Realtors, police officers honored for stopping thefts
By: David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer
October 14, 2009
Four local Realtors and three police officers were honored Tuesday for shutting down a scheme in which two suspects, posing as father and son, are accused of looting homes during open house events in the area.
Mary Hurlbut and Kim Farina of Weichert Realtors in Alexandria, and Jim and Patricia Bryant of Weichert Realtors in McLean were presented with the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors' inaugural safety award for helping nab the suspects.
Jeffrey Mellott of the Baltimore City Police Department, Patrick O'Hara of the Fairfax County Police Department and Daniel Plank of the Alexandria City Police Department were also presented with the award.
Susan Mekenney, chairwoman of the NVAR board, said that without the diligence of the Realtors and the work of the three officers, the suspects would likely still be on the loose.
The plot started to unravel when Hurlbut contacted NVAR on Sept. 16 to alert it about people who might have looted her open house Sept. 13. The association then posted an alert on its Web site with descriptions of the two robbers.
Patricia and Jim Bryant then recognized the thieves at an open house they held on Sept. 27 -- and acted quickly.
When the two suspects pulled up to the house, they were in a hurry, Jim Bryant said.
"I was immediately suspicious," he said.
So much so that Bryant went outside to take down the license plate number on their car. One of them asked whether anything was wrong. Bryant replied that he was just checking something on his wife's car.
Instead, Bryant passed the license plate number along to police, who nabbed John Palmer Jr., 51, of Glen Burnie, and Samuel Goldstein, 22, of Dundalk, at an open house in Baltimore on Oct. 4.
"They were good," Farina said of the alleged partners in crime. "Until they ran into us."
