After being indicted by the grand jury last week on two counts of grand larceny, a Chantilly man has pleaded guilty as charged.
He is Lovelace Suttles, 34, of 13927 Rockland Village Drive, No. 103, in Chantilly, and he entered his pleas Tuesday in Fairfax County Circuit Court.
SUTTLES WORKED for the UPS (United Parcel Service) in Chantilly for three years. But at some point, instead of delivering the goods to their rightful owners, he began taking some of them.
Fairfax County Police Det. Richard Call explained the case against Suttles in a Jan. 11 affidavit for a warrant to search his apartment. He wrote that, on Jan. 10, a UPS security specialist reported that three, large, flat-screen television sets and three laptop computers had been stolen from the Chantilly location.
The crime occurred that day in the lobby area where customers pick up their packages, and Suttles was working in the lobby at the time of the theft. Then, wrote Call, "Just after 8 a.m., UPS employees witnessed Suttles assisting an unknown male who was in the lobby. The unknown male did not wait in the line with other customers, and Suttles began to gather packages for [him]."
Call said Suttles actually committed "numerous, suspicious activities" that day — starting with coming to work Jan. 10 when he wasn't scheduled to work. In addition, wrote the detective, "Suttles bypassed all of the security measures of UPS when he released six packages to the unknown male."
According to Call, Suttles' other suspicious actions were as follows:
* "Suttles was seen on a UPS surveillance camera picking up packages from four different shipping areas. Customers [normally receive] packages from one shipping area.
* Suttles didn't check the unknown male's identity.
* UPS employees witnessed Suttles giving the packages to the unknown male without scanning [them].
* Suttles didn't have the [recipient] sign for the packages.
* UPS employees [stated] they've never seen anyone pick up three, large-screen TVs at one time.
* A UPS employee saw one of the laptop-computer packages and read the label. It was to be delivered to [a specific person] in Clifton's Balmoral Estates community. It was later identified as one of the stolen packages."
Call also noted that Suttles was previously convicted of larceny. And on Jan. 11, police seized a Philips flat-panel TV with remote from Suttles' home and charged him with one count of grand larceny. A second count was later added.
AFTER BEING indicted by the grand jury, May 21, Suttles pleaded guilty Tuesday, May 29, in Circuit Court. Before accepting his pleas, Judge Charles Maxfield made sure that Suttles was entering them freely and voluntarily and because he was, indeed, guilty of these crimes.
Maxfield then scheduled Suttles' sentencing for July 27. Each count of grand larceny is punishable by as much as five years in prison.