A hunt that took local officers to Texas ended in the arrest of a suspected international gold thief wanted for stealing from a Rockville store.
The suspect, 32-year-old Mircea Lucaci, is accused of stealing thousands of dollars in gold from a jewelry and coin store on Rockville Pike.
Lucaci, who also uses the last names Lopez and Rostas as aliases, is a Romanian national, the subject of an ICE detainer for being in the U.S. illegally and suspected in multiple thefts of gold coins around the world.
Detective Renae McEvoy said her search for him began in August of last year, when she was called to Congressional Jewelry and Coin on Rockville Pike.
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Court documents stated that a man who identified himself as “Lopez” laid out $8,400 on the store employee’s desk to purchase 4.5 ounces of gold coins. When the employee went to get the gold, security cameras showed Lopez quickly snatch back $5,000 of the cash and pocket it.
The employee discovered the theft only after the man hurried out.
McEvoy’s investigation hit pay dirt last month when police in Lubbock, Texas, arrested the man she had learned was really Lucaci.
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He was extradited to Rockville on Tuesday.
However, court records show that hours after his arrival in Maryland, Lucaci was released on a percentage bond in the amount of $350 in cash.
That frustrated Doug Davis, a retired law enforcement official who gathers and disseminates information about coin thieves through the Numismatic Crime Information Center.
He said Lucaci first showed up on his radar back in 2019.
Court papers from his arrest list a residence in Hollywood, Florida.
