The stranger pounding on Richard Harmon's back door in Jessup that Saturday evening cried and trembled. The young woman told Harmon how she'd been attacked at the post office right across the street by six youths who threw her on the ground and stole her car.
Neither Harmon nor the woman knew that less than an hour earlier, police say, these young men forced open the door of a brick dormitory and fled the unfenced grounds of Cedar Knoll, a District of Columbia youth detention center in Laurel, about two miles south of Harmon's home.
That was Feb. 8. The U.S. Park Police say five of the eight youths who ran off that day have been recaptured, and the woman's 1988 Chevy Beretta was recovered in Washington.
On Feb. 15 and 17, six more youths escaped, prompting Washington Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly to replace Cedar Knoll's two top administrators and call for a review of management and security procedures at the 34-year-old institution.
Residents of the Anne Arundel County communities closest to Cedar Knoll -- Jessup and Maryland City -- say it's about time Washington wakes up to what they view as a clear danger -- a minimum-security centerhousing more serious offenders than it was designed to hold.
"It's getting in the papers now, but it's nothing that hasn't been happening for years," said Ray Smallwood, president of the Maryland City Civic Association.
"We're concerned and we're frustrated," said Melanie Gutjahr, vice president of the Jessup Improvement Association.
Although residents have lived for years among seven state prisons --including an institution for the criminally insane just over the line in Howard County -- Gutjahr said the recent spate of Cedar Knoll escapes sent a wave of fear through her neighborhood.
Anne Arundel County Police Maj. William H. Donoho, patrol commander for the westernand southern districts, said that aside from the assault and car theft on Feb. 8, he could not link any local crimes to Cedar Knoll escapes. But, he said, "I think we'd be pretty naive to think that didn't occur. Just common sense tells you people on the run like that have the capacity to do whatever they want to do."
Larry Brown, spokesman for the D.C. Department of Human Services, said that 43 youths haveescaped from the grounds of Cedar Knoll since Jan. 1, 1990. During that time, another 49 fled the custody of Cedar Knoll staff members while on outside jobs or school assignments, and 85 more did not returnfrom unsupervised home visits or special leave.
A 16-year-old boywho went AWOL from a school assignment in Washington in Sept. 26 wascharged last month with the robbery and killing of a Capitol Heightsstore clerk on Feb. 26.
Brown said that 176 boys between 14 and 20 years old are now held at Cedar Knoll, some after being convicted as juvenile offenders, some while awaiting trial. In Washington, they are considered juveniles until they turn 21. The inmates are supervised by 82 staff officers, with social workers, teachers, therapists and medical staff.
The reason it's been difficult to prevent escapesfrom Cedar Knoll, Brown said, is that there is no fence around the perimeter of the 22-acre campus.
"It's easy to just walk away," he said. He said one maximum-security building at Cedar Knoll is enclosed by a fence topped with barbed wire, but it accommodates only about 25 inmates.
Brown said the cost of installing a fence was estimated a few years ago at $1 million. Congress set aside $190,000 in 1990 to improve security, but the money was never spent and Brown said it's not enough to secure the place.
The minimum security was less ofa problem when Cedar Knoll opened in 1958. Since the 1960s, however,boys have been sent to Cedar Knoll for more serious offenses.
A Cedar Knoll staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that about three-quarters of the boys are sent to Cedar Knoll for drug charges, primarily possession with intent to sell. Most of the rest are in for burglary and car theft; some are there for assault. Those sent to Cedar Knoll on gun charges or more violent offenses are held in the maximum-security building until there is room for them at Oak Hill, the crowded maximum-security juvenile prison next door.
Decades ago, the staff member said, a gun charge would be rare, as Cedar Knoll was populated primarily by juveniles who were declared "uncontrollable" or were constantly absent from school.
Brown stopped shortof characterizing the youngsters there now as more violent. But, he said, "You understand, the society is different. Drugs weren't as prevalent" in the early years of Cedar Knoll.
The staff member was not as circumspect.
