Baltimore County Police will deploy more officers to the area surrounding the Towson Town Center during the holidays following an attempted carjacking and assault there Friday and Saturday nights, crimes for which the department suspects a group of minors are responsible.
“The Department will maintain a presence of additional officers at various times throughout the holiday season,” police said in a news release announcing the arrests of five teenagers Saturday. Investigators suspect four of the teens were also involved in an assault at the mall the night before.
Police did not specify what charges the teens — a 17-year-old girl, and boys aged 16, 15, 15 and 13 — face. Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said in an email that all were charged as juveniles. It was unclear on Monday if any of the teens had lawyers representing them.
The department’s increased deployment at the Towson mall comes as crime overall is down year-over-year in the county, including motor vehicle thefts, according to the county’s crime data dashboard.
There have been about 3,000 fewer offenses of all crime in the county through Nov. 30 compared to the same time last year, county crime data shows. During the same year-over-year period, there have been approximately 100 more assault offenses and 500 fewer motor vehicle theft offenses.
The county’s data dashboard does not include carjacking or attempted carjacking offenses, but police spokeswoman Joy Stewart said in an email carjackings were down 23% through November, compared to last year.
A slightly greater proportion of all offenses happened in the zip code encompassing the Towson mall through Nov. 30 compared to the same time last year: 4.2% in 2024 compared to 4.1% in 2023, according to the data dashboard.
“Holiday Deployment entails an increased police presence,” Stewart said. “Each Precinct Commander oversees the deployment of their resources. Deployment decisions are data-driven and re-evaluated regularly.”
Five minors attempted to steal someone’s car around 8 p.m. Saturday in the 800 block of Dulaney Valley Road, which encompasses part of the mall, according to police.
According to a police report obtained by The Baltimore Sun, a security guard at the mall showed officers surveillance footage showing the teens converge on a gray Toyota and then run away when they “appeared to be unsuccessful.”
The people inside the Toyota later called 911, saying “six suspects attacked them and attempted to take their vehicle,” the report said.
A detective and an officer interviewed the victims around 10 p.m. Saturday, according to the report. The victims told investigators they encountered “numerous subjects” as they returned to their car after shopping. They said they ran to their vehicle but the “subjects” chased them.
“The victim on the passenger side of the vehicle was able to lock the door, but the driver’s side victim was unable to lock their door,” police wrote in the report. One of the assailants, a male wearing a green hoody, “began to bang on the driver’s side door, open the door and began punching the driver’s side victim in the face.”
As the male in the green hoody punched the person on the driver’s side, “he was also yelling at the victim to get out of the vehicle” and give up their keys, the report said. The other teens were behind the male in the green hoody echoing his demands. One of the other teens grabbed the driver’s hand, but the keys fell into the rear of the car, the report said.
“At this point, the passenger side victim was calling 911 and the keys were not in a place to be quickly recovered, so all of the assailants fled from the vehicle,” police wrote. “The victims were able to locate the vehicle keys, left the area and called the police once they were in a safe location.”
Officers arrested the teens that night, identifying them based on their clothing, according to the report.
Police said in the news release that investigators suspect four of the five teens were involved in an assault that happened in the area Friday night.
“A female reported she was assaulted by a group of juveniles who attempted to steal her keys,” Stewart said in an email. “Evidence obtained while investigating that case assisted in apprehending the suspects on Saturday.”
Members of the department’s Carjacking Team are investigating both crimes, police said in a news release, encouraging anybody with information about the attempted carjacking and assault to call detectives at 410-887-2277.
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