Street Robberies

Baltimore police arrested at least 30 people over the weekend as part of an initiative to combat the rising number of armed street robberies across the city, authorities announced on Monday. The arrests included suspects wanted on outstanding warrants and attacks that occurred in recent days, including an armed carjacking in North Baltimore on Thursday night and a robbery of a couple at gunpoint in South Baltimore early Saturday. Police said they are closing in on suspects in another attack in Mid-Town Belvedere, in which authorities said two youths on mountain bikes robbed a man of his cell phone and wallet on North Hunter Street, between Guilford and Calvert streets.

Early on an October morning, serial stickup man Evan Foreman and his partner got to work just minutes before the two check-cashing store employees in Baltimore's Old Goucher neighborhood. The two robbers waited by the door; then Foreman drew a gun and forced a woman to let them in as she opened up for the day. They wouldn't hurt her, Foreman told her, "as long as you don't do anything stupid. " With the store's safe opened and more than $21,000 in hand, the men fled in a black Pontiac Grand Am. The attack on Gold's Check Cashing was one in a string of commercial robberies by Foreman — a campaign of "urban terrorism" as a federal judge described it. Federal prosecutors say he started out robbing drug dealers but turned to easier prey after he severely beat one of his targets with a shotgun.

Three recent armed robberies in Howard County, all linked to a pair of masked men, reflect a "higher incidence of firearms being used" in robberies this year, police said yesterday. Monday and the past two Saturdays, two shotgun-wielding men burst into local businesses and demanded that the employees open the cash register. In each robbery, the men were described as having an aggressive demeanor, wearing gloves and dark clothing, and fleeing on foot after grabbing money from the register.

Baltimore police say they are making progress after identifying a recent pattern of robberies in the Canton area.  In the past few days, there have been at least three robberies there, including a woman who had a gun placed to her head while unloading groceries at O'Donnell Square on Monday night. Around the same time, a man walking in the 300 block of S. Wolfe St. was robbed by two men of his wallet, including his military ID.  And the day before, a man was robbed while walking in the 2100 block of Fleet St. around 10 p.m. and was robbed by two men, one who had a silver revolver.

Robberies in Howard County rose about 63 percent in the first half of this year, and police said yesterday that it will take time for the 4-month-old robbery unit to have an impact.The surge in robberies contributed to a 28.6 percent increase in violent crime in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year, according to new police statistics. Property crimes increased 2.8 percent.Some community leaders expressed concern, saying the county should be in line with the statewide trend of decreased crime.

Early on an October morning, serial stickup man Evan Foreman and his partner got to work just minutes before the two check-cashing store employees in Baltimore's Old Goucher neighborhood. The two robbers waited by the door; then Foreman drew a gun and forced a woman to let them in as she opened up for the day. They wouldn't hurt her, Foreman told her, "as long as you don't do anything stupid. " With the store's safe opened and more than $21,000 in hand, the men fled in a black Pontiac Grand Am. The attack on Gold's Check Cashing was one in a string of commercial robberies by Foreman — a campaign of "urban terrorism" as a federal judge described it. Federal prosecutors say he started out robbing drug dealers but turned to easier prey after he severely beat one of his targets with a shotgun.

Four shotgun-toting robbers who turned Valentine's Day into a nightmare for patrons of Chi-Chi's restaurant in Timonium Thursday night may have been responsible for some of the 27 other shotgun robberies in Baltimore County since Jan. 1.Sgt. Stephen R. Doarnberger, a county police spokesman, said 13 commercial establishments have been robbed by shotgun-carrying bandits so far this year. In addition, 14 street robberies during the period have involved shotguns, he said.In January, there were 19 robberies in the county involving shotguns, compared with four such shotgun robberies in January 1990, Sergeant Doarnberger said.

Howard County Police are investigating two armed robberies this week in which someone wearing a dark mask stole women's purses in parking lots in Ellicott City and Columbia.The robberies occurred within a day of each other, and police are investigating the possibility the same thief was involved. No one was injured in either incident.In the latest robbery, a masked gunman robbed a 51-year-old Ellicott City woman of her purse at 1:25 p.m. yesterday in the parking lot of Howard County Library's Ellicott City branch in the 9400 block of Frederick Road.

Baltimore residents, plagued by high crime and high tax rates, are used to seeing red. But on Tuesday they will begin to see some blue.That's when the Police Department will put 50 additional uniformed officers on the street in areas determined by computer analysis to have a need for such old-time policing, the department announced yesterday.Said spokesman Dennis S. Hill, "We realize in the summertime it stays light longer and more things are going on. We have isolated the problem areas and want to beef up foot patrols in those areas that need it. This is a fairly substantial contribution of people."

The gunman held a small black revolver to the back of the man's head and demanded, "Give me what you got," according to the police report. He forced the victim to the pavement at Clement and Covington streets in South Baltimore, and took a wallet and cell phone. A second man tried to yank rings from the fingers of the victim's wife. When they wouldn't budge, he told her, "This ain't a joke," and ordered her to remove her jewelry, according to police. As the assailants pedaled away on bicycles with a 1.7 karat diamond ring and a white gold wedding band worth a total of $22,300, the couple had to bang on Clement Street doors to summon help.

