Man arrested for burglary of 'thousands of items'
Collaborative effort by the Knox County Sheriff's Office, the Thomaston Police Department and the Rockland Police Department resulted in the arrest of a man for the burglary of thousands of items across the state, said Thomaston Police Chief Kevin Haj.
Ricky Block, 46, of St. George was arrested Oct. 19 by Sgt. Tim Hoppe of the Thomaston Police Department.
Block served time for burglary previously and was released approximately a year ago.
Haj said Block has been cooperative and has continued to bring in stolen items to the department.
Block admitted to selling some stolen items, but is working to recover the loot, said Haj.
The recovered items from Block's apartment have been sorted and documented in a photo catalog. Some items have been identified by owners.
The stolen items are valued at "several thousands of dollars," said Haj.
"We have 218 pairs of stud earrings alone," he said.
Block has been released on bail.
The investigation began when Deputy Nathaniel Jack of the Knox County Sheriff's Office conducted a routine traffic stop and the operator of the vehicle was arrested. The subject operating the vehicle was in possession of several women's rings and photos of the jewelery were taken by Jack.
The Thomaston Police Department received a call regarding a burglary at a residence on Erin Street the same day, and the rings found during the traffic stop were identified by the victim.
Two search warrants of Block's home in Tenants Harbor recovered the many stolen items.
Courier Publications reporter Juliette Laaka can be reached at 594-4401 ext. 118 or via email at JLaaka@courierpublicationsllc.com.
I understand and feel for your mother, Ms Merritt. No one, especially a widowed woman like her should feel the way you describe. No matter what punishment Mr. Block and others like him get, she will always remember what took place. I hope that the Judicial system and the community might take your mother's and other victim's feelings into consideration and stiffen current laws so that criminals are deterred from their unlawful activity. When we here about inmates watching cable TV and having their medical needs cared for while law-abiding citizens are unable to pay for everyday needs, its time to change things.
I doubt if I will ever be able to replace some of the items that I gave to my wife over 30+ years nor was it an easy thing to replace the many files that were in my business computer that was stolen. Luckily we had insurance but will my insurance go up because of something we were not responsible for? Is Mr. Block going to pay restitution to his victims? I doubt it! We are going to pay for what he did and then have to pay again to take care of him if he goes to jail. Inmates would be working hard for their keep if I had any say in the matter!
Mr. Jackson, my mom was a victim of Mr. Block as well. While we are grateful to at some point get some items back, life for her will never be the same. What he doesn't know, is the stories of the people he did this to. My mom is a recent widow as of February of this year. As if that wasn't bad enough, now she has had a stranger violate her home. He did a bunch of damage and rummaged through things that didn't belong to him. Now, he is out on bail, with prior convictions. He has no right to be out and about in a community that he has caused so much damage in. Unfortunately, that is the way our judicial system doesn't work! Mr. Block here's an idea for you, if it isn't yours, leave it alone! Go get a job and earn your own stuff, we all had to!
Its obvious that prison and the current justice system do nothing to deter some people from taking up where they left off after getting out of confinement. My wife and I were victims of Mr. Blocks activities and neither of us were enthusiastic about some stranger in our home, believing they had any right to items that were given as gifts over the course of 30+ years. It isn't easy recovering from personal violation and to know that someone like Mr. Block probably won't receive much more than (in my opinion) a slap on the wrist in comparison to the personal damage done to his victims.
Even though I am grateful and proud of the fine response of the local law enforcement officials who solved the case, I have no faith in the Judicial system to rehabilitate or protect citizens of future crimes from people like Mr. Block. Considering how many entries it must have taken to collect so much loot, Mr Block should also consider how many enemies he has made in the local community and how welcome he is here now. Be thankful you don't live in a Muslim nation under Sharia law. Your ability to carry off other people's property would be over!
Why then is he out on bail, so re can replace the returned items with more stolen ones?!!?