Wanted Suspect Under Arrest After Crime Spree In Cambridge – Police Involved Shooting Under Investigation

(CAMBRIDGE, MD) — A suspect wanted in Frederick County was arrested in Dorchester County this afternoon after he allegedly committed multiple crimes and struck a police vehicle during his escape from one scene when he was shot at by police, but was not hit.

The suspect is identified as Allen M. Hooks, 29, of Frederick, Md.  He is charged by Maryland State Police with carjacking, robbery, and three counts each of first degree assault and second degree assault.  Additional charges are pending from the Cambridge Police Department stemming from a liquor store robbery.  Hooks is also wanted on warrants from Frederick County.  The suspect will be taken to the Dorchester County Detention Center tonight for an initial appearance before a court commissioner to determine bond.

Shortly before 1:00 p.m. today, officers from the Cambridge Police Department were dispatched to an armed robbery in progress at a liquor store in the Dorchester Shopping Center.  When they arrived they learned a white male in a dark hooded sweatshirt had just attempted to rob the store and fled in a blue car.  A broadcast was issued for the vehicle and was monitored by two Cambridge Police Department officers who were in a covert vehicle nearby.

While monitoring the area, the officers saw the suspect vehicle driving out of a gas station in the 2900-block of Ocean Gateway, Cambridge.  According to the preliminary investigation, the suspect vehicle struck the covert police vehicle and then made a U-turn in the parking lot.  During this time, a shot was fired at the suspect vehicle by one of the officers.  The suspect was not hit by the shot.  The suspect vehicle fled the lot and traveled down Bucktown Road toward the airport.

State Police investigators have determined the suspect pulled his vehicle to the side of the road and flagged down a passing motorist.  The driver stopped and the suspect ordered him out of his vehicle.  The driver asked if he could get his young child out of the vehicle and the suspect agreed before fleeing in the stolen car.  The driver and his child reported no injuries during the incident.

Officers from the Cambridge Police Department located the stolen car near Ravenwood Drive and the suspect fled on foot.  After a brief foot pursuit, he was taken into custody by officers.

Due to the police-involved shooting, Cambridge Police Chief Mark Lewis requested the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit to respond and conduct an investigation.  Upon completion of that investigation, it will be presented to the Dorchester County State’s Attorney’s Office for review.  Due to the crimes committed outside the city of Cambridge, State Police are also investigating those incidents and have filed criminal charges against the suspect.

Further investigation determined that after the attempted robbery at the liquor store, the suspect went to the gas station and, while wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and a face mask, ordered the clerk to surrender money, which she did.  She did not report any injuries.  The suspect fled the store with an undetermined amount of cash just before running into the covert police vehicle as he attempted to leave the parking lot.

Troopers determined the car the suspect was driving when he committed the gas station robbery was a vehicle reported stolen yesterday in Frederick County.  That vehicle was recovered where the suspect abandoned it before carjacking the driver this afternoon.

State Police crime scene technicians responded to process the scenes.  The stolen vehicles were recovered and processed for evidence.  Police recovered cash from the suspect after his arrest.

Maryland State Police Homicide Unit investigators were assisted today by State Police investigators from the Criminal Enforcement Division, the Computer Crimes Unit and the Forensic Sciences Division.  Additional assistance was provided by the Cambridge Police Department, the Dorchester County Drug Task Force and the Dorchester County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The investigation is continuing.

Allen M. Hooks