Observant citizens last week helped Roanoke Rapids police solve a motor vehicle break-in as their detailed reports to police led to the arrest of a Maryland man and woman.
Captain Andy Jackson said shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday Officer Gorton Williams responded to a call at Tractor Supply that a man and woman who had been begging for money allegedly tried to break in one vehicle but were unsuccessful before moving on to another vehicle in which the man allegedly broke the drivers window out.
They fled on foot to Julian R. Allsbrook Highway as Williams and detectives Jeff Davis and Bobby Martin assisted.
Gargano, left, and Loidl
Davis and Williams found the couple, Lisa Rosetta Gargano, 37, and Stephen Joseph Loidl, 32, both of Glen Burnie, Maryland, at a nearby restaurant where they had ordered $18 worth of food they were unable to pay for.
They charged the pair with breaking and entering a motor vehicle, injury to personal property and defrauding an innkeeper. They both received $2,500 bonds.
Damage to the car they broke into was $300.
Jackson said the couple claimed they had run out of gas in Emporia and walked to Roanoke Rapids. “This case shows how alert citizens can help police and solve crime. They stayed back, got good details. We credit them with helping us apprehend these folks.”