The Hillsville Police Department have charged two North Carolina men with Grand Larceny by false pretenses after investigating a report by two elderly women that they had been the victim of a recent scam. On June 6, two men stopped at a residence in Hillsville and informed two elderly women that their roof was in desperate need of repair, Carroll County Sheriff J.B. Gardner said Tuesday. “The two women could not go outside and look at their roof, and believed that the two men were telling the truth,” Gardner said. “After allowing the men up on the roof for 20 minutes, the men presented a bill for $3,800 but advised the ladies that they had only done $2,800 worth of work, saving them $1,000.” Several days later, the women began to believe that they may have been the victim of construction scammers and reported the incident to Sheriff Gardner. On June 17, the two men returned to the women’s’ residence and wanted to do more work for more money. The two ladies realized that the two men were the same men from the earlier incident and detained the men with a promise of more work, while pretending to call a friend, but actually calling Sheriff Gardner. Sheriff Gardner contacted HPD Capt. Junior Alderman, who was close by in the area. Alderman and HPD Officer James Dalton blocked the men’s white Chevrolet pickup in the drive way. John Ervin Ellis, Jr., 44, of Statesville, N.C., and 65-year-old Glenn Dale Anderson of Troutman, N.C., were arrested for Grand Larceny by False Pretenses by Alderman, Dalton and Gardner. Both men are being held in the New River Valley Regional Jail under $5,000 bond. Gardner would like to remind everyone that this is the time of year when construction scammers are working hard to take their money. Law enforcement asks everyone to be aware of the things that are happening in the community, especially things that look out of place. Be aware of the tag numbers and color of vehicles that look out of place and please don’t hesitate to call local law enforcement when something just doesn’t look right.

Surry County (N.C.) emergency services officials have confirmed that the man airlifted from the scene of a Friday motorcycle wreck has died.

“The incident has now become a fatality,” said Surry County Emergency Services Director John Shelton late Monday morning.

While he couldn’t confirm the exact time of death, Shelton said his department was notified Monday by officials with Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, where victim Stanley Gray Collins, 75, was taken following the accident.

Collins, of 4123 Flower Gap Road in Cana, was reportedly traveling toward Mount Airy on a Honda Goldwing around noon Friday when state Highway Patrol troopers believe he ran off the right side of the roadway, striking a utility pole and a mailbox. Shelton said the accident occurred on Pipers Gap Road in Mount Airy.

According to Shelton, Collins’ injuries were severe enough that they called for air transport to take him directly from the scene to Baptist Hospital, where he was initially listed in critical condition.