Jill Marie Knittel, 46, of Scotland, and Kevin Bryan Wright, 41, of California
Jill Marie Knittel, 46, of Scotland, and Kevin Bryan Wright, 41, of California, are facing misdemeanor theft charges after store staff reported a shoplifting incident at a grocery store in California in November 2025, according to court documents.
In a separate case days later, Knittel is also charged with drug offenses after a Maryland State Police trooper reported finding glass smoking devices with suspected cocaine residue during an arrest at a nearby retail store.
According to charging documents filed in the District Court of Maryland for St. Mary’s County, Knittel is accused of stealing a package of Goodnites female underwear valued at $12.99 from the Giant store on First Colony Way in California on November 24, 2025. Wright is accused in a related case of stealing a box of Newskin liquid bandage valued at $4.59 from the same store during the same time period.
A store asset protection employee told deputies that video surveillance showed a white male and a white female walking through the store between 6:36 p.m. and 6:46 p.m. The employee reported that the man threw an item in an aisle and walked out, passing all registers, while the woman appeared to conceal an underwear package under her left arm before also leaving the store without paying. The employee later went to the aisle and said he found an empty box of Newskin liquid bandage where the man had thrown the item.
Deputies went to Wright’s listed address on Cal Acres Lane in California and spoke with his mother, who told them Wright was not living there and was staying at a hotel on Three Notch Road with Knittel and her children. She said she was “not sure what room” he was in, according to the application for charges. Deputies reported that a young male at the hotel, who identified himself as Knittel’s son, told them she was not there and said he did not know who Wright was. Staff at the hotel told deputies Knittel had checked in and that she had been with a white male, the documents state.
Based on those accounts and the store video, deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office requested theft charges for both Knittel and Wright. Each is charged with theft of property valued at less than $100. Knittel and Wright have both been summoned to appear in District Court in Leonardtown for a preliminary inquiry on January 9, 2026, at 1 p.m., with trial dates to be scheduled later.
Two days after the Giant incident, a Maryland State Police trooper reported encountering Knittel again, this time at the Target store on Worth Avenue in California. According to the statement of probable cause, the trooper was sent to the store around 10:30 p.m. on November 26, 2025, for a report of a woman trespassing who might also have an open warrant from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office for failure to appear on an earlier drug paraphernalia case.
The trooper wrote that Knittel was found in a fitting room. When she opened the door and saw the trooper, she “immediately began sweating profusely,” according to the filing. She identified herself as Jill Marie Knittel but said she did not have any photo identification or a wallet. When asked how she planned to pay for the items she had, she reportedly said she was planning on using “CashApp.”
The trooper asked Knittel what she had in the front pocket of her hoodie. She produced a large metal magnet and said it was “a piece of her door” and that she needed to go to Lowe’s, the documents state. The trooper described the device as an anti-theft security magnet commonly used to remove security tags in dressing rooms.
A records check confirmed Knittel had an open warrant through the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, and she was placed under arrest around 10:42 p.m. Police say a search after the arrest turned up three glass smoking devices, with what was described as cocaine residue in two of them. Knittel was taken to the St. Mary’s County Detention Center.
In the Target case, Knittel is charged with one count of drug possession other than cannabis and three counts of possessing drug paraphernalia.
All of the cases are pending in District Court. Knittel and Wright have not yet entered pleas in the theft cases, and Knittel’s drug case is in its early stages. Court documents note that all charges are allegations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
Jill Marie Knittel, 46, of Scotland
Kevin Bryan Wright, 41, of California
