Two men charged with violating state metal recycling law

Published 1:35 pm Tuesday, June 23, 2020

CLEVELAND — The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office has charged two men with violating a state law regarding the sale of multiple catalytic converters to individuals.

The items were reportedly stolen. The two men were employees of Empire Battery and Core Scrap Services, located at 11490 Statesville Blvd., Cleveland.

Charles David Henderson, 41, of Sailwinds Road in Mooresville, was charged June 22 with 10 counts of misdemeanor violation of a secondary metal recycler and two counts of misdemeanor receiving stolen goods/property. He was issued a $1,000 secured bond.

Coty Sherrill Speight, 39, of the 500 block of Woodleaf Barber Road, Woodleaf, was charged on June 17 with two counts of misdemeanor receiving stolen property and 10 counts of misdemeanor violation of a secondary metal recycler. He was issued a $1,000 secured bond.

The men over a two-week period sold the catalytic converters to different people, the sheriff’s office said. A number of catalytic converters were reported stolen from Iredell and Rowan counties, said Capt. John Sifford.

Sifford said Rowan Sheriff’s detective Travis Allen warned the two in February that it was unlawful for them to sell the metal to private individuals. The detective issued a criminal summons to Speight for not having proper records of these transactions, which are required by law.

The incidents occurred between May 28 and June 11. The men were said to have received catalytic converters and wrote checks to the individuals for the material.