DLC Employee, 1 Other Charged in Theft of $22,000 Worth of Liquor from County
Kelvin Snowden (left) and Jean Auguste | MCPD
Two men, one a Department of Liquor Control employee, have been charged with the theft of nearly $22,000 worth of alcohol from box trucks parked at the DLC warehouse in Gaithersburg, police said.
Both men — DLC employee Kelvin Eugene Snowden Jr., 31, of Gaithersburg and Jean Auguste, 27, of Lanham — posted $3,500 bail, according to online court records.
In February, the DLC reported to police that someone had stolen alcohol from their trucks on Feb. 14 and Feb. 24, police said in a statement. Detectives determined that someone entered the DLC grounds, on Edison Park Drive, by climbing over the lot’s perimeter fence when the agency was closed and gates secured, police said.
The person broke the security seal on multiple trucks, entered the cargo areas, and stole boxes of alcohol. The suspect was recorded on DLC video surveillance.
Police said that as the investigation proceeded, six other thefts occurred at the DLC site: On April 23, April 30, May 7, May 16, May 26 and May 28.
During the May 28 theft, security personnel at the DLC saw the suspect on video surveillance and immediately called police, police said
A Rockville District midnight shift officer, who had been briefed by detectives about the thefts, responded and saw a Chevrolet Suburban parked in the far corner of the Lakelands Park Middle School basketball court, police said.
Lakelands Park Middle, at 1200 Main St., is next to the DLC lot. The officer made contact with the Suburban’s driver who was identified as Auguste, police said.
The officer saw multiple boxes of alcohol in the SUV, which were determined to have been stolen from the DLC. Patrol officers arrested Auguste, and he charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary and theft, police said. He was taken to the Central Processing Unit.
Detectives, with the assistance of patrol officers, developed Snowden as the suspect who was unlawfully entering the DLC lot, stealing alcohol from trucks, and selling the alcohol on at least one occasion (May 28) to Auguste, police said. Snowden was arrested Wednesday on the strength of a Montgomery County warrant, charging him with theft offenses and malicious destruction of property. He was taken to the Central Processing Unit.
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