Westmoore Man Helps Thwart Residential Break-In

Teenage Girl at Home Hid in Her Closet

As of Thursday, September 2, 2010

Tanner

Routh

Veach

A teenage girl’s frantic call from the closet where she was hiding brought bloodhounds, deputies and neighbors to Westmoore Wednesday.

They hunted all night for the man who broke a window to get in as accomplices waited outside in a car.

A neighbor, alerted by a call from the girl’s mother, had blocked their car with his own until law enforcement could arrive and make an arrest. The inside man fled into wooded areas where he hid during the night, then tried another break-in before being captured.

Early Thursday morning sheriff’s deputies arrested Antoine Tanner, 36.

“Last night what happened was a mother and daughter at home – daughter’s 15 – mother is going out to make a brief errand run,” said sheriff’s detective Bill Mackey. “As she leaves, within about five minutes after she leaves the girl hears somebody beating and banging around the house. Something is going on. She hides in the closet and calls her mother.

“Luckily, we had a neighbor there that was able to be reached by the mother. The neighbor came over, ended up running him off. He ran all night, and we got him this morning. He tried to do a break-in this morning. I don’t know at this point if a neighbor saw him or someone was home.”

That neighbor is being hailed as a hero by law enforcement. He had no way to know whether the home invaders were armed or not when he went out to stop them.

“The neighbor I was telling you about – Danny O’Quinn – he grabbed them on the way out the door there and detained them long enough for us,” Mackey said. “We had a deputy right there in the area who got there quickly. They were in a vehicle when he got there, and Danny pulled up in front of them. He detained them just long enough by getting in front of them and stopping them until our deputy got there. He runs the 705 drive-in – real good guy. I thanked him last night for all his help. He stayed out there with us.”

According to a report filed by Deputy Edwin Garner, he’d responded to a “breaking and entering in progress” call to the home on N.C. 705 at 5:38 p.m. He’d been advised there was a teenage girl in the home.

He found the mother waiting, and she told Garner she’d advised her daughter to hide in the closet while she called for help. Garner said O’Quinn told him that when he got to the house he saw a silver Ford pickup truck in the driveway.

“There was a white male and a while female getting into the truck,” Garner said in his report. “He (O’Quinn) asked them what they were doing there and they advised that they were just turning around. He told them that the sheriff’s office was on the way, and that if they did not have anything to hide, then they just needed to stay there.”

O’Quinn knocked on the door calling the teen’s name, but she would not come to the door.

“He heard a noise at the back side of the residence and noticed that the window was broken out and that the back door was open,” Garner said. “I went inside and talked with (the teen). She had heard a car pull up and saw the white male and white female and a black male get out of the truck.”

The girl told the deputy that the three people tried knocking at the front door, and also knocked on the windows and were trying to look inside. That’s when she called her mother. While she was on the phone they went around to the back of the house, according to the report. She got in her closet. She saw the black male wearing a black shirt and black jeans come into her room and pick up her Wii from where it lay on her dresser. He was about to pick up her TV when O’Quinn started knocking at the door and calling her name. At that point, the man ran out of her room with the Wii, she told Garner.

“I asked her if the subjects outside in the truck were (the same ones) who’d been with the black male she saw in her room,” Garner said. “(She) advised that they were the subjects, and I went outside.”

By this time a detective was on the scene, and the two were placed under arrest. Garner got his K9 dog Reno from his patrol car and they followed the intruder’s trail with the help of another deputy.

“We ran through the woods behind the residence to Busbee Road, but were unable to locate the black male,” Garner said. “The case was turned over to detectives.”

All that night people in the area could hear the baying of dogs as the search went on. One woman described an early morning scene just before Tanner’s capture.

“I saw one man standing on Yow Road,” said Kelley Smith. “He was holding a long gun – I don’t know if it was a shotgun or a rifle – but his daughter lives right across the road from the second house that was broken into.”

Tanner was arrested shortly afterward and brought to the office of Moore County Sheriff Lane Carter for questioning. Mackey spoke just before going in to talk with Tanner.

