Arrests made in multiple breaking and enterings

The following press release has been issued by Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.  All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Murphy, NC— Cherokee County Sheriff Derrick Palmer announced the June 25th, 2015 arrest of 19 year old Luke Virtanen, 17 year old Brandy Moore, 18 year old David Earwood, all who gave Andrews, North Carolina addresses on multiple counts of breaking and entering and larceny.  A fourth individual was detained and released due to being a juvenile.

Luke Jacob Virtanen

The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, over the last few weeks had received several reports of residences that had been broken into and items stolen from the residences from various locations in Cherokee County with a majority being reported in the Pied Piper Community just last week.

During the investigations, pictures of the individuals that had been committing the home invasions was posted on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook site.  From that, several leads were developed and investigators were able to identify and make the arrest of the individuals who were responsible for the crimes.

Virtanen and Moore were placed under a $5,000.00 secure bond and are currently detained in the Cherokee County Detention Center.  Earwood was booked and released on a $3,000.00 secure bond. All three are expected to be in Cherokee County District Court on July 29th, 2015.

Sheriff Palmer said, “This was some great teamwork between the public and my staff.  It also demonstrates the power of social media from the minute we put the pictures on Facebook, we were flooded with calls, texts and messages which were extremely helpful in resolving these cases. We are continuing in the investigation and hope to identify additional residences both inside and outside Cherokee County that may have been broken into by these young people.”

To report crime in Cherokee County, call the anonymous tip line at 828-837-1344 or email a tip at crime.tips@cherokeecounty-nc.gov or call 911 if you observe a crime in progress.

Brandy Nicole Moore

David Conner Earwood