Thieves

MERCERSBURG, Pa. - A retired funeral director is offering a $5,000 reward for the capture and conviction of thieves who removed a one-ton safe full of cash and valuables from his office over the weekend. cont. from front page The York safe, containing a "considerable" amount of cash, jewelry, valuable coins, stocks and other papers, was stolen Saturday night from the private office of F. Martin Lininger, Mercersburg Police Chief Larry Thomas said. Thomas declined to say exactly how much money was in the safe.

By DAVE McMILLION Staff Writer, Martinsburg MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Officials are investigating a string of property crimes which have occurred at three Berkeley County Schools since last weekend. Wednesday morning about 3:45 a.m. firefighters were called to a suspicious fire in the playground behind Bedington Elementary School in northern Berkeley County, said Roger Barron, fire captain of the Bedington Volunteer Fire Department. When firefighters arrived, a plastic slide and a wooden deck around it were on fire in the playground, said Barron.

Python stolen from pet store By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Chambersburg CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A 2-foot-long male ball python snake was stolen from a Chambersburg pet store Monday afternoon by three white males between the ages of 16 and 20, according to Chambersburg Police. The thieves were seen in the area of the snake's cage at the entrance to the reptile room of JS&K Pets, 133 Derbyshire St., police said. One of them wore a black trench coat and one had black, shoulder-length hair and a goatee, police said.

MCCONNELLSBURG, Pa. - Thieves made off with an estimated $2,085 worth of electronic equipment taken from Dublin Mills Community Church in Three Springs, Pa., Fulton County. Pennsylvania State Police in McConnellsburg said someone broke into the church through the back door. Items taken include a Magnavox VCR, a speaker, two amplifiers, a tape deck, microphones, a monitor and a telephone. The theft occurred between Sunday and Wednesday, police said.

One family entertainment event scheduled for March at Hagerstown Community College has been canceled and another rescheduled. The March 6 performance by the University of Maryland's traveling gymnastics team has been canceled. The March 29 performance of "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" by The National Marionette Theatre has been changed to Sunday, March 8, at 3 p.m. For more information, call 301-790-2800, ext. 225.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com GREENCASTLE, Pa. - Greencastle Police said Tuesday a break-in Sunday night at Hicks Chevrolet-Buick-Volvo in which a large safe and a new Chevrolet pickup truck were stolen might have been committed by a ring of thieves who have been hitting area auto dealerships recently. The truck, which was damaged, was recovered in Washington County by the sheriff's department there, Greencastle Patrolman C. Wagner said. The safe, which Wagner said contained a small amount of cash along with vehicle titles and paperwork, was not in the truck and still was missing Tuesday.

Some resourceful thieves have been brazen in stealing expensive tools from Hagerstown-area companies during the last two months. Thieves have been cutting through and digging under barbed-wire fences to get to thousands of dollars worth of tools. In one instance, a generator that was chained to the bed of a pickup truck was taken. --cont. from front page -- So far Hagerstown City Police have no suspects in the rash of approximately 30 reported tool thefts since Sept.

Thieves hit historic house RANSON, W.Va. -- An attractive historic farmhouse that was supposed to be given to the City of Ranson for recreation purposes has fallen victim to thieves, Ranson City Council members said Tuesday night during their regular meeting. The house was in the proposed Tackley Mill commercial and residential development that was to be built in the area of the intersection of W.Va. 9 and Wiltshire Road. The project has yet to take off due to financial problems, council member Duke Pierson said.

Police log for 1/20 North High student reported missing A 14-year-old Hagerstown boy hasn't returned to his home since Jan. 9 when he left North Hagerstown High School early, according to Washington County Sheriff's deputies. Travis Harvey is described as being 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 145 pounds, with dark hair and brown eyes. When he went to school on Jan. 9, Travis was wearing green pocket pants, a black fleece jacket, a black puff coat, black and blue Nike sneakers, and possibly a black hat. Anyone with information on Travis' whereabouts may contact Deputy Mike Palladino at 301-791-3020.

