Resident, Police Stop Suspect With Bag of Goods from Unlocked Cars

Donald Allen Ealy, 31, of Taneytown was charged this morning in the theft of electronics and other valuables snatched from unlocked vehicles at private homes in the Willow Pond and Eden Farm developments. 

Just after 2 a.m., sheriff’s deputies responded to a report from a resident who overheard car doors opening and saw Ealy walking among several vehicles parked along the street in the residential area, according to a police report. 

Deputies found Ealy carrying a bag containing more than 20 portable electronic devices they believe were taken from unlocked vehicles, including GPS units, cell phones and other items, police said. 

According to the previous year’s Crime in Maryland Report, serious property crimes account for 85 percent of all crime in Carroll, according to the sheriff's department.

Sheriff’s investigators estimate the theft of electronics, tools, cash and other valuables from unlocked vehicles, sheds and homes accounts for almost three-fourths of those crimes. 

Police are urging residents to remove valuables from sight, roll up car windows and lock car doors when leaving vehicles unattended.  Also, residents are asked to report unfamiliar vehicles and persons roaming neighborhoods and parking lots during the late evening and early morning hours. 

Ealy has been taken to Carroll County Central Booking where he’s awaiting a bail review hearing before the District Court Commissioner on theft charges.

Sheriff’s deputies were working to identify and return property to their owners. 

Anyone who believes he or she was a victim of a theft overnight in the Willow Pond and Eden Farm developments is asked to call the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office at 410-386-2900 or the toll free anonymous TIPS Hotline at 1-888-399-TIPP (8477).