Columbia Man Who Stole From 20+ Vehicles Across HoCo Sentenced On 9 Counts: Prosecution

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — A Columbia man has pleaded guilty and been sentenced in connection to 12 vehicle break-ins that happened between April and October across the county.

According to the Howard County Police Department, Michael Roary, 37, pleaded guilty to six counts of rogue and vagabond (being in the vehicle of another with the intent to commit a theft) and one count of identity theft. These cases, when combined with two other counts of rogue and vagabond he faced previously, account for all 12 incidents where police say Roary got into more than 20 vehicles belonging to others.

In each incident, at least one citizen called the police reporting a suspicious subject walking around their neighborhood pulling on motor vehicle door handles, entering vehicles and removing items from vehicles including purses, wallets, loose change and other items, the HCPS said.

Roary was tracked down by the police in the area when each incident happened, and in a number of the cases, he could be seen on surveillance videos entering vehicles belonging to residents. In several of the incidents, Roary gave police the name and birthdate of another person in an attempt to avoid prosecution for his actions, the police department stated.

Roary has been sentenced to 22 years suspend all but 13.5 years. After being released from prison, Roary will have three years of supervised probation with a condition that he pay restitution to those who experienced loss due to his actions. He also must stay away from the locations where police say he was found in others' vehicles.