FAYETTEVILLE — A Lumberton man who is suspected of murder was among 174 people arrested in a recent two-county, multi-agency law enforcement operation.
Javaras Hammonds, 20, was caught in the net cast by an operation titled Zero Hour II, according to information from the office of the U.S. Marshals Eastern District of North Carolina. He was charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in relation the death of Avery Scurlock on June 5.
The U.S. Marshals Eastern District of North Carolina Violent Fugitive Task Force, in coordination with various federal, state and local partners, recently wrapped up operation Zero Hour II, according to a U.S. Marshals Service press release. The goal was to locate people wanted on outstanding warrants and to conduct searches of high-risk individuals under the supervision of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
The operation was conducted June 11 to June 13 in Robeson County and Tuesday through Thursday in Cumberland County, according to the press release. It resulted in the arrest of 75 people in Robeson County and 99 in Cumberland County. Four hundred and forty-two charges were cleared in the two counties and 42 firearms were recovered. Also, $66,922 in cash and quantities of a variety of narcotics including marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine were seized. Searches were attempted at the residences of 337 high-risk probationers or parolees, with 134 searches successfully completed.
Other significant arrests included:
— Michael Alvarez, 31, of Fuquay Varina, who escaped from a Department of Public Safety facility in Lumberton on June 12. Alvarez was captured within hours of the escape and a female who assisted in the escape was also arrested and charged.
— Anthony Coar, 74, of Fayetteville, who was charged with violating the terms of his federal supervised release. Coar was found to be in possession of inappropriate images as well as devices to access Internet content.
— Marcus Bryan, 21, of Fayetteville, who was charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon in relation to an incident that occurred in Fayetteville on June 7.
Participating agencies will continue to investigate information developed during the operation and additional arrests are likely.
“I would like to thank all of the men and women of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners. Operations such as these take substantial planning and would not be possible without the collaborative efforts of everyone involved. Additional operations are forthcoming and we are coming to your town in the very near future,” said Michael East, United States Marshal for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
The law enforcement agencies participating in Zero Hour II in Robeson County were U.S. Marshals Service; the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Fairmont Police Department; Lumberton Police Department; N.C. Department of Public Safety; N.C. Information Sharing and Analysis Center; Pembroke Police Department; Red Springs Police Department; Robeson County District Attorney’s Office; Robeson County Sheriff’s Office; and, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
“The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to the continued partnership with all local, state, and federal law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices to make Eastern North Carolina a safer place. This type of effort is an essential part of our drive to reduce violent crime, remove the worst offenders from our communities, and take back North Carolina from violent criminals and drug traffickers. Thank you to the officers who put their safety on the line for us in a very serious way over these last few weeks in conducting these enforcement operations,” said Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Details of the operation were revealed during a press conference in Fayetteville. Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins could not attend because of recent eye surgery, but issues this statement.
“Operations such as this display the working relationship of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that have come together to combat the criminal element in our county,” he said. “Many of those arrested are repeat offenders that were in possession of firearms and drugs at the time of their arrest, which clearly indicates their lack of respect of the criminal justice system.”
