Howard County police arrest burglary suspect

Howard County police arrested a suspect yesterday in an attempted break-in of a Columbia drugstore and are investigating whether he is responsible for several commercial robberies in the area.

Police charged Edward Stanley Harding, 32, of the 5400 block of Cedar Lane with burglary and destruction of property.

Police staked out the CVS Pharmacy in the 5400 block of Harpers Farm Road early yesterday morning and watched a man throw a brick at a window, said Sgt. Morris Carroll, a police spokesman. Officers watched the drugstore -- and other Columbia commercial businesses -- after responding to six commercial robberies in the past month in which bricks had been used to break windows, Carroll said.

Two of those robberies were at the CVS, he said, and its windows were replaced with a nearly unbreakable material.

"They were all cases where someone was taking a brick and throwing it into a window," said Carroll. "We were confident the perpetrator would hit again."

When officers tried to arrest the suspect, he fled -- prompting police to bring in a helicopter and a K-9 unit. "They caught him within 10 minutes of breaking the window," Carroll said.

Pub Date: 3/18/99