Police: Fireworks Stands Targets in Thefts

Firework stand operators, who only have a few weeks of business around the Fourth of July, are getting hit hard by a string of thefts in the area.

In each case, employees described at least one suspect in his 30s wearing a baseball cap.

On Thursday, a fireworks stand operator on Sudley Road in Manassas reported that she stepped away from the stand for a brief moment at 9:30 p.m. She returned to find that someone had taken an undisclosed amount of cash from the register.
She noted that two men were acting suspicious prior to the incident.

Loudoun County deputies responded on Saturday morning to a Sterling fireworks stand on Community Plaza. The employee noted that a man, approximately 30 years old, stole cash from the register. He fled after getting into the passenger side of a blue Jeep Wrangler.

Mid-afternoon Sunday, Manassas City Police again responded to a firework stand theft, this time on Hastings Drive. The employee told police that a man asked about merchandise and, when the employee turned, the man removed the cash register and ran on foot through the shopping center parking lot.