About two days before the Maryland teenagers pulled of their small time cookie theft, two unidentified people were caught on camera stealing over 20 pounds of cookies from the same Towson store. The store claimed that 12 pounds of chocolate chip cookies, and 12 pounds of snickerdoodle cookies were stolen. Baltimore County police are investigating whether the two cookie thefts are related, and cops have not ruled out a grand cookie theft scheme involving the two teenagers. Police did note that although the most recent theft involved a small amount of cookies, the type of cookie involved was the same in both thefts. The snickerdoodle.
Police may have some difficulty in tying the two thefts together, as there were no eye witnesses to the first theft. In fact, store employees only found out about the first theft after they had reviewed video surveillance the next day. According to the storeowner, a 3 pound box of cookies sells for more than 50 dollars, which would mean the first theft resulted in a 400 dollar loss for the cookie shop. The 24 pounds of cookies that were stolen in the first theft were apparently marked for donation to charity, as the store frequently visits shelters to drop off excess cookies. Other stores in the Towson mall have been the targets of theft in the past, but this was the first time the cookie store had been hit.
The two teenagers that were arrested in the second theft will likely be charged with theft under 100 dollars, and prosecuted in juvenile criminal court. In Maryland, theft under 100 dollars is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail. It appears that the teenagers could also be facing burglary charges due to the fact that they allegedly jumped over the counter, and entered the property of the business in order to carry out the theft. Whether the teenagers will face burglary and theft charges, or just theft charges is a decision that the Baltimore County prosecuting lawyer will make. If the teenagers are found to have been involved in the first cookie theft, they could be charged with theft over 100 dollars, which has a maximum jail sentence of 18 months in Maryland.
Benjamin Herbst is a Maryland theft lawyer, who handles all types of criminal cases in Baltimore and throughout Maryland. If you have been arrested for theft, burglary, robbery, or any other crime contact The Herbst Firm for a free consultation.
Resources
Cookie theft crumbling with arrest of two Md. teens, washingtontimes.com.