NC couple arrest armed burglary suspect wanted in multiple counties

A burglary suspect left crime scenes in several North Carolina counties, but he bit off more than he could chew this week as he faced a fearless couple.

Deputies took Gary Towery into custody outside of a home in Cleveland County, but it’s all thanks to a mixed martial arts man and his wife.

Kimberly Moore showed Channel 9’s Dave Faherty where she spotted a man stealing items from her husband’s pickup truck in northern Cleveland County.

“He was right outside my door; When we got to the door, he lunged for my husband’s throat,” Kimberly said.

>>Armed robbery in Cleveland County leads to police pursuit in Cleveland County

Moore and her husband Jordan say they had no idea the man in their yard was wanted for attempting to rob a Dollar General in Burke County and breaking into homes and cars in Cleveland County.

“He told me to go for it and talked about flogging my rear end,” Jordan said, recalling the incident. “And I said, ‘Okay, let me put my shoes on.'”

“So I got back there and when I came down my stairs he was about to throw himself at me and I had to get him to the ground,” Jordan told Faherty.

“Can you fight a little?” Faherty asked.

“Yeah, I’ve trained a bit in the past, I didn’t want to hurt him too much.”

Jordan says he trained in mixed martial arts for two years and quickly took Towery to the ground near his home. Then his wife held Towery’s gun until MPs arrived.

Towery is charged with attempted armed robbery, possession of stolen property, and breaking and entering a motor vehicle. Deputies said his pickup truck was seen exiting the robbery as well as near the burglaries reported in Cleveland County.

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The Moores are glad no one was hurt.

“I hope he gets help or he goes to jail and learns his lesson,” Jordan told Faherty.

“It was just shocking to me that it happened to us, but it ended here, so that’s a good thing,” Kimberly said.

The couple noted that because deputies were in the area investigating the other thefts, they got to their home in less than a minute after Moore called 911.

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