An early-morning discovery by a passerby in the parking lot of Seapath Marina helped Wrightsville Beach police break up what they charge is a pair of burglars who hit cars throughout the region.
The April 4 arrests of Elizabeth Almaraz, 19, of Currie, North Carolina, and Teron Williams Flowers, 21, resulted in 32 felony and misdemeanor charges between them, covering 12 victims, said Wrightsville Beach detective Bonnie Neral. Police put weeks of investigation into the case, she said, eventually tying them to several open reports of breaking and entering.
“It’s by far the most complex case I’ve ever worked in my career,” Neral said.
In the incident that occurred at about 6:30 a.m., a person in the marina parking lot spotted a man and woman trying to open automobile car doors and confronted them. While the man ran, the woman stayed, and Almaraz was arrested by Wrightsville Beach police at the scene while Flowers was picked up by police about 30 minutes later, Neral said.
Flowers had no permanent address and was believed to be staying with people in Wilmington, Neral said, adding that he had been discharged from the Army.
After searching the car registered to Almaraz, police discovered evidence related to several open breaking and entering cases in Wrightsville Beach. Police also found evidence for open cases filed with the Wilmington Police Department, New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and the Pender County Sheriff’s Office, Neral said, but the majority were related to Wrightsville Beach.
Charges filed against them included breaking and entering of a motor vehicle, fraud, larceny, possession of stolen goods, felony conspiracy, credit card fraud and larceny of a firearm, Wrightsville Beach police and the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Neral said they found evidence in the car that stretched back for about one month from before the arrest, including wallets and firearms reported stolen in Pender County.
“They’ve been breaking into cars for quite some time,” Neral said. “They were just holding onto the property.”
But not all of it. Electronics that had been reported stolen weren’t found, she said.
The pair didn’t have an elaborate method, Neral said, as police believe Almaraz drove while Flowers would check cars to see if they were locked. In all Wrightsville Beach reports connected to the case, the cars weren’t locked.
Burglary of unlocked vehicles is “one of our biggest problems,” Neral said. “All of these vehicles were unlocked.”
Both Almaraz and Flowers were booked into the New Hanover County Jail on April 4, sheriff’s records show. Almaraz posted a bail of $7,000 while Flowers remains in jail on $60,000 bail, which includes a $50,000 bond on a violation of probation charge.
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