The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information about this individual, who has been seen at multiple banking institutions using stolen checks and is a person of interest in several car break-ins in western North Carolina, including Cherokee County.
Cherokee County sheriff’s Detective Caleb Stiles has a member of a well-known crime ring in his sights following several months of investigation.
Stiles said Elizabeth Blackwelder Bayne, 53, of Clemmons, is in custody in Arapahoe County, Colo., where she’s facing charges related to stolen checks.
Authorities believe Bayne is part of what law enforcement agencies have dubbed the “Felony Lane Gang,” a group known to target victims across the nation – especially women – by stealing their purses, identification and other valuables from parked cars. Law enforcement officials coined the name for the group because these criminals repeatedly use outer lanes at bank drive-throughs to help avoid detection as they cash stolen checks.
Stiles said Bayne is part of a group that broke into cars and cashed fraudulent checks in Andrews in late August 2021.
“They’re hard to catch and we got them,” Stiles said. “I’m just trying to get her back here because I just want to look at her and say, ‘I got you.’ ”
Authorities in western North Carolina are also pursuing another possible member of the gang who is suspected of committing crimes in the region, including Cherokee County, earlier this year. The Felony Lane Gang has been a problem for numerous law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, since it originated in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., more than a decade ago.
As of 2020, more than 1,500 Felony Lane Gang members had been identified and arrested nationwide over a five-year period, according to the Felony Lane Gang Task Force. The task force uses Facebook to help police across the nation catch the traveling thieves. Some members of the group have been caught after bragging about their crimes on social media and have even taunted law enforcement at times.
“They have what’s called a ‘road captain’ that puts together a crew and all they use is rental cars,” Stiles said. “What they do is they go through a town and they go to places like YMCAs, community buildings, places like that.
“The men look for cars that have purses or anything of value in it. They’re fast, too, they can break a window and grab a purse in about five seconds and get back in the car.”
Victims often learn that their debit or credit cards have been used within minutes after a theft.
Stiles first became acquainted with the gang in August of last year as he was working a case in which two cars had been broken into at Valley View Care & Rehabilitation Center in Andrews. A firearm also had been stolen during the thefts.
The detective initially suspected that the crime might have been committed by a local offender – until he received a call from a friend and law enforcement officer in neighboring Clay County, where the same thing had just happened at a nursing home. Investigators there gathered evidence that pointed to the same vehicle and license plate that was used in the Andrews crime.
Stiles said Bayne came back to Andrews two days after the car break-ins and used identification stolen from a woman in Gainesville, Ga., as she cashed checks taken from Hayesville. She later attempted to use an Andrews victim’s checks at a bank in Metro Atlanta.
Stiles tracked her through states such as Florida, Tennessee and Illinois before losing the trail.
“I just didn’t expect them to come through a town this small, but in Florida, in Georgia, they see this all of the time,” he said.
Stiles said members of the group often use a “Town A, Town B” approach when cashing stolen checks.
“While they’re in Town B, they write checks from Town A,” he said. “They assume the identities of the victims they stole them from in Town A.”
Authorities believe the group that struck in Andrews last year included at least two men and two women. Members of the Felony Lane Gang typically cash stolen checks for $1,000 or more.
“It’s nothing crazy,” Stiles said. “The biggest check I’ve seen was exactly $2,500, and the smallest one I’ve seen was $1,000.
“It’s always the females that cash the checks. They (often) wear wigs and glasses and COVID masks.”
Fraud detectives with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office are seeking information about an individual who is a person of interest in several car break-ins in Cherokee County, Asheville and Fairfield County, S.C. This person also has been seen at multiple banking institutions in Asheville, Black Mountain, Kings Mountain and Marion using stolen checks.
“Based off of the nature of the crime ... it’s (likely) Felony Lane Gang,” Stiles said.
The Felony Lane Gang Task Force shared the press release from the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office on their Facebook page Feb. 11. Meanwhile, Stiles is working to bring Bayne back to Cherokee County, despite the fact that she is fighting extradition.
“We do have felony warrants with full extradition, but she’s fighting extradition,” Stiles said.
“Unfortunately, they gave her a bond and she’s very close to making it. At that point, what we have to do is obtain what’s called a governor’s warrant and force her to come back, but it’s about a 30-day process.”
Officials urge individuals to avoid leaving valuable property in their vehicles when parking in public.