Since the start of the year, Howard County Police recovered 18,600 stolen construction tools that were stored in numerous storage units across the county as part of a massive theft scheme.

While many of the stolen tools are being returned to owners, thousands remain unclaimed and will now be auctioned off to the public on Nov. 16.

Detectives identified 155 victims and are returning their tools to them. The rest of the items — such as new and used drills, tape measures, saws and more — will be up for grabs at an auction in West Friendship through Associated Auctioneers & Appraisers.

Police initially allowed people who believed they may have been a victim in this theft to fill out an online form to recover their tools, but that period has now closed. The remaining tools can no longer be claimed outside of the coming auction, said Seth Hoffman, the police department’s public information officer.

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The suspect in this case, Jose Aceves, 52, of Jessup, was indicted by a grand jury on a count of felony theft scheme, Hoffman said. Aceves failed to appear for a scheduled court date in September, and police have issued a warrant for his arrest, Hoffman said. He added that once Aceves is arrested, another court date will be set.

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Aceves allegedly stole the tools from across Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, and police said they think the tools were kept in storage units in the county and sold at numerous locations and through different means.

The tools, many of which were new and in the box, were stolen from retail stores, businesses, vehicles, residential properties and construction sites. Police estimated the value of the tools to be between $3 million and $5 million.

“These thefts affect their livelihoods,” Howard County Police Chief Gregory Der said in May. “We’ve heard from victims who have lost work because of their tools. It goes way beyond the cost of replacing these tools.”

Detectives began the investigation in late January after a tracking device in a stolen tool led police to a storage unit in Elkridge. Since then, Hoffman said, police have conducted searches on 12 storage units, 11 of which were in Howard County.

“This case sends a clear message,” Der said. “We will not tolerate this criminal enterprise in Howard County.”