APD Charge Georgia Man in Burglary, Armed Robbery After a Violent Assault

Asheville -- December 12, 2022: Following investigations into a violent attack that happened on December 9 and a burglary of a Kenilworth home from earlier in November,

patrol officers with the Asheville Police Department accused a Georgia man.

Around 4:18 p.m. on December 9, patrol officers went to Kenilworth Road in response to a report of an assault that had just happened there. Officers discovered a man who had been beaten and had been partially scalped when they arrived. The man had been robbed and brutally beaten with a rough object. A stolen car from a separate burglary was found during the investigation, and Leyton James Lanier (12/20/2001) was named as a suspect in both offenses.
Officers carried out a search warrant at a nearby house on Delano Rd. the following day. Lanier was apprehended there. Evidence was found during the search warrant execution that further connected Lanier to a nearby burglary that occurred in November.

Lanier was charged with the following:
Robbery w/a Dangerous Weapon
Assault w/a Deadly Weapon w/ Intent to Kill Inflicting Serious Injury
First Degree Burglary
Larceny After Breaking & Entering
Break or Enter a Motor Vehicle x2
Larceny x2
Felony Larceny of a Motor Vehicle
Possession of Stolen Goods x2
Resist / Delay / Obstruct an Officer
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
Damage to Property
Lanier was booked into the Buncombe County Jail under a $290,000 secured bond (or $29,000 to a bondsman) issued by the magistrate.

Editor's Note:* A criminal charge is an accusation, by law, a person accused of a crime is innocent until proven in a court of law.

WNCTIMES by Marjorie Farrington