Two 16-year-old males were arrested for allegedly robbing Daniel Murphy, a Baltimore Police Department deputy commissioner, and his wife.
Murphy and his wife were near Patterson Park around 9 p.m. on July 19 when they were robbed at gunpoint, police said late Friday.
Kahree Fowlkes and Kamal Godwin, both residents of Baltimore, were slated to be charged as adults for armed robbery, the Baltimore Police Department said over the weekend.
According to the website for a criminal defense attorney in Maryland, armed robbery is “a mix of theft and assault” and in the state is “generally treated more severely than other types of assault or theft charges.” The maximum penalty is 20 years in prison.
Two other suspects linked to the robbery are still on the lam. According to WBAL-TV, Murphy told investigators that a white SUV pulled up near him and his wife and the two teens got out and displayed a gun. A description was not made available for the two people who remained in the vehicle during the robbery.
Murphy is from New Orleans, according to WBAL-TV. WJZ noted that he was nominated to his post in March.
According to court records obtained by the Baltimore Sun, both teenagers allegedly committed crimes within days both before and after the robbery of Murphy and his wife.
That included an armed carjacking on July 20, one day after the pair was robbed. Godwin was also charged with unlawful taking of a vehicle, armed robbery, and assault that police said occurred on July 25.
Carjacking carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
According to the Baltimore Police Department (pdf), there have been 2,353 robberies and 7,734 larcenies in the city this year as of July 6. That includes 1,471 robberies on the street.
The crime statistics indicate that there have also been 165 homicides, 374 non-fatal shootings, and 5,392 violent crimes in the city in the first half of the year.
Murphy Speaks, Another Robbery
Murphy said at a press conference on Thursday that what happened was difficult.
“It was certainly a difficult incident, but I’m committed to the work ahead. We are here because there is tremendous need for change in this city, and we are here to transform this police department and help the community,” Murphy told reporters.
“My wife and I are very fortunate to be safe, so many in our community are suffering from far more.”
Police gave an update over the weekend regarding the hunt for suspects caught on camera robbing another police employee, a civilian.
Video footage showed the man being assaulted by teens in broad daylight. A reward of up to $32,000 was being offered by the Baltimore Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
The employee is 59-year-old and had his vehicle stolen after being beaten, police said in a statement about the 6 a.m., July 24 robbery.
Detectives from the Baltimore Police Citywide Robbery Unit were working on the case with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, police said. The suspects were described as two males and one female.
“That is extremely shocking and look at where it happened,” Police Commissioner Michael Harrison told WJZ. “It’s extremely shocking to the conscience, extremely worrisome and troublesome and disturbing and yes, we are deploying all of our resources in the most aggressive way—but not abusive—to be in as many places as we can to deter it.”
Anyone with information on the identity of the three suspects seen in this video was asked to call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7Lockup.
