News4’s Jackie Bensen has more on how police say the man is getting inside strangers’ homes. Correction (Tuesday, April 9, 2024): Prince George’s County police say the suspect implied he had a knife, not a gun. This video has been updated.
It’s chilling.
A man wearing a mask, Crocs and gloves walks into an apartment early Saturday morning while the occupants are asleep. He walks past the family cat, making his way through the dining room, until he realizes he’s caught on camera.
The blurry security image captures the moment when he looks directly at the camera. He then quickly runs out of the apartment without taking anything. It’s not immediately clear why.
Four similar crimes have occurred at apartments in the 9800 and 9900 block of Good Luck Road in Lanham, Maryland, since Thursday. Valuables were stolen from some of those apartments, according to the Prince George’s County police.
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In a robbery at about 5 a.m. Monday, the man implied he had a weapon, took property from the victims and left, police said.
“We’re very concerned. It is indeed a small number of apartments over there that we’ve seen thus far. We have detectives out all day,” Capt. Todd Dolihite said.
The suspect entered the apartments through an unlocked window or door, according to police.
Police warned residents and spoke to apartment staff about the importance of home security.
“Warmer weather during the day, and it gets cooler at night, sometimes people leave their windows open, or doors cracked open,” Dolihite said. “We would highly encourage everyone to lock the doors, secure your windows once you go to bed.”
Police developed 22-year-old Augustine Koroma as a suspect in Monday morning's robbery and arrested him late Monday night on an unrelated warrant for second-degree assault. They found evidence from the robbery at Koroma's home and expect to file more charges against him.
