Asheville man gets prison for armed robbery, carjacking case

A 21-year-old Asheville man will serve at least five years in prison after a south Asheville armed robbery and carjacking that began near Avalon Park Circle and ended with police tracing a stolen iPhone to Reed Street. In North Carolina, that 60-month minimum is active prison time, not probation, and the state’s structured sentencing system does not use traditional parole.

The case grew out of an Aug. 14, 2025, encounter that Asheville police said was set up online. Prosecutors said Theodore Anthony Brooks and Real Samuel Wells, 19, used a woman to lure the victim to an Asheville residence near Avalon Park Circle. Once the victim arrived around 6:17 p.m., Brooks and the other suspect allegedly robbed him at gunpoint, forced him into his own vehicle, drove him several miles and then let him go unharmed. Officers later traced the victim’s stolen iPhone to Reed Street, where Brooks, Wells and a female suspect were contacted without incident. The victim’s vehicle was later recovered.

Brooks pleaded guilty May 18 in Buncombe County Superior Court to robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Judge Louis Trosch sentenced him to 60 to 84 months in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, with a concurrent 12 to 14 months on the firearm charge. Brooks also admitted to and activated outstanding probation violations, which increased the practical weight of the sentence. Because he had been convicted in February 2025 of felony common law robbery, court records say he was already barred from possessing a gun.

The plea resolved a violent case without a trial and gave the victim’s family a formal role in the outcome. Under the North Carolina Victims Rights Act, the family was notified and approved the plea, a sign that prosecutors moved the matter to a final judgment while still keeping the family’s voice in the process. A search warrant at the Reed Street residence also led officers to 62.6 grams of fentanyl, 22.6 grams of crack cocaine, 69.7 grams of marijuana, a Glock 19, a Palmetto Dagger and an RG 25 .25-caliber handgun, underscoring how one carjacking investigation widened into a broader public-safety case for Buncombe County.