ASHEBORO — Jeremy Hayes faces charges for alleged involvement in a string of violent crimes in Randolph County, Guilford County and South Carolina in the past week.
It remains to be determined, Randolph County Sheriff Robert Graves said on Wednesday, where he will end up to face charges first. Hayes and his alleged accomplice, Kennedy Mariah Boggs, are jailed in South Carolina following their arrest in Myrtle Beach Wednesday evening.
“We’re so thankful they’re off the street,” Graves said. “There was a lot of good police work and cooperation with agencies near and far. We’ll be seeking extradition back to North Carolina to face charges here. That will have to be worked out between the two court systems.
“If he’s tried there first, no matter what happens, he won’t be released. He’ll be brought back here at some point to stand trial here.”
Hayes, 28, and Boggs, 25, were arrested in Myrtle Beach after a Pizza Hut restaurant on Kings Highway was robbed at gunpoint Tuesday afternoon.
According to a report from the Myrtle Beach Police Department, a tall, skinny black man wearing a black hoodie came into the restaurant at about 6 p.m. The man asked about menu specials, then pulled a gun and demanded that an employee give him money from a cash register.
The employee told the man that only the manager could open the register. He summoned the manager from a back room. The robber pointed the gun at the manager when he came up front. When the manager opened the register, the man grabbed the money, and ordered the employees to lie face down on the floor.
Video surveillance cameras showed the man leaving the scene in a small, silver sedan, later identified as a gray 2014 Honda Civic. City cameras helped track the car to South Ocean Boulevard.
“The car was tracked to the south end of the city,” the report said, “where multiple units were canvassing the area for it. Officers found the vehicle, and pursued it. The car was eventually stopped and officers were able to detain the two inside of the vehicle.”
The report said officers later executed a search warrant on a room at the Polynesian Resort where Hayes and Boggs had been staying.
The pair have been charged as fugitives from justice in North Carolina; South Carolina authorities say more charges are forthcoming.
Other charges
According to a press release from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, Hayes currently has 15 outstanding warrants for his arrest in North Carolina, and Boggs has three outstanding warrants for her arrest in North Carolina. Several South Carolina agencies are currently investigating instances of similar crimes; the crimes started on Sunday, Jan. 28, that Hayes and Boggs are suspects in.
Hayes is wanted for an armed robbery of an elderly couple in Asheboro on Jan. 24 and suspected in another home invasion of an elderly couple in Greensboro and another assault and robbery at the southbound Visitor Center on I-73/74 near Seagrove. Boggs is suspected to be his accomplice.
Hayes is considered a suspect in the armed robbery and shooting committed at the Tienda La Pasadita, 5579 US Hwy 64 East, Ramseur, on Friday night, Jan. 26.
Ramseur Police Chief Larry Lewallen said Monday that Hayes is also a suspect in two 2017 robberies, one in which a man was assaulted and robbed while he was walking one morning, and a late-night robbery at a convenience store.
Hayes served 4 1/2 years in prison for two armed robberies committed in 2011, as well as a 2010 charge of uttering forged paper. He was released on Jan. 28, 2017.
Hayes was a co-defendant in a robbery in Asheboro on Sept. 6, 2017. A man told Asheboro Police that he was assaulted and robbed while staying at a friend’s house on Pepperidge Road. The case was dismissed in court, according to Lt. Col. Mark Lineberry of the Asheboro Police Department.
Randolph County District Attorney Andy Gregson said Wednesday that the alleged victim failed to show up for court on two occasions. “We could not proceed without the victim,” he said, “so we dismissed the case.”
Boggs had outstanding orders for arrest from Randolph County because she missed court two times on misdemeanor probation violations.
Questions
Gregson said it is likely that South Carolina will prosecute Hayes first.
“Since he committed crimes in South Carolina, they have first dibs on him because they caught him in their jurisdiction,” he said.
If that is the case, Randolph County prosecutors will place a detainer on Hayes so that when his case is finished there, he will be brought to North Carolina for prosecution. If South Carolina does not choose to prosecute first, extradition proceedings will begin. When a defendant fights extradition, procecutors seek a Governor’s Warrant to bring him back. That process that takes a little longer.
Graves said Randolph County detectives have traveled to South Carolina.
“We’ve got folks down there today to try to get interviews with the suspects. We want to get questions answered from them with the case of the robbery on (U.S.) 64 East that they’re a person of interest in.”
Graves called the alleged crimes “disturbing.”
“It’s bad enough to rob somebody or break in or burglarize them. There was totally no need to brutalize those people, which he did in every instance,” he said.
“It breaks your heart, especially preying upon our older people and those that are vulnerable. We still continue to pray for the victims.”