KENTUCKY STOLEN BUSINESS COMPUTERS RECOVERED The Ledger Independent - Maysville, Kentucky

By OWEN McNEILL, Staff Writer

Monday, December 17, 2007 10:54 PM EST

Officers with the Maysville Police Department and Emergency Response Team assisted officials with the Buffalo Trace Gateway Area Narcotics Task Force in apprehending two people in a raid at 513 Wood Street Monday afternoon.

The emergency response team raided the location at approximately 2:20 p.m., in response to information that led to a search warrant on the location.

Inside the location, officers said they found numerous items that were confirmed stolen in recent break-ins around Maysville and clear evidence of marijuana trafficking.

Along with the evidence, officers found Austin Lee Workman, 18, and an unidentified juvenile residing in the home. Both suspects were charged with one count of receiving stolen property and one count of trafficking in marijuana. Officials with the case said other charges are pending against the pair.

The stolen items recovered were identified and determined to have been taken during two break-ins last weekend. On Friday morning, officials with Central Baptist Church reported a burglary at their facility in which a number of high-end electronics were stolen , including a $4,000 PowerPoint projection machine. On Sunday morning, the owners of McNutt's Plumbing reported a burglary at their facility during which some computers and high value baseball cards and coins were stolen.

Officials estimate approximately $10,000 worth of stolen merchandise was recovered from the Wood Street location in Monday's raid.

Upon entering the location, officers said they found the men were at least putting the stolen merchandise to good use. Apparently the high-end television projection machine was plugged up and in use. The suspects had improvised a screen for the projector by hanging a white sheet from the rafters, and were using the device when the ERT entered the house.

Jeanna McNutt of McNutt Plumbing said, "We got all of our items back. I didn't think we would get them back either. They had taken a business computer and we really needed that back."

"We are just grateful for the quick response and excellent detective work," said McNutt.

Greg Taylor, a deacon and audio visual specialist for Central Baptist Church said, "You know, what do people expect, stealing from a church this close to Christmas. You just knew they had to get caught. We were amazed when the police called and all the serial numbers matched. It just shows you someone's always watching."

"We really are lucky that these items had not been sold yet and didn't make it to the street or we would have never found them," said MPD Detective Michael Palmer.

Workman was arrested and transported to the Mason County Detention Center while the juvenile was cited and released. Additional charges are pending further investigation.

Contact Owen McNeill at owen.mcneill@lee.net or call 606-564-9091 Ext 272.