Couple Arrested for Theft After Witness Follows Them

A couple with multiple outstanding arrest warrants for credit card theft and other theft charges were arrested by police after a tip from a bystander who reportedly saw the pair trying to break into a truck and followed them.

Anne Arundel County Police were called on Thursday to Magothy Beach Road in Pasadena for a report of the couple tampering with a vehicle. Officers were told the witness saw a black man and a white woman attempting to enter a burgundy truck with a “slim jim” burglary tool.

The suspects apparently were unable to get into the vehicle and left the area. The witness followed the suspect vehicle, a white GMC Sonoma, toward Severna Park. Eastern District detectives were familiar with the vehicle because it had been a suspect vehicle in previous incidents.

Officers eventually stopped the vehicle on a traffic violation and recognized Bonnie Marie Stauffer, 35, of 851 Warner Drive in Huntingtown, as the passenger. She had recently been profiled by the Anne Arundel County Police Department for #WantedWednesday.

Police say Stauffer had eight open warrants. One of the warrants was in Fairfax County, VA, for credit card theft, one warrant in Howard County for rogue and vagabond and credit card theft and five warrants in Anne Arundel County for theft-related charges.

The vehicle’s driver was identified as Ben Brown Jr., 40, of 5829 Barnes Drive in Clinton. He was found to have an open warrant or a traffic-related charge from Calvert County.

The witness identified the suspects as the people who tried to enter the truck. During the search to arrest, detectives located a burglary tool and several credit cards that did belong to either of the suspects.

Both suspects were arrested and taken to the district station, where they were charged with rogue and vagabond and served on their outstanding warrants.

»PHOTO: Theft suspects Ben Brown Jr. of Clinton and Bonnie Marie Stauffer of Huntingtown. Credit: Anne Arundel County Police Department