2 charged with June shooting, robbing of Duke Energy line worker in Charlotte
Two men have been charged with shooting and robbing a Duke Energy worker in east Charlotte two months ago, police said.
Through information collected from the community, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police arrested Sammy Garcia, 23, and Lee Martinez-Hernandez, 20, for the incident that happened on June 18.
At around 9:30 p.m. that day, police responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call near the 4100 block of The Plaza, near East Sugar Creek Road. When officers arrived, they found the Duke line technician with a gunshot wound. The technician was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.
The worker told the police that two men — now identified as Garcia and Hernandez — approached and held him at gunpoint.
Garcia and Hernandez are being charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill inflicting serious injury, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Both suspects were arrested in South Carolina and are pending extradition back to North Carolina.
Crime Stoppers previously received a private donation of $50,000 to be offered as a reward for information leading to an arrest in this case. CMPD did not disclose whether anyone received the money because “information about the recipients of any Crime Stoppers award is anonymous and confidential,” a spokesperson for the department said.
Duke Energy, in a statement to the Observer in June, emphasized that “nothing is more important” than the safety of its employees.
“This event is a reminder of the many hazards we often face to keep the lights on for our customers and communities,” the Charlotte-based utility said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with our teammate, and we are committed to helping him and his family as he recovers. We will continue working closely with law enforcement in their investigation to ensure that accountability is applied appropriately.”
Police ask anyone with information about this incident to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or visit charlottecrimestoppers.com/.
