The two teenage brothers kidnapped by six armed men from a Catonsville home have sizable juvenile arrest records ? including drug-dealing charges, documents show.
Sterling Blackwell, 15, and Stephon Blackwell, 16, who were abducted Tuesday, each have been arrested five times, in separate incidents, by police in Baltimore City.
The older brother, Stephon, was arrested in August on marijuana charges; in 2006 on commercial burglary and second-degree assault charges; in 2005 on marijuana-distribution charges; and 2004 on charges of bringing a deadly weapon to Highlandtown Middle School, according to juvenile records.
The younger brother, Sterling, was arrested last year on charges of automobile theft in February and marijuana distribution in March; in 2005 on disorderly conduct charges; and in 1999 for a charge of second-degree assault, the records show.
None of the dispositions of those arrests could be determined Wednesday.
The two teens, their mother and seven other adults were asleep in a rented home in the 600 block of Plymouth Road at 3 a.m. when six armed masked men entered and bound everyone with duct tape, according to Baltimore County police.
The kidnappers left with the teens at about 11 a.m. in a black 2004 BMW 645 convertible with tinted windows and a dark Chevrolet Suburban. One kidnapper fired a shot at a relative following the car, but missed, police said.
The BMW was found Tuesday night in the 200 block of Glover Street in East Baltimore, north of Patterson Park, police said.
Baltimore County police spokesman Cpl. Mike Hill said police had been called to the home previously, but would not release when and for what reason, citing the “ongoing investigation.”
Two victims were not cooperating with police, Hill said.
“Two of the victims, we ended up putting in handcuffs,” Hill said. “In the process, one did have a large sum of money. Our whole focus is on the kidnapping at this moment. If there?s some other crime, like dope or something like that, we?ll deal with that later.
“Right now, our whole focus is on these two kids.”
Neighborhood residents were quick to point out how unusual the crime was for the Baltimore suburb.
“Any type of home invasion is absolutely disgusting,” said Baltimore County Councilman Sam Moxley, who represents Catonsville. “I hope the kids are returned safely and all of the wrongdoers are dealt with appropriately.”
“Anything like this disrupting this community is tragic.”
The Blackwells moved to Plymouth Road sometime between July 2006 and February 2007, according to statements the teens gave to police. However, at the time of their separate arrests in 2007, Stephon Blackwell told police he was attending an Anne Arundel County school and Sterling Blackwell said he was going to West Baltimore Middle School, documents show.
Linda Smith, president of the Westgate Community Association, said the kidnapping is “atypical” for the neighborhood.
“This was quite unsettling to my husband and I,” she said. “We?ve lived in this neighborhood for 42 years and this is not something we?ve seen.”
