Montgomery County measure aims to cut down on ‘flash mob’ theft

</div><p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Montgomery County lawmakers are pursuing a bill to deter youth from the type of “flash mob” thefts that occurred in 7-Eleven stores in Germantown and Silver Spring this year and have begun to pop up around the country.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>The bill, which state <a href=”http://mdarchives.us/msa/mdmanual/06hse/html/msa14637.html”>Del. Jeffrey Waldstreicher</a>, D-Silver Spring/Kensington, plans to introduce in the General Assembly, would increase the penalties for participants of a so-called “mob theft” by making each individual participant in a theft responsible for the total amount stolen.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Current law gives a participant in a theft responsibility for only the items that he took, meaning that if 50 people each take items worth less than $10, each person would get a slap on the wrist, said <a href=”http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/rictmpl.asp?url=/content/council/mem/rice_c/about.asp”>Montgomery County Councilman Craig Rice</a>, D-Germantown, who is working with Waldstreicher on the bill. But with the new measure, each participant would face larger fines and more jail time.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Rice has been talking with officials in Baltimore City and Prince George’s and Montgomery counties to garner support for the new measure, and he touts the support of local police. Montgomery County police spokesman Capt. Paul Starks declined to comment.</span></p> <meta http-equiv=”content-type” content=”text/html;&#10;charset=ISO-8859-1″/><title/><table style=”float: right; border-collapse: collapse;&#10;background-color: aliceblue; padding: 5px 0pt; margin: 5px 15px&#10;5px 0pt; width: 290px; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px;&#10;line-height: 12px; border: 1px solid #efe1ab; box-shadow: 5px 5px&#10;5px #cccccc;” border=”0″ cellpadding=”0″ cellspacing=”0″><tbody><tr style=”font-size:14px;line-height:15px;color:darkred;”><td><strong>Examiner Archives</strong></td> </tr><tr style=”font-size:12px;”><td> <li><a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/capital-land/2011/11/flash-mob-theft-reported-silver-spring-7-eleven”>Video: Flash mob theft reported at 7-Eleven in Silver Spring (11/21/11)</a></li> </td> </tr><tr style=”font-size:12px;”><td> <li><a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/2011/09/concerns-persist-about-flash-mob-crimes”>Concerns persist about flash mob crimes (9/14/11)</a></li> </td> </tr><tr style=”font-size:12px;”><td> <li><a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/capital-land/2011/09/curfew-wouldnt-have-prevented-germantown-flash-mob-says-councilman”>Curfew wouldn’t have prevented Germantown flash mob, says councilman (9/15/111)</a></li> </td> </tr><tr style=”font-size:12px;”><td> <li><a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/crime-punishment/2011/08/suspects-charged-flash-mob-theft-gtown-7-eleven”>Suspects charged in flash mob theft at Germantown 7-Eleven (8/27/11)</a></li> </td> </tr></tbody></table>