Not only is a 23-year-old man in trouble with the local authorities but, since a fake Virginia ID card was found among his things, the federal government has placed a detainer on him. He is Carlos M. Martinez of 2249 Christy Place in Oak Hill, and Fairfax County police have charged him with both burglary and grand larceny.
IN A FEB. 7 affidavit for a warrant to search Martinez' townhouse for possible evidence, police Det. Stephen Sulzinski explained the case against him.
He wrote that, since July 2006, the Fair Oaks, Reston and McLean areas have experienced a rash of daytime burglaries. They also share several similarities, such as: Day of the week (usually Thursdays and Fridays), time of day (10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.), point of entry, method of access, type of items taken and location of houses targeted (corners and end of cul-de-sac lots).
In addition, duffel bags and other totes were taken from these homes and used to haul away stolen items, loose change from piggy banks and jars was routinely stolen and leather jackets were swiped from closets.
On Feb. 2, Sulzinski was assigned to investigate a recent burglary at a townhouse on Mager Drive in Herndon. He noted that a neighbor had heard the sound of breaking glass around 11:15 a.m., but didn't investigate further.
"Once inside, the culprit(s) went from room to room, stealing items along the way," he wrote. As in similar burglaries, wrote the detective, a duffel bag from a closet was emptied of its contents and then apparently used to carry away items from the home.
Jewelry and a leather jacket were stolen, wrote Sulzinski, plus two laptop computers and "a large, plastic Coke bottle which contained over $1,000 in silver U.S. coins."
Around noon on Feb. 2, the detective went to the Giant Foods store on Elden Street and asked whether it had a Coinstar machine. He also asked an employee if someone had come in, within the last few days, to deposit a large amount of coins.
ACCORDING TO Sulzinski, a female employee said someone came in on Jan. 31 and had a Coinstar receipt for $1,097. "She further stated that she does not often see this large of a coin deposit," he wrote. He also stated that another employee told him she'd actually seen a man emptying the coins into the machine "from a large, plastic Coke bottle."
Since the store requires photo IDs for any cash pay outs of more than $1,000 — and the man didn't have such an ID on him at the time — he had to return with one later. When he did, he was given the cash.
According to Sulzinski, this man reportedly presented a valid El Salvadorian passport in the name of Carlos M. Martinez. And Sulzinski noted that a police check revealed a person by that name living at 2249 Christy Place, and the birthdate, name, address and physical description allegedly matched what was on the passport.
The detective also stated that, when he separately showed various photos to the two Giant employees, both allegedly identified Martinez' photo as the person who'd made the large coin deposit on Jan. 31.
In the affidavit, police hoped a search of Martinez' home would yield specific items relevant to the area burglaries, including two laptop computers, a black-and-red duffel bag, jewelry, electronic equipment and a Dell computer tower model 8PD3491.
They executed the warrant Feb. 7 and seized several items, including two laptop computers — one of which was in a bag allegedly containing a victim's business card, a red-and-black duffel bag, other computers and electronic items, jewelry, a fake Virginia ID card and a Dell computer tower model 8PD3491.
That same day, police charged Martinez with three counts of burglary, three counts of attempted burglary and two counts of grand larceny. In addition, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed a detainer on him, so he's being held at the Adult Detention Center without bond. He has a May 2 court date.