By Nathan Hardin
nhardin@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — A Rockwell man accused of breaking into a home and fleeing added another charge on Thursday after he attempted to escape from a Sheriff’s Office interview room.
According to a Sheriff’s Office report, Clayton Travis Brown insisted he was innocent to deputies in an interview room shortly before damaging the ceiling as he attempted to climb into the ceiling tiles.
Brown and Kristy Starr Beck were charged on Wednesday after deputies said they were seen fleeing from a home with guns and jewelry.
Jeremy Stoner, a resident at 610 Starnes Farm Road, chased Brown into the nearby woods after seeing the two flee.
When Stoner approached the woods line, the report said, he saw jewelry and guns thrown on the ground.
Deputies brought in a K-9 unit to search the surrounding areas and found a track that led to footprints in a nearby creekbed.
Soon after, officers took Clayton Travis Brown into custody after he was found close by on Bringle Ferry Road.
The report said 25-year-old Brown was wearing shoes that matched the footprints found by officers.
Beck, 724 Starnes Road, lives near the burglarized home, the report said, and was leaving her residence shortly after the break-in.
Deputies reported that they were familiar with 31-year-old Beck, who fit the description given, and was later identified by witnesses on the scene.
Beck and Brown were both charged with felony larceny, felony breaking and entering and felony larceny of a firearm. Brown was also charged with misdemeanor injury to real property.
“He’s not the first one to try to escape from an interview room,” Rowan County Sheriff’s Office spokesman John Sifford said. “To date, no one has been successful.”
Brown, of 309 Carolyn Ave., Rockwell, was given a $25,000 bond and Beck is under $20,000 bond. Both were in jail Friday morning.