An attempted robbery occurred a short time later at the Days Inn motel on U.S. 1, several blocks north of Ragazzi’s.
In the Ragazzi’s robbery, police said two black men wearing bandanas over their faces, both armed with handguns, locked two employees in a freezer behind the restaurant and took an undisclosed amount of cash and checks, Lt. Carol McCarn said. It happened around 11:20 p.m.
One of the men approached employee Adam Graham, 19, as he went out the back door and pointed a gun at him. The suspect forced Graham and another employee, Johnnie Venable, 27, in the freezer. The suspects took the keys to the restaurant, went inside and stole two bank bags full of money and checks.
Around 12:10 a.m. Friday, Nick Harper of Georgia, who was staying at the Days Inn, reported a that a black man wearing a white bandanna covering the lower part of his face pointed a gun at him as he answered the door of his motel room. The suspect uttered expletives at Harper, who then slammed the door shut and called police, McCarn said.
Ring Recovered: Southern Pines police officers quickly recovered a stolen diamond solitaire ring valued at $3,900 that was taken from Body Tan on U.S. 1 around about 12:54 p.m. Thursday.
Police charged Cynthia Walker, 41, of Raeford, with felonious larceny of a ring. She was released on $1,500 secured bond.
Geraldine Baker, an employee, reported to police she had taken the ring off before undergoing a tanning treatment and left it in a secured area behind the counter. When she returned, she told police the ring was missing and that she saw a female leaving that area.
Police arrived while the suspect was still on the premises, but she took off after preliminary questioning. Officers got her license plate number and went to her home in Hoke County. She had the ring on her hand when police arrived to question her.
Equipment Thefts: Southern Pines police are investigating a series of equipment thefts dating back to April from Ingersoll-Rand Corp. on U.S. 1 North.
The equipment includes seven laptop computers and a digital camera, with a total estimated value of $9,000.
Forged Checks: A Laurinburg woman who found an abandoned checkbook in her home has been charged with four counts of forgery and uttering.
Carthage Police Chief Craig Goodnight said his office was alerted by BB&T of Carthage that a woman had passed two checks on a closed bank account and was attempting to pass two more. The bank did not cash the last two checks and notified authorities instead.
Carolyn McKenzie Leak, 42, of 203 McCallum St., Laurinburg, was jailed under $10,000 secured bond in the Montgomery County Jail. Her court date is July 11.
Goodnight said that she faces similar charges in Montgomery County, where she was found in possession of the checkbook in the name of the American Legion Auxiliary. The chief said Leak apparently found the checkbook in the house where she had recently moved.
Lt. C.T. McKenzie of the Carthage Police Department traveled to Montgomery County to interview the suspect and to place her under arrest.
What the accused woman did not know is that the bank, First Scotland Bank of Laurinburg, has been closed for several months, Goodnight reported.
The checks that passed were written in the amounts of $798 and $698. The checks that BB&T held and did not accept were written for $674 and $790.
Goodnight said charges are pending against a co-defendant, who was not identified.
Stolen Checks, Truck: Carthage police have arrested an Eastwood woman on charges of forgery and uttering and felonious possession of stolen property.
She was identified as Merrin Allison Curtis, 19, of 360 Country Ridge Lane, Eastwood.
Carthage Police Chief Craig Goodnight said he and Officer R.T. Caulk responded Thursday to a call from Carthage Food Mart, where she was attempting to pass a check thought to be stolen. Store officials told investigators that she had passed one check earlier on the same account.
Goodnight said his department learned that the check was written on the account of Eddie Tyndall of Lillington, who had reported the larceny of his Z71 Chevrolet truck the previous night. Tyndall said that his truck contained his checkbook and golf clubs.
Curtis told police that someone from Harnett County gave her the checkbook and she knew nothing about a stolen truck, Goodnight said. The $70 check she attempted to pass was not accepted by the store, he said.
Secured bond was set at $10,000. Her court date is June 27.
Goodnight said his department is working with Harnett County authorities in efforts to locate the stolen truck.
