Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 26, 1994 TAG: 9402260075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium
But Bergen's new employer wasn't impressed with Bergen's credentials - he was furious.
County officials had assigned Bergen to sell car stereo equipment at Auto Sound Electronics.
"He was going out into your neighborhood, our neighborhood, stealing the things that we sell," said Demetrios Kleriotis, who owns the store with his wife, Debbie. "They have the audacity to send someone here who committed a grand larceny that is related to our business?"
Kleriotis learned about his employee's convictions this week from a customer who recognized Bergen.
The Kleriotises said they knew Bergen was in the county's work-release program. But they say they were told by Bergen and a sheriff's deputy who came to the store that the 23-year-old man had been placed in the program after a conviction for a traffic offense.
Chief Deputy Sheriff James Vickery confirmed Bergen lied on his job application, violating his work-release agreement. But he said the deputy helping to place Bergen had told store managers she did not know details of his offense and would check later if they wanted.
Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Horan said that employers should be informed before an inmate is hired.
"It just strikes me as terribly unfair to not let the employer know what he or she is dealing with," Horan said. "The same person who is willing to hire a traffic offender may not be willing to hire a thief."
Bergen had put in about 70 hours at the electronics store when the customer spotted him last week, his employer said. He did not show up for work the next day.
by CNB