on the 29th of March and again on the 20th of April 2021 during which White is accused of removing numerous catalytic converts from various vehicles on the property. White is also accused of breaking into a mechanic’s building and removing nearly $10,000 in tools and other items.
The Vance County Sheriff’s Office joined a multi-agency effort aimed at identifying the suspect responsible for similar crimes in numerous N.C. counties, all of which were reported by DOT Lots.
On Friday the 7th day of May 2021, investigators with the Vance County Sheriff’s Office traveled to Bertie County N.C., along with numerous other agencies and the N.C. SBI, at which time White was located and arrested. A search warrant was executed at White’s home in Windsor N.C. where numerous items of evidentiary value were located and seized.
White was placed in the Bertie County Jail pending his ability to secure a bond in the amount of $1,256,000. Other charges are expected over the coming weeks.
Agencies involved in this investigation include; the Vance, Craven, Nash, Johnston, Halifax, Hertford and Bertie County Sheriff’s Offices, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, the Wilson, Greenville and Tarboro Police Departments and the NC SBI.
As of the date and time of this release, the Greenville Police Department was in the process of obtaining seventy-four (74) additional Felony Warrants and seventeen (17) additional Misdemeanor Warrants on Wesley Edward White.
It has been alleged that White is responsible for the theft of catalytic converters from DOT Lots in North Carolina beginning in December of 2020 through the 7th of May of this year. Numerous locations were targeted multiple times with certain lots suffering losses on at least three separate occasions.