Police briefs

Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009

Trio charged with theft offenses

Two Mechanicsville brothers have been charged with stealing jewelry from a Golden Beach area residence, which was identified by police as the home where the suspects lived with their mother and stepfather.

Court papers allege that one of the suspects was joined by a teenage woman in an earlier jewelry theft.

Joseph R. West, 20, was charged with two offenses of the theft of property valued at between $1,000 and less than $10,000, and three charges of the theft of property valued at less than $1,000.

Charging papers allege that he and 22-year-old Barrett A. West participated in the theft of jewelry valued at more than $1,500 last Thursday from William and Debra Harding's bedroom at the family's residence on Dogwood Circle.

The two suspects took several gold rings to T.C. Martin Jewelers in Charlotte Hall, where Barrett West tried to sell the items for cash, but charging papers state that the sale was not completed due to Joseph West's prior criminal activities. Barrett West later told St. Mary's detectives that he had no involvement in the actual theft of the jewelry.

Joseph West also is charged with stealing gold jewelry valued at more than $1,000 on Oct. 22 from Elizabeth Wolfe's bedroom and a plastic container holding about $180 from Jacqueline Wolfe's bedroom, at a residence on Boundary Drive. Amanda L. Wood, 19, of Mechanicsville was charged in that incident with single offenses of the theft of property valued at between $1,000 and less than $10,000, and the theft of property valued at less than $1,000.

Joseph West sold the gold rings, chains and charms stolen during that incident to the jewelry store, charging papers allege, and Wood went to a Food Lion grocery in Charlotte Hall to use its coin-change machine.

All three suspects were released Friday on personal recognizance to await further court proceedings on the charges obtained through the investigation by detective David Alexander.

Drug arrests reported

A judge ordered Thursday that Robert Henry Short Jr., 35, of Mechanicsville remain jailed in lieu of $25,000 bond on an indictment alleging he distributed cocaine in September 2008 in Callaway. St. Mary's grand jurors also charged Short with the possession of cocaine, through the investigation by St. Mary's narcotics detectives.

In a separate matter, Andrew Leo Sewell, 20, of Lexington Park was released on $5,000 bond after his arrest last month on an indictment alleging he distributed marijuana last April in California.

In addition, 28-year-old Clayton Timothy Dixon of Lexington Park was released on $5,000 bond after his arrest last month on an indictment alleging he distributed cocaine last February in Great Mills. Grand jurors also charged Dixon with conspiring to distribute cocaine.

Reward offered in probe of car theft

Law officers in St. Mary's are seeking the public's help through the county Crime Solvers program in their probe of the theft of a silver 1993 Cadillac reported missing Oct. 14 from the parking lot of the Kmart department store in California.

Citizens with information about this case and other crimes in St. Mary's County can collect a cash reward by calling Crime Solvers 24 hours a day at 301-475-3333. They can withhold their name and later collect their reward through a number-identification system.

St. Mary's County Crime Solvers is a nonprofit organization that assists law enforcement in solving open investigations that may not have been closed without the extra incentive of anonymity and an offer of a reward of up to $2,000, providing the information leads to an arrest or indictment.

jwharton@somdnews.com