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Criminal helicopter theft charges dropped, new lawsuit filed

By Robert Sorrell

Criminal larceny charges in North Carolina were dropped against Elizabethton resident Ben Barrick earlier this month, but a lawsuit has been filed against him in Carter County by an individual from Canada in another case.

Barrick was arrested last year by the Carter County Sheriff’s Department on a warrant out of Bladen County, N.C., where he allegedly stole a helicopter. Police in Elizabethtown, N.C., said the case dated back to May 2009, when they say Barrick was to take a helicopter fuselage and 12 helicopter blades to South Carolina for a potential sale of the parts. Police said the helicopter belonged to Ray Reason, who owns a wrecker service in Bladen County.

Barrick was alleged to have disappeared with the helicopter, which was valued at about $250,000.