Three Fayetteville men accused of stealing bait car

Jose Rashaan Akins, 28, of 323 South Cool Spring St.; and Tenell Washington, 28, and Edward Craig Allen, 39, who are both homeless, were taken into custody late Monday afternoon, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

Bait cars are left unlocked with the keys in the ignition at various locations. After a thief steals the car, authorities monitor their route through a tracking device and watch the action through hidden cameras. Deputies can kill the engine and lock the doors by remote control.

Surveillance video showed Akins getting into the vehicle, which was parked along a rural road in Cumberland County, and driving off. He was later seen parking the car in an apartment complex lot and attempting to break into the trunk. Akins, Washington and Allen were leaving the parking lot when they were stopped by Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies.

The men are each charged with breaking and entering of a motor vehicle, misdemeanor larceny, felony larceny of a motor vehicle, felony possession of a motor vehicle, conspiracy to commit a felony and possession of stolen goods.

Akins, who has an outstanding arrest warrant for stealing a car, was in the Cumberland County jail Tuesday under a $20,000 bond. Washington and Allen were each being held under $10,000 bonds .

The sheriff’s office launched their bait car program last May. Since then, they have made eight arrests.

“I think it’s going to be more successful as time goes on because we do have a lot of stolen vehicles here in this county,” Cumberland Sheriff Earl "Moose" Butler said Tuesday. “We’re trying to do something, a program, that will at least cut them down number wise.”