Bel Air Church Burglary Suspect Faces Federal Charge

Bel Air MD

04 February, 2021

2:09 PM

Description

FOREST HILL, MD — A Forest Hill man has been charged with illegal possession of an unregistered firearm after authorities searched his home in connection with vandalism at a Bel Air church. Blaine Kenneth Kluge, 25, was charged by criminal complaint Jan. 28. It was unsealed after he was arrested Wednesday, Feb. 3, prosecutors said. Officers executed a search warrant at Kluge's home in the 1900 block of Pleasantville Road Oct. 30, 2019, for evidence after a burglary that police said occurred at Bel Air United Methodist Church Sept. 14, 2019. Two people got into the church through a rooftop hatch, then left a swastika, racial slur and anti-gay graffiti pray-painted in the enclosed area behind the altar, police reported. Officials said a small organ pipe was stolen as well. Kluge and Nigel Hambrook, 24, of Bel Air, were charged in the burglary. Law enforcement found the following in Kluge's bedroom when searching Oct. 30, 2019, according to authorities: A suspected homemade silencerReplica Nazi knife with a swastika on itReplica German military helmet bearing Nazi symbolsBallistic vest with rifle platesTwo loaded magazines of .223-caliber ammunition stored inside the vestMore than 2,500 rounds of varying-caliber ammunition The silencer was found atop a locked stand-up gun safe in Kluge's bedroom that contained a ballistic vest and two loaded magazines, according to the affidavit. Authorities said there were no guns in the gun safe. Kluge faces up to 10 years in federal prison for illegal possession of an unregistered firearm, specifically a silencer. It was not registered as required in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record database, according to prosecutors, who said it was determined to have been made by an individual rather than legally purchased. During an initial appearance Wednesday at U.S. District Court in Baltimore, U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth P. Gesner ordered Kluge be released pending trial, prosecutors said. This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a Department of Justice initiative in which "stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them," according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. The project "focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime," according to a statement from justice officials. Related: 2 Charged In Bel Air Church Vandalism