Afternoon crime spree frightens residents in Howard County
By Kim Dacey
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WOODSTOCK, Maryland (WBAL) — A crime spree in the middle of the afternoon has residents frightened in one Howard County neighborhood.
Howard County police said a group of men in masks targeted multiple victims in a string of robberies, assaults and car thefts in the Waverly Woods neighborhood of Woodstock.
“I just never thought anything like that would happen here,” neighbor Richard Wiepking said.
Police said at around 2 p.m. Sunday, two teens were in the neighborhood clubhouse parking lot when a group of seven to eight men pulled up in an SUV and a car, got out wearing masks, punched one of the teens in the face and grabbed their cellphones.
“What we believe is they were trying to get their cellphones to take money off — maybe their debit cards that were on their cellphones or other financial apps they can get money from. They were able to steal one cellphone. It’s undetermined if they stole any cash as a result of that, and the other one, they weren’t able to get into and they destroyed at the scene,” Howard County Police Department spokesman Seth Hoffman said.
Police said the suspects then drove to a nearby residential street and stole a Kia there, ditching their other car. Police determined that car had been stolen from Baltimore City.
The only description of the masked suspects is young men or juveniles.
“They probably feel like they’re not going to worry about getting caught, and if they get caught, it’s not much of an issue for them being in jail or anything like that. I feel like we’ve gotten quite soft on petty crime,” neighbor Mike Pearson said.
“It’s not good. There has got to be consequences for your actions,” Wiepking said.
Police are looking at doorbell camera video to try to catch the suspects. They said crimes of opportunity can happen anywhere. Their advice is to lock your car, your home and be aware of your surroundings.
“I’ve got five boys, so I’m always concerned about that, but I’m teaching them not to live in fear, just be aware. That’s all you can do,” Pearson said.
Police are also checking with neighboring jurisdictions to see if the group is connected to any other crimes.
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