A Springfield man was found guilty of stealing thousands of dollars of liquor from ABC stores in the city, and is scheduled to appear again for other suspected incidents in Arlington and Fairfax Counties.
The 40-year-old man was found guilty on Monday (July 8) of petit larceny for stealing liquor from the Virginia ABC store at 825 S. Washington Street in Old Town on May 11, according to court records.
For that May incident he was sentenced to 120 days in jail, all of it suspended, with six months probation. The Commonwealth dropped petit larceny charges from incidents on April 11 and May 8 at the Virginia ABC store at 501 Montgomery Street, but still got a guilty charge for trespassing on May 8 after he was forbidden from the store. The suspect was sentenced to 15 days in jail for trespassing, all of it suspended, with six months probation.
He was also ordered to pay $2,666.92 in restitution.
On May 9, the Alexandria Police Department started investigating multiple thefts at a number of Virginia ABC stores in the city. In each case, less than $1,000 in merchandise was stolen from the liquor stores.
Security footage revealed a man with a shaved head and long, black beard allegedly committing thefts at a number of the liquor stores in not only Alexandria, but also in Arlington, Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
APD determined that nearly $4,000 in merchandise was stolen from multiple Virginia ABC stores in the city between February and May.
The suspect was arrested after a theft incident in the City of Fairfax on May 28, and was extradited to Alexandria on June 4. He is still being held without bond, and is scheduled to go to court for numerous incidents in neighboring jurisdictions.
The suspect was identified by an alleged accomplice, who told police after his arrest that the suspect allegedly took orders for liquor and cosmetics in D.C., traveled to Virginia to steal the merchandise and then sold it back in D.C., according to the search warrant affidavit.
The suspect goes to court August 2 in Arlington for the following offenses at Virginia ABC stores in Arlington:
- Petit larceny from the store at 2955 S. Glebe Road on Feb. 16
- Petit larceny from the store at 1301 South Joyce Street on Feb. 26
- Petit larceny from the store at 320 23rd Street South on April 15 and April 20
- Grand larceny from the store at 1922 Wilson Boulevard on April 27
The suspect will also go to court in Fairfax County on Sept. 11 for resisting arrest, assaulting a law enforcement officer, obstruction of justice, one count of grand larceny, 12 counts of petit larceny and one count of shoplifting/altering less than $1,000 in merchandise.
Theft from Virginia ABC stores jumped more than 200% last year. There are no security guards in any of the 400 stores, and staff are trained to not stop thieves.
“No product in our store is worth risking the safety of our team members and customers,” Pat Kane, a public relations specialist for Virginia ABC, told us. “Virginia ABC values its relationships with local law enforcement. Staff are trained to gather actionable information to generate usable suspect information and leads.”
