By Kay Wicker
Elm Staff Writer
- Photo courtesy of Anna Streigl
A string of three armed robberies rocked Chestertown this winter break.
The first robbery occurred late in the evening of Jan. 4 at the Maple Avenue Royal Farms. The suspect was later apprehended on Washington College’s campus.
The suspect had been staying at the Driftwood Inn. When the police were closing in on him, he fled on foot and took refuge in a Cecil House bathroom, where he was then found and arrested.
There was no damage to the dorm, nor were any of the rooms disturbed. WBOC television station reports that a Maryland State Police Trooper did receive minor injuries while attempting to capture the perpetrator, who has been identified as 29-year-old Judge Barrett Anthony.
“We’ve since gone back and fixed the mechanical issues with the door, [in Cecil House]” Director of Public Safety Gerald Roderick said. “That [incident] wrapped up pretty quickly, so we didn’t get a chance to send out an alert until the following morning to update the campus on what had happened.”
The following two crimes did not directly affect the WC campus, but January was still a frenzied month for Chestertown.
The Dollar General was robbed around 9:15 a.m. on Jan. 11. According to The Chestertown Spy, the case is unsolved but police are reviewing video footage in hopes of apprehending the suspect.
The Washington Avenue BB&T Bank was robbed at around 2:50 p.m. on Jan. 11.
With the news of the various disturbances, some members of the student body felt anxious about returning to Chestertown.
“I was a little bit more unsettled at first I suppose. At the time I connected the [Royal Farms] one to the other crime that happened earlier in the year with the mugging. So that’s why it was unsettling to me at first. I’m aware there’s crime, but those are random acts of crime and that’s what really freaks me out,” said freshman Maddie Zins.
“I wasn’t too worried to return to school. I feel like if you know when and where to go and when and where not to go, you’ll be okay.”
Although many students consider Chestertown a relatively crime-free area, Roderick said that students should still excersize caution.
“Students should be aware and to be aware means several different things,” Roderick said. “One is taking the responsibility for the security of your personal items, by keeping your car locked, keeping your dorm room locked. Not leaving opportunities for people to easily steal from you. You know not leaving your laptop out sitting on the table.”
“It makes you think what would have happened had we been on campus.” Freshman Kristen Hammond said.
According to Roderick, students can remain safe “by making themselves a hard target. The harder the target the less likely they are to become victims. There steps that we can all take to reduce the probability of crime happening to us. Be aware of their personal surroundings too. Call us if anything suspicious is happening. Be aware of your friends going out and coming home. When you’re going out for an evening, you know keep track of everyone. Make plans and stick to them.”
Crime affecting WC’s campus are not just holiday occurances. Roderick said that more personal crimes are reported when students are on campus.
Crimes of this nature are so seldom in Chestertown that “last year there were only sied robberies,” Roderick said.