Some alleged car thieves unwittingly gave Maryland patrol officers a hand last week, driving critical evidence right past the police station.
Officers in Charles County, Maryland, glimpsed two occupied Hyundai vehicles in a business parking lot while on patrol around 1:07 p.m. on May 16. According to police, a quick computer check revealed that both vehicles had been reported stolen.
Officers endeavored to initiate a traffic stop, but the suspects allegedly fled the scene.
While officers gave chase, a 911 call came in, revealing that bandits driving cars matching the description of the stolen vehicles had just knocked over a business at St. Charles Towne Center.
The suspects, alleged to have been fleeing a burglary in stolen property, sped to the Smallwood Park and Ride, where they ditched the vehicles. Despite making a concerted effort to hide, the alleged car thieves — two adults and four juveniles — were ultimately tracked down and arrested.
The chase may have come to an end, but it appears there were still yet other suspects keen to get caught.
The CCSO indicated that another stolen vehicle pulled up outside the station and dropped off the younger arrestees’ guardian along with two other females, before trundling away.
While the trio of women — Carlisa Monnae Blackeney, 18, and Mahkiyh McQuinn-Woodly, 18, along with a female juvenile — went to take custody of the minors, officers searched the area for the third stolen vehicle, finding it on a nearby street.
The steering column on the vehicle was damaged and the back window had been busted in. According to the sheriffs office, 19-year-old Anthony Stewart and three additional juveniles were inside when they found the vehicle.
Officers reportedly ordered everyone inside the getaway vehicle to exit, but Stewart allegedly refused to comply and sped off, nearly running over and pinning one of the officers.
The sheriff’s office stated that Stewart only drove a short distance before ditching the car, having not learned from Whitaker and Alston’s earlier alleged failure. Stewart’s three young passengers similarly piled out of the vehicle, said the CCSO.
After a brief foot chase, all of the stolen car’s occupants were apprehended.
Stewart was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, theft, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and providing a false name. The CCSO also discovered there had been outstanding warrants for his arrest.
The trio of minors who had allegedly been with him — a 16-year-old male with active arrest warrants, a 13-year-old female reported missing from a nearby county, and another juvenile — were all charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Blackeney and McQuinn-Woodly were charged with theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, among other charges.
Deshaun Deamonte Whitaker, 18, and Vincent Lee Alston, 21, of Washington, D.C., were similarly charged with theft, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and rogue and vagabond.
While Whitaker was released on a $2,000 unsecured bond on May 18, Alston remains at the Charles County Detention Center without bond.
The Charles County Sheriff’s Office indicated that the four juveniles believed to be involved in the initial police chase were charged on a juvenile office report with theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Neighborhood Scout indicated that the chances of becoming a victim of a property crime in Maryland is 1 in 63.
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