A small meteorite that fell from the sky into a doctor's office in Virgina on Jan. 18, 2010. (Linda Welzenbach/Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History)
BREVARD, N.C. – Authorities in southern North Carolina have made one arrest following the theft of 100 meteorites from a science education center and are searching for a second suspect.
The Asheville Citizen-Times (http://avlne.ws/VrunOi ) reports that 29-year-old Brian Koontz of Balsam Grove is charged with breaking and entering, larceny and injury to personal property. He's being held at the Transylvania County jail.
Video surveillance shows two thieves breaking into the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute near Rosman around 3 a.m. on Christmas Eve.
The thieves took meteorites that were on loan to the institute. They also took television monitors, overhead video projectors, a microscope and other scientific instruments.
Sheriff's detective Wade Abram says most of the stolen items were recovered from one of the suspect's homes. He declined to say which suspect.
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Information from: The Asheville Citizen-Times, http://www.citizen-times.com
