LAUREL, Md. - Sources say Prince George's County police have charged three men with breaking into cars to steal handicapped placards.

Sources say the suspects preyed on vehicles in handicapped spaces in various apartment complexes in the Laurel area. They hit several at the Laurel Square apartments.

Greta Brown relies on her handicapped sticker. She has a hard time believing anyone would steal them.

"That's horrible," she said. "Healthy people shouldn't do that. I don't know if it's a healthy person or what or somebody just stealing something just to make money."

Prince George's County police say when they made a traffic stop May 6, they found 19 handicapped placards inside a vehicle.

They arrested and charged 19-year-old Thias Miller with breaking into cars and stealing handicapped placards. They also charged 22-year-old George Parker. Both men and a third suspect are from Temple Hills.

Investigators say the two men intended to sell the placards for $50 a piece. Prince George's County police say they see a lot of crime, but this is something unusual.

"Not in my eight years tenure have I seen this since I've been here. We've had other thefts -- GPS, air bags, but not the actual placards," said Detective Jesse Spence of the Prince George's County Police Department.

Police took Miller into custody but they are still on the lookout for Parker and the other accomplice. Brown says she sympathizes with the victims and says getting a handicapped sticker replaced can be a nightmare.

"All this red tape you got to prove that you lost it -- you got to do a police report and all of this and it is very inconvenient," she said.

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