An apparent robbery last week claimed the life of a psychology researcher and supporter of Baltimore youth music education, again calling attention to the issue of robberies in the city. After aggravated assaults, robberies are the second-most-prevalent violent crime reported to police - there have been more than 2,500 robberies so far this year - and are more likely to involve innocent victims. They are also more likely to happen throughout the city. Though Roland Park hasn't seen a shooting in years, there have been a handful of robberies at gunpoint this year, statistics show.

A 24-year-old man admitted to killing two men over a span of about 48 hours in downtown Baltimore last year, crimes that came a few days after he and his brother are alleged to have committed a rash of robberies across the city on a Sunday morning. Isaac Truss pleaded guilty Monday in Baltimore Circuit Court to the shooting deaths of 47-year-old Keith Cooper, found fatally shot in a high-rise building near the Inner Harbor on April 20, 2011, and Edward Jones, a 50-year-old man who was shot during an attempted robbery as he sat on a bench in the 200 block of W. Fayette St. According to the state's attorney's office, Truss pleaded guilty to both killings and is expected to receive a sentence of life in prison with all but 50 years suspended.

Baltimore police arrested at least 30 people over the weekend as part of an initiative to combat the rising number of armed street robberies across the city, authorities announced on Monday. The arrests included suspects wanted on outstanding warrants and attacks that occurred in recent days, including an armed carjacking in North Baltimore on Thursday night and a robbery of a couple at gunpoint in South Baltimore early Saturday. Police said they are closing in on suspects in another attack in Mid-Town Belvedere, in which authorities said two youths on mountain bikes robbed a man of his cell phone and wallet on North Hunter Street, between Guilford and Calvert streets.

The gunman held a small black revolver to the back of the man's head and demanded, "Give me what you got," according to the police report. He forced the victim to the pavement at Clement and Covington streets in South Baltimore, and took a wallet and cell phone. A second man tried to yank rings from the fingers of the victim's wife. When they wouldn't budge, he told her, "This ain't a joke," and ordered her to remove her jewelry, according to police. As the assailants pedaled away on bicycles with a 1.7 karat diamond ring and a white gold wedding band worth a total of $22,300, the couple had to bang on Clement Street doors to summon help.

He threatened to have a gun but didn't show it, though his words were menacing enough. "If you don't want to get shot, I want your pocketbook," he told the two women as he robbed them outside the French bistro Petit Louis in Roland Park, according to police. The holdup Tuesday evening in one of Baltimore's wealthiest neighborhoods has prompted more police patrols. It also has raised the issue of crime in a community usually more concerned about restoring a water tower and enlarging a park than about gunmen on the loose.

A 29-year-old Westminster an was arrested on Thursday, July 7, and charged with robbing a bank on Main Street in Westminster earlier in the day. The Westminster Police Department reported that on Thursday, July 7, at about 12:30 p.m., officers were dispatched to the PNC Bank, at 132 W. Main St., for a reported robbery. Police said that witness told them a black male — dressed in all black clothing and wearing a plastic bag on his head — had entered the bank and presented a teller with a note demanding money.

Baltimore police say they are making progress after identifying a recent pattern of robberies in the Canton area.  In the past few days, there have been at least three robberies there, including a woman who had a gun placed to her head while unloading groceries at O'Donnell Square on Monday night. Around the same time, a man walking in the 300 block of S. Wolfe St. was robbed by two men of his wallet, including his military ID.  And the day before, a man was robbed while walking in the 2100 block of Fleet St. around 10 p.m. and was robbed by two men, one who had a silver revolver.

He threatened to have a gun but didn't show it, though his words were menacing enough. "If you don't want to get shot, I want your pocketbook," he told the two women as he robbed them outside the French bistro Petit Louis in Roland Park, according to police. The holdup Tuesday evening in one of Baltimore's wealthiest neighborhoods has prompted more police patrols. It also has raised the issue of crime in a community usually more concerned about restoring a water tower and enlarging a park than about gunmen on the loose.

Two Columbia youths and four others were arrested by Howard County police in a recent carjacking and several street robberies. Darius Guy Wimbley, 20, of the 5600 block Brook Way in Hannibal Grove and Jovan Jimell Wood, 16, of the 5700 block Alderleaf Place in Long Reach, were arrested Sept. 11 and charged with a carjacking, assault and robbery of a pizza delivery person in a 4:40 a.m. incident Sept. 7 in the 10500 block of Cross Fox Lane, police said. Both are being held at the county detention center on $250,000 bail.

Howard County police hope that the arrest of four robbery suspects charged in nine crimes since mid-August might curb a spate of armed holdups. The business and street robberies - the victims included a Krispy Kreme store, an Exxon station, a High's store, a Pizza Boli's and a Ramada Inn - were committed by a loosely associated group of young men, police said. Police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said police believe the group committed the robberies impulsively, with whichever members of their social circle were available.