Crime & Safety

Burglars Strike Columbia Jewelry Store by Smashing Wall: Crime Roundup

This information is supplied by the Howard County Police Department.

Columbia 

Commercial Robbery/burglary

Police say burglars broke a back window to Concentra, on the 6600 block of Dobbin Road, on Jan. 21 at 3:30 a.m. The burglars then used sledgehammers to break through the wall and gain access to J&D Jewelers, next door, according to police. Once inside the jewelry store, police say the burglars used a pick axe to break open jewelry display cases and steal an undetermined amount of jewelry.

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Police say a man entered the Exxon gas station on the 8200 block of Snowden River Parkway at about 1:45 a.m. on Jan. 19 with a yellow bandana over his face and showing a knife. The man demanded cash from the register, according to police, took three packs of cigarettes, and left.

The suspect is described as a black man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans with a yellow bandana and wearing gloves. 

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On Jan. 21 at about 4:30 a.m. police say a man used a rock to break the front glass of Sam’s Mart, on the 5800 block of Stevens Forest Road. An instant lottery dispenser was reported stolen. 

Police describe the three suspects as having light complexions and small builds. Two wore backpacks and one was wearing a light winter jacket.

Street robbery

Police say the victim was playing basketball at Talbot Springs Elementary School on Jan. 10 at about 3 p.m. with two boys when one asked to play a game on the victim’s father’s iPhone. Police say when the victim tried to get the phone back, the other boy punched him in the face and left with the phone. 

A delivery driver for Happy Garden restaurant was making a delivery on Jan. 21 at about 10 p.m. on Jan. 21 when he was accosted from behind by two men, according to police. The men punched the driver, police said, and took his  money then fled. Police were able to find them and the delivery driver identified them as his assaulters. Two men, 19 and 20 years old, both of Columbia, were arrested and face robbery, drug, assault and handgun charges. 

Residential burglary

A resident of the 5700 block of Twelve Months Court came home on Jan. 21 after 8 p.m. to find his front door unlocked and a man in his house, according to police. The burglar left through a back door, police said. The home had been ransacked, according to police, and an iPad was reported stolen. 

Police say someone broke into a house on the 6700 block of Sewells Orchard Drive sometime between Jan. 18 at about 11:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. the next day. The burglar entered through an open garage door, then an unlocked interior door, according to police. A purse and wallet were reported stolen.

Police say someone entered a home on Treefrog place on Jan. 20 sometime between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. and stole three Rolex watches, silver coins and a Nintendo Wii system.

Ellicott City

Residential burglary

Four homes on the 8600 block of Main Street were broken into between Jan. 20 at about 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. the next day, according to police:

  • In the first burglary, a lock was broken off of a trailer that contained ladies’ straw hats, according to police. Nothing was reported stolen. 
  • In the second burglary, police say someone pried open a trailer door and stole a framing nailer and a Sawzall. Both were later recovered. 
  • In the third burglary, police say someone forced a shed open and tools were stolen. Both these tools and those from the second burglary were later found on a hill behind a trail leading to St. Peter’s Church, according to police. 
  • In the fourth burglary, a home was entered without force, according to police. Jewelry and cash were reported stolen from the home and a snowblower was reported stolen from a shed behind the house.  

A homeowner arrived home to the 12200 block of Carroll Mill Road on Jan. 20 to find that sometime between 9 and 10:45 a.m. his interior garage door had been forced open, according to police. The homeowner also told police that his car was broken into between 9 and 10 a.m. while he was at church with his family on the 3100 block of Palskirk Drive.  A purse was reported stolen from the car and two jewelry boxes were reported stolen from the house.

Laurel 

Street Robbery

A man who implied he had a gun approached a woman on the 9100 block of Bourbon Street on Jan. 19 at about 3:40 a.m., according to police. The man demanded her wallet, police said, but when she said she didn’t have it, the man left.

According to police, a man on the 9500 block of Canterbury Riding was approached by a robber on Jan. 20 at about 11:45 p.m. The robber pointed a handgun at the victim and demanded his wallet, cell phone and keys, according to police. The victim’s keys were later recovered.

Residential burglary 

Someone entered a home on the 9300 block of Somersby Court on Jan. 20 at about 5 a.m. and stole a purse, according to police.

Jessup 

Commercial break-in

Someone cut the locks to the business yard at River Construction Group, on the 8500 block of Old Dorsey Run Road, late Jan. 20 or early the next day, according to police. The burglars stole tools, generators, copper wire and a Ford F450 dump truck.  The key to the truck was hidden inside the vehicle.

Dayton 

Residential burglary

A 35-year-old man with no fixed address was arrested after police say he tried to break into a house on the 14000 block of Howard Road on Jan. 18 at about 5:50 a.m.

Fulton

Residential burglary – attempt

Police say a victim discovered damage and tool marks to his overhead garage door on the 7500 block of Lairds Way on Jan. 20. No entry was gained.

Woodstock 

Commercial burglary

On Jan. 21 at about 3 a.m., someone broke into the Woodstock in, on the 1400 block of Woodstock Road, through an unlocked window, according to police. The burglar took cash from behind the bar. 

Hanover

Commercial burglary – attempt

Police say that sometime between Jan. 18 at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. the next day, someone tried to pry open a garage bay door at Allied  Automotive, on the 6300 block of Macaw Court.

County-wide vehicle thefts/attempted thefts

A 2010 white Ford van with was stolen from the 10600 block of Riggs Hill.

A 1998 gray Jeep Cherokee with the tags: MD M912490 was stolen from the 5700 block of Rowanberry Drive overnight on Jan. 18.

A 2011 Silver Hyundai Elantra with the tags: FL U958KT was stolen from the 7300 block of Kerry Hill Court on Jan. 20 around 1030 a.m.

A blue Yamaha ATV YSZ 450R was stolen from the 8500 block of Davis Road on Jan. 21 around 5:30 p.m.


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