Suspect steals over $1,000,000 worth of construction equipment in Maryland

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. - A man has been arrested after an estimated one million dollars in stolen equipment was found on his property in Oxon Hill.

The suspect is 38-year-old Brandyn Green.

Prince George's County Police Department executed a search warrant at Green’s property in the 4400 block of Wheeler Road on June 13. Investigators searched the property and located 13 stolen skid steers, two excavators, numerous trailers, and building equipment.

Detectives have identified several of the theft victims and returned their property to them. 

Kevin Freeburger is a general manager with Bayside Kubota & Equipment, Co. at the Hollywood, Maryland store in St. Mary’s County. 

In January, Freeburger said a trailer was stolen from their lot.

The trailer was among the recovered items found by Prince George’s County police.

"Personally, Bayside Kubota, we have had to amp up security, new security cameras, monitors at night. More fencing, more barriers, more GPS devices that we have to buy at our expense. It’s certainly increased our bottom line expenses month to month," Freeburger said.

If purchased brand new, Freeburger said the trailer is worth about $10,000.

"He [suspect] cut the lock we had on the trailer off and just hooked up to it, took it off, and then took it off my parking lot. He did that on a Sunday morning. I did not realize until Monday. At that point, he had a 24-hour head start. No idea," he said.

Capt. Craig Winegardner with Prince George’s County police said, though not confirmed, detectives believe the suspect was trying to sell the stolen items for profit. 

When asked if he had an accomplice, Capt. Winegardner said that was still under investigation.

"We think this was a one-off incident, where he was trying to tap into something a lot of folks weren’t using. A lot of the construction companies were leaving them at construction sites, and he was going to the construction sites and taking them in the middle of the night," Winegardner said.

Freeburger said his business also has stores in Prince George’s County and Charles County. Both places have experienced theft, he said.

"Upper Marlboro in P.G. County is more of a concern. They have more theft than our other stores," he said. "Our Charles County store, someone backed up a U-Haul van too. Cut through our fence and stole some zero-term mowers. That was just a couple of months ago. Earlier this year, we had someone break into our Charles County store and use our own equipment and ram a hole in our fence, and steal - if I remember correctly - five more mowers. They damaged a lot of other equipment in the process."

Green is currently charged with a $100,000 plus theft scheme and multiple felony theft charges. 

Police say additional charges are likely. He has also been charged with multiple counts of auto theft.