Prince George's County police have arrested a Laurel man they believe is the "Dishonest Abe" bandit who held up 10 suburban stores while dressed as the 16th president.
Kevin Andre Gibson, 35, of the 11200 block of Laurel Walk Drive in Laurel was arrested Wednesdayby detectives investigating the holdup of a store in Oxon Hill.
Police in Howard and Prince George's counties charged Gibson with several counts of armed robbery and first-degree assault. He is being held without bond in the Prince George's County Detention Center in Upper Marlboro.
Police put the "Dishonest Abe" label on the robber.
The first holdup attributed to "Abe" occurred April 29 at a Friendly restaurant in Kings Contrivance Village Center in Columbia. As in all the robberies, "Abe" and an accomplice drove off in a stolen car that police found abandoned a few blocks away.
Howard police say they believe "Abe" also is responsible for holdups of Upton's department store on Dobbin Road in Columbia on Oct. 7 and Crafts Plus on Centennial Lane in Ellicott City on Nov. 6.
Lt. Andrew Ellis, a Prince George's police spokesman, said Gibson gave statements about the three Howard stores, three in Prince George's, one in Anne Arundel County, two in Montgomery County, one in Laurel and one in Falls Church, Va. The robber in those cases was dressed as President Lincoln, with a beard and stovepipe hat.
In the robbery Tuesday of the Dollar Tree store on Oxon Hill Road, the bandits wore plain black masks, Ellis said.
He said officers were called to the store about 8: 30 p.m. for a robbery in progress. Officers from the canine unit saw a man running from the store. A second man drove away in a car.
After a short foot chase, police arrested John Griffin Carter, 32, of the 700 block of P St. N.W. in Washington. Carter was charged with three counts of armed robbery and three counts of first-degree assault, said Cpl. Joe Merkel, another Prince George's police spokesman. Carter also was being held without bail in Upper Marlboro, Merkel said.
Police said questioning of Carter led to the arrest of Gibson.
Detectives searched Gibson's house and his wife's beauty salon in Capitol Heights, but did not find an Abraham Lincoln disguise, Ellis said. He said police recovered a silver handgun.
