SALISBURY - A man is recovering after being punched in the mouth with a pistol.  It happened just after 3:00 am Thursday morning, according to police.

Charles Richardson says he was walking with a friend on Park Avenue and went into the house at 517 Park Avenue.  Richardson told police that he noticed another man following him into the house, and two more men who then followed a short time later.

According to the report, one man pulled out a silver handgun and ordered Richardson onto the floor.  Richardson was robbed, then punched in the mouth with the gun by one of the robbers.

SALISBURY - What appeared to be three unrelated crimes all turned out to involve a common thread that led to the arrest of two people in Salisbury on Tuesday.

It started when police went to call at 1070 Matika Villa Drive in the Matika Villa Mobile Home Park.  They were looking for Ryan Alexander Adcock, 25, for a failure to appear on an outstanding charge of assault on a female.

When police arrived, Adcock wasn't there, and they started to leave.  One officer then noticed what appeared to be a television cable running from the TV and out a window to a pole in the backyard.  Recognizing it to be an illegal hook up of cable television, the officers investigated further.  Minutes later a neighbor came over to the house to tell police that she had an illegal cable hook up that Adcock had provided for $20.  Another neighbor told police that Adcock had offered her the same deal, but she refused because "she was using Fibrant."

Adcock's girlfriend, Amber Pierontoni, 23, was charged with theft of cable television service.

SALISBURY - Maybe it was "Thing" on the loose from the Addams Family television series or movies.  Police are investigating a crime where the suspect is simply a hand, nothing more.

On Monday a man living on Gaskey Road called 911 to report a larceny in progress at his home.  The man told police he was inside the house when he heard an alarm go off, indicating someone was on his driveway.

The man looked outside to see a hand reach under a tarp that was hanging at his carport.  The hand grabbed a car battery and disappeared.  The man ran inside to call 911 and get a BB gun.  When he came back he says the hand was gone, along with another car battery and a lawn mower battery.

The man didn't see a car, and didn't see anyone running away.  The only description is that of the hand of a dark skinned white man.  If you can give police a hand in solving this case of the five finger discount, call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.