A 31-year-old Roanoke Rapids man was charged Sunday in a breaking, entering and larceny in the Colonial Drive area of Roanoke Rapids.

Lt. Bobby Martin of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release shortly after midnight Sunday Deputy Joe Sealy received a breaking and entering call.

When the deputy arrived he noticed a 36-inch television sitting in the front yard with a blanket on top and a VCR sitting by the road along with a navy blue pillowcase.

While at scene a witness approached Deputy Sealy and told the officer he saw someone he knew carrying items from the victim’s house. 

The witness said when the suspect saw him he quickly went back to his house.

Deputy Sealy learned the victim was on vacation and noticed the side door glass was broken out and the door damaged. 

When Deputy Sealy looked inside several items were turned over.

The deputy talked to the suspect, James Michael Doughten, who came to the door sweating profusely. Deputy Sealy saw two navy blue pillowcases on the couch, which matched the ones in the victim’s yard, Martin said in the news release.

With assistance from Deputy Corey Griffin, Sealy spoke to Doughten, who allegedly told the officers he was responsible for the breaking and entering. 

Deputy Sealy charged Doughten with breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, two counts of possession of stolen goods, larceny of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and injury to real property,

Doughten was jailed on $25,000 bond and has a Sept. 30 court date.

This case was solved, Martin said, because of neighbors looking out for one another. “The witness coming forward and assisting Deputy Sealy really aided him in finding the person responsible for this breaking and entering,” he said in the news release.

Joshua Rouse, charged in the June murder of an Applebee’s manager, was transported to Central Prison in Raleigh over the weekend after he allegedly cut an inmate in the Halifax County Jail.

Lt. Bobby Martin of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office told The Spin this morning Rouse, a former employee of the restaurant, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.

The cutting occurred after Rouse, 22, asked an inmate for his soup. The inmate gave Rouse his soup but refused to give him the crackers which accompanied the meal, Martin said.

Rouse became angry and cut the inmate in the face with a homemade blade. The inmate received stitches in his left eye brow, bridge of his nose and inside of his lip.

Rouse was in the Halifax County Jail awaiting an appearance on a first-degree murder and armed robbery charge in the stabbing and cutting death of Sandy Denise Riedel, who worked at the restaurant on Premier Boulevard since October.

Riedel died from multiple cut and stab wounds inside the restaurant. Rouse was arrested three days later

The Roanoke Rapids Police Department has said there is evidence indicating a robbery motive because some money was apparently missing.

Rouse has a previous criminal record  and was released from prison last May after he was convicted on Jan. 20, 2004, for attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. Those offenses occurred on July 13, 2003, in Roanoke Rapids. They stem from an assault on Jefferson Street in which a victim was attacked by three to five people.

The victim was hit in the face by his assailants, who demanded money as he was stabbed in the legs. Witnesses scared the attackers away and Rouse was later arrested.

Rouse, a South Carolina native, is a member of the United Blood Nation and has the Blood symbol of three paw prints branded on his right shoulder.

Rouse was schedule to appear in Halifax County District Court today on the jail charge and Aug. 26 for the murder and robbery charges stemming from Riedel’s death.