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26-year-old charged with stealing AR-15 rifle from Chatham County deputy's vehicle

A man was charged Wednesday with stealing several items out of a Chatham County Sheriff's Office vehicle earlier in the week.

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Westley Riddle
SANFORD, N.C. — A man was charged Wednesday with stealing several items out of a Chatham County Sheriff’s Office vehicle earlier in the week.

Authorities said that an AR-15 rifle, two 30-round magazines and body armor were stolen Monday from the unoccupied vehicle, which was being driven by an on-call deputy. The items were recovered Wednesday.

Westley Riddle, 26, of 5997 Edwards Road in Sanford was charged with one count of felony breaking and entering a vehicle, one count of felony larceny of a firearm and one count of felony possession of stolen goods.

Riddle was being held under $15,000 secured bond.

Chatham County Sheriff Mike Roberson said tips from residents led to Riddle’s arrest.

“The items were recovered swiftly thanks to support and participation from the community as well as from our law enforcement partners,” he said. “We are happy to report that a suspect has been arrested and charged and thankful that no one was harmed as a result of this incident.”

Roberson said the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office opened an internal investigation into the incident to determine if any policies were violated or if there are ways to minimize similar future incidents.

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