The three carjackings and robberies of older men in the parking lot of Westfield Wheaton Plaza was the latest in a string of crimes allegedly committed by suspect Henry Levi Sanders in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in the past two weeks.
Judge Tiffany Anderson scolded Sanders as she ordered him held with no bond, saying he has multiple convictions, pending trials and failures to appear. She called him a flight risk.
Prince George's County States Attorney Angela Alsobrooks called Sanders a danger to the community.
"He is violent,” she said. “He's a repeat offender. He is dangerous."
Alsobrooks explained that on Nov. 13 Sanders was released on $100,000 bond facing trial for carjacking and robbery. It was while out on bond that he allegedly attacked three more victims in Prince George's County. Most of his victims were men in their 60s and 70s, but one was 37 and shopping at a Home Depot.
Surveillance video allegedly showed Sanders in a Redskins jacket with his victim at an ATM demanding he withdraw money.
"We drove about a mile from Home Depot,” victim Fasil Gebremedhin said. “He pulled out a knife and said, ‘I'm going to kill you.’"
After the three carjackings at Wheaton Plaza, Montgomery County police received tips from the public that pointed to Sanders. Learning that Prince George's County police had an arrest warrant for Sanders, they searched his home in Landover and allegedly found evidence that tied him to the Wheaton attacks.
Montgomery and Prince George's authorities are cooperating.
"After we prosecute him here in Prince George's County, they can put him on trial in Montgomery as well," Alsobrooks said.
