Man charged in vending machine burglary

Rocky Mount, N.C. — A Rocky Mount man was arrested for breaking into vending machines at a Days Inn Thursday, less than two months after he finished serving a prison sentence for similar crimes.

An officer responding to a break-in in progress saw a man holding a tire jack running from the Days Inn, 1340 N. Wesleyan Blvd, shortly after 6 a.m. The officer chased and arrested the man, identified as Bobby Bullock Jr., 33.

Investigators determined that Bullock burglarized one vending machine and damaged another at the hotel.

Bullock faces charges of felony breaking-and-entering a coin-operated machine, possession of burglary tools and resisting or delaying a government official. He was placed in the Nash County Jail and had first court appearance set for Friday.

According to state Department of Correction records, Bullock was released from prison May 24 after serving nearly a year for 10 convictions of breaking-and-entering a paper currency machine, along with interfering with gas or electric meters and drug offenses.

DOC records show Bullock has a lengthy criminal record dating to 1993, including three convictions for common-law robbery, misdemeanor assault inflicting serious injury, shoplifting, attempted larceny and cruelty to animals.