In a recent turn of events, Iredell County has seen a man, who reached out to law enforcement over a break-in, end up behind bars himself for firearms possession. Anthony Leroy Wellman, a convicted felon, has been arrested following his own report of theft from his residence. Wellman's run-in with the law unraveled after he reported a suspect forcibly entered his safe and made away with a sizable sum of cash, as stated in a social media post from the Iredell County Sheriff's Office.
The sighting of multiple firearms in Wellman's residence led deputies to confirm that these were owned by him, despite his criminal background and legal restriction from possessing any firearms, the deputies who undertook the initial break-in investigation faced initial resistance; Wellman was uncooperative when the deputies sought to confiscate the firearms, which resulted in his detention. Detectives were brought in, and a search warrant was promptly obtained to scour Wellman's residence further, wherein a myriad of firearms, ammunition, firearm accessories, and shockingly, a weapon of mass destruction were discovered and seized by investigators.
This development led to Wellman's arrest, where he was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and with the more severe felony possession of a weapon of mass destruction, according to a report by the Iredell County Sheriff. The gravity of these offenses saw Magistrate Russell setting Wellman's secured bond at $50,000. The contrasting picture of a victim reporting theft swiftly morphing into that of an offender underscores the often unforeseen nature of criminal investigations.
