A suspect is accused of stealing merchandise from both the Dollar General and Tractor Supply stores in Lothian on the same day earlier this month, and Anne Arundel County detectives are now asking the public to help identify the person caught on camera. Police say the thefts happened Sunday, August 9, at the two South County retailers, which sit along the same commercial stretch of the rural community.
According to WBFF, detectives with the Anne Arundel County Police Department released a photo of the pictured suspect and are asking anyone who recognizes the person to come forward. As reported by WCBM, the department's release confirms both thefts occurred on August 9, prompting the appeal for help identifying the suspect. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Southern District Detective Unit at 410-222-1965, per Anne Arundel County Police. Those who wish to remain anonymous can instead call the department's tip line at 410-222-4700.
A Rural South County Community Under Southern District Watch
Lothian is an unincorporated community in southern Anne Arundel County, and crimes there fall under the police department's Southern District command, which operates out of a station at 35 Stepneys Lane in Edgewater, according to Anne Arundel County Government. The community, located in ZIP code 20711 roughly 12 miles southwest of Annapolis, has a population of about 7,600 residents and a median household income exceeding $113,000, per demographic data from Point2Homes. It is a setting more associated with quiet rural commerce than the kind of retail theft that has recently drawn law enforcement attention across the region.
The Lothian case follows other commercial theft incidents Anne Arundel County Police have investigated this month. On August 3, county police responded to a retail theft in Glen Burnie in which two male suspects stole merchandise, and one used a Taser on an employee before fleeing, according to Anne Arundel County Government; that case was assigned to the department's Regional Crimes Unit. Neither the Glen Burnie incident nor its suspects have been publicly linked to the Lothian case, and no connection between the two has been alleged by police.
How Maryland's Theft Laws Could Shape Any Charges
Whether the Lothian suspect eventually faces a misdemeanor or a felony will likely hinge on the total value of merchandise taken from both stores. Under Maryland Criminal Law § 7-104, theft of property valued under $1,500 is a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail for a first offense, while theft totaling $1,500 or more becomes felony theft punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, according to Hartman Attorneys at Law.
Maryland law also gives prosecutors new tools for cases spanning multiple stores. Effective October 1, 2025, the state's HB179/SB11 legislation allows prosecutors to aggregate multiple retail thefts committed within a 90-day period when the combined value exceeds $1,500, and it allows multi-store or multi-county theft schemes to be prosecuted in any single jurisdiction where an offense occurred, per the Maryland State Bar Association. Separately, Maryland's HB109, also effective October 1, 2025, extended the statute of limitations for misdemeanor theft cases involving property valued between $100 and $1,500 from two to three years, according to BillTrack50, while thefts under $100 retain the existing two-year window.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Southern Maryland Retail Theft
The Lothian case adds to a string of retail theft incidents reported across southern Maryland this summer. In July, law enforcement in neighboring St. Mary's County charged two people in an alleged multi-store theft scheme after Dollar General locations in Hollywood and Mechanicsville were targeted the same afternoon, with thefts specifically hitting cleaning and laundry supply aisles, according to The BayNet. And earlier this month, authorities in Prince George's County announced charges against six people accused of running a regional organized retail theft operation that allegedly stole more than $500,000 in goods from over 100 businesses, with the stolen merchandise reportedly resold through online marketplaces.
No arrests have been announced in the Lothian case, and investigators have not released details on what specific items were taken or their total value. Anne Arundel County Police continue to ask anyone with information to reach out to the Southern District Detective Unit or the department's anonymous tip line as the investigation continues.
