A Centreville man was convicted of grand larceny last week in Loudoun County Circuit Court. He is Andrew Choi, 28, of 5354 Sammie Kay Lane.
He was accused of stealing computer hardware from a Sterling electronics store. And in a Sept. 22 affidavit for a warrant to search Choi's home, investigator David C. Orr of the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office detailed the case against him.
He wrote that Choi was arrested that day in Sterling for reportedly "making fraudulent returns to the service desk at the Best Buy" there. Choi was charged with one count each of grand larceny and obtaining money by false pretenses.
"While being interviewed by the manager, he admitted to having other stolen items in his room [at home]," wrote Orr. "He admitted to having in his possession one internal hard drive, two 500 GB hard drives, two 7900 video cards and one 7600 video card."
The investigator further noted that Choi "admitted to taking the above listed items from the Best Buy in Sterling." Orr and other officers later went to Choi's home and seized one internal hard drive, three external hard drives, four graphics cards and two push-button backups.
On Jan. 4 in Loudoun County General District Court, the charge of obtaining money by false pretenses was dropped. Then on Feb. 12, the grand jury indicted Choi on the grand-larceny offense.
The Centreville man stood trial last Monday, March 26, and was found guilty of that crime. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 25 by Loudoun Circuit Court Judge James Chamblin.
<tgl> — Bonnie Hobbs