Justin Mulcahy, a county police spokesman, said the unidentified woman contacted police this morning after learning officers needed to speak with her. She was being interviewed this afternoon so police could learn what exactly happened when a shoplifter, running from mall security, got into the woman's moving vehicle on Bestgate Road.
At about 3 p.m. a man used a box cutter to cut a cell phone and MP3 player off a display at the Sears store in the Parole mall.
Loss prevention officers saw the theft and chased the shoplifter through the mall, out the Lord & Taylor store, through the parking lot and across Bestgate Road, said Justin Mulcahy, a county police spokesman.
The shoplifter ran to a light-colored, four-door sedan, possibly a
Toyota Camry, which was stopped at an intersection. The driver, a woman, tried to drive away, but the shoplifter opened the back passenger door and jumped inside.
The woman drove about 50 yards before stopping near Industrial Drive. Witnesses told police the shoplifter then jumped out of the car and tried to run.
Security officers then caught up with him. Police said he pulled out the box cutter and swung it at the officers, but they were eventually able to get him under control and hold him on the sidewalk.
Police arrived at the scene to investigate and were informed of what happened.
Arthur Tyler Felton, 38, of 101 Victor Parkway in Annapolis, was arrested and charged with theft, two counts of assault, drug possession and carrying a concealed, dangerous weapon.
He is being held at the Jennifer Road Detention Center in Parole on $150,000 bond following a bail review hearing at District Court in Annapolis yesterday.
According to electronic court records, Felton servedabout halfof a 30-year sentence for the 1991 murder of a 6-year-old girl in Baltimore. Records show he violated his probation in 2006,shortlyafter his release from prison.
Surveillance footage captured from outside a nearby business shows Felton running to the sedan, opening the back door on the driver's side and getting into the vehicle as the woman tried to drive away.
Police said after Felton got out of the vehicle, the woman continued driving and did not stop or call for help.
Police asked for the public's assistance in identifying the woman so they could get more information, and seek additional charges for attempted carjacking and other offenses, Mulcahy said.
Until today, police only had witness accounts and surveillance footage to go on.
If you encounter other problems, please email nlundskow@capitalgazette.com and include your name, username, and any errors or messages that are displayed. The more information you can provide, the better able we will be to assist you.
In order to post or vote on a comment, you must be signed in with a hometownannapolis account.
Take a look at a summary of Commenting Guidelines.
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 3
0
2005 - 2010-07-30 08:10:28
Sorry, the Liberals are the prosecutors, judges and the parole board and the social workers that the prisoners hoodwink. Ehrlich only had 4 years to attempt to cure the problem after 35 years of Liberals running the state's criminal justice system into the ground.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Emily Galil - Suffolk, Va - Karma: Terrible
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 0
1
2005 - 2010-07-29 21:29:46
if he was paroled in 2005, I think that makes him one of Erlich's parolees if I am not mistaken. So the liberal argument does not hold water here...
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
salionna king - millersville, md - Karma: Neutral
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 2
2
30 years? - 2010-07-29 20:00:14
How the heck can you kill someone and get 30 years?Then he didnt even serve the 30.The sentencing guidelines in this state and other states needs to be fixed big time.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
bob builder - annapolis, md - Karma: Terrible
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 0
0
Justice - 2010-07-29 18:52:34
We need to start taking this animals out back of the courthouse and put them down like the animals they are. Look what happened in Baltimore, because the liberal courts let the animal out of jail.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Dave Swanson - Millersville, Md - Karma: Excellent
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 2
3
Here in Virginia - 2010-07-29 18:35:10
We would have kept him locked up.
Serving less than half a sentence for shooting a little girl is pathetic.
Maryland is a laughingstock when it comes to criminal justice and your crime worsens because you refuse to incarcerate violent offenders.
Just last week a gentleman was murdered in Baltimore AFTER giving up his wallet. His murderers? A couple with long records that should have still been in prison.
I can hear it now from the sob-sisters; "All's he did was take a phone." and "He aint mean to shoot that girl."
Pathetic.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Emily Galil - Suffolk, Va - Karma: Terrible
If you encounter other problems, please email nlundskow@capitalgazette.com and include your name, username, and any errors or messages that are displayed. The more information you can provide, the better able we will be to assist you.