Homeless man charged with stealing plane

Published December 29, 2009 5:00am ET



A homeless man tried to fly away in a stolen plane but crashed the single-engine aircraft before he ever left the ground, a Frederick County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said.

Calvin C. Cox, 51, was still behind bars Monday evening on $10,000 bail on charges of theft, burglary and trespassing.

Lt. Clark Pennington said a sheriff’s office canine team found Cox unhurt in the woods near the municipal airport after a worker reported the crash of the Piper Super Cub at about 2:15 a.m. Monday.

Pennington said Cox was familiar with airplanes but not proficient in flying them. He added that the plane had fuselage and propeller damage.

– Scott McCabe