The criminal case against a Centreville man is moving forward in the legal system. He is Andrew Choi, 28, of 5354 Sammie Kay Lane, and he's accused of swiping computer hardware from a Sterling electronics store.
In a Sept. 22 affidavit for a warrant to search Choi's home, investigator David C. Orr of the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office presented details of the case against him.
He stated that Choi was arrested that day in Sterling for reportedly "making fraudulent returns to the service desk at the Best Buy" there. Authorities charged him with one count each of grand larceny and obtaining money by false pretenses.
"While being interviewed by the manager, he [allegedly] admitted to having other stolen items in his room [at home]," wrote Orr. "He admitted to having in his possession one internal hard drive, two 500 GB hard drives, two 7900 video cards and one 7600 video card."
The investigator further stated that Choi reportedly "admitted to taking the above listed items from the Best Buy in Sterling." Orr and other officers later went to Choi's home and seized one internal hard drive, three external hard drives, four graphics cards and two pushbutton backups.
On Jan. 4 in Loudoun County General District Court, the charge of obtaining money by false pretenses was dropped. Then Judge J. Cannon certified the grand larceny offense to the grand jury for possible indictment.
<tgl> — Bonnie Hobbs