Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 2, 1993 TAG: 9305020074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Stephen Taylor, 43, is charged with grand theft and faces up to four years in prison if convicted.
The complaint was filed Thursday by the Santa Clara County, Calif., district attorney's office, and within hours Taylor was arrested at a house he had rented near Fredericksburg. He is being held without bail pending extradition back to California.
Deputy District Attorney Mark B. Hames said that the "Rainbow Zephyr" never left the station and that Taylor used the money from travelers' deposits to buy two 1984 Volvos, pay rent on his Sunnyvale home and cover general living expenses.
"This is a case of more than just stealing $58,000 in people's money," Hames said. "It's a case of shattering a dream to participate in something that was a once-in-a-lifetime event. That's where the real sorrow occurs, in our minds."
The march drew several hundred thousand gays and lesbians, and many of those who say they were Taylor's victims had to stay home because they had no more money for the trip, Hames said.
Taylor had offered package tours on the excursion train through travel agencies in Sunnyvale and San Francisco. The packages, including meals and hotel rooms in Washington, were sold for $700 to $1,500. Taylor told purchasers that the fare was low because use of the antique train cars had been donated.
Jodi Baldyga, an investigator of white-collar crimes in the district attorney's office, said Taylor was seen leaving Sunnyvale in a rented U-Haul truck. He then drove to Mineral, Va., where he rented a house. One Volvo was towed by the truck, and his companion, Stephan Steffanides, drove the other.
Baldyga traced Taylor to the rented house after Taylor gave its address to the U-Haul office in Virginia, where he returned the truck.
by CNB