Posted on 03/10/2006 11:19:42 AM PST by GAD
Police say a woman who had to pay $139.50 for a speeding ticket must have decided to obtain some home decor from the Upshur County Courthouse in return.
Sarah Zabolotny, 29, of Elkins paid the ticket on Feb. 27 after being cited for driving 74 mph in a 65 mph zone.
Afterward, according to authorities, she left with her boyfriend via an elevator and walked around a long, burgundy hallway rug leading to the doorway of the Upshur County Courthouse. Police say she bent over, folded the 8-foot-long rug twice and walked out of the courthouse with it.
"People continue to amaze me with the stuff they do," Upshur County Sheriff Virgil Miller said.
A maintenance worker noticed the missing runner about an hour later and notified the sheriff's department, located just a few feet from where the $270 rug was swiped.
Deputies immediately scanned video surveillance of the hallway in the communication center. They produced a picture of a woman with her hair pulled back and showed it to all of the employees in the building.
"To do it in a public building, especially now with today's technology," Miller said. "About everybody has a security camera in their courthouse."
When they described the woman's appearance to Beth Miller, a magistrate court deputy clerk, she immediately remembered processing her citation.
"When someone told me someone had stolen the rug in the lobby, I was surprised and shocked," Miller said. "I was like no way. I've seen a lot of things and can tell a lot of stories, but nothing like that one."
She went to review the video and told investigators it was Zabolotny.
Miller easily accessed all of her basic information after thumbing through the citation paperwork she filed only a couple hours before.
Zabolotny was tracked to her Elkins home, and deputies called that day to tell her to return the rug.
Police say she freely admitted to taking it, but tried to barter for a free pass.
"She asked if she could return the rug and we'd forget about it," Virgil Miller said. "We told her we couldn't do that."
She returned the following day with the rug and was charged with petit larceny. She was arraigned in magistrate court, but Miller said she gave no explanation when the magistrate asked her motive.
"The only thing we can say is that she was probably mad she had to pay a citation," Miller said.
She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to spend five days at Tygart Valley Regional Jail.
Zabolotny also was ordered to pay the court and jail fees, which totaled to a little over $400, and was released from jail on Monday.
Miller said he doubts any lessons can be learned from such a bizarre crime.
"I'm just dumbfounded," Miller said.
Contact writer Michael Jones at 348-4850.
SD
Main Entry: jour·nal·ism
Pronunciation: 'j&r-n&l-"i-z&m
Function: noun
1 a : the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media b : the public press c : an academic study concerned with the collection and editing of news or the management of a news medium
2 a : An occupation for people who are too stupid to flip hamburgers.
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