CURRITUCK COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY) — Six people have been charged in connection with multiple break-ins at a storage facility unit in Currituck County, and two of them are speaking out to 10 On Your Side.
On Thursday, Nov. 2, the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office began receiving reports about multiple break-ins that occurred at an Ample Storage location in Powells Point.
A U-Haul box truck was identified on Nov. 3 by patrol deputies while working on an unrelated larceny investigation. Deputies canvassed the area and found evidence that led them to a house, where they found a stolen motorcycle and the U-Haul box truck at an Airbnb house in Corolla, North Carolina.
They became suspicious, canvassed the area, and found evidence leading them to an AirBnB on 1218 Coral Lane in Corolla. There, they found a stolen motorcycle from Norfolk, but more importantly that U-Haul that was seen the day before at the storage facility.
After executing a search warrant on the home, investigators found hundreds of items believed to be stolen.
They knocked on the door at 1218 Coral, and it was answered by Chesapeake resident Christopher Barnhill, who agreed to talk with us at the Currituck County Detention Center.
“The guy asked if he could come down because his grandma lived in North Carolina, and he needed a place to put some of his grandmother’s stuff,” Barnhill said. “I told him we were there for the weekend, and he was more than welcome to bring some of it there. It was not until the day the police arrived that I found out what was going on and he had disappeared.”
Barnhill claims the guy who was responsible for the stolen items left in the middle of the night and he claims he did not know about the stolen items.
10 On Your Side has been told the name, but we will not report it until he is charged.
The 38-year-old Barnhill says he feels responsible.
“In the long run, it’s my responsibility because I let him stay there,” Barnhill said of the person responsible for the stolen property left in the house, and the guy who left in the middle of the night before police showed up. “No matter how blind I was to what was going on. I should have asked those questions, and I didn’t. … He is not a friend of mine.”
10 On Your Side pointed out that he left with all the stolen stuff left in the house. We asked whether Barnhill thinks he is in a real pinch.
“Yes, because of the way it looks,” Barnhill said. “It looks like I’m the one who did it and I had nothing to do with it. It looks like I’m the mastermind behind this. I can see why, but I didn’t have anything to do with this. … We were there for the weekend. I told him he was more than welcome to bring some of it there. It was not until the day the police arrived that I found out what was going on and he had disappeared.”
Also locked up is Joshua Calhoun from Virginia Beach. He agreed to talk to us too.
He claims he knows nothing about the man who left in the middle of night, and would only call him a friend of a friend.
“These are friends of mine,” Calhoun said, “but there is a missing person who is not there who left while we were sleeping.”
All six are expected to be in Currituck County District Court Wednesday, most have three charges of felony possession of stolen goods/property. A couple have drug charges too.
If you have any property to claim from the break-ins or have any additional information regarding the suspects, contact the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office at their main office at 252-453-8204.
(Top row left to right):
Christopher Lewis, 30, of Chesapeake, Va. Bond: $275,000
Michael Stokes, 37, of West Hartford, Ct. Bond: $275,000
Christopher Barnhill, 38, of Chesapeake, Va. Bond: $575,000
(Bottom row left to right):
Michael Mckee, 35, of Chesapeake, Va. Bond: $275,000
Joshua Calhoun, 37, of Virginia Beach, Va. Bond: $275,000
Ashley Roberts, 34, of Virginia Beach, Va. Bond: $275,000
