Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, say it’s game over for two men suspected in a string of gaming machine thefts from convenience stores in the county.
Fairfax police arrested two Maryland men — Leonard Jones, 59, and Terrell Hardy, 35 — Tuesday night, according to a statement from the police department.
Police said an employee at the 7-Eleven on Frye Road in the Mount Vernon area of Alexandria called police shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday to report the theft of a gaming machine by two men who had loaded it into a silver truck and then took off.
Police said they searched the area and located a truck matching the description that had parts of a gaming machine “in plain view” in the truck’s bed. Inside the truck, officers said they found additional parts.
Police took the driver and passenger, later identified as Jones and Hardy, into custody.
Jones was charged with grand larceny, possession of burglarious tools, two counts of destruction of property and petit larceny. Hardy was charged with grand larceny, destruction of property and simple assault.
Police said additional charges are possible. There have been six other gaming machine thefts in the county, and detectives are continuing to review evidence in those cases.
Earlier in the week, police released photos of the suspects in the string of thefts. In each of them, police said the thieves entered the store and forcibly removed the devices or opened the machines to steal money, a Fairfax County police news release said. A total of seven 7-Elevens were hit between Dec. 29 to Jan. 25.
Fairfax County police said business owners who have these machines should secure them and ATMs to the floor; make sure security cameras are working; and windows on the front of the business should be clear of any obstruction.
Police want anyone with more information on what happened to call them at 703-246-7800.
