Md. Thief Gives New Meaning to Chain-Smoking

One man, one bag, one mission: to repeatedly steal Newport cigarettes from the same Capitol Heights 7-Eleven.
Such is the latest crime wave to hit Prince George's County, or at least one 7-Eleven in the 7400 block of Central Avenue. Since June, police say, one man has hit the convenience store six times, and in each case, he has looked no farther than the smokes.
On Tuesday, police released a surveillance photograph of the man and detailed his methods. In each incident, police said, he waits until customers have left the store and jumps over the counter. He grabs cigarettes, filling his white bag to the brim before fleeing, possibly in a silver Ford sedan, according to police and a store employee.
Newports are his preference, but if there aren't enough to fill his bag, he'll also take Marlboros, Kools and cigars, said a store employee who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters about the case. The employee said the thefts are so frequent that it seems as if the man is there every week. At times, he has been.
The thief first struck at 2 a.m. June 12, then a week later, at 4:21 a.m. June 19, said Officer Larry Johnson, a spokesman for the Prince George's police. He seemed to take the rest of the summer off -- not striking again until Sept. 6 -- but he has been a fixture at the convenience store since then, Johnson said. He stole cigarettes Sept. 12, Sept. 25 and Oct. 1, the most recent theft.
Police said no one has been harmed, and the man has only talked of having a gun. He never wears a mask, and investigators say he might be casing the store before each theft.
"It's obvious this guy knows who's going to be in there, when they're going to be in there, what he can do," Johnson said.
Johnson said police are checking on the store periodically, and they've advised employees there to vary their routines to throw off the suspect. He described the suspect as male, about 40 years old, standing 5-foot-5 and weighing 180 pounds.