Oscar Alexander Huffman, 52, of Granite Falls, was sentenced to serve eight to 11 years in prison after he was found guilty of breaking/entering and larceny after breaking/entering by a Catawba County jury on Thursday, October 30, 2025.
The Honorable Peter Knight, Superior Court Judge from Henderson County, imposed terms of the active sentence after the jury needed a little more than half an hour to find Huffman guilty of the crimes in Catawba County Superior Court.
Huffman also was deemed to have habitual felon status, which enhanced the length of his prison term. He had prior felony convictions for break coin/currency machine in June 2014 (Rowan County), breaking/entering in June 2004 (Cabarrus County) and larceny in September 2002 (Cabarrus County).
The defendant will serve his period of incarceration in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.
The trial started Monday, October 27 with jury selection followed by opening statements and evidence presentation before closing arguments on Thursday, October 30 prior to the jury reaching its verdict.
The offenses occurred on July 14, 2022, when Huffman broke into a Hickory body shop where he used to work and stole cash and other items totaling more than $1,500.
The defendant cut himself when breaking a window to gain entry, and collection of the blood sample between the panes was used as evidence against the defendant. Two days after the incident, he went into the body shop, and the manager noticed a fresh cut on his arm.
Testing of the sample showed a match to a previous blood sample from the defendant.
Cell phone data retrieved from the defendant’s service provider analyzed by HPD’s Matt Rogers showed the defendant’s device travel from his residence to the scene of the incident before returning to his residence the following day.
Richard Helderman investigated the case for Hickory Police Department. Assistant District Attorney Howard Wellons prosecuted the matter for the State with aid from Legal Assistant Meredith Scott.
