Carroll County sheriff?s deputies arrested a Sykesville man hours after he entered a state senate candidate?s home and stole her campaign credit card.
James Louis Agans, 26, of the 1300 block of Redfield Drive, was arrested at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday after revisiting a local convenience store where earlier that day he used a credit card stolen from Michelle Jefferson, a Republican challenger in the District 5 race, according to an incident report.
“Of every house in Carroll County, why in God?s name was it mine?” Jefferson asked Thursday.
Authorities said the incident occurred because her home?s door was left unlocked.
Agans? arrest came less than 12 hours after he stole a purse from Jefferson?s home in the 400 block of Sycamore Avenue in Westminster.
Before his arrest, Agans used Jefferson?s credit cards to make nearly $1,000 worth of purchases of gas, cigarettes and power tools.
In 2000 and 2001, Agans was charged with burglary and theft several times in Carroll and Howard counties, according to court records.
Evidence does not suggest the burglary was politically motivated, sheriff?s spokesman Sgt. Phil Kasten said.
After noticing her purse was missing from her home around noon, Jefferson called her bank, where she learned that her personal and campaign credit cards had been used locally several times.
She then notified police, and Cpl. Carlos Bustos began to work with local businesses to identify Agans.
With their help, Bustos apprehended Agans when Agans tried to leave a local business, where he was recognized.
Agans was transported to Carroll County Central Booking and charged with burglary, theft, fraudulent use of a credit card, possession of look-alike crack cocaine and associated drug paraphernalia.
Following a bail review before the District Court commissioner, Agans was held at the Carroll County Detention Center on $50,000 bail.
