WINTON – A Bertie County man is jailed here under a $30,000 bond for his alleged involvement in stealing items from three vehicles.

William Earl Coston Jr., 24 of 708 Indian Woods Road, Lewiston, stands charged with three felony counts each of breaking and entering of a motor vehicle, and larceny.

Coston allegedly committed those crimes just before daybreak on Sunday. He was caught after Hertford County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call about a suspicious car parked on the Lee Harmon Road near the Menola community.

“When my deputies arrived, they found that vehicle had moved to the side of the Fennell Road off (NC) 561 near the (Tri-County) airport,” said Hertford County Sheriff Juan Vaughan. “They checked the vehicle, finding it unlocked and with the keys in the ignition. They searched the area around and near the vehicle, finding various items on the shoulder of the road.”

A check of a residence near where the car was parked revealed a break-in and theft of items from three vehicles. Among the items stolen, and recovered, were a cell phone, shotgun shells and a gas card, the Sheriff said.

Vaughan said his deputies, during their search of the area, noted fresh footprints in the morning’s pre-dawn dew. Those footprints were coming from the yard of the residence where the vehicle break-ins occurred, leading the deputies to call for the HCSO’s K-9. Coston was arrested a short time later.

Vaughan praised the work of his deputies – Zachary Mize and Issaii Williams, along with HCSO Sgt. Tom Helms.

“They responded quickly to the call and due to their skills as investigators, were able to quickly make an arrest and recover the stolen items,” he said.

The arrest also involved the seizure of Coston’s vehicle, a 1999 Plymouth passenger car.