Mike Harmon knew where the Jennifer Jo Cobb hauler was located and initially told police he would release it to them as long as they didn’t return it to Cobb, according to a probable cause affidavit released by the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.
Cobb’s hauler, is part of an ongoing property dispute between Cobb and her former business partner David Novak. Novak, who was romantically involved with Cobb before they stopped working together in 2012, claims in a lawsuit filed in federal court that Cobb took the hauler from storage at Harmon’s shop in January.
His motion for an injunction against Cobb and for the return of the hauler was denied in February, and Cobb alleges in a document filed Thursday that Novak “hired others to proceed to misappropriate” property from her shop. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Novak on Saturday on an obstruction of justice charge and a charge of conspiring to commit felony larceny. According to the arrest warrant, Novak allegedly conspired with Harmon to steal the hauler and he acknowledged to a Rowan County detective that he knew where the hauler was but would not reveal its location. Novak, who lives in Illinois, has not turned himself in.
Harmon, who worked for Novak as a team manager for the Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing team in 2010, and Harmon’s girlfriend already had been arrested Wednesday on charges of felony larceny and breaking and entering. An additional charge against Harmon of obstruction of justice was added Saturday, and Harmon also was forced to give up his cell phone, which could indicate his whereabouts when the hauler was stolen at approximately 3 a.m. May 11.
Harmon told reporters Thursday he has paperwork that shows Novak is the one who bought the hauler and equipment from Circle Bar Racing. When asked Thursday if he knew where the hauler was, Harmon told reporters he did not and that he was on his way back from Darlington at the time the hauler was taken. Harmon was asked point-blank by reporters if it was his cab that pulled the hauler out. He said: “No.” He also was asked if he knew what happened to the hauler: “I definitely don’t (know),” he said. That is different from what a Rowan County police detective believes and what he testified Harmon told him.
According to a probable cause affidavit released Tuesday, a Rowan County detective testified that two days after the hauler was stolen, Harmon “indicated he knew where the car hauler was located but would not reveal that information unless I promised him it would not be returned to the victim,” according to the affidavit. The detective said Harmon told him May 14 that he would deliver the hauler to the sheriff’s department at 8 a.m. the next day.
“Mr. Harmon did not return the car hauler & as he had promised,” the detective said in the affidavit. “I called Mr. Harmon and he stated he had changed his mind and was prepared to be arrested if necessary.” The detective said in the affidavit that Harmon’s semi matches the video surveillance of the truck that towed Cobb’s hauler away and that a car whose license plate matches that of the car of Harmon’s girlfriend was seen at the Cobb shop at the time of the crime. (Sporting News)
