When Fairfax County police arrested a Washington, D.C., man recently and charged him with petit larceny at a Fair Lakes business, that may be just the tip of the iceberg, say police.
Ricardo Anthony Jones, 38, of 4600 Martin Luther King Street in the District is a suspect in more than 50 cases of entering offices throughout Fairfax County and stealing wallets from purses and suit jackets. And on Oct. 21, police charged him with 11 counts of credit-card theft, forgery and fraud, plus one count of petit larceny.
Furthermore, say police, employees in offices in Fair Oaks and Fair Lakes may have been one of his major targets. "He's suspected in about 25 [office larcenies] in the Fair Oaks District," said police spokeswoman Mary Mulrenan last week. "But that's a conservative estimate — it could be as much as 100 total."
POLICE APPREHENDED Jones after investigating a series of larcenies — the most recent one occurring Oct. 13 in the 12600 block of Fair Lakes Circle. But, said Mulrenan, altogether, he's suspected of the following thefts from offices in Fair Oaks and Fair Lakes:
Feb. 13, 4400 block of Fair Lakes Court; July 9, 12200 block of Fair Lakes Parkway; Aug. 26, 4000 block of Ridgetop Road; Oct. 8, 4100 block of Monument Corner Drive; Oct. 13, two incidents in the 12400 block of Fair Lakes Circle; Oct. 13, three incidents in the 12600 block of Fair Lakes Circle; Oct. 13, three incidents in the 4000 block of Legato Road; and Oct. 14, two incidents in the 4000 block of Legato Road.
"He liked tall buildings, possibly because — unlike in a small office — there were more faces there that people wouldn't recognize," said Mulrenan. "And he dressed in business casual so he fit in."
Police are continuing to investigate all these crimes, and Jones is also a suspect in similar cases in other local jurisdictions. He's being held without bond at the Adult Detention Center and has a Dec. 8 court date.