We have all seen various lawn ornaments in yards. These can include concrete deer, turtles, metal birds, and the occasional cut-out of a bear or man leaning against a shed.
There is an area in Charleston called South Hills. South Hills is a mixture of expensive and moderately priced houses, a myriad of restaurants, shops and the like. Yes, people who live in expensive houses like to set out lawn ornaments as well.
I had an interesting case a few years ago where lawn ornaments in South Hills began to go missing one spring. A woman gave the police a list of various items that her ex-boyfriend, Christopher Derricks, had stolen. Police executed a search warrant on Derrick’s Sissonville home shortly thereafter.
The police recovered more than 30 lawn ornaments such as metal flowers, a light-up turtle, a rusted pig, and a metal cat and peacock.
Incredibly, Derricks kept a journal titled “My black book of shop lifton [sic] over the years.” His journal dated back to 2013 and had the number “24,768.76” within it. His journal also had a page that stated “15 pages = 5,128.54” with “History of thievery” written below.
His journal included hand-written notes about items he spotted and planned to steal later. He had notes such as “29th Street Red gazing ball,” “Kanawha Av [sic] pig with wings on house up on right horse hanging from tree,” and “Sherwood forest white house troll on pourch [sic]…corner house where I grabbed that thing hooked to water hose.”
He also stole a Mark Blumenthal metal spinning wheel, valued at almost $2,000. Other Blumenthal pieces were stolen from various yards in South Hills.
An attorney contacted me after reading about the case in the newspaper. She was desperate to find her Blumenthal piece that had spinning flower petals, rotating in different directions giving a unique illusion. She loved the piece. Sure enough, detectives found her prized possession amongst Derrick’s stash and it was returned to her. She was utterly gleeful upon receiving it back.
Mr. Derrick later admitted to stealing the lawn ornaments and was allegedly found with $100 worth of methamphetamine upon his arrest. He eventually pled guilty to the felony offense of grand larceny but I do not recall his sentence.
