Curtis Rakeem Clarke, 35, of Hickory, was sentenced to serve six to nine years in prison following his conviction for property crimes and admission of status as a habitual felon during Catawba County Superior Court on Wednesday, December 10, 2025.
The Honorable Peter Knight, Superior Court Judge from Henderson County, imposed terms of the active sentence after Clarke entered a guilty plea to possession of a stolen motor vehicle, three counts of obtaining property by false pretense and one count of attempted obtaining property by false pretense.
The defendant will serve his period of incarceration in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.
His sentence was enhanced by prior felony convictions for common law robbery in Alexander County (January 2023), possession of stolen motor vehicle in Catawba County (December 2019) and larceny of motor vehicle in Catawba County (December 2016).
The defendant was stopped by a Hickory police officer on September 3, 2024, and found to be in possession of a Honda Pilot that had been stolen out of Charlotte a day earlier.
He also tried to obtain various items on November 10, 2025, from a local business, using another person’s stolen credit card in an attempt to procure the merchandise.
A Newton man will spend eight to 11 years in prison following his conviction for multiple criminal offenses and admission of his status as a habitual felon during Catawba County Superior Court on Wednesday, December 10, 2025.
The Honorable Peter Knight, Superior Court Judge from Henderson County, imposed terms of the active sentence after 35-year-old Jeremy Edward Harrell entered a guilty plea to first-degree kidnapping, assault with serious bodily injury, first-degree burglary, break/enter to terrorize/injure, possession of a controlled substance on prison/jail premises and possession of methamphetamine.
The defendant will serve his period of incarceration in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.
The length of his sentence was enhanced by prior felony convictions for possession of methamphetamine (December 2021), possession with intent to manufacture, sell, deliver methamphetamine (March 2020) and possession of methamphetamine (March 2015), all in Catawba County.
On September 9, 2025, the defendant went to a Newton residence where the female victim was assisting a friend with some cleaning, Harrell opened the door unannounced, went in and began yelling at the victim. He called her names, kicked and punched her, struck her with a machete and then dragged her to his truck.
They got in the truck, and he continued to strike her. When he stopped for gas, she tried to get out of the truck, but he would not allow her to do so. A good Samaritan witnessed the exchange and distracted Harrell so the victim could flee. Harrell was arrested sometime later after briefly trying to evade law enforcement.
On January 18, 2025, Harrell broke down the door to a residence in Conover occupied by three people looking for a female and also threatened to throw bricks through the window.
When he was taken to the Caldwell County Detention Center on January 21, 2025, and searched by officers, a small bag of methamphetamine was recovered from his jacket pocket.
Harrell was stopped by officers for an active warrant while driving on May 31, 2025. He was identified as the proper defendant sought by law enforcement and arrested. A meth smoking pipe and two baggies of a clear, crystal-like substance were found in his pants pocket during a search.
Zachary Michael Bradley, 28, of Conover, was sentenced to serve eight to 10 years in prison following his conviction for a number of violent crimes during Catawba County Superior Court on Thursday, December 11, 2025.
The Honorable Peter Knight, Superior Court Judge from Henderson County, imposed terms of the active sentence after Bradley entered a guilty plea to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, flee to elude arrest, robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault with deadly weapon with serious injury, first-degree burglary and possession of a firearm by felon.
The defendant will serve his period of incarceration in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.
On February 9, 2025, the defendant shot a male victim in the abdomen from his vehicle with a handgun. He then fled the scene and led law enforcement on a lengthy chase, failing to stop for signs and lights while exceeding a speed of 100 mph. The chase ended when Bradley crashed into a garage door.
Officers from Hickory Police Department responded to a residence on December 5, 2024, to find blood on a handrail and doorframe. Inside they encountered the victim with a deep head laceration and blood on his body.
The victim told officers that Bradley struck his own wife at the residence earlier that day, and the victim intervened.
Bradley left, without his wife, but returned sometime later and forced his way into the residence, striking the victim several times around the head with a metal pipe. The defendant retrieved his wife, struck her several times and demanded cash from the victim, which was given. After the victim told Bradley he would shoot him, Bradley and his wife left the residence.
The possession of firearm by felon charge and conviction stemmed from a November 2016 conviction for assault inflicting serious bodily injury in Catawba County.
