Two men were arrested amid the ongoing unrest in Baltimore on Tuesday night after stealing a Maryland Transit Administration mobility van that police then tracked through GPS, a MTA spokesman confirmed.
Antonio Chase, 30, and Daniel Edward Parker, 31, have both been charged with armed carjacking, armed robbery and first-degree assault, among other charges, in the incident, according to online court records.
Rick Binetti, the MTA spokesman, said both men also have been charged with violating the 10 p.m. curfew instituted by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake after rioting broke out in the city Monday over the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray.
Gray died April 19 after being arrested April 12 and suffering a severe spinal cord injury while in police custody. Six Baltimore Police officers were charged in connection with his death Friday.
Binetti said the mobility van was stolen about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday near the corner of N. Mount and Baker streets — the same corner where Gray was removed from a police van during his arrest so officers could place him in leg shackles.
The van's operator had just dropped off an MTA customer at the location when Chase and Parker approached, pulled her out of the van and "took off," Binetti said.
The operator, who was not injured, ran to Baltimore Police officers stationed nearby and told them the van had been stolen, Binetti said. Those officers called MTA Police, who tracked the van through GPS to the Cherry Hill neighborhood in South Baltimore, near Cherry Hill and Giles roads, Binetti said.
There, MTA Police located the van. As they approached, Chase and Parker ran, Binetti said.
Officers chased and caught them, taking them into custody "without incident," Binetti said.
The van was recovered without damage, he said. No weapons were found.
There were no reports the van was used in any other crimes during the incident, Binetti said.
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