Thief’s flea market ploy doesn’t stop arrest
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, February 8, 2000
An Ironton man awaits arraignment after a Sunday afternoon disturbance call resulted in his arrest.
Tuesday, February 08, 2000
An Ironton man awaits arraignment after a Sunday afternoon disturbance call resulted in his arrest.
Harold Flick, 52, of 310 S. Fourth St., Ironton, was charged with two counts of breaking and entering when an officer responding to a call about loud noises in an alley off South Third Street discovered Flick’s car was packed with possibly stolen merchandise.
"A witness called the Ironton Police Department to report hearing loud noises in the Third Street alley," IPD Detective Capt. Chris Bowman said. "Upon arrival on the scene, the responding officer noticed Flick’s vehicle was full of miscellaneous merchandise and approached the suspect to question him."
The suspect told the officer he had purchased the items at a flea market in Kentucky, IPD reports said.
Closer inspection by the duty officer disclosed the merchandise all had price tags, refuting Flick’s original claim that he had visited a Kentucky flea market earlier in the day.
Instead, the wide-open alley entrance to the building housing Carl’s Antiques was an immediate clue to the responding officer that the merchandise filling Flick’s vehicle was not, in fact, a result of a good day at the flea market, Bowman said. Carl’s Antiques and a second, as yet unidentified, store in the same building had both been visited by Flick, IPD reports said.
The alley entrance had apparently been pried open by the suspect, the report said.
"The officer arrested the suspect who was charged with two counts of breaking and entering," Bowman said. "He was taken into custody and will face the charges in Ironton Municipal Court this week."
While most of the stolen merchandise was recovered at the scene during a thorough search of Flick’s vehicle, the owner of the South Third Street store reported additional items missing.
This statement led investigating officers to discover that the Sunday morning trip to the antique store had not been Flick’s first excursion that day.
Further investigation revealed merchandise from the antique store had been stolen earlier in the day.
"The rest of the merchandise was recovered at Flick’s residence," Bowman said. "He will be appearing in court on the charges this week."