An alert Maryland state trooper who spotted an erratic driver on the Capital Beltway in Prince George’s County Saturday morning ended up stopping more than a dangerous driver.
Trooper Barrington Cameron ended up saving a family of four from a suspect who was planning to have one of the victims help rob a bank.
The suspect, an African American male believed to be in his late teens or early 20s, and his cohort, also described as an African American male, followed a Sun Trust Bank manager home Friday night.
As the woman walked into her house, she was accosted by the two suspects who displayed a gun and knife and ordered her into the house. The suspects tied up the woman and her husband with electrical cord and remained with them in the home overnight. They also held the victim's two sons, ages 8 and 11, hostage.
On Saturday, one suspect drove the family at gunpoint in a Mitsubishi Gallant to the bank, planning to have the bank manager assist the robbery when the bank opened at 9 a.m. The other suspect allegedly remained in the victim's house.
However, authorities found no one at the family's home Saturday afternoon. Police are still searching for that person.
The first suspect, whose true identity is unknown, is currently being examined at Prince George’s Hospital. While in custody at the College Park Barracks today, he put his shirt around this neck and tied it to the cell door in an attempt to hang himself.
The duty officer saw the suspect do this and quickly responded to the cell and rescued him. He was transported, awake and alert, by ambulance to the hospital just before 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
State Police are working with federal authorities to make a positive identification.
Charges are pending.
