Former Kannapolis pastor charged with attempted murder

Published 12:00 am Saturday, August 13, 2016

By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

MOUNT ULLA — Rowan authorities confirmed a former pastor charged by Mecklenburg authorities for the attempted murder of two people was arrested in Rowan County earlier this week.

Timothy Lavaun Crumitie, 50, of 1690 Bradshaw Road, was charged with felony attempted first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, felony first-degree kidnapping and misdemeanor assault on a female.

Crumitie, who is no stranger to law enforcement, is accused of shooting a man and woman, of whom he reportedly has some involvement with, officials said.

Authorities say he shot the man and woman on Chestnut Place Drive over the weekend. He drove the woman to Rowan County to his home where she was shot and later escaped.

In 2005, Crumitie, then pastor of a Kannapolis church, was charged with the murder of Danny Kaye Johnson. He was arrested and waited for five years in the county jail until prosecutors said they had insufficient evidence to charge him in the shooting death.

Johnson was the owner of Danny Johnson Flooring, where Crumitie worked and it was located beside Crumitie’s church. Investigators said at the time, Crumitie borrowed $5,000 from Johnson to repay a church debt and was supposed to meet him at a Charlotte bank.

The money was not found and Johnson never returned home.

The N.C. Department of Correction shows Crumitie served over eight years for armed robbery and receiving stolen goods in Onslow County.

In January 2013, Crumitie survived a fire that destroyed his house. He was arrested in 2014 and charged with insurance fraud. Investigators said he set the fire in order to collect insurance money.

In July 2013, Crumitie survived home invasion/robbery where his wife, Sharon Cook Crumitie and the assailant, James Luther Blanks, were found dead.

Crumitie said he and his wife had been in their garage and were shot by an unknown man. He told police after being shot in the hand, he fought with the man and was able to take the gun away. He then shot the man, later identified as Blanks.

Crumitie is expected in a Mecklenburg County courtroom on Tuesday. He is being held under a $1 million bond for attempted murder and $35,000 for the firearms charge.