Four Charged in Lowes Break-In

Four people were arrested on charges that they broke into the Lowes Home Improvement located at 1400 Taylor Avenue and tried to steal five red Troy-Bilt tractors valued at approximately $6,000.

Police arrested Benjamin A. Herbert, 43, of the 1200 block of Glen Haven Court; Yvette Sheppard, 43, of the 3700 block of Nontonia Road; Donald J. Ledford, 42, of the 900 block of Dovey Road; and Dietrich E. Fitts, 44, of the 3900 block of The Alameda.

According to a police report, officers responded to the Lowes store around 1:43 a.m. July 25 after an anonymous tipster called 911 to report that a gray BMW with Pennsylvania tags had stopped near the closed Lowes and that three suspicious people exited the car and headed across the street to the store's parking lot.

The tipster then called back to report that two of the people on the parking lot were walking down Taylor Avenue toward Oakleigh Road.

Acting on that tip, an officer stopped two men walking in the area, one of whom placed some items on the ground as the officer arrived. The officer identified the men as Fitts and Ledford and noticed that the items on the ground included a two-way radio and tan work gloves.

According to police reports, when asked where he was coming from, Ledford told an officer that he had just cut through the parking lot of the Lowes store on his way to Loch Raven Boulevard.

While officers were investigating the two men, another officer at the Lowes store noticed that the gate to a fenced storage area was open and that five red Troy-bilt tractors were unsecured in the parking lot.

The officer also found a piece of padlock on the ground near the fence that appeared to have been cut with bolt cutters, according to the documents.

At that point, Ledford and Fitts were detained and the anonymous tipster called back to report that the same gray BMW had moved. Police identified Sheppard as the driver.

Based on the tipster's information, Ledford and Fitts were then arrested and later, during a traffic stop involving the gray BMW, police arrested Herbert and Sheppard.

Herbert, Fitts and Ledford were charged with destruction of property, fourth-degree burglary and theft of $1,000-$10,000.

Sheppard, who was driving the vehicle, was charged with with fourth-degree burglary and theft.

The three men were held at the Baltimore County Detention Center and each was released on $25,000 bond. Sheppard was released on her own recognizance.

You can read the charging documents for yourself in the attached .pdf.