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2 charged in Pylesville burglary; Man is charged in connection with theft of jewelry in Abingdon

BY KIRSTEN DIZE

Posted 11/04/09

Two people were recently charged with burglary after they entered an abandoned dwelling, telling police they wanted to see if it was haunted.

In an unrelated case, a man was charged with burglary in connection with the alleged theft of a ring from his former girlfriend that was subsequently given to a new girlfriend.

‘Haunted house’

Around 8:30 p.m. Oct. 19, Harford County Sheriff’s deputies arrived in the 500 block of St. Mary’s Road in Pylesville after reports of a breaking and entering in a vacant house.

Rebecca Salvo and Robert Stachnick were outside the abandoned house in a car when police arrived.

The basement door of house was broken away from the frame.

Salvo told police she and Stachnick came to the house to because they heard it was haunted and wanted to see for themselves.

Salvo said the two of them entered the house through the already damaged basement door, used their cell phones for light and left when she got scared.

Stachnick told police he used his shoulder to loosen the door.

Nothing else appeared to be damaged or missing.

Salvo, 21, of the 1200 block of Macton Road in Street, was charged Oct. 20 with fourth-degree burglary, trespassing on private property and vandalism less than $500.

Stachnick, 20, of the 100 block of Aqueduct Court in Forest Hill was arrested on the same charges. Both were released on their own recognizance later that day.

The missing ring

About $10,550 in merchandise including laptops, digital cameras, wedding bands, an engagement ring and other jewelry was stolen out of a residence in Abingdon.

A juvenile witness told police she drove someone known as “Bill Bob,” also known as Daniel French, and Aaron Lamont Mcelveen to the residence on the day of the burglary, then left.

Another man pawned some of the victim’s jewelry. He said French allegedly had him pawn rings.

Mcelveen said he didn’t know anything about a burglary and wanted to take a polygraph.

French made calls from the Harford County Detention Center to his girlfriend. She accused him of proposing to her with the same ring he proposed to his former girlfriend with.

The ring she described was similar to a ring the victim reported missing. A detective with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office retrieved the ring from French’s girlfriend and explained it was allegedly stolen. The victim later identified the ring as the one stolen in the burglary.

In a number of screened phone calls from the detention center, French allegedly talked about details of the burglary.

French was charged Oct. 15 with first-degree burglary, third-degree burglary, fourth-degree burglary and theft more than $500.