“We got two at the scene,” Mackey said. “It was right there in the heart of Westmoore, not far from the school – about a mile down. I didn’t see neighbors with shotguns, but that area is pretty heavily populated with people who hunt.”

The two people arrested at the scene were Charlie Thomas Routh, Jr., of Asheboro, and Valerie Dawn Veach, of Rockingham. She described herself as a pizza maker, and he said he was self-employed.

All three are in jail. Routh and Veach have been charged with breaking and entering, larceny and possession of stolen goods. Both of them have bonds of $15,000.

Tanner has been charged with two counts of breaking and entering, larceny and possession of stolen goods. His bail is $30,000.

More like this story

famousblues 1 year, 5 months ago

My heart goes out to the teenage girl, nobody will ever know how she really felt during the worse few mins of her life....she prolly had so many thoughts about what to do or what was going to happen....YOUR A VERY STRONG YOUNG LADY! KEEP YOUR HEAD UP I AM VERY PROUD OF THE WAY YOU HANDLED THE SITUATION. Great job to the fast reaction time of the great people in Westmoore. Something like this is pretty "big" to this area, thanks for the long man hours to law enforcement. WE NOW HAVE A LOCAL REAL TOWN HERO!

eflat7 1 year, 5 months ago

Thanks Mr. O'Quinn. I don't know ya, but wish there were more like you. Apparently there are a few up around your end of the county.

JohnChappell 1 year, 5 months ago

I think Sheriff Lane Carter was out all night with them. I kept the name of this brave teenager out for obvious reasons. To prevent her being easily identified, her mother's name was also omitted.

I noticed that none of the people arrested were from Moore County.

Bflat 1 year, 5 months ago

Stories like this make us more aware that things like this are going on and that we need to be very aware of our surrounding, plus take action quickly in this kind of emergency. Thank you John for the report. Also, I hope the mom and daughter will not suffer any further from this ordeal. Thanks to the law enforcement that happened to be nearby.

JamesD 1 year, 5 months ago

Danny Oquinn is the Man. We need more unselfish Heros like he and his assistant! They also make a great cheesburger!!!

camesh 1 year, 5 months ago

Thank God the neighbor chose to get involved. Thank You MC law enforcement. This could have ended like the Emily Haddock incident.

famousblues 1 year, 5 months ago

I agree with you JamesD! If it was not for Danny O Quinn and his assistant that rushed over to the scene it could of totally turned out a whole lot different. Then there was the rest of the commuity that pulled together kept their eyes open and had quick response and bravery. I wish the best for the girl and her mother. I pray that this will not put a damper on ur life and you can put it past you and move on with your life. Dont let this hold you back from many great things! Lots of love

GoldenDreams 1 year, 5 months ago

Camesh, I was thinking the same thing. We might not have had a happy ending (if i can call it that) if we didn't have such a brave neighbor who was willing to get involved. These three criminals look like they're on something and it's not cool-aid!

difflook 1 year, 5 months ago

God BLESS Danny O'Quinn, who is a NMHS Grad and lives in the Westmoore Area, I guarantee you! HE was ready for any situation!, Wouldnt it be great as a thank you to him, if folks would flood their 705 GRILL with business!! Thanks to the Sheriff's Department personel also!!

Question1 1 year, 5 months ago

Who sets the bond, $15,000 and $30,000 to break into an occupied house at night with a young girl at home, (Does this sound familiar? Thankfully no-one was killed this time) then in the same paper another article TITLED "Carthage Man Arrested in Break-Ins" gets a $100,000 bond for a Break-In. What is up with that????????

Scoot 1 year, 5 months ago

Great job to all involved and I pray for the 15 yr old. It will take time to get the fear of them three low life bums out of your memory....fear of being robbed or broken into again. Wonder how long the Moore County tax payers will have to support these thugs before they are out doing crime again. Sounds harsh but had someone gone ahead and taken them out of their sorry ways it would not have saddened me............they will kill some innocent hard working citizen next time. Can you tell this Moore County tax paper is fed up with SORRY PEOPLE WHO WANT TO ROB AND STEAL FROM HARD WORKING CITIZENS? ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!