Week of Jan. 9, 1950 Acting Police Chief Jesse B. Brown wants the parents of boys who received air rifles for Christmas to do something about the indiscriminate shooting of the guns around the community. He said complaints of BB guns are nothing new. Every year for a few weeks after Christmas the same problem arises. Clear Spring's newly elected officials last night voted for a generous discount to taxpayers who pay up promptly. The town's tax rate will remain at 50 cents per hundred dollars of assessed valuation.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office said people should lock their vehicle doors to avoid falling victim to whomever is responsible for a number of thefts from cars and trucks. Deputy 1st Class Carly Hose said the most recent incident was reported Tuesday in the Funkstown area. Hose said there has been an increase in thefts from unlocked vehicles across Washington County. The easiest way to prevent becoming a victim, she said, is to lock your vehicle doors. Anyone with information may call the sheriff's office at 240-313-2170.

The criminal mind is a fascinating thing, not so much for its ingenuity, but for the fact that if it were employed in honest pursuits, there is no end to the number of world problems it could solve. Like if the guys involved in “Oceans 11” had put that much thought into cancer research, melanoma would be a thing of the past. But I would give an extra gold star to the fellow who figured out that laundry detergent could be a high-profit target for organized crime sprees.

A Hagerstown man walked into his vacant Brown Avenue home Tuesday afternoon and found a water line had been cut in the basement by copper thieves. Like other copper thefts that have occurred in the city recently, water had surged into the home because the water was not turned off before the pipes were cut, said the homeowner, frustrated at the malicious nature of the act. "Water was up to the first step in the basement, so I knew I had a...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Thieves have stolen a cross in the Mojave Desert that was built to honor Americans who died in war, less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the religious symbol to remain on federal land. The 7-foot-high cross was stolen late Sunday or early Monday by thieves who cut the metal bolts that attached the symbol to a rock in the sprawling desert preserve, National Park Service spokeswoman Linda Slater said. Authorities had no immediate motive for the theft but Slater said possible suspects range from scrap metal scavengers to people "with an interest in the case," Slater said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Four "shoppers" took more than $11,000 in merchandise Saturday evening from the Wal-Mart on Lincoln Way East, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Two men and two women entered the store, put storage totes into a shopping basket and began loading up the totes with Blu-Ray DVD players, razors, electronic toothbrushes and DVDs, among other items, police said. The time of the incident was 8:40 p.m., police said. One woman left the store and drove a silver Chrysler Sebring convertible to the fire exit on the east side of the building.

One family entertainment event scheduled for March at Hagerstown Community College has been canceled and another rescheduled. The March 6 performance by the University of Maryland's traveling gymnastics team has been canceled. The March 29 performance of "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" by The National Marionette Theatre has been changed to Sunday, March 8, at 3 p.m. For more information, call 301-790-2800, ext. 225.

Thieves hit historic house RANSON, W.Va. -- An attractive historic farmhouse that was supposed to be given to the City of Ranson for recreation purposes has fallen victim to thieves, Ranson City Council members said Tuesday night during their regular meeting. The house was in the proposed Tackley Mill commercial and residential development that was to be built in the area of the intersection of W.Va. 9 and Wiltshire Road. The project has yet to take off due to financial problems, council member Duke Pierson said.

SHENANDOAH JUNCTION, W.Va. -- Like other parts of the country, thieves who steal valuable catalytic converters from cars have struck the commuter train parking lot in Duffields, W.Va., and Jefferson County Sheriff Everett "Ed" Boober told county officials Thursday he is working to combat the problem. The pollution-reducing converters contain platinum and palladium, and have become highly valuable as metal prices climb, officials said. Thieves typically use battery-operated saws to cut the converters from beneath cars, and can fetch up to $300 for the devices, Boober said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- The latest trend in thefts from vehicles had nothing to do with what was inside the car. The thieves instead sought something under them - the catalytic converter and the small quantities of precious metals in each. "In the last two weeks, we've investigated about 10 episodes of catalytic converters being stolen," Trooper Edward S. Asbury of the Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Chambersburg said Monday. At this point, police have no evidence the cases are linked, but they suspect the stolen pollution-control devices are being processed for the metals or being sold to salvage yards.

WASHINGTON COUNTY - 'Tis the season for theft, according to local law enforcement officials. And even charities are targeted. On Monday, someone stole a jar of money collected for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program from Wolfe's on the Square in Williamsport. The donation jar was full when it was stolen, said Jack Slick, owner of Wolfe's on the Square. Shoplifting and other thefts always seems to rise during holiday shopping times, Lt. Mark Knight of the Washington County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday.