OCEAN CITY — A Churchton, Md. man was arrested on theft and other charges last week after Ocean City police connected him to a series of car break-ins at a resort condominium and traced stolen merchandise to outlet stores in West Ocean City.
Around 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 29, police were dispatched to the Sand Piper Dunes condominium to investigate a reported breaking and entering and thefts from vehicles that had already occurred. It was soon learned that four vehicles had their windows broken out and property, including recently purchased merchandise, stolen from them.
Detectives met with several victims who reported their vehicles broken into and merchandise purchased at several Tanger Outlets stores missing.
Police then contacted each of the stores from which the victims’ stolen property had been purchased and advised staff to contact the department if anyone attempted to return the items. Around 5:45 p.m. the next day, a Maryland State Police trooper called the OCPD to advise that he had responded to the Bass outlet in West Ocean City in regard to a female and male attempting to return clothing items that had been flagged as stolen.
The trooper advised store staffers did not allow the suspects to return the items and photos were taken by a store employee of the two suspects as they walked away from the business.
The trooper advised the OCPD the female in the photos was known to police through prior encounters, but they did not recognize the male suspect.
Last week, OCPD officers responded to a condo unit on 57th Street for a reported 911 call hang-up. The residence was occupied by the female identified in the photos taken at the Bass outlet a week earlier. The female told police she believed her boyfriend, identified as Tony Childs, 27, who also lived in the residence, was stealing. When asked to elaborate, the female said Childs had come home around 5 a.m. on Nov. 29 with bags of clothing with the tags still on them and that the items Childs had seemed strange. For example, there were bags of children’s clothing from Children’s Place and Carter’s.
The female allowed a search of the unit and OCPD officers pulled from beneath a bed bags of clothing with tags still on them consistent with the items reported stolen a week earlier during the car break-ins just a block away. Also located was a radar detector stolen from one of the victims. Childs was subsequently charged with theft, theft scheme, malicious destruction of property and rogue and vagabond.