Jeffrey Heid
Robbinsville – A local man allegedly stole a vehicle July 9, but was swiftly caught just eight miles away.
Jeffrey Charles Heid, 53, was charged with larceny of a motor vehicle and breaking/entering a motor vehicle – both felonies – as well as a trio of misdemeanors: simple possession of a schedule II controlled substance, possession of marijuana up to ½ ounce; and possession of marijuana paraphernalia. His first court appearance on the charges will be Friday at 9:30 a.m. According to information gathered from both eyewitnesses and the Graham County Sheriff’s Office, Heid broke into a 2009 Chevrolet HHR owned by Susan Sawyer Jenkins while the latter was on a camping trip near Lake Santeetlah. The warrant for Heid’s arrest cited an estimated value $12,500 for the vehicle.
The theft was quickly reported, with officers finally receiving a tip that the red SUV was in the parking lot of Robbinsville High School.
Deputies entered the campus from the Sweetwater Road entrance, with Heid attempting to evade authorities by heading toward Rodney Orr Bypass. The sheriff’s office was one step ahead, however; boxing in the Chevrolet on Black Knight Way.
Officers found hydrocodone tablets while searching Heid, as well as marijuana and what was described in the arrest warrant as a “multi-colored glass smoking device to introduce into the body marijuana” – more commonly known as a bong.