The Iredell County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Mooresville man and is searching for a Statesville man in connection with 43 vehicle break-ins, felony larceny, burglary and larceny of a firearm.
According to a Iredell County Sheriff’s press release, arrest warrants have been drawn by deputies for Paul Lewis Ghiraldi, 122 Rueben Drive, on 79 charges, including failure to change his address as a sex offender.
Authorities also recently arrested Cedric Sloan, 145 Crossrail Road, Mooresville, with possession of stolen property in connection with these cases.
Deputies said they received several reports on Sept. 3 about vehicles that had been broken into near N.C. 90, Travis Loop and the Monticello Road area.
Authorities investigated the incidences and reported that unsecured cell phones, laptop computers, GPS navigation units and small amounts of money were targeted in each case.
The next week, deputies said the Sullivan Farm and Meadow Oaks area were targeted. Many of the same items were taken, along with a purse and some weapons, the report said. The suspects also stole a vehicle from the area which was recovered by authorities in Statesville.
Detectives gathered evidence from the scenes and began following leads, the report said, and were able to recover some of the stolen property in Mooresville.
After arresting Sloan and conducting interviews, detectives drew up warrants for Ghiraldi.
The 26-year-old is wanted on charges of 43 counts of breaking and entering into a vehicle, 23 counts of larceny, first-degree burglary, felony larceny, financial card theft, three counts of larceny of a motor vehicle, breaking and entering into a building and failure to change address as a sex offender.
Investigators are continuing to recover stolen property and ask anyone with information to contact the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office at 704-878-3180.