Rowan authorities charged a Salisbury man with breaking into a home after he left his backpack — which contained his school books — at the scene.
Quadry De Nero Johnson, 22, of the 1400 block of Park Avenue, is charged with breaking and entering, possession of a firearm by a felon, and larceny after breaking and entering, all felonies. He was released from the Rowan County Detention Center after posting a $10,000 secured bond.
Rowan County Sheriff’s Office investigators were called to a Cool Springs Road home on Monday after the homeowners noticed muddy footprints inside.
The back door of the home was forced open and the bedrooms had been ransacked. The homeowners’ gun safe and several firearms were taken, along with other items including jewelry, cash, children’s clothes, an electric smoker and personal papers.
The back porch was covered in mud and there were tire tracks in the muddy yard. Officers found a backpack in the mud. A report said the backpack contained textbooks and papers they say belonged to a Rowan-Cabarrus Community College student later identified as Johnson.
Investigators went to the address listed for Johnson and spoke with his mother, who said he did not live there and she only saw him a few times a month.
Authorities then tracked Johnson to an apartment on 15th Street. When investigators arrived, they spotted a gray Ford Crown Victoria parked in the yard with mud on the outside and on the inside floorboards. Investigators knocked on the door and found and subsequently arrested Johnson.
Johnson has previously been convicted of disorderly conduct, simple assault, robbery with a dangerous weapon and drug possession.