County police arrested a 34-year-old bandit Wednesday night and charged him with the robberies of 13 businesses in three counties since last month.
Martin Joseph Baldwin of St. Leonard in Charles County was being held in the county detention center yesterday on a $20,000 bond.
Baldwin was arrested as the result of investigations into the armed robbery of a Subway restaurant in the 1500 block of Annapolis Roadin Lanham at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
A witness in the restaurant saw the license plate number of the getaway car and reported it to Prince George's County police. Later that evening, a civilian police volunteer riding along with an officer from Anne Arundel County heard the lookout for the robber, police spokesman Officer V. Richard Molloy said.Police also received a tip that the gunman was staying in a motel inthe Annapolis area.
On his way home at about 11:30 p.m., the volunteer decided to ride through some hotel parking lots in Annapolis. He found the car, although police would not say where.
Police arrested Baldwin at the hotel. Searching his car, they found a pellet gun and several pieces of clothing that were described by witnesses in the robberies.
During an interview with detectives, he admitted to robbing 13 businesses, including three in Crofton, since Oct. 16, police said.
Police identified those robberies as: Oct. 17, Admiral Cleaners in the 1600 block of Crofton Center; Oct. 28, the Crofton Animal Hospital in the 1000 block of Route 3 North; Nov. 11, LaDestro's Dry Cleaning in the 1600 block of Route 3 North.
PASADENA GIRL, 15, ASSAULTED BY BICYCLIST
A 15-year-old Pasadena girl was assaulted Tuesday afternoon as she walked along Lynn Avenue in Pasadena.
Countypolice said the girl was walking down the street at 3 p.m. when a man on a mountain bike rode up to her and said, "Steve sent me to beat you up." He punched her in the face and she fell to the ground.
The girl told police Steve was her ex-boyfriend, whom she had broken upwith a few days before.
She described her attacker as a white manabout 6-foot-3, with dark brown hair and wearing a black jacket.
The following break-ins have been reported to county police:
Edgewater:
500 block of Mayo Road: Oct. 28, entry gained through the door. Tools taken. Loss: $600.
Pasadena:
900 block of Druid Hill Avenue: Nov. 8, entry gained through the window. Money and a purse taken. Loss: Unknown.