State v. Arron William Saunders, C-08-CR-21-000288
LA PLATA, MD—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, Charles County Circuit Court Judge William R. Greer, Jr. sentenced Arron William Saunders, 25, to 30 years, with all but 15 years suspended in prison for Armed Robbery, Use of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime of Violence, and related charges. Upon release, Saunders will be on supervised probation for a period of five years.
On November 5, 2020, officers responded to a parking lot located in the 11800 block of Oak Manor Drive in Waldorf for the report of an armed robbery. Upon arrival, officers made contact with the victims, who reported that they were robbed by a suspect who had short dreads and was wearing a dark hoodie, jeans, and face mask.
An investigation revealed that three victims were located inside of the vehicle prior to the armed robbery. One of the victims left his friend’s car to retrieve his Apple Air Pods that were located inside of his residence, which was a short distance away. While retrieving the Apple Air Pods, he observed the mother of his child arrive in a dark colored passenger car to drop off their son. He also observed an unidentified male in the car with her, later determined to be Saunders.
Shortly after the victim returned to his friend’s car, Saunders opened the driver’s side door and brandished a handgun, demanding the occupants give him everything that was in their pockets. During the course of the robbery, one of the victims gave Saunders resistance. Saunders threatened that he would kill the occupants of the car, then fired a bullet into the air. After taking the victims’ possessions, the suspect fired more shots toward the occupied car, striking it. He then fled in the direction of the dark colored passenger car.
During the investigation, officers observed surveillance footage of Saunders that matched the description given by the victims.
At sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Gerst asked for a 45-year sentence, noting Saunders’ prior offenses, and stating, “not only was this a robbery, but shots were fired.”
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