Game over for 4 theft suspects

But what they uncovered Aug. 22 was an alleged multistate theft scheme targeting Toys “R” Us stores on the East Coast, including the one in Parole across from the Westfield Annapolis mall.

Rodney McCreary, 28, Gilberto Matos, 37, Derrella Winfrey, 35, all of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Wilfredo Matos, 30, of Staten Island, N.Y., were each charged with theft over $1,000. All were released by Wednesday on $50,000 bond, according to electronic court records.

The four New Yorkers walked into the store at 2115 West St. just after 7 p.m. Police said they milled about the aisles, perusing the game systems. They then set their sights on a video game display case, police said.

Jerome Erwin, an officer with the Takoma Park Police Department, was off-duty and shopping with his two sons at the toy store when a noise from the video game department caught his attention.

Police said Erwin saw McCreary and the younger Matos walking out of the store with video games stuffed down their pant legs and waistlines.

Erwin said he watched as the two men walked past the cash registers without paying, and followed them to their Chevrolet Impala outside the store.

The off-duty officer watched the men place the merchandise in the trunk and then pull to the side of the store, where two other men were waiting.

Erwin said he is trained to handle this type of situation, but he was not going to confront the men because he was with his two sons.

“I was with my kids, so I thought the best thing to do is be a good witness,” he said.

Erwin and his boys got into his car and carefully followed the men down West Street to westbound Route 50 and called county police as he tailed the Impala to northbound I-97.

He had a feeling he wasn’t dealing with amateurs.

“In (police) training, I learned how people from New York come down to Maryland to shoplift,” he said. “They’ll spend the whole day stealing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.”

County police cars caught up with Erwin and stopped the Impala on the side of the interstate.

The men gave police their out-of-state driver’s licenses. Police said they admitted to being at the Toys “R” Us, but denied taking any merchandise.

McCreary, who was driving the Impala, told police they could search the vehicle. Police said they found a blue plastic tool, used to remove anti-theft devices from video games and compact discs, in plain view on the floor near the driver’s seat.

When confronted, police said McCreary admitted he stole video games from the Toys “R” Us in Parole.

He told officers the stolen games were inside a bag in the car. Police located the bag. Inside, they found several games, without receipts, and numerous wire-cutting tools.

Police then went to the trunk, where they found duffel bags and backpacks loaded with hundreds of video games. Underneath the back seat, officers found road maps and handwritten lists of Toys “R” Us stores up and down the East Coast.

Detective Mark Shawkey, who took over the case, said he is working to determine how many of the recovered games were stolen from the Toys “R” Us on West Street. He said store staff estimated the 219 video games found inside the Impala are valued at $9,000 or more.

He said the handwritten list included addresses of Toys “R” Us stores in Waldorf and Columbia, as well as in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

“At this stage we don’t know which ones were already hit and which ones were going to be hit,” Shawkey said.

Shawkey is investigating the backgrounds of the four suspects to learn more about the areas they frequent and determine if they are involved in other thefts from Toys “R” Us stores not included on the list.

He also plans to send case information through the Commercial Security Network, informing Toys “R” Us stores and other businesses that sell video games about the arrests. He hopes other stores with similar shoplifting cases will come forward so that police can link the thefts to the suspects.

Though the four suspects carried New York driver’s licenses, Shawkey said, “We’ll find in these cases that a lot of suspects have New York or (Washington) D.C. addresses, but when we go to follow up to locate them at these … (addresses), they end up to be bogus.”

But he said he wouldn’t be surprised if the four men are from Brooklyn and Staten Island.

“From what I understand, there are a lot of markets in New York where these types of items are sold,” he said.

This is the second suspected theft scheme involving suspects from New York uncovered in the county this summer.

On July 2, county police on foot patrol in Glen Burnie discovered a phony credit-card operation involving three Brooklyn, N.Y., men.

The men were charged with creating more than 70 fake cards.

Detectives continue to piece together how the fake plastic was made and whether identities were stolen in the process.

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Game over - 2010-09-01 08:09:50

you got to be kidding me. Are they locked up in jail? No. Why do they come to Md to commit their crimes. They know that if they are caught they do way less time than back home.

unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?

Rick M - Laurel, Md - Karma: Excellent

Welcome to Maryland - 2010-08-31 18:13:10

Their bond status doesn't surprise me... I read somewhere that the reason criminals come to Maryland to commit property crimes is because of the lenient approach from the courts if they get caught... Also, because Maryland has one of the, if not THE highest dollar value threshold for a misdemeanor theft to become a felony theft. You can keep slapping these guys on the wrist, but they won't feel it because of the callouses that have developed from all the wrist slapping over the years.

Bert Hammerson - Hyattsville, MD - Karma: Excellent

taking a chance - 2010-08-31 16:07:02

what bondsman would take a chance on these four returning for trial?

Arthur G - Riva, MD - Karma: Neutral

Good police work, BUT... - 2010-08-31 14:54:21

Well find in these cases that a lot of suspects have New York or (Washington) D.C. addresses, but when we go to follow up to locate them at these (addresses), they end up to be bogus.

Yet the four were released on bond? How does the county ever plan to find them if it already predicts that the suspects' addresses might be bogus? Especially given that the men are apparently from out of state, what would be their motivation to return to Maryland for trial?

Max Power - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent

Good police work - 2010-08-31 13:48:19

Who would have thougt grown men would be stealing video games. Nice work by the off duty policeman.

Please don't slap these criminals on the wrist give them some good jail time. They could have been doing this for years.

Anthony Forrest - crownsville, MD - Karma: Excellent

Off-duty officer helps police arrest men in multistate video game scheme

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