Man extradited to Maryland for alleged hard drive theft

A man has recently been extradited to Maryland after his arrest in another state for an alleged theft in this state. Apparently, the man had an open warrant so that if he was caught in another state, he would be sent back to Maryland. He is charged with multiple counts of theft resulting from an incident that occurred last year.

According to the police report, the man is accused of stealing a hard drive that contained the personal information of up to 12,000 Maryland government employees. The man faced separate charges in the spring of last year. However, due to the investigation, police decided to pursue additional charges related to the missing hard drive.

Reportedly, the new charges arose after the discovery that the hard drive contains the checking account information of over 6,000 Baltimore County government employees. Nevertheless, police apparently conceded they do not have any information that the man has any of the employee’s information for identity theft. It is unclear if the man was attempting to flee from the law when he left Maryland or if he simply did not know that a warrant had been issued.

The man was indicted on multiple theft charges as well as two other unspecified criminal counts. It also appears that Maryland authorities are continuing to investigate the matter. If evidence exists that the man purportedly tried to use the information for his own financial gain, further criminal charges could be forthcoming. Nevertheless, the fact that he has been formally accused is a far cry from a criminal conviction. As prosecutors attempt to prove the charges in court, the man will continue to be protected by a number of important legal rights — including the presumption that he is fully innocent of the charges unless and until prosecutors can prove otherwise.

Source: Pikesville Md. Patch, Dundalk Man Extradited in Case of Stolen County Employees’ Information, Marge Neal, Nov. 13, 2013