Police Beat for Aug. 14

Boater found

After a three-hour search, Department of Natural Resources Police found a missing Grasonville boater uninjured off Eastern Neck Island in Rock Hall early Tuesday morning, officials said.

DNR Police, the Coast Guard and state police began the search for Michael Scott Kaline around 9 p.m. after he failed to return after taking a personal watercraft out near Rock Hall Harbor, said Sgt. Brian Albert, a DNR Police spokesman. Crews conducted surface searches by air, land and water near the harbor and Winchester Creek.

Around midnight, DNR Police aboard a boat found Kaline and his disabled jet ski uninjured just off Eastern Neck Island on the Eastern Shore, Albert said.

Kaline told police the personal watercraft became disabled earlier in the day and he stayed with it.

Crownsville

Ye olde break-in

Someone broke into a blacksmith's shop at the Renaissance Festival recently, county police said.

Police were called to the festival grounds at 1821 Crownsville Road around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Charles John Angel, a 53-year-old blacksmith from Florida, reported someone broke into his shop, which features knives and swords. It appears the suspect broke in by banging on the door and drilling holes into the frame of the door.

Nothing appeared to be missing from the store.

West County

Basement rifled

A burglar ransacked a basement Wednesday night and stole $5,750 worth of camera equipment and other items from a Laurel home, county police said.

A 34-year-old woman told police she left her home in the 300 block of Cecilton South Wednesday evening, and when she returned she noticed the gate to her backyard was open and an aluminum stepladder was propped against her bedroom window.

The basement was ransacked and several items were missing, including a Sony SLR A100 camera, a 500 mm zoom power lens, a battery charger, two batteries, an Apple iPod Nano with charger, a black pistol-style pellet gun in a black bag and $2,000 in cash.

North County

Motorcyclist injured

A 53-year-old man was injured in a motorcycle accident Friday in Glen Burnie, according to fire officials.

The man suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries after hitting a guardrail near Sunset Drive and Hammerlee Road, fire officials said. He was transported by ambulance to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Copper wire stolen

Hundreds of dollars worth of copper wiring was stolen from a home under construction in Brooklyn Park last weekend, county police said.

A real estate agent for the residence in the 400 block of Walton Avenue told police a neighbor called the builder and said she saw someone stealing copper wiring on Sunday.

The agent spoke with the builder and learned that all of the installed copper electrical wiring had been swiped.

The stolen copper is valued at $1,500.

Tree theft arrest

A man has been charged with the theft of five fern trees from a car sales lot Monday morning, county police said.

Police were called to Royal Auto Sales at 6311 Ritchie Highway around 6 a.m. to investigate the theft. An employee told officers he discovered five holes where the ferns used to be planted along the fence line behind the business. Each tree is worth about $60.

Police searched the area and saw a man pulling a handcart with several small trees inside. Police said the man tossed the trees on the ground when he saw police and tried to walk away.

Officers stopped the man for questioning. He told police he took the trees because he needed money to buy food for his children.

A witness who saw the man take the trees identified him, police said.

Michael Eric Queen, 48, of Cherry Lane in Glen Burnie, was charged with theft under $1,000.

The trees were returned to Royal Auto Sales.

Computers stolen

Two men walked out of a Hanover office supply store with two computers without paying Thursday, county police said.

The manager of Staples at 7661 Arundel Mills Blvd. told police one of the men walked into the store around 8:15 p.m. and picked up an HP Pavilion computer and a Dell Inspiron laptop, then carried them to the back of the store while the second man acted as a lookout.

A security camera captured the theft on tape. The manager told officers two men fitting the descriptions of the suspects stole two computers from a Staples store in Catonsville the day before.

The computers stolen in Thursday's incident are valued at $1,389.