The arrest of a man who allegedly sold stolen goods to an antiques dealer in Westminster has left many shop owners concerned about the origin of the items they buy. “My policy now is that I don?t buy things from people I don?t know,” said Barbara Cheeks, who owns the Nana?s Place antique shop in Westminster.
She said she unknowingly bought about $100 in stolen dolls from someone three years ago.
Delaine Hobbs, owner of Shops of Yesteryear in Mount Airy, said he tries to track stolen goods through journals published about antiques.
“If I have people who come in with suspicious things, I turn them away,” he said. “Sometimes their stories don?t add up, and I tell them no one is interested.”
Maryland State Police Cpl. Robert Fraley said authorities often see criminals trying to sell ill-gotten merchandise quickly.
“They want to unload the stolen goods as soon as they can,” Fraley said. “People steal for some type of profit and do what they can to get the money from the stolen goods.”
State police arrested Stephen Michael Pressler, 33, of Westminster, on Saturday and charged him with stealing more than $1,000 in antique glass vases, dishes, pottery and crystal from a home on the 300 block of Hanover Pike in Hampstead.
Police would not identify the victim and said they did not know when the theft occurred.
Some of the goods turned up later that day at the Westminster Antique Mall on Hahn Road.
Mall owner Henry Dodrer said he contacted police after the owner of the stolen property came in asking about the items.
Police identified Pressler through the copy of the driver?s license that must be provided when a person sells antiques to the mall, Dodrer said.
Police charged Pressler with burglary and theft-related offenses.
A court date will be set later this week, District Court Civil Supervisor Margarete Arnold said.
Pressler was convicted of burglary in 1999 and 2000. He also was convicted of possession of marijuana in 1999. He was arrested on second-degree assault charges in 2004, but was acquitted.
