Central Station Owner Arrested for Buying Stolen Goods

The owner of a local nightspot has been arrested for purchasing stolen goods. Police say the arrest is the result of an ongoing year-long investigation into the activities of two suspects currently behind bars awaiting trial on a number of criminal charges relating to theft and fraud. 

Police arrested James Nikitakis, 59, of Spotsylvania for two felony counts of receiving stolen property from Denzell Ball, age 44 and Jo Ellen Kilgore, age 28. Ball and Kilgore are awaiting trial for charges ranging from obtaining money by false pretenses, larceny of credit cards, credit card fraud to grand larceny. 

 Police say that in June of 2010, Nikitakis purchased $500 worth of stolen construction materials from Ball and Kilgore. Police have been aware of the transaction for some time now, but did not make an arrest immediately, citing strategic reasons. 

 "The investigation [into Ball and Kilgore] led us in different directions as we started looking into it," said Natatia Bledsoe, public information officer with the Fredericksburg City Police Department. "We didn't want to prematurely cut off those leads by making an arrest, and there was no immediate need to take him into custody."

Nikitakis was released on his own recognizance after turning himself in, said Bledsoe. 

Police say Ball and Kilgore would frequently use stolen credit cards to make purchases at local hardware stores and then try to sell their stolen wares. After the two were arrested, police began investigating to whom they may have sold solon goods. 

"The two individuals, [Ball and Kilgore], will likely face additional charges for this particular case as well," said Bledsoe. 

Nikitakis owns a number of local businesses, including Central Station, where they had to use pepper spray to break up the fracas. Later, , and the nightspot was closed for a few days before reopening. Police have been paying close attention to the club after a recent rash of incidents therein requiring police response."

Bledsoe says that the troubles at Central Station and Nikitakis' arrest today are unrelated. 

"This is a separate matter," said Bledsoe. "It's not connected to the matter we have going with the business licenses and how we would like all of our city businesses to keep trick of how they are operating to make sure they are not having problems from…large crowds and disturbances of that nature."

In fact, Bledsoe says that the investigation into the stolen goods precedes by several months an increase in police scrutiny at Central Station.