7 suspects, most of them teens, charged with slew of crimes, Union County deputies say

The Union County Sheriff's Office says investigations that began in late 2023 have led them to make several arrests for a slew of car thefts and drive-by shootings. Most of the suspects arrested, however, are teenagers.

In a news release this week, the office shared that it began these investigations along with the Monroe Police Department in October 2023. The office said the two agencies started looking into crimes tied to a local street gang, which included four shootings that month. The suspects, who were typically teens, would reportedly steal a car from a home and use it for drive-by-style shootings. Four cars were stolen in total, while five homes and one vehicle were shot into during the four incidents.

Nobody was hurt, although the office notes homes were occupied when the shootings happened. The incidents mainly happened in Monroe and Wingate.

After a months-long investigation, Union County deputies and Monroe Police officers said they had identified and charged seven suspects in connection to the shootings and other crimes tied to them. Of those seven, five suspects range in age from 15 to 17. The other two were identified as 22-year-old Jhony Verara-Torres and 18-year-old Tahaj Moser.

Both Verara-Torres and Moser are in jail, and four of the teen suspects are in custody at a detention center after law enforcement obtained secured custody orders from the state Department of Juvenile Justice. The fifth juvenile is not yet in custody but faces several criminal charges obtained by investigators via juvenile petitions.

The crimes all seven suspects are charged with include multiple counts of the following charges:

• Attempted murder
• Shooting into an occupied dwelling
• Motor vehicle theft
• Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
• Evidence tampering
• Breaking and entering a motor vehicle
• Additional charges are likely as the investigation continues.

Anyone who can provide further information on the case is asked to call either the Union County Sheriff's Office at (704) 283-5600 or the Monroe Police Department at (704) 282-4700. Both agencies also accept tips through their respective mobile apps, available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.