A 24-year-old Buncombe County man will spend five to seven years in state prison after pleading guilty to robbing a car wash customer at gunpoint, a crime he committed while still on post-release supervision from a prior felony conviction. Zamar Vaequan Scott entered his plea in Buncombe County Superior Court on Monday, admitting to robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon during the commission of a felony.
The court consolidated Scott's convictions into a single active sentence of 60 to 84 months in state prison, according to a news release from the Buncombe County District Attorney's Office. Prosecutors say Scott robbed a victim at gunpoint at a Buncombe County car wash, and that he was on post-release supervision at the time stemming from a 2024 conviction in Buncombe County Superior Court for felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. As 828 News Now first reported, Scott's guilty plea closes out a case that began with a description radioed in by the victim himself.
Victim's Description Set Off the Search
The victim stayed at the scene long enough to contact law enforcement and give responding deputies a description of the perpetrator along with his direction of travel, the DA's office says. That initial account gave investigators a starting point before any footage was reviewed.
From there, the case leaned heavily on surveillance video. The DA's office notes that deputies reviewed security camera footage provided by the business owner, which enabled investigators to identify Scott as the suspect. A subsequent search turned up a firearm alongside the clothing Scott wore during the robbery, prosecutors say, physical evidence that tied him directly to the scene.
How the Charges Stack Up Under North Carolina Law
The DA's office identifies robbery with a dangerous weapon as a Class D offense and possession of a firearm by a felon during the commission of a felony as a Class F offense. Standard possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is normally classified as a Class G felony, a lower-level offense than what Scott ultimately faced.
That elevation comes from North Carolina law G.S. 14-415.1, which the DA's office says was revised effective December 1, 2025, and which bumps firearm possession by a felon up to a Class F felony when the weapon is possessed during the commission or attempted commission of another felony. In Scott's case, that provision meant the gun charge carried more weight than it otherwise would have, stacking alongside the armed robbery charge in the sentence the court handed down.
Scott's prior felony assault conviction from 2024 means this was not his first time facing serious charges in Buncombe County Superior Court, and prosecutors noted he was still under post-release supervision from that case when the car wash robbery occurred. The DA's office has not released additional details about the circumstances of the robbery beyond what was included in its statement.
