Deputies recover more than $300K worth of stolen heavy equipment

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (FOX Carolina) - The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office said a man is facing charges after deputies recovered $300,000 worth of stolen heavy equipment.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, deputies recovered a Takeuchi excavator earlier this year that had been stolen from Charleston.

Deputies executed a search warrant at Rom Customs located at 43 Carolina Mountain Road in Candler and recovered $303,000 worth of stolen Takeuchi excavators, skid steers and various trailers.

After further investigation, the identified the suspect, 32-year-old Alexander Cochran Herlocker, who had been a suspect in multiple previous thefts of Takeuchi equipment across Western North Carolina and South Carolina.

Herlocker is charged with the following:

Five counts of felony possession of stolen goods
Six counts of felony alter/remove a serial number
Two counts of felony larceny
Possession of stolen property from a construction site

He posted a bond of $10,000 and has been released pending court date, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, the Brevard Police Department and the Charleston Police Department assisted with the investigation.