Goldsboro man found not guilty, gets record expunged

A Goldsboro man led authorities on a six-hour manhunt Monday as they tried to arrest him on charges that he sexually assaulted two children.

Wayne County sheriff’s deputies tracked Larry Gene Garner Jr. into a wooded area and arrested him.

Authorities charged Garner, 43, with first-degree sex offense and indecent liberties with a child. The children were 8 and 10, authorities said.

Garner, of 411 Charlie Braswell Road, was being held on a $300,000 secured bond.

Before his arrest, authorities searched several locations in Wayne County before finding Garner’s vehicle on Capps Bridge Road off Highway 70 West.

Garner was not in the vehicle and had left a note threatening that he would harm himself, officials said. He also used a cell phone to tell people about his plans to harm himself, deputies said.

With the assistance of a sheriff’s dog, authorities tracked Garner through a wooded area and found him armed with two handguns. Deputies arrested him without any resistance, however.