20-year term imposed on man, 21, in 1997 armed robbery and beating

Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Clayton R. Greene Jr. has sentenced a Baltimore man to 20 years in prison for the armed robbery and beating of an airport worker whose skull was fractured with the butt of a rifle.

Muhammad Ibn Najeeullah, 21, of the 6200 block of Rockridge Road, had been convicted of armed robbery and related charges in the Nov. 3, 1997, attack on a night manager for Maryland Parking, the company that operates the parking system for Baltimore-Washington International Airport, said Assistant State's Attorney Fred Paone.

Najeeullah was sentenced Friday for what Paone said was such a vicious attack during a robbery that the victim was out of work more than three months.

Accomplice Walter Barnes, 19, of the first block of Garobe Court in Baltimore, an airport custodian, cooperated with investigators and is serving an 18-month term.

Paone said the two men were seen going into a parking company office at 2 a.m. They donned masks and hid. The night manager, making rounds, entered the office. When he resisted giving the robbers keys to an anteroom and safe, they beat him with the rifle and kicked and punched him. They stole about $18,000 from one safe and the victim. They took their masks off before leaving.

Pub Date: 9/15/98