South Carolina man charged with breaking into Rowan home through cat door

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 8, 2024

SALISBURY — A South Carolina man has been arrested after police said he was caught breaking into a home through a cat door.

Deputies were initially called at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday to a home on Erskine Drive in reference to a breaking and entering that had just occurred, a spokesperson for the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office said. 

When they arrived, the residents of the home told the deputies that they had found the man on their front porch after investigating when the power suddenly cut off in their bedroom. When the husband attempted to speak with the man he “engaged in nonsensical conversation,” the spokesperson said.

The man then got into his car and drove into the neighbor’s driveway before allegedly returning to the victims’ driveway two times and attempting to approach the residence. The victims told the deputies that they observed evidence that the man had entered the house through the cat door, including the man’s hat lying in front of it.

Another deputy had actually stopped and identified the man at the intersection of Highway 29 and Bostian Road soon after the dispatch. The man, identified as 27-year-old Jimmy Lee Spann, was arrested and charged with first-degree burglary and larceny after breaking and entering. While searching Spann during the arrest, the deputy found a white TV remote that had been stolen from the home.

Spann was placed in the Rowan County Detention Center and given a $100,000 bond.

Spann is listed by police records as a resident of Gaffney, South Carolina.