Feb 15, 2010 6:44 pm US/Eastern
Fake Valentine Nets Arrests In Anne Arundel County
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
Valentine's Day behind bars. That's how some wanted criminals spent the holiday known for romance.
Weijia Jiang explains how phony candy grams led to several arrests.
This operation was not the first undercover sting by the Anne Arundel County Sheriff's Office, but the bait has never been so sweet.
A photograph more than a century old became the logo for Anne Arundel County Sheriff Ron Bateman's new chocolate company. Called keystonecandigrams.com, it's a company with a serious twist.
With a logo of "Just One Bite & You're Hooked," Keystone made special deliveries to 16 people on Valentine's Day. It was a very sweet operation.
The candy was delivered to the door of the wanted person. As soon as that person signed for the box of chocolates, the handcuffs came out.
"You'll see the gentleman come to the door. It's very matter of fact and then boom," said Bateman. "We were delivering candy to men and women wanted on a variety of charges."
Adding to the legitimacy of the so-called distributor was a website that even had testimonials.
"You wanted to have photos on the website of really appetizing candy people were hoping to get," said Reb Orrell, web designer.
The candy looked so good, the bad guys even picked their delivery times. In other words, they scheduled their own arrests.
"One of the individuals told me, 'You don't have a heart on Valentine's Day.' I said, 'Yes, I do, but not for you, for the victims,'" Bateman said.
The sheriff's message is this: if you're wanted, you'll be found because Valentine's Day or not, he loves nothing more than the sweet victory of catching you.
The candy box was designed with handcuffs and the scales of justice. The photo on the box was a turn-of-the-century portrait of the sheriff's great-grandfather, who was on the Baltimore City force in 1907.
Sheriff's deputies also used the traditional approach to serve warrants on Valentine's Day. In total, more than 50 were served.
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