Same suspect, same victims, same stuff
Man arrested as he tries to sell guitar
BY JOHN CHAMBLISS
Lightning may never strike the same place twice, but officials say suspected thief Richard Wayne Cook did.
Cook, 44, of North Charleston, was charged this week with stealing $13,000 worth of guitars, amplifiers, and a television from a West Ashley home. It was the second time in four years that Cook was charged with stealing the same merchandise from the same home.
This time, investigators said they caught their man when he sold one of the stolen guitars in a store owned by a longtime friend of the robbery victim.
"This guy is a moron," said Theresa Bates Wyman, who with her husband, Mitch, hired Cook in 2001 to paint their West Ashley home. "That guitar still had the evidence tag in it from the last time it was stolen," she said of the red Fender Stratocaster.
"It's almost sad," said her husband, a chef at Rue De Jean in downtown Charleston. "He doesn't need to be on the streets any more."
Bryn Wilson, owner of Precision Guitar Works in Mount Pleasant, recognized the guitar as the same one he had helped return to Wyman four years earlier.
In 2001, a Charleston County sheriff's deputy taking guitar lessons from Wilson mentioned the red guitar seized during an arrest. The deputy was trying to find its owner.
"I don't know names of my customers, but I recognize their guitars," Wilson said.
A neighbor of Wymans called police at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday after seeing a man break into the rear door of their home. Charleston County sheriff's deputies in turn notified the Wymans.
When the couple arrived home, they discovered three guitars, two amplifiers, a television, a computer and two necklaces missing. The burglar even took six beers from the refrigerator.
Thinking that the burglar might try to sell his equipment, Mitch Wyman notified Wilson.
As they talked on the phone, Wilson told Wyman that a man had just sold them a guitar similar to his minutes earlier and was heading to a nearby bank to cash a check.
Wilson called the bank and enlisted the help of a teller. She told the man the check was bad and he should return to the store.
When he did, Mount Pleasant police were waiting for him.
Cook is charged with burglary, grand larceny and possession of a stolen vehicle. Sheriff's spokeswoman Dana Valentine said Cook was driving a 1991 Buick Skylark reported stolen in Berkeley County.
He is being held without bail in the Charleston County jail.
"It's to the point to where we're going to have to get a burglar alarm for one person," Mitch Wyman said.
Cook was convicted in 2001 for grand larceny and second-degree burglary.
http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=15988§ion=localnews
What a moron
lol...
Man arrested as he tries to sell guitar
BY JOHN CHAMBLISS
Lightning may never strike the same place twice, but officials say suspected thief Richard Wayne Cook did.
Cook, 44, of North Charleston, was charged this week with stealing $13,000 worth of guitars, amplifiers, and a television from a West Ashley home. It was the second time in four years that Cook was charged with stealing the same merchandise from the same home.
This time, investigators said they caught their man when he sold one of the stolen guitars in a store owned by a longtime friend of the robbery victim.
"This guy is a moron," said Theresa Bates Wyman, who with her husband, Mitch, hired Cook in 2001 to paint their West Ashley home. "That guitar still had the evidence tag in it from the last time it was stolen," she said of the red Fender Stratocaster.
"It's almost sad," said her husband, a chef at Rue De Jean in downtown Charleston. "He doesn't need to be on the streets any more."
Bryn Wilson, owner of Precision Guitar Works in Mount Pleasant, recognized the guitar as the same one he had helped return to Wyman four years earlier.
In 2001, a Charleston County sheriff's deputy taking guitar lessons from Wilson mentioned the red guitar seized during an arrest. The deputy was trying to find its owner.
"I don't know names of my customers, but I recognize their guitars," Wilson said.
A neighbor of Wymans called police at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday after seeing a man break into the rear door of their home. Charleston County sheriff's deputies in turn notified the Wymans.
When the couple arrived home, they discovered three guitars, two amplifiers, a television, a computer and two necklaces missing. The burglar even took six beers from the refrigerator.
Thinking that the burglar might try to sell his equipment, Mitch Wyman notified Wilson.
As they talked on the phone, Wilson told Wyman that a man had just sold them a guitar similar to his minutes earlier and was heading to a nearby bank to cash a check.
Wilson called the bank and enlisted the help of a teller. She told the man the check was bad and he should return to the store.
When he did, Mount Pleasant police were waiting for him.
Cook is charged with burglary, grand larceny and possession of a stolen vehicle. Sheriff's spokeswoman Dana Valentine said Cook was driving a 1991 Buick Skylark reported stolen in Berkeley County.
He is being held without bail in the Charleston County jail.
"It's to the point to where we're going to have to get a burglar alarm for one person," Mitch Wyman said.
Cook was convicted in 2001 for grand larceny and second-degree burglary.
http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=15988§ion=localnews
What a moron
lol...
*
