A Temple Hills man pleaded guilty to armed robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime on Monday, the same day his trial was scheduled to start.
Raymund Antoine Bradford, 42, was arrested in November 2018 and charged with the March 21, 2018, robbery of Drive Up Liquors in Faulkner, according to charging documents written by Det. C. Gregory of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office. Bradford was arrested based on DNA present on evidence found at both the Faulkner crime scene and one in St. Mary’s County.
Around 2 p.m. the day of the crime, according to the statement of charges, the suspect, later identified as Bradford, entered the liquor store and approached the counter, where a clerk was on the phone. The suspect pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded he get behind the counter while cocking the weapon.
The suspect produced a backpack he began to fill with cigarettes, according to the report, and also emptied the contents of the cash register into it. While stealing the cigarettes, “the gun fired and a round struck [the victim] in the arm,” but the suspect continued taking the cigarettes.
While the suspect was occupied, the clerk retrieved a baseball bat. When the clerk confronted him, he “sprayed [the victim] in the face with a liquid substance,” at which point the report says the victim retreated to the office and locked the door and the suspect fled. As he did, the report states, “the suspect dropped a knife that was attached to a lanyard around his neck.”
Later that night, a witness contacted the sheriff’s office about the robbery earlier in the day, according to the report. The witness told officers she saw the suspect, who she described as a skinny man dressed in black, running across U.S. 301 approximately 10 minutes after the crime had occurred.
The witness also said that shortly thereafter, she was behind a silver Jaguar with Washington, D.C., tags on Charles Street. While stopped at a traffic light in the area of the Zekiah Swamp Run bridge, the witness said, the driver of the car tossed out a black knit hat, which they felt was “odd behavior.”
The following day, according to the report, Det. Riffle of the CCSO reviewed a bulletin from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office about a robbery that had occurred at the McKay’s grocery store in Charlotte Hall. The suspect in that case was dressed similarly to the man who had robbed the Faulkner store and had left a screwdriver behind.
Both the screwdriver and knife were collected to test for DNA, which returned a positive match for Bradford in September. The investigation showed he had been stopped in both counties while driving a silver Jaguar with D.C. registration, according to the report.
Bradford stole $912 worth of Newport cigarettes and $2,394 in cash, per the report.
Armed robbery carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, as does the use of a firearm charge. Bradford will be sentenced Sept. 26.
Originally Posted on The Maryland Independent: