Accomack County Lap Top Stolen~ Social Security Numbers Compromised

ACCOMAC — An Accomack employee had a county-owned laptop computer stolen while on a personal vacation to Las Vegas, and with it the names and Social Security numbers of roughly 35,000 county residents.

In some cases, actual addresses of county residents also may have been included in computer files.

“It was taken there without permission,” said County Administrator Steve Miner of the computer.

Miner said the worker remains employed. The matter was discussed during a closed meeting of the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday.

“We really haven’t resolved the personnel side of this,” he said.

The incident happened on the evening of Oct. 7. The county waited seven days before issuing a prepared release to media warning citizens of it.

He said letters will be sent to affected residents “very soon.”

Miner said the county began determining what was on the computer immediately after its theft.

“We have since been trying to work on the problem,” he said. “That was not something we knew, in terms of files. That took some forensic work. Then we had to figure out what it meant.”

Neither Miner nor the release named the employee who had the computer stolen.

A prepared release stated the theft is under criminal investigation. An official with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed the investigation on Thursday.
County officials believe at least one file, and possibly several, on the computer contained taxpayer identity information, according to the release.

The county advised any citizens who are concerned about the security of their identity may request a fraud alert on their credit report by calling 888-766-0008, 888-397-3742 or 800-680-7289.

The release stated that the county will not comment further during the criminal investigation and personnel review.

“We’re working with all the diligence we can muster through the number of issues to get to a place where we can speak to the matter further,” said county attorney Mark Taylor.

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Man Commits Suicide During Arrest

WESTOVER — A man who was wanted by three police agencies on drug possession and credit card theft shot and killed himself Friday morning as Somerset County deputies tried to take him into custody.

Deputies arrived at the home of Ronald John Melcher, 60, of Marumsco Road, Marion, around 8:30 a.m. and saw Melcher exit the front door and walk toward a vehicle in the driveway, according to Maryland State Police.

Melcher refused to obey the deputy’s verbal commands to stop and he continued toward the vehicle, all the while yelling that he was not going back to jail, police said.

Deputies then used a Tazer on Melcher, who fell into the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

As the deputies attempted to take Melcher into custody, they saw him pull a .38-caliber revolver from within vehicle.

A deputy ordered Melcher to put the gun down, but he shot himself in the head and was killed instantly.

None of the Sheriff’s Office personnel at the scene were injured.

Melcher was wanted by Maryland State Police in Salisbury for drug possession, Baltimore City for drug possession and Virginia State Police for credit card theft charges.

He was also a suspect in a criminal investigation being conducted by the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office.

The state police Princess Anne barrack, along with MSP homicide unit, crime scene and IAU personnel, were asked by the sheriff’s office to investigate the case which is continuing.

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