John Cook, the seventeenth High Sheriff of Mecklenburg County was elected in July of 1804.1 According to an article published in The Carolina Gazette, High Sheriff Cook was murdered while executing the duties of his office after serving less than three months. On Tuesday October 16th High Sheriff Cook was shot in the head by Thomas Jarrel, who was approximately 22 years old. After the shooting, Jarrel fled Mecklenburg and became a fugitive. It is not known if he was ever found or brought to justice.
On May 21, 1985, Edmund Vance Thomas, Jr., a 42-year-old Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Sheriff died of a heart attack while chasing a probation violator wanted for arrest.
Deputy Thomas had driven to a local trailer park looking for the suspect. He checked off the air with the dispatcher and left his vehicle. The suspect was standing outside a neighbor’s trailer and when told he was under arrest, the suspect ran. Thomas gave chase for approximately 500 feet. Upon reaching the suspect, Deputy Thomas fell backward of a heart attack. He was pronounced dead at Charlotte Memorial Hospital.
Deputy Thomas was a 1961 graduate of Harding High School and a Navy veteran. He is survived by a son and daughter.
On September 29, 1998, Captain Anthony Stancil was working at an off-duty assignment, providing security for a local grocery store.
Shortly after 1:00 a.m., Captain Stancil placed himself on duty as a Sheriff’s Deputy, when he approached and detained a shoplifting suspect in the parking lot of the grocery, pursuant to the arrest. The suspect pulled a handgun from his waistband and shot Captain Stancil one time in the face. Captain Stancil died at the scene of the shooting as a result of the gunshot. The suspect was later identified, subsequently arrested, and later sentenced to life in prison.
Captain Stancil was a Marine and a graduate of the North Carolina Administrative Officers Management Program. He is survived by his wife and three children.
**SCAM ALERT**:
If you receive a call/message from 704-445-9833 stating "You have reached the Warrants/Citation Division of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department" it is a #scam and not from MCSO.
MCSO and local criminal justice partners have worked with the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts to prepare for the state’s launch of its new electronic warrant system. The NCAOC has encountered challenges with its new system that have impacted local justice systems, processes and access to data. MCSO is continuously working with County IT to circumvent these challenges. All arrest/warrant inquiries can be submitted to the Public Information Office mcsopublicinformation@mecknc.gov and will be processed as soon as data is available or Individuals can call Arrest Processing to look up and verify warrants until the online system is restored, 980-314-5100. We appreciate your patience as we work to modernize and expand access to justice in Mecklenburg County.
On September 19, 2022, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) adopted a new policy to end regulatory stops for non-moving violations in its most recent amendment to the MCSO Uniform Traffic Enforcement Policy. In collaboration with North Carolina Forward Justice the policy change serves to focus more on hazardous traffic violations and move away from regulatory offenses that have been shown to create disparities and disproportionality in our criminal justice system.
General Order 20
Our office has received several complaints from Mecklenburg County registered sex offenders asking them to submit payment to avoid being arrested for failure to provide a DNA sample. Our agency will never ask for money to avoid a warrant being issued or for an arrest of any offender. If you receive a call from anyone requesting money, please know this is a scam and you should not submit any payment.
SCAM ALERT: We have have received information that individuals identifying themselves as MCSO Deputies are calling citizens and informing them that have warrants for missing jury duty. These calls have come from numbers 704-247-1286 and 404-907-1935. Please be advised that this is a SCAM. MCSO will never call and solicit money in order to avoid arrest. Please stay aware and don’t become a victim.