"They were a different breed than they are today," the staff member said. "The crimes are more serious. They don't give a damn about you. They have no respect whatsoever. . . . They carenothing about life. All they care about is getting even."
Cedar Knoll has occasionally been compelled to accept inmates from Oak Hill when Oak Hill runs out of room. Both Brown and the staff member said this seldom happens, and Brown said those inmates are placed in CedarKnoll's maximum-security section.
Brown said, "The D.C. government wants to be a good neighbor in that community," but he said Cedar Knoll's facilities have not changed with its inmates.
The institution was supposed to close in December 1987 under a court order, but that deadline has been pushed back repeatedly. The spate of escapes prompted state Del. Tyras S. "Bunk" Athey and U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer to demand that Washington close Cedar Knoll.
The residents of Jessup and Maryland City know that the youngsters at Cedar Knoll are not the truants of decades ago, and while escapes from Cedar Knoll are oldnews, they have become increasingly frightening.
"It's pretty unsettling to come out in your yard and see helicopters overhead" searching for escapees, said Gutjahr.
She was talking about the night ofFeb. 17, when four youths broke out, attacked two counselors on the grounds and ran off. They were later captured by Fort Meade military police and National Security Agency guards near the NSA.
The next day, Kelly announced the shake-up at Cedar Knoll, putting prison officials from the Lorton, Va., youth center in charge and ordering the Department of Human Services and the Department of Corrections to "restore accountability" for the management of Cedar Knoll.
That's been a big part of the problem, say area residents and police officials.No one seems to be in charge, especially when youths escape into thecommunity.
"No one cares. I mean, everyone's saying 'It's not my job, it's not my responsibility,' " Gutjahr said. "It's hard to get the powers-that-be to take responsibility."
"We used to not even know there was a breakout," said Smallwood, who serves as Maryland City's volunteer fire chief. "The only way we could tell there was a breakout was we'd see that security car driving through the community."
Gutjahr said the state prison blasts a siren when a prisoner escapes, alerting residents to call a special phone number for recorded information about the escapees. Archie Gee, warden of the Patuxent Institution, said all seven Maryland prisons are included in the three-year-old warning system. He offered to include Cedar Knoll in the systemif Maryland and District of Columbia prison officials approve.
Last March, officials of Cedar Knoll, the Park Police, the Maryland City fire company, county and state police informally agreed on procedures to follow in case of escapes and agreed to quickly share information. It was an attempt to resolve the confusion over jurisdiction thatsometimes arises during Cedar Knoll escapes. The county and state police have no authority on the grounds, which is federal property leased by the District of Columbia.
The March 1991 protocol has not been followed consistently, said Donoho. He calls the Feb. 8 incident "a classic example" of Cedar Knoll's failure to notify local police ofescapes.
Harmon called 911 to report the attack on the woman and the car theft at 8:04 p.m., Donoho said, 14 minutes before the state police were notified of the escape and 34 minutes before the Park Police were told. Under the procedures established a year ago, Cedar Knoll was supposed to notify the Park Police first. Park Police Maj. Robert Hines said that in many cases, Cedar Knoll officials choose to handle escapes themselves without the help of Park Police.
Donoho said that another meeting is scheduled at county police headquarters for March 18 among state, federal, county and Cedar Knoll officials. Hesaid he intends to stress to Cedar Knoll's management that police officers need quick answers about the escapees -- their appearance, charges against them and whether they're armed or dangerous.
At Thursday night's meeting of the Maryland City Civic Association, resident Donna Uhlich lamented the fact that her community often feels forgotten by Anne Arundel County, as it is tucked between Fort George G. Meade and the Howard County line, and in this case ignored by the District of Columbia.
"The thing is, out of sight, out of mind," she said.
That skepticism about official expressions of concern for the westernmost corner of the county was shared by Maryland City resident George Winstead.
"I've lived here for 28 years," he said at the civic association meeting. "I'll tell you when they'll do something about it -- when there's a tragedy."