Friday, shortly before 2:00 a.m., officers with the Troutman Police Department saw a U-Haul truck displaying an Arizona license plate on Charlotte Highway near Appliance Avenue. A check of the vehicle’s plate showed it to be reported stolen from a U-Haul retailer in Charlotte.
The officers initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the driver, Donald Steven Dorest. Police learned that there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. He was transported to the Iredell County Detention Center where a magistrate ordered him held on a $55,007 secured bond. His next District Court appearance is scheduled for February 23.
According to the Troutman Police Department, Dorest is an habitual felon. According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, he has prior convictions dating back to 1987 on charges including larceny, armed robbery, common law robbery, assault on a female, possession of schedule II controlled substance, shoplifting, and communicating threats. A majority of the convictions were in Mecklenburg County, however the NCDPS website also shows cases from Edgecombe, Forsyth and Catawba Counties.
Photo and Story: Rob Eastwood-WHKY