The Baltimore City Police Department recently unveiled its new “Most Wanted” program, aimed at getting the community to come forward and identify criminals that police have little information about.
At a press conference on Feb. 10, Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said his program’s prime suspect at the moment is a man they refer to as a serial robber. The man has robbed numerous businesses in Baltimore City and Baltimore County since October of 2014.
The unidentified suspect is believed to be a Black man in his mid-30s, about 5-feet-9-inches tall, and weighing nearly 230 pounds. Surveillance footage shows the man often wears a blue hoodie and khaki pants.
A task force of detectives from Baltimore City, Baltimore County and the FBI are in a joint effort to locate and apprehend the suspect. The Baltimore Police Department is hoping that their newly offered incentive would bring someone forward with information.
“Thanks to the FBI’s Baltimore field office they have added $10,000 in reward money to the existing reward of $2,000 from Crime Stoppers,” said Davis. “So the reward for this person now stands at $12,000.”
The police department believes they captured a clear picture of the suspect from surveillance footage.
“His still photograph has been captured on videotape. Our sketch artist has, in fact, rendered a sketch of our suspect, and both the sketch and photograph are of good quality, so someone who knows him, knows him right away,” said Davis.
Witnesses told detectives that the thief acts like a normal customer, pretending like he’s going to buy something before flashing a gun at the clerk.
Kushal Sheth, the manager of the Dunkin Donuts on the 3700 block of Wilkens Ave. in Southwest Baltimore says the suspect robbed his store last month.
“He came in wearing a mask and walked in the store and went and just told me to open the door,” Sheth told the The Baltimore Sun. “He had the gun in his right hand.”
The police are not releasing details of other locations the suspect has robbed because they want to maintain the integrity of their investigation.
The suspect has not injured anyone, but police are concerned that he could turn violent due to how often he strikes.
“This individual is terrorizing our business community, the safety of our community, both in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. We rely heavily on the health of our economic development effort and we want to do everything we can to identify this individual and get him off of the street,” said Davis.
Baltimore Police are hopeful that someone will recognize the photograph and the sketch of their “Most Wanted” suspect.
Anyone with information is asked to call the 24-hour hotline at 410-265-8080.
Twitter: @hunter_jonathan