Two local men accused of thefts

By Linda Cicoira

Two Eastern Shore natives were indicted by a Northampton Grand Jury earlier this month on counts of stealing air conditioner units from Peacock Motor Inn in Capeville with the intent to resell them.

The suspects are 33-year-old Walter David Brunk, of Fiddler Lane in Jamesville, and 39-year-old Michael Lee Gingell, who lived at the inn when the offenses occurred.

Brunk was indicted on a total of 21 felonies. Eight accusations were for stealing the units valued at more than $1,000 each, eight were for theft with intent to sell, and five were for burglary of a building permanently affixed to the motel between Nov. 1 and 14, 2024.

Gingell was indicted on 15 felony charges that were alleged to have occurred during the same time frame and from the same place. Five accusations were for grand theft, five were for stealing with intent to sell, and three were for burglary.

In another case, 48-year-old Frank Joseph Newman Jr., of Pennsylvania Avenue in Virginia Beach, was indicted on a count of possession of a pound of marijuana or more on Feb. 29, 2024. According to court records, Newman was traveling back from Delaware and stopped to visit his brother-in-law, who lived on the Eastern Shore, when he was pulled over. The marijuana was in his vehicle.

Thirty-six-year-old James Eric Hill, of Lankford Highway in Cape Charles, was indicted on a count of eluding police on Jan 11, 2025. Records state that a blue Ford Focus that Hill often drives was clocked going at speeds up to 100 mph in a 55-mph zone on the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel.

Fifty-five-year-old Andre Willian Bunce, of Rodgers Drive in Nassawadox, was indicted on a Jan. 6, 2025 count of attempting to remove a firearm or stun weapon from an officer; a Jan. 10, 2025 count of possession of cocaine; a Sept. 27, 2024 count of uttering a check drawn on the account of his mother, knowing check was forged; and a count of credit card fraud for more than $1,000 between July 6, 2024, and January 6, 2025.

Charlene Collins, a 43-year-old homeless woman, was indicted on Jan. 4, 2025, on a count of assault and battery of Deputy N. Cruz. Records state the incident occurred after Collins refused to leave a local resident’s home in Cape Charles.

Sixty-eight-year-old George Howard Stewart, of Concord Wharf Road in Exmore, was indicted on a count of receiving a stolen credit card number knowing that the number had been obtained without the cardholder’s consent on Oct. 9, 2024.