Deputies seize $100K in stolen items from Zebulon home

Sheriff Jerry Jones said the home and garage at 100 Perry Lane were crammed full of stolen items, including guns, fishing gear, hunting equipment, electronics, jewelry and power tools, with an estimated value of more than $100,000.

Scottie Hunter, 35, was taken into custody after the home search, which was prompted by a Wake County Sheriff's Office investigation into a trailer theft, Jones said.

Wake County deputies contacted Franklin County authorities about a man seen in surveillance video hooking a trailer to his truck and stealing it around 3 a.m. Monday. Deputies said they believed Hunter was the thief.

"Evidently some other agencies are very familiar with (Hunter) by his record," Jones said. "We've been tracking him for a while, and today, when we saw video of what he did in Wake County, we were able to identify him by a vehicle stop we had a week or so ago."

When they went to the home to investigate, Hunter and his girlfriend refused to let deputies inside, authorities said. Jones said he believes Hunter, who is no stranger to law enforcement, was stalling to try and hide some of the stolen property by placing it in trash bags containing his 5-week-old child's dirty diapers.

About two hours later, deputies obtained a warrant to search the home.

"(He put) jewelry and things that he had stolen in trash inside the house, and so it has made it difficult for us," he said. "Now we have to go through every bag of that trash and get out the stolen merchandise, tag it and get it identified by the victims."

Franklin County's entire Criminal Investigation Unit was expected to work through the night to finish seizing and tagging the items.

Hunter was being held in the Franklin County jail Monday night. Jones said Hunter had charges pending against him in Wake County and would face more in Franklin County.