Police Briefs: Dec. 23 paper

Anyone with information regarding Stafford offenses is encouraged to call the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office at (540)658-4400 or Crime Solvers at (540) 659-2020.

For Fredericksburg offenses call (540) 373-3122.  

Police: Man hid in bathroom ceiling

NORTH STAFFORD — A North Carolina man was arrested after hiding in the ceiling of Giant Food on Worth Avenue on Dec. 11, according to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.

Javier Leiva Pena, 43, of Raleigh, N.C., was charged with peeping and possession of marijuana, police said.

An employee went to the women’s bathroom at the store and saw a hand protruding from a tile above a stall, according to a police report.

When deputies arrived they found tiles disturbed in both the men’s and women’s restrooms. They also found a man hiding in the area above, who also smelled as though he had been drinking, police said. They also found marijuana on him.

An investigation indicated the man had removed a file from the men’s room ceiling, climbed up into the ceiling area, cut through the drywall separating the two restrooms, and climbed over into the women’s room.

Pena was incarcerated in the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

Sheriff’s office charges 7-Eleven employee with embezzlement

NORTH STAFFORD — A store owner’s investigation of an employee at the 7-Eleven located at 82 Garrisonville Road found that she had been pocketing money from customer items voided from Dec. 1-14, according to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies arrested Deena Harper, 29, of Midland, and charged her with embezzlement. She was incarcerated on a $1,500 bond.

She charged customers with items before voiding them and keeping the money, police said.

Two ornaments destroyed at residence

STAFFORD — A resident reported two holiday decorations vandalized Saturday at his home on Bruce Street in the central part of the county, according to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.

An inflatable Santa and an inflatable Tigger display were both sliced and ripped from their tethers. They were both destroyed, police said.

Racecar ornament stolen from yard

WHITE OAK — The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a stolen Christmas racecar ornament from a home on Ringgold Road in the White Oak area. It was stolen sometime between Dec. 14-17.

The ornament is a large inflatable Dale Earnhardt race car.

Man eludes deputies but is arrested the next day

WIDEWATER —. A Stafford deputy saw a man speeding on Widewater Road but lost sight of him. However, by questioning other drivers, the deputy found the truck and a passenger.
The driver, who police said drove into a yard and narrowly missed a tree, turned out to be  Michael Shoemaker, 18, of Stafford, police said.

He later came to the sheriff’s office looking for his truck, which had been towed.

He was charged with felony hit and run and reckless driving and was incarcerated in the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

Police: Woman sees man rummaging through car

FREDERICKSBURG — A resident of the 2400 block of Fall Hill Avenue in Fredericksburg reported seeing a man rummaging through her car at about 8 p.m. on Dec. 15, according to the Frederickburg Police Department.

Nothing was stolen.

Police are looking for a white man in his 20s who was wearing a baseball hat and dark jacket.

Woman reports theft of coins, jewelry from house

FREDERICKSBURG — A resident of the 1400 block of Buckner Street in Fredericksburg reported the theft of jewelry and coins from her bedroom on Dec. 14, according to the Fredericksburg Police Department.

Police do not know how entry was made into the house.

— Staff report