SCOTLAND - Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) arrested a St. Mary's County man Saturday, July 8, for stealing money from the tollbooth at Point Lookout State Park.
Timothy Rulon Kelley, 49, of Scotland was arrested and charged with theft less than $500, malicious destruction of property valued greater than $500, and possession of a controlled dangerous substance-not marijuana. Kelley was taken into custody and transported to the St. Mary's County Detention Center without incident.
The arrest was the result of an ongoing investigation that started on June 21 when NRP responded to the main entrance of the park and found the honor box had been destroyed and its cash contents missing. The honor box is a device used by park patrons to pay when entering the park when the tollbooth attendant is not on duty. The honor box appeared to have been pulled out of its cement foundation with a chain or cable.
Through their investigation, NRP located a vehicle matching a description of the suspect's and found it to be registered to Kelley. Kelley's physical description also matched the description of the suspect involved in the theft. On June 30, NRP executed a search and seizure warrant on Kelley's residence and recovered evidence implicating him in the theft, as well as a controlled dangerous substance.
The Maryland State Police, St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office and Charles County Sheriff's Office assisted the NRP with this investigation. NRP has closed their investigation on this theft. However, they continue to investigate similar thefts that have occurred over the last year at Point Lookout and St. Mary's State Parks.
The Maryland Natural Resources Police is the enforcement arm of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). With an authorized strength of 280 officers and a dedicated staff of civilian and volunteer personnel, the NRP provide a variety of services in addition to conservation and boating law enforcement duties throughout the State of Maryland. These services include homeland security, search and rescue, emergency medical services, education, information and communications services on a round the clock basis. NRP is the only police force aside from the Maryland State Police that has statewide jurisdiction.