bloodrayne
05-06-2005, 03:46 AM
Carjack Suspect Jump-Starts His Own Prosecution
After police recover auto, he calls to report it stolen
Baltimore, Maryland - Gregory Alston called police Tuesday morning to say his white Nissan Maxima had been stolen from in front of his apartment building.
Trouble is, the car wasn't his. Police say he had stolen it at gunpoint two weeks earlier. The only reason he couldn't find it was because the victim had spotted it and called police, who towed it away.
Not only did Alston not get the car back, police arrested him and jailed him on charges of armed robbery, possession of a stolen car and a handgun violation.
Why did Alston call police?
He had left his wallet in the car and wanted it back.
Even hardened Baltimore police officers were astonished. Detective Gregory Jenkins signed off his report with, "Again, this really happened."
Police say the carjacking occurred about 10:30 p.m. April 20 when Sunday Smith and Carrie Perez reported that a man armed with a silver handgun and wearing a black bandanna approached them while they were parked in the 5200 block of Moravia Road in Northeast Baltimore. The women said he pointed the gun and ordered them out of the car, and then drove off.
Twice in two weeks, police stopped Alston as he was driving the Maxima, once citing him for driving without a license. But the victims didn't know the car's temporary license tag number, making it impossible for police who stopped Alston to identify the car as stolen.
A Break In The Case
Detectives got their first break Tuesday when Smith spotted the car in front of an apartment building in the 5300 block of Eastbury Ave., about a half-mile from where the car had been taken.
"She just noticed it parked there," said Deputy Maj. Jim Rood of the Northeast District.
She called police, and Officer Ronaldo Morales responded and had the car towed to the Police Department's Northeast District headquarters.
Two hours later, Alston called police and reported the car stolen.
Again, Morales responded to the call, and the suspicious officer took Alston, 20, to the station for questioning.
Fuzzy Details
Rood said Alston initially told Detective Jenkins that he had bought the car for $1,700 on March 11, but was unable to provide details.
"He didn't know who he bought it from," the deputy major said. "He didn't know anything. So finally he just owned up and said it was a robbery."
Waiting It Out
According to a police report, the suspect told police he had carjacked the Maxima from two women, using a BB gun he then stashed under his mattress.
The report says that he told detectives he had let the car sit in a parking lot, "until he thought the dust settled, then began to drive the vehicle as if it were his own."
Jenkins wrote that Alston reported the car stolen because he wanted his wallet back, "and was trying to retrieve it without drawing suspicion to himself."
Jenkins said: "Another detective told me, 'Greg, you had to make this up.'"
After police recover auto, he calls to report it stolen
Baltimore, Maryland - Gregory Alston called police Tuesday morning to say his white Nissan Maxima had been stolen from in front of his apartment building.
Trouble is, the car wasn't his. Police say he had stolen it at gunpoint two weeks earlier. The only reason he couldn't find it was because the victim had spotted it and called police, who towed it away.
Not only did Alston not get the car back, police arrested him and jailed him on charges of armed robbery, possession of a stolen car and a handgun violation.
Why did Alston call police?
He had left his wallet in the car and wanted it back.
Even hardened Baltimore police officers were astonished. Detective Gregory Jenkins signed off his report with, "Again, this really happened."
Police say the carjacking occurred about 10:30 p.m. April 20 when Sunday Smith and Carrie Perez reported that a man armed with a silver handgun and wearing a black bandanna approached them while they were parked in the 5200 block of Moravia Road in Northeast Baltimore. The women said he pointed the gun and ordered them out of the car, and then drove off.
Twice in two weeks, police stopped Alston as he was driving the Maxima, once citing him for driving without a license. But the victims didn't know the car's temporary license tag number, making it impossible for police who stopped Alston to identify the car as stolen.
A Break In The Case
Detectives got their first break Tuesday when Smith spotted the car in front of an apartment building in the 5300 block of Eastbury Ave., about a half-mile from where the car had been taken.
"She just noticed it parked there," said Deputy Maj. Jim Rood of the Northeast District.
She called police, and Officer Ronaldo Morales responded and had the car towed to the Police Department's Northeast District headquarters.
Two hours later, Alston called police and reported the car stolen.
Again, Morales responded to the call, and the suspicious officer took Alston, 20, to the station for questioning.
Fuzzy Details
Rood said Alston initially told Detective Jenkins that he had bought the car for $1,700 on March 11, but was unable to provide details.
"He didn't know who he bought it from," the deputy major said. "He didn't know anything. So finally he just owned up and said it was a robbery."
Waiting It Out
According to a police report, the suspect told police he had carjacked the Maxima from two women, using a BB gun he then stashed under his mattress.
The report says that he told detectives he had let the car sit in a parking lot, "until he thought the dust settled, then began to drive the vehicle as if it were his own."
Jenkins wrote that Alston reported the car stolen because he wanted his wallet back, "and was trying to retrieve it without drawing suspicion to himself."
Jenkins said: "Another detective told me, 'Greg, you had to make this up.'"