A Belk loss-prevention officer has been charged again with felony extortion after Raleigh police say he demanded sex from an 18-year-old woman in return for not testifying against her in a shoplifting case.

Modou Thomas, 37, was arrested late Wednesday at his home at 4916 Collard Patch Lane, off N.C. 50 south of Garner. Detectives had also arrested him at his home last Friday.

The new charges involve a woman, Samara Chance, who was arrested Dec. 20 at the Belk store at Triangle Town Center and charged with misdemeanor larceny, according to her arrest report.

According to an arrest warrant, Thomas contacted Chance two days later intending “to wrongfully obtain sexual intercourse by texting the victim repeatedly telling her that she would only be able to avoid prosecution in a pending shoplifting case by having sex with him.”

Last week’s arrest warrant laid out a similar case involving a 23-year-old woman whose name was listed as [removed at request of woman –Ed.].

In that case, police said text messages went out between Feb. 15 and Feb. 26. In a search warrant made public earlier this week, Raleigh police said one of the women had asked who was texting her and contacted authorities.

Police officers went along when she agreed to meet Thomas, the warrant said, and they seized his cell phone for their investigation.

The most recent charge came about after Chance heard about the first case and decided to report her experience, said Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue. He said police have not concluded their investigation.

Thomas was being held Thursday in lieu of $50,000 bail ordered by Superior Court Judge Bryon Collins, according to arrest paperwork. He had been free on bail after his first arrest.

Acting on behalf of federal immigration officials, Wake sheriff’s deputies checked on Thomas, a native of Gambia, last week and did not ask for an Immigration and Custom Enforcement 48-hour hold on him, but this week they did.

Belk spokeswoman Jessica Graham said Thomas had been suspended from his job, and store officials were cooperating with police.

A 33-year-old Olivebridge man was fatally shot Monday morning at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection office on Smith Avenue in Midtown Kingston, and a co-worker was charged with murder, according to the Kingston Police Department and Ulster County District Attorney’s Office.

Police said David N. Reese, 53, of Gilboa, Schoharie County, was taken into custody at the DEP building after shortly after Aron J. Thomas was shot and that Reese was charged with second-degree murder. He pleaded “not guilty” during a brief arraignment Monday afternoon in Kingston City Court and was sent to the Ulster County Jail without bail.

Authorities did not offer a motive for the killing.

District Attorney Holley Carnright said both the gunman and victim were employees of the Department of Environmental Protection. He said the weapon used was a handgun, though he did not say if it was legally owned.

Police said a handgun, believed to have been used in the crime, was recovered at the scene.

The police department said officers were dispatched to the DEP building, at 71 Smith Ave., about 6:45 a.m. and “found one victim … deceased as a result of a gunshot wound.” A “person of interest” was taken into custody at the scene, police said.

Carnright said Reese was formally charged about 3 p.m. His arraignment, though scheduled for 5 p.m. in City Court, was held earlier, before most of the reporters covering the story arrived.

Police said Reese and Thomas worked in the same part of the DEP building. Thomas also was a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician in the town of Olive, where he lived.

“We all knew him. It’s a small town. He was a lovely, very fine young man,” Olive Supervisor Sylvia Rozzelle said of Thomas. “I gave him his hunting licenses and his fishing licenses. He was always a pleasure to deal with.

“We lost a good one,” said Rozzelle, who until recently was the Olive town clerk. “It’s very tragic.”

Rozzelle said Thomas had at least one small child.

Kingston Police Chief Egidio Tinti told MidHudsonNews.com that the shooting occurred inside the DEP building, which is at the corner of Smith Avenue and Grand Street. Tinti said the victim was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead there. There were no other injuries, authorities said.

The DEP building, near Kingston’s main post office, houses more than 100 people who work for the department that oversees New York City’s upstate reservoirs. The building formerly housed computer parts manufacturer National Micronetics.

DEP spokesman Adam Bosch said Thomas was a watershed maintainer and had worked for the city department for nearly nine years. Watershed maintainers are responsible for maintaining facilities and the grounds around the city’s upstate reservoirs and aqueducts, along with other infrastructure across the watershed, Bosch said.

Reese has been employed by the DEP since 1998 as a mechanical and electrical technician, Bosch said. People in that job generally work on such things as instrumentation, and ventilation, the spokesman said.

In a statement emailed to the media, DEP Commissioner Carter Strickland said: “We are shocked and saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred early this morning at DEP’s offices in Kingston, N.Y. The thoughts and prayers of all DEP employees are with the victim’s family and loved ones. We will do all we can to support them in the days and months ahead. DEP is fully cooperating with local authorities in their ongoing investigation. Grief counselors will be made available to help DEP employees who have been affected by this tragedy.”

The Kingston DEP building was evacuated and shut down for the day after the shooting. Some employees were seen hugging each other outside after leaving.