LEXINGTON PARK, Md. — A Lexington Park man is facing a misdemeanor theft charge after the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office alleged he stole multiple advertising signs valued at more than $700, according to court records.
John Edward Quirk, 48, of Lexington Park, the owner of A Better Plumber, was charged in the District Court for St. Mary’s County with theft of property valued between $100 and $1,500. The criminal citation was filed on July 2, 2026, and stems from an alleged offense on June 29.
According to the Uniform Criminal Citation, a deputy of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office alleged that at approximately 3:30 p.m. on June 29, Quirk stole advertising signs belonging to Boothe’s HVAC. The citation states the signs had an estimated value of $746.
Wayne Boothe, founder and president of Boothe’s HVAC, told The BayNet the incident was the culmination of what he described as years of missing advertising signs.
In an effort to identify where the signs were going, Boothe said his company recently concealed Apple AirTags inside several advertising signs before placing them throughout the county.
According to Boothe, it did not take long before the tracking devices indicated the signs were moving. He said he monitored their location through Apple’s Find My network and contacted the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office. Working with responding deputies, Boothe said he directed law enforcement to the location where the tracking devices indicated the signs had been taken.
Boothe said deputies recovered the 113 Boothe HVAC signs and that Quirk was subsequently issued the criminal citation now pending in St. Mary’s County District Court. Boothe also said Quirk operates A Better Plumber, a competing plumbing company.
A District Court trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 1, 2026, in St. Mary’s County District Court.
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THAT’S how you get Better.
Booths. Should be ashamed of themselves for all the signs.
THAT’s what you took away from this story? Sounds like you work for A Better Plumber
How can he be charged with picking up trash which was left on state right of way? And the signage is against the law to begin with?
Wow Quirk is an imbecile, anyone could have seen this coming. It’s a small town, I’m shocked it took Air Tags and not just someone seeing him take the signs.
The signs were returned to Boothe’s HVAC.
Arrest Boothe’s for littering the sides of our roadways.
The signs are obnoxious and should not have been put up.
Booths. All our technicians are drug tested and a clean criminal background. Yeah, sure
Placing signs along the road is considering littering. You can report it via the county 311 system or via MD SHA. Why is Boothe’s not being charged with littering?
This is hilarious. But also, these tacky signs are freaking everywhere down here. It’s a little out of control on Three Notch
Aren’t those signs being put out (on weekends, when county ordinance enforcement is off) against our county’s sign ordinance? Maybe they were being taken up in defense of the ordinance defiance?
“Boothe said deputies recovered the 113 Boothe HVAC signs… A District Court trial is scheduled”
Trial for what? Picking up trash alongside the road? ONE HUNDRED THIRTEEN signs! And that’s not all of them. How about charging Booths a $500 litter fine per sign instead of going after the person picking up their trash?
Littering? You swifties need to get a life.
How can you steal something that is illegally placed on public property? Roadside signs require state registration. That law is only enforced Monday through Friday, which is why you always see them on the weekends. Mr. Quick was merely cleaning up litter.
Aren’t the signs being placed along the roadside in violation of the county sign ordinance? They get placed out Friday afternoons and are picked up Monday mornings…over weekends when county enforcement officials are off. Maybe the county officials should have someone work the weekend and write some citations?…send a message to those taking advantage of the system (‘normal’ working hrs of county government).
Unfortunately, signs are put out Fri afternoons and collected up Monday mornings. That’s when county ordinance employees are off duty. The county needs to have someone ‘work a weekend day’ (Sat)…drive the major county roads and write some businesses, citations. They know it’s against the county sign ordinance. That’s why they do it on weekends. What’s unfortunate is the county employees that would write the tickets ignore them…because it’s their day off.
That was a quirky job Mr Quirk