Investigation into the case involving Cody Peterson can be traced back to the theft of wire from Kapstone in January, Roanoke Rapids police Chief Chuck Hasty said in a statement.
Roanoke Rapids Investigator J.K. Davis said investigation can even be traced back to a December matter in Pitt County.
Roanoke Rapids police, Hasty said in the statement, took out warrants for the Kapstone theft, which was reported on January 30.
Security personnel with Kapstone found a gate cut and a roll of wire in the pathway with a fork lift unmanned. They saw a white truck flee the area when they approached.
During the investigation, Peterson, and who Davis described as his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Amber Michelle Ruble, were developed as alleged suspects in the Kapstone case.
Investigation took on a regional scope when a search warrant was executed February 1 by Roanoke Rapids police and the patrol division of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office.
There items were found related to the Kapstone theft as well as items linked to an investigation by Detective Matt Brown of the sheriff’s office and included items taken from a break-in of a Duke Energy solar farm and the construction site of a Pitt County pharmaceutical company. In all, Hasty said, the value of the recovered items was more than $20,000.

Pitt County assistance

From there, Davis contacted Pitt County Sheriff’s Office Detective Walt Stancil, who was conducting an investigation related to a construction site in the Greenville area where large amounts of electrical wire and industrial grade tools were taken.
Stancil received information of the possible location of Peterson and Ruble in Rocky Mount and contacted police there on February 17.
Rocky Mount police conducted a traffic stop and Peterson reportedly got into an argument with the officer and fled into a heavily wooded area.
Rocky Mount police and Roanoke Rapids Investigator Chris Babb located and apprehended Ruble at a hotel in Rocky Mount.
Ruble was taken into custody and detained by the Rocky Mount police. She is scheduled to appear in Halifax County court on April 5 and faces charges of breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, trespassing, larceny, two counts of possession of stolen goods and two counts of injury to property.

Edgecombe County search warrant and Peterson arrest

Babb, Brown, Rocky Mount police detectives and the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at an Edgecombe County residence where items stolen from Kapstone and the Pitt County construction site were recovered.
On Monday, the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office arrested Peterson, 23, of Roanoke Rapids on outstanding warrants for the Kapstone case as well as a case involving the theft of wire from a Halifax County construction site.
He has multiple court dates in Halifax County on March 15 and March 22. He has a March 14 court date in Pitt County, a court date today and March 13 in Edgecombe County.
Davis has charged Peterson with breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, trespassing, larceny, two counts of possession of stolen goods, two counts injury to property and four counts obtaining property by false pretense.
Davis said motive beyond obtaining money has not been established.
Said Hasty in the statement: “Collaboration between all the agencies during this investigation was wonderful. The investigation began within our jurisdiction, but spread quickly to other agencies and jurisdictions. Without quick cooperation and willingness to assist upon request by other agencies these suspects may still be out breaking into places and stealing things.”
In the statement he thanked the Edgecombe,Halifax, and Pitt sheriff’s offices as well as the Rocky Mount Police Department. “When we work together and share information we can catch the criminals that have no jurisdictional boundaries. ”