Two men facing charges in separate break-ins

JENNA-LEY HARRISON
Staff Writer

A Gaston County man and western Lincoln County man were jailed last week for stealing from two area properties in separate instances since August, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies charged Douglas Wayne Cobb, 45, of 100 Pruett Road in Cherryville, on Wednesday with stealing a Shaw enclosed trailer containing a Harley Davidson motorcycle and related parts from a property at 3582 Maiden Highway, just west of U.S. 321, on the county’s northern end.
He faces one felony count each of larceny and possession of stolen goods, according to an agency press release.
Cobb took the items on Sept. 1 and wrecked the motorcycle two days later in Gaston County, deputies said. Officers deemed the motorcycle a total loss and have yet to locate the trailer and additional stolen items.
Troopers with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol responded to the crash site and notified Lincoln County deputies.
The Sheriff’s Office said Cobb sustained injuries in the incident and was transported to Carolinas Medical Center-Lincoln.
Troopers have yet to file charges against Cobb, the release said.
The suspect has since posted a $9,000 secured bond.
According to the North Carolina Department of Correction website, a Gaston County judge convicted Cobb of similar felony charges most recently in December along with a separate incident in 1984. He also received a misdemeanor larceny conviction in 1983. Other offenses on his record include DWI and shoplifting, NC DOC showed.
On Tuesday, deputies charged Roger Dale Lane, 47, of Lane’s Road in Vale, with breaking into a home the end of August on Herter Road, also on the county’s northern end, the release said.
A homeowner reported several missing jewelry items to the Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 30, deputies said. The items were worth more than $2,000.
Detectives interviewed Lane after one of the victim’s friends told her the man had several matching jewelry items, the release said.
The suspect later pawned the items at shops in Catawba and Cleveland Counties, deputies said.
Lane was charged Tuesday in the case with two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses and one felony count each of breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering and possession of stolen goods.
He remains under a $10,000 secured bond.
NC DOC revealed Lane had a history of drug activity, spending at least 10 months behind bars for offenses that occurred in Lincoln County between 2005 and 2006. In the early 1980s, he committed felony breaking and entering in Catawba County and misdemeanor larceny in Lincoln County.