Howard County police are investigating an armed carjacking that occurred in North Laurel on Saturday during which a man forced his victim to ride along as he stole from the victim’s bank account and went on a joy ride, police said.

Police said they received a call at approximately 11:40 p.m. from the victim, who reported he had been carjacked at the Whiskey Bottom Shopping Center in the 9100 block of All Saints Road, in North Laurel. 

The victim, Lawrence Ernest Taylor Jr., 26, of Laurel, was entering a liquor store in the shopping center when an unknown man approached him and asked for a ride, which Taylor refused, police said.

When Taylor left the liquor store at about 10:45 p.m., the man brandished a knife and forced him into the passenger seat of his own car, police said. The man entered the driver’s side of Taylor’s car and began to drive the vehicle, a silver 2004 Pontiac Grand Am, according to police. 

The man drove to two banks and withdrew cash from Taylor’s bank accounts through an ATM; then drove around the Canterbury Riding apartment complex honking the horn, according to police. Next, he drove to a Shell gas station on All Saints Road and ordered Taylor to enter the convenience store and buy cigarettes without alerting the clerk to the carjacking. Taylor complied, police said.  

The suspect drove back to the Canterbury Riding apartment complex and stopped in the 9300 block, where he left the vehicle, taking with him the stolen cash, cigarettes and the liquor Taylor had purchased prior to the carjacking. The man fled on foot, after which Taylor called police, officers said.

Police believe the suspect might live in the area where the carjacking took place. He is described as a black male with a medium complexion, in his 20s or early 30s, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 180 to 200 pounds, according to police. He was wearing black or dark blue sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt, police said.

The knife used in the incident was recovered in Taylor’s vehicle. Taylor was not injured, according to police. 

Investigators are offering a $500 reward for information that leads to the identification and arrest of the suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 410-313-7867. Callers may remain anonymous.

— Luke Broadwater

---

user comments (1)

user says...

Am I crazy here or was this guy able to make his victim do an awful lot armed only with a knife? I mean, a "give me your wallet or I cut you" in the parking lot, sure, I can see falling victim to something like that. But holding someone at knifepoint while driving? Had the car already been running, the windows would have been closed--it's cold--and all the guy has is a knife. (Then you would just lock the doors and what's he gonna do? Stab your window?) So the carjacker must have forced his way in while the guy was getting into his car. Was the passenger door broken? Am I to understand that a 26-year-old male was not, at minimum, able to dart out of the car while the guy was fiddling with the keys? It's hard to start a car and stab someone at the same time. Once out of the car, you're out of "knife range", so just run back into the liquor store. And just how exactly was that convenience store threat enforced? Did the carjacker follow him inside with the knife blade pressed up against his side through his jacket? Or did he just keep the blade trained on him through the window outside? And why on earth would this guy be honking the horn in an apartment complex at night? "Here I am! I just carjacked someone and emptied his back accounts! Please call the police with a noise complaint so they can come arrest me!" Nothing about this story makes any sense...

Posted 2:10 AM, 12.09.09 | Permalink