Two Onslow County men are behind bars charged with stealing 17 air conditioning units from new construction areas and then selling them to a heating and air conditioning business.
The sheriff's office arrested Joshua Hudler and Andrew Merritt following a month long investigation after the AC units started disappearing from the Sneads Ferry area.
The sheriff's office says they had been conducting surveillance on the area and they discovered the Hudler and Merritt with stolen air conditioner units in their vehicle.
Authorities say they were taking the units to Wilmington to sell.
Both men are behind bars on $190,000 bond.
