Two arrested in theft spree at Waldorf gym parking lot

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

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It was just a quick trip to the gym, and Wendy Deal was in a hurry.

Plus, her gym doesn't have lockers, so she stowed her purse in her sport utility vehicle and headed to her workout.

"I kind of thought my purse was safer in my car than sitting on a bench in the gym. But apparently not," Deal said.

When she came outside, Deal found the passenger window of her Toyota RAV4 had been broken and her purse snatched.

She's not alone in the experience.

Police report that a man and woman may be responsible for several other thefts from cars this year in the same gym parking lot. Robert Allan Krell and Amy Lynn Sotelo were charged last month with punching out car windows and swiping purses, credit cards and a paintball gun.

Investigators say the duo would drive through parking lots in Sotelo's gray and purple Chrysler Sebring, scouring the area for valuables left inside cars. They'd then quietly break the windows using an awl-like tool that suppresses the sound of shattering glass.

Three of the thefts happened in Waldorf at the Capital Clubhouse parking lot while the victims were inside the gym working out, court records indicate.

In the fourth case, a paintball gun and a radar detector were nabbed from a Jetta in parking lot of Dick's Sporting Goods in Waldorf. All total, thieves took about $1,225 from the Jetta, the court papers indicated.

A citizen tipped off police on May 15 that Krell, 25, and Sotelo, 21, both of Charlotte Hall, were responsible for the series of vehicle break-ins, and officers arrested the pair four days later, according to court records.

Investigators built their cases against Krell and Sotelo on video surveillance and credit card records, charging documents indicate.

A detective watched security camera footage from a 7-Eleven and an Exxon in Fort Washington and saw a man and woman identified as Krell and Sotelo making purchases with a credit card stolen from one of the victim's cars, according to court records.

Another stolen card was used to buy gas at a Texaco in Waldorf and a power drill at a nearby Sears. Krell later pawned the drill, the court papers indicate.

Krell and Sotelo were both charged with 25 counts, including rogue and vagabond, malicious destruction of property valued at less than $500, theft and stealing credit cards. Krell has a 2008 theft conviction in St. Mary's County and is charged with theft, drug possession, disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property and resisting arrest in several other open Charles County cases.

While the sheriff's office reports that this year's overall number of thefts from autos has declined compared to statistics from the same time last year, car break-ins have happened recently at local commuter lots and shopping centers. Sheriff's officers are patrolling trouble spots and recently joined with Charles County Public Works to cut back brush at the Smallwood park and ride lot, improving the area's visibility.

However, police also advise car owners against leaving purses or other valuables in their vehicles and recommend that people conceal their property if it must stay in the car.

They also urge drivers to lock their cars and roll up their windows when parking.

According to a press release, Sheriff Rex W. Coffey directs people to "keep records of serial numbers or etch identifying marks on their items so that if we do recover property it's easily identifiable."

brodgers@somdnews.com