Crime Scene: A case of liquor theft, canoe getaway

Fairfax County police believe they captured a man this week who repeatedly broke into a Reston liquor store after they arrested him fleeing across Lake Thoreau in a canoe.

Even better, court records show, the man reportedly told police several hours earlier that he heard the burglar "got away on a boat." So when the store was hit early Monday, police went to Lake Thoreau and found a man with lots of bottles of expensive tequila.

The victimized store was the Virginia ABC store in the South Lakes Shopping Center. According to a search warrant affidavit by Detective Stephen M. Sulzinski, the store was first burglarized on Oct. 27. Surveillance video showed a hooded, masked man using a skateboard to smash open the front door, then removing bottles of Patron tequila, Platinum Seven vodka and Jack Daniels whiskey gift sets, Sulzinski wrote.

Virtually the same thing happened on Monday morning. A hooded masked man used something to smash the glass front door, then filled a backpack with 24 bottles of Patron and some other bottled goodies. But this time, the police had a lead.

Shortly after midnight Monday, two Fairfax officers chatted with Andrew Wren, 20, in front of a nearby 7-Eleven. According to the affidavit, Wren was asked about the ABC store burglary and that "the only thing he knows is that the guy got away on a boat" and that "the guy only took a bottle of Jack and a bottle of Patron."

The officers gave Wren a pair of summonses, for drinking in public and illegal possession of alcohol, and gave him a ride home to Eakins Court where he lives with his mother, Sulzinski wrote.

Three hours later, the ABC store in South Lakes was burglarized by the hooded man. The police helicopter swung into action and headed to Lake Thoreau and spotted a canoe "heading westbound toward Eakins Court," Sulzinski wrote. Patrol officers went to the shore and after a brief chase, pulled Wren from the canoe.

In the process, the canoe capsized and "spilled most of its contents into Lake Thoreau," the affidavit states. The officers were able to recover about a dozen bottles of Patron, Sulzinski wrote.

Wren was charged wih burglary, grand larceny and possession of burglary tools. He has been charged with 12 crimes since last year, court records show, including eluding police, reckless driving and possession of marijuana.