Crime & Safety

Woman Robbed in Chesapeake Academy Parking Lot

A woman was robbed while in the school's parking lot on Wednesday morning.

Updated 9:31 p.m. 3/3: Corrected the description of the suspect's height.

Police are looking for a suspect in a purse-snatching incident that occurred Wednesday morning in the parking lot of in Arnold.

A 57-year-old woman sustained minor injuries when a man grabbed her purse off her shoulder and knocked her to the ground, according to a police release. The suspect reportedly fled the scene in a silver sedan. 

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Anne Arundel County police responded just before 10 a.m. Wednesday to the scene at 1185 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd. They said they searched the area but could not locate the suspect. They later learned that the suspect had been inside the school's main office before the incident, reportedly asking staff about brochures and enrollment to the school. 

The victim was transported to Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie for treatment of minor injuries.

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The suspect is described as a black man in his late 30s, approximately 6 feet  tall, weighing 200 pounds. He was clean shaven, with short hair and a light complexion, and was wearing a dark, gray and black jacket with blue jeans. 

Jay Scheurle, head of school at Chesapeake Academy, said he couldn't recall anything like this happening in the school's history and called it a random act.

"I would say this is a random purse snatching in our parking lot," he said. "It's never happened before, and it was a random person that had no connection to the school at all."

Scheurle would not comment on the identity of the victim, or if she was a teacher at the school. 

"For this being normally such a quiet area, it just makes us all be more vigilant," Scheurle said.

Anyone with information on the suspect is urged to contact Metro Crime Stoppers at 866-7LOCKUP or text “MCS plus your message” to CRIMES (274637).


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