A robbery suspect led police on a high-speed chase from Baltimore County to the city, before barricading himself inside a row house in West Baltimore Thursday.
County police said the man robbed a Shell station in Reisterstown around 11 a.m., “strong-arming” a female clerk and taking an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.
The suspect was not armed during the robbery, police added.
After he fled the scene in a gray Mazda, a Baltimore County police officer chased the suspect into the city. The suspect drove from Liberty Road to West Lafayette Street, where he then abandoned his vehicle and barricaded himself inside a row house on the 2200 block of West Lafayette. It was unclear if the suspect lives in the house.
City SWAT teams responded to the scene, but police officials said they did not knowwhether the suspect was armed.
“At this point it?s a standoff,” Detective Donnie Moses, spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department, said in the late afternoon.
Police had cordoned off a six-block area around the house.
Rumors circulated that the suspect may have taken a dog hostage, but police officials said they did not know if the rumors were true.
“We heard there was a pit bull in the house, but we?re not sure if it?s alive,” said Baltimore County Police spokesman Cpl. Michael Hill. He said county police were on the scene to investigate the robbery and assist the city. As of press time, the standoff was ongoing.
