MADISON COUNTY, North Carolina – A recent news report from WLOS has highlighted an incident in Madison County.
According to reports, the community in Madison County had been terrorized for a few weeks by unknown individuals who had rented an Airbnb nearby. However, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office has arrested three suspects in connection with the incidents.
On June 5, the Madison County Sheriff, Buddy Harwood, reported the arrest of the trio.
He stated that there have been more than 48 instances of breaking and entering within the last month. These cases involve theft from various locations such as cars and outbuildings, and they have occurred throughout the county.
According to him, detectives had viewed multiple videos and concluded that the group had purportedly committed the offenses between 2-4:30 a.m.
Three individuals from Tennessee have been accused of using an Airbnb rental to terrorize a community in Western North Carolina.
Harwood made the decision to switch all detectives to the late night shift to track down the suspects. Their efforts paid off when they finally located them at a gas station in Mars Hill last Wednesday.
According to him, “As soon as my detectives saw those individuals, they identified them as the ones responsible for the recent string of burglaries in the county.”
According to Harwood, the authorities discovered a stolen firearm from Kentucky inside the suspects’ truck during the time of their arrest.
According to Harwood, the sheriff’s office discovered that the trio had been renting an Airbnb in Barnardsville and regularly traveled to Madison County to reportedly terrorize the community.
According to Sheriff Harwood, the suspects hail from Elizabethton, Tennessee and are believed to have been involved in multiple breaking and entering cases in the same area.
Harwood said he is unsure about the relation between the three suspects, with the oldest being 39-year-old Kevin Craig who has a criminal record.
“They were a group of individuals who came from Tennessee to North Carolina to commit crimes,” he described.
According to Harwood, the Madison County community has been facing a rising issue of criminals utilizing Airbnb’s as hosts to commit their offenses.
According to him, it’s an ideal hideout for those who intend to engage in criminal activities as they can easily come and go after staying for two to three days.
Harwood has advised the residents who don’t have a security camera system around their homes to install one, despite both the community and Harwood feeling relieved that the suspects have been caught.
According to him, “Whenever a crime occurs, they come in handy and make our work much easier.”
The Madison County Jail is currently holding all three suspects.