Poor parking prompts arrest in 2012 case; Co-conspirator is an absconder

By DEUCE NIVEN

tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com

     A poor parking choice may lead to new prison time for a Tabor City man charged in a series of 2012 cases involving safe cracking and theft, Tabor City Police Department reports show.

     James Avery Norris, 23, was charged Monday with safe cracking, burglary, larceny of a firearm and conspiracy, the report by Lt. Robert Mumblow said.

     Norris, who shows addresses on Live Oak Lane and Richard Wright Road, had left his 2002 Infiniti car on the grass outside an Evans Pointe apartment Monday morning, the report said.

     Running the license plate through a computer data base, Lt. Mumblow learned that Norris owned the car, and that warrants obtained by the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office in May 2014 were still active.

     Those warrants allege that Norris:

• Took a safe from the Richard Wright Road home of Tammy Manning on Nov. 28 or 29, 2012;
• Broke into Manning’s home with the intent to steal a firearm;
• Stole a High Point .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun from Manning’s home;
• Conspired with David Kadeem Hemingway to commit the burglary at the Manning home.

     A Columbus County Sheriff’s Office report from 2012 lists $7,000 in cash and goods taken from the Manning home, spokeswoman Michelle Tatum said Tuesday, including the gun, two lockboxes, two televisions, video games, and a PlayStation III.

Freedom and confusion

     Lt. Mumblow spotted Norris at his car, and watched him walk back into an apartment as the officer called for him, the report said.

     Told of the charges, Norris gave police no trouble, and said he had already served prison time, in South Carolina, released in March 2018.

     Norris admitted that he had served time for offenses in Horry County, and thought the Columbus County charges were included, Mumblow’s report said.

     Norris entered a guilty plea to a burglary charge on Feb. 17, 2015, and given an active prison sentence, Horry County Public Index records show.

     Both Mumblow and a magistrate confirmed that despite the South Carolina prison stint, the Columbus County, North Carolina warrants were still active.

     After more than 19 months of freedom from a South Carolina prison, Norris was back behind bars Monday, held at the Columbus County Detention Center under a $40,000 bond.

     He wasn’t in jail long, freed after his bond was posted Tuesday.

Absconder

     Norris’ alleged co-conspirator is currently wanted by law enforcement, NC Department of Public Safety records show.

     David Kadeem Hemingway was released from a North Carolina prison on May 22, 2018, and is now listed as an absconder from probation/parole supervision, those records show.

     Hemingway’s criminal history dates to 2008 with convictions for possessing stolen goods, breaking and entering, arson, burning property, and indecent liberties with a child in a 2014 case in Columbus County.

     It was the indecent liberties conviction that landed Hemingway in prison, after his Jan. 16, 2018 conviction. He was release on the 23-month sentence just four months after he was imprisoned.

     Look for much more of this week’s news in today’s Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.