The Charles County Sheriff’s Office sites the following incident as an example of its “Cop or Not” campaign in operation throughout the holiday season.  Every county officer is involved in the program. 

The Sheriff’s Office reminds people to think twice before committing a crime.  You never know if that person across the way is a plain-clothes or off-duty police officer ready to make an arrest.

“We have a lot of uniformed officers on patrol.  But at any given time, we also have a lot of officers who are off-duty and when they are, they look like average citizens,” said CCSO spokesperson, Kristen Timko.  “Cop or Not is our way of warning would-be criminals they should think twice before committing a crime in Charles County.”

On Friday Dec. 7, shortly before 7 p.m., off-duty Sheriff’s Officer J. Timko noticed two women and a teenage male acting suspiciously in the middle of the La Plata Safeway.   

One of the women pushed a full shopping cart while the other woman and the teen loaded it with items.  That, in and of itself, was fairly normal shopping behavior.  However, Timko’s curiosity peaked when the woman put a package of meat into the cart, trying to hide it under other things, but not from her companions.  

A few minutes later, the officer saw the woman who had been pushing the cart leave the store.  He looked around for her companions and spotted them pushing the heavily laden cart toward the exit at the other end of the store.  

Believing that the group hadn’t had enough time to pay for the groceries, and not having seen them in the checkout area, the officer thought a shoplifting was in progress.  Timko ran to the second exit, arriving as the teenager pushed the cart into the parking lot.  

Timko identified himself as a police officer and ordered the teen to stop.  The teen ran off but the officer gave chase and caught him.

Officer P. Sady, also off-duty, arrived at the scene and apprehended one of the women.  Meanwhile four other officers arrived.  Officer E. Leukhardt and La Plata Town Police Officers M. Powers, C. Davis and R. Bagley arrived on the scene and apprehended the other woman.

The women are Jennifer Dawn Whitehead, 35, of Indian Head and Tavita Lyvonne Neal, 34, of Portsmouth, Va.  The teenager is a 16-year-old Indian Head resident related to one of the women.  The cart of food they stole came to nearly $400.  

The women and teenager were charged with theft valued at less than $500.  The women were released from the Charles County Detention Center on their own recognizance.  The teenager was released to a parent.  Officer Davis of the La Plata Town Police investigated.

.

 

 

.

Charles County Editor, Anna Dailey welcomes your comments on all Charles County issues. Please leave feedback in the box below or contact her via email: annadailey@thebaynet.com .

–>