ALLEGED
VICTIM ENDS UP AS SUSPECT
By
Jon Mayhew
LINCOLNTON
-- Gastonia resident Barbara Bryant came
to Lincolnton Sunday morning
as a supposid crime victim, wanting to report a
crime at a Gaston County store.
Around 10:10
a.m., she was arrested on charges of possessing
stolen property; the car she drove
to Lincolnton was reported stolen in Gaston
County.
Authorities said
Bryant, 46, of East Fourth Avenue, Gastonia,
wanted to report her debit card was stolen
from the Wal-Mart in Gastonia.
Sgt. Willie
Vaughn asked rookie officer T. Potts to talk to
the woman.
That's when
things didn't start adding up according to
Vaughn.
"After she
talked with officer Potts, she came back and said
her car wouldn't start," said Vaughn.
Officer Potts
assisted her and officers thought the woman was
on her way back to Gastonia.
Instead, the
woman started going door-to-door, begging for
money.
Police knew what
Bryant was doing because they received a call
from one of the nearby businesses.
The employee
told police the woman asked for $10.
Photo by The
Carolina Scoop's Elizabeth Mayhew
Officer T. Potts works on his report
regarding Barbara Bryant, who is charged with
stealing a vehicle
"She told
them the police told her to come down to the
store," said Vaughn, "which is totally
against the law."
Officers met the
woman in the parking lot of the department.
Vaughn, who was standing at the back of the
vehicle,
noticed one of the two woman's license tags were
expired. Potts, at the front of the vehicle,
noticed the inspection
sticker was out-of-date.
"Then the
woman said 'I guess the car's been reported
stolen by now,'" said Vaughn. That's when
officer D. Mocanu was
called into to check with Gaston police on the
status of the vehicle.
While Mocanu was
on the phone with Gaston authorities, he was told
the stolen vehicle report was being processed
there.
That's when the
woman was taken into custody at the department.
Bryant was
charged with possessing stolen property, the car
she drove from Gastonia to Lincolnton
to report an alleged crime.
Vaughn said the
vehicle was damaged, something the suspect said
happened before she got the car this morning.
The owner of the
vehicle, who came to get his auto at the police
department, tells a different story.
"He said it
wasn't damaged until her ride from Gaatonia to
Lincolnton," said Vaughn.
Bond for Bryant
was set at $5,000 secured. She has a first
appearance hearing set for Monday in district
court in Lincolnton.
As Vaughn, a
13-plus year veteran of Lincoln County law
enforcement, recalled the events of the day, he
shook his head in disbelief.
"It's not
something you see everyday," said Vaughn.
"You don't usually have people commit crimes
while
reporting them. It's incredible that a woman
steals a car to come for a police report. I've
never had that before."
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