Police arrested two more teen-agers yesterday in connection with three armed robberies that terrorized residents of North Baltimore a week ago.
Kendall Alexander, 16, and Branston Lewis, 17, surrendered to authorities yesterday and have each been charged as adults with three counts of armed robbery, said Officer Troy Harris, a police spokesman.
Dorean Jackson, 16, was arrested Monday and charged as an adult with armed robbery. Addresses of the three suspects were not available, police said.
The robberies were especially frightening because two of the victims were forced into car trunks. None of the victims was injured in the crimes.
The first robbery occurred about 8 p.m. Oct. 25 in the 5200 block of Purlington Way in Homeland. Three men, one of them carrying a handgun, walked up to a man getting out of his car and demanded money. The men forced the victim into his car trunk and fled. The victim escaped unharmed, having lost a wallet, $10 and a cellular phone, police said.
The second incident occurred at 4:20 p.m. Saturday in the 200 block of Tunbridge Road, also in Homeland. The victim said he was abducted in front of his children but was able to escape from the trunk of his assailants' car.
Police recovered the gunmen's car a short time later in the 100 block of Enfield Road, also in Homeland, few blocks from where the abduction took place.
As police were investigating that case, they got a call for a robbery in the 600 block of Wyndhurst Ave. in Roland Park. Three armed men had approached the victim, demanded money and escaped with a cell phone, credit cards and a handbag, police said.
The third robbery took place within about a half-mile of the first two.
Attorney Warren Brown is representing Alexander and was with him when he turned himself in to police yesterday.
The teen-ager's parents were also present, Brown said.
Brown said his client is a good kid who doesn't have a juvenile record and was in good standing at Walbrook Senior High School, where he is a junior.
"In talking to the detectives, they indicated that the first victim characterized my client as being the more passive of the three," Brown said of Alexander. "Even the school spoke highly of him, and his parents said that his problem is that he has a habit of being easily misled."
Brown said he plans to petition the court to have Alexander's case transferred to juvenile court.
"Real guns were not used," Brown said. "These are pellet guns they [bought] at The Sports Authority."
Brown said police learned the identity of the teen-agers after finding a Sports Authority receipt in the car of one of their victims.
"The receipt ... listed the day and time that the purchase occurred, and the detectives went to The Sports Authority and were able to see a videotape of them coming in to the store," Brown said.
He said Alexander surrendered because he knew police were looking for him.
Brown speculated that the robberies are getting so much attention because of where they occurred, and the victims' races.
"I understand how frightening this is, but it wouldn't have created so much furor if it had happened in some poor, black neighborhood," Brown said.
