Two men are facing various counts after allegedly attempting to steal from a coin machine.
According to court filings, on December 8, 28-year-old Matthew Ryan Johnson and 35-year-old Frederick Warren Loftis broke into a facility on Biltmore Drive, smashing a crawl space door and attempting to take $50 in quarters from a coin machine.
The address listed on court documents corresponds to the car wash on that road.
Both guys were detained and charged with one felony count each for breaking and entering, attempted larceny, possession of burglary tools, and conspiracy.
(Note: The magistrate’s orders do not specify what burglary tools were utilized. The charge text for both defendants looks to be the same as the previous charge of breaking and entering.
They are also each charged with one misdemeanor count of harm to real property and resisting a public officer.
Johnson and Loftis are each being jailed at the Richmond County Jail on a $25,000 secured bond and are expected to appear in court on December 19.
According to online court records, Loftis is also facing pending misdemeanor larceny and second-degree trespassing charges stemming from an October incident at Walmart.
According to records with the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, Loftis was first convicted in 2017 of possessing a Schedule II controlled drug with the intent to sell.
Loftis was initially sentenced to probation in May 2021 after being convicted of possessing both a Schedule I and Schedule II prohibited substances. That was revoked in October of that year, when he was found guilty of two charges of breaking and entering automobiles and one count of possession with intent to sell a Schedule II controlled narcotic.
Loftis served five and a half months in prison before returning for another three months due to a violation.
Johnson appears to have no previous convictions in the state.
All defendants who face criminal charges are deemed innocent until proven guilty in court.