Man arrested in theft from widow’s car - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Man arrested in theft from widow’s car

Law enforcement officials have identified two men they say broke into an Air Force widow’s car while she was en route to her husband’s memorial service in Colorado.

The men, Denard Thompson, 29, and Dwain Boyd, 22, are suspected of smashing a rear window in Tiffany Smith’s car in a restaurant parking lot Feb. 9 and stealing her husband’s dog tags, a watch, a digital camera and two laptop computers.

Her husband, Senior Airman Bradley Smith, was killed Jan. 3 in Afghanistan, where he was attached to a unit based at Fort Carson, Colo. A tactical control airman assigned to the 10th Air Support Squadron out of Fort Riley, Kan., Smith died from a bomb blast.

Tiffany Smith was heartbroken that the digital equipment was stolen because it contained numerous pictures of her husband, which she planned to show their 4-month-old daughter, Chloe, when she got older.

On Feb. 12, Thompson was arrested and charged with theft, criminal trespassing, and conspiracy to commit theft. A second suspect, Dwain Boyd, 22, was still at large as of Feb. 18.

The men were both pulled over for a traffic violation in a dark-colored Chevrolet Suburban by the Colorado Springs police department. Both had warrants for their arrest, but Boyd was released because his was a city warrant, not a county warrant. Thompson was taken into custody and let slip that he was involved in the theft from Smith's vehicle three days earlier, authorities say.

Spokeswoman Lt. Lari Sevene said the sheriff's office still hopes to recover Smith's possessions, although Thompson had refused to provide any useful information. Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact a local law enforcement agency, the El Paso sheriff's office at 719-390-5555 or Crime Stoppers at 719-634-7867.

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