WINGATE, N.C. — A Union County builder said someone stole lumber from his construction site and disabled his security camera to try to get away with it.
Patrick Tyson is the president and owner of Victory Builders of America. He builds single-family homes primarily in Union County.
Last week, he said someone stole lumber from a project off Trull Hinson Road in Wingate.
Tyson said the suspect disabled a camera before he got away with the lumber. When the suspect got to the road, a neighbor passing by confronted him and took a photo.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office used it to identify the suspect, Terry Faircloth.
“As soon as we called the sheriff’s office, they got right on it,” Tyson said. “Matter of fact. When they got back to me, they said, ‘Patrick, we think there is a lot more lumber that was stolen than you actually realize.’”
Tyson said they found $2,000 worth of lumber, which is enough to fill four pick-up trucks.
Deputies even helped them load it onto trucks to take it back to the site, he said.
“They didn’t have to do that,” Tyson said. “They could’ve stood and watched us do that, but they were being generous. I was very appreciative of it because there was a lot of lumber.”
Lt. Matthew Winfrey said cameras at construction sites and watchful neighbors are key to helping investigators.
“We see construction thefts a lot here in Union County throughout the year,” Winfrey said. “It’s not just in the summertime.”
In fact, Tyson said just last year, a camera at a different site helped identify a man who stole siding and was caught selling it on the side of the road.
He has a warning to others who will try to steal from them.
“We’re going to seek you out the best we can,” he said. “We’re going to prosecute to the fullest extent we can.”
Faircloth has been charged with larceny from a construction site
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