Two groups linked to 80 Baltimore-area crimes against rideshares, pizzerias and others

Two separate groups of Baltimore-area defendants are accused of crime sprees targeting rideshares and pizzerias, among others, in wide-ranging indictments announced Wednesday by the state Attorney General’s Office.

Together, the two groups are linked to more than 100 victims across Baltimore City and Baltimore and Howard counties since November 2022, according to officials.

The 11 defendants, who range in age from 16 to 20, are accused of carjackings, kidnappings, commercial armed robberies, robberies of delivery drivers and vehicle thefts, among other offenses. One defendant accused of participating in the ridesharing carjacking spree is also charged with raping a kidnapping victim.

Candace McLaren Lanham, the chief deputy attorney general, called the two criminal cases “unrelated but equally terrifying.” Both will be prosecuted in Baltimore County.

“[The indictments include] more than 80 crimes impacting more than 100 Marylanders, many of whom were simply at work or going about their daily routine, when they were unexpectedly targeted and victimized by criminals who often threatened them at gunpoint, and/or with physical violence,” she said.

Six Baltimore teens are charged in the rideshare carjacking spree that took place in November and December of 2022. At least some of the defendants were charged initially in individual incidents before a joint investigation linked together more than 40 incidents. Baltimore City and County Police together warned in late November 2022 about a string of robberies where carjackers posed as ride-hailing drivers, and that December, Baltimore Police announced six arrests connected to a dozen robbery and carjacking incidents.

Prosecutors said Wednesday that the group graduated from armed robberies and carjackings to a strategy where they would call a ride via Uber or Lyft, then carjack the driver and force them into the trunk or backseat of the vehicle. The group then would accept passengers through the driver’s account and rob or kidnap those individuals. In some instances, they would force the passenger to withdraw money from an ATM. Other times, they would transfer money via CashApp or other banking applications.

On Nov. 10, 2022, the group is accused of carjacking one vehicle with two occupants. One occupant was taken to an ATM and forced to withdraw $1,500. The other occupant was forced into a separate vehicle and, prosecutors said Wednesday, forcibly raped at gunpoint.

Those six teens, one of whom was over age 18 at the time of the incidents and is charged as an adult, are charged in total with 16 armed carjackings, 21 kidnappings, 23 armed robberies and a home invasion. The crimes allegedly took place across Baltimore City and Baltimore County. The investigation was led by the FBI’s violent crimes task force, with assistance from Baltimore Police, Baltimore County Police and the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Unit.

An attorney that online court records suggest is representing the adult charged in the case could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

In the second set of indictments, five Baltimore-area young people, ages 17 to 20, are accused of a string of armed robberies between November and January, many of which targeted pizza delivery drivers, pizzerias or convenience stores. At least 60 people were victimized by the group, prosecutors said, across Baltimore City and Baltimore and Howard counties.

The three adults charged in the case were arrested in January and February and accused of commercial robberies in Baltimore County. One teen also was arrested in January, the other was taken into custody in June. Together, they are accused of 22 commercial armed robberies, eight robberies of delivery drivers or others and eight stolen vehicles.

The investigation included Baltimore Police, Baltimore County Police, Howard County Police, the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Unit.

In a typical commercial armed robbery by the group, one person would ask to make a purchase using cash, officials said. When the employee would open the register, the rest of the group would approach them with firearms and demand cash from the register and tip jars. In some cases, the store employee was struck with a firearm or threatened. According to prosecutors, the group often used more than one handgun and assaulted victims during the robberies.

The group often used Kia or Hyundai vehicles stolen from Baltimore City or Baltimore County to commit additional crimes, according to the May indictment, before abandoning the stolen vehicles within days.

An attorney who represents two clients charged in the case, Myles Friedman, declined to comment when reached Wednesday by phone, saying it would be premature. Another attorney who represents at least one defendant, according to online court records, did not return a message seeking comment.

Both cases highlight the problem of illegal firearms used in violent crimes, Lanham said. At least one of the firearms used by the 11 defendants was a ghost gun, two were stolen and all were illegally possessed by people under the age of 21, according to prosecutors.

William DelBagno, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Baltimore field office, said Wednesday that anyone breaking the law should expect to be caught and charged, adding that “age does not excuse the violent crimes that are committed.”

“Anyone who commits crimes like this should expect that the FBI and their partners are going to investigate them,” DelBagno said. “They should consider whether or not they want to end up like these teens right now.”