Man steals $2,400 in ‘erotic merchandise’ from adults-only store, Maryland cops say

A man stole more than $2,400 worth of “erotic merchandise” from an adults-only boutique store in two separate break-ins, police in Maryland said.

He was arrested on Christmas Eve after his car was spotted by police less than a mile away from the same store, according to the Rockville City Police Department’s Dec. 25 news release.

Marcel Ivan Alvarez, 23, is accused of smashing through the Knock First Adult Store and Couples Boutique’s glass doors on two occasions and stealing “adult toys, pleasure products and other erotic merchandise” before fleeing, the department said. Rockville is 22 miles northwest of Washington, D.C.

“Christmas Eve, typically a night for Santa to reward good little boys and girls with toys,” police said in a statement. “Unfortunately, for one Rockville man, breaking in and stealing pleasure toys from an adults only boutique, not once but twice, has landed him right at the top of RCPD’s naughty list.”

The first break-in occurred around 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 18 when police were called to a burglary at the adult store where they found a large rock was used to smash through the front door, according to the release.

Then, on Dec. 23, a security alarm went off at the adult store around 5 a.m. and the “store’s front glass doors were again smashed out and numerous items were taken,” police said.

On Christmas Eve, an “observant” officer “saw what appeared to be the same car seen leaving the Knock First burglary the previous night” and stopped Alvarez’s car.

Alvarez is accused of trying to flee the officer by backing up his vehicle and then striking the police car, according to authorities. He later admitted his involvement in both burglaries, police said.

He is charged with two counts of second-degree burglary, malicious destruction of property and theft $1,500 to under $25,000, police said. After being taken to a processing unit, Alvarez was released Christmas morning on a $250 cash bond.

Alvarez lives less than a mile away from the adult store.

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.