MOORESVILLE, N.C. — A Georgia man is accused of breaking into the North Carolina home of Greg Biffle in early January, several weeks after the NASCAR star was killed in a plane crash with his family and three other people.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell announced that Terrell Williams, 44, of Stone Mountain, had been arrested in connection to the Jan. 8 break-in at Biffle’s residence in Mooresville.
Williams faces 12 charges, including second-degree burglary, safe cracking and money laundering, Campbell said.
According to online booking records, Williams was being held without bond in a Cobb County, Georgia, jail. He was charged on suspicion of being involved in another home burglary.
In late July, Cobb County police arrested Kirk Wrzeisen after his wife was found fatally shot inside their home, WSB-TV reported. According to arrest warrants obtained by the television station, Williams allegedly broke into that home a week after the shooting.
The sheriff’s office in Iredell County said it was told by Cobb County investigators that Williams could be connected to the Biffle burglary, WSB-TV reported.
Campbell said that North Carolina detectives discovered property stolen from Biffle’s home in Williams’ possession, WSOC reported.
Authorities compared data from electronic devices recovered during the Georgia investigation, according to the television stations. Their findings placed Williams at the Biffle residence during the time of the burglary.
Biffle, his wife Cristina and their two children -- son Ryder and daughter Emma -- died in a plane crash on Dec. 18.
The NASCAR driver was five days shy of his 56th birthday.
The crash remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
[ Police: Home of late NASCAR star Greg Biffle burglarized weeks after his death ]
The Iredell County Sheriff’s Office said that deputies responded to Biffle’s residence in Mooresville at 6:23 p.m. ET on Jan. 8.
According to an incident report from the sheriff’s office, $30,000 in cash, gold coins, silver coins and a backpack were taken from the residence.
In addition to the stolen cash and backpack, sheriff’s office spokesperson Dara St. John said that some guns and memorabilia were also missing from the home.
[ Greg Biffle crash: 7 killed in North Carolina plane crash ]
The stolen items were returned to the Biffle family, Campbell said.
“It’s some kind of closure to the family, and that’s why we do this,” Campbell told reporters. “Regardless of the size of it, the case, it’s some kind of closure for the family. And that’s a relief for us.
“We’re getting to some progress of, ‘Hey, we’ve gotten something back for you.”