Buncombe deputies arrest Candler man hours after armed robbery report

Buncombe County deputies arrested a Candler man just hours after an armed robbery was reported at Taylor Car Wash on Smokey Park Highway, moving quickly from the first 911 call to a warrant-backed arrest the same evening.

The call came in Wednesday, May 6, at about 4:39 p.m. for a reported armed robbery at 1303 Smokey Park Highway, the listed address for Taylor Car Wash in Candler. Investigators then identified Zamar Vaequan Scott, 23, as the suspect and developed an arrest warrant along with a search warrant for a property on Ridge Street in Candler.

Deputies executed that search warrant at 9:24 p.m. the same night and found Scott there, ending the search roughly five hours after the robbery report. The sheriff’s office said the speed of the response prevented further incidents, a point that underscores how quickly law enforcement moved in one of western Buncombe County’s busiest commercial corridors.

Scott was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and assault with a deadly weapon. He is being held at the Buncombe County Detention Facility under no bond.

The arrest also places a spotlight on the stretch of Smokey Park Highway that serves as a major route through Candler and into Asheville, where gas stations, car washes, restaurants and other roadside businesses draw steady traffic throughout the day. In this case, deputies tied the reported robbery at 1303 Smokey Park Highway to a same-day arrest on Ridge Street, showing how quickly an active investigation can move from a business address to a suspect’s location.

For county residents and business owners, the short timeline between the robbery call and the arrest is the clearest indicator that deputies considered the threat serious and responded immediately. With Scott now jailed and facing felony charges, authorities have not indicated any continuing threat tied to the case.