Swannanoa Man Arrested After Multi-Day Crime Spree Faces Dozens of Charges

Bryan George Coleman of Swannanoa was taken into custody after being located in a vehicle reported stolen, ending a multi-day crime spree that investigators say began the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 3 and ran through late Feb. 5. Deputies arrested Coleman following a brief chase on Thursday, Feb. 5, and recovered a second stolen vehicle that had been reported out of Black Mountain after speaking with him.

The arrest was carried out by agents from the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Illegal Gun Reduction and Narcotics Task Force (IGRANT) alongside detectives with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. The multi-agency probe included the Black Mountain Police Department and the Montreat Police Department and covered several jurisdictions in eastern Buncombe County, according to law enforcement summaries released after the arrest.

Prosecutors have filed an extensive list of charges against Coleman. The counts reported by local law enforcement and news outlets include one count of felony first-degree burglary; 24 counts of felony uttering a forged instrument; seven counts of felony obtaining property by false pretenses; one count of felony attempted obtaining property by false pretenses; nine counts of felony financial card theft; one count of felony larceny after breaking or entering; four counts of misdemeanor financial card fraud; one count of felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle; one count of misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia; one count of felony fleeing to elude arrest; one count of no operator’s license; one count of reckless driving to endanger; and one count of failure to stop at a steady red light. Those explicit counts total 53 individual charges.

The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest in a news release that was circulated publicly the week following the arrest; several local outlets reported that BCSO announced the arrest on Feb. 12. Photographs circulated with the announcement were credited to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office and the Buncombe County Detention Center in local coverage.

Media accounts vary on Coleman’s age: multiple outlets and a social post list him as 50 years old, while one local TV station reported his age as 55. Local booking records or the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office press release would be authoritative on that point, as would the detention center intake and court filings for the formal charge list and scheduling details.

Local officials have not released victim names, detailed property descriptions, bail information or upcoming court dates in the initial announcement. Court filings with Buncombe County and booking records at the Buncombe County Detention Center are the next public records that will document the charges, counts and any scheduled hearings in the case.