You can spot shoppers pushing their carts out of the Walmart on Hanover Pike in Hampstead any time of the day, but somehow three men slipped out of the store late at night on Sunday, January 14th, with shopping carts full of computer equipment.
If not for a citizen who spotted them running out of the store to a getaway car, the crime might have gone undetected.
"The Walmart was unaware that any theft had happened at that point in time,” said Sgt. DaVaughn Parker of the Maryland State Police, “State police investigators got in contact with loss prevention. These three guys were not even identified that night, but tried to do the same thing again the next day on the 15th just before 1pm at the Fallston Walmart."
That's right.
Two of the men, later identified as 31-year old Larry Chappell II of Columbia and 29-year old Taray Myers of Gwynn Oak, along with a third suspect who remains at large, must have thought their burglary the previous night was so successful, they tried to duplicate it just over 12 hours later and like any good shoppers, it appears they had done their homework.
"They had actually made a list of some of the things that they were going for in trying to attempt to leave that Walmart with," said Parker.
This time, the trio drew plenty of attention from security who called in deputies who took down their identification as they were banned from the store.
Once state police compared surveillance video from the two stores, they knew exactly who they were looking for.
"The cameras are good enough these days to zoom right in on your face and if you thought you got away with something one day and to attempt to do it again... Man, what a criminal," said Parker.
The suspects made off with more than $4,000 worth of equipment, and police say they're still trying to track down the stolen goods.
