Brazen early morning armed robberies have South Baltimore residents on edge

BALTIMORE -- At least three armed robberies early Wednesday morning have shaken Baltimore's Locust Point and Riverside communities.

Baltimore police confirmed to WJZ that the crimes happened in the 1400 block of Andre Street, the 1800 block of Byrd Street and the 200 block of East Wells Street between 12:20 a.m. and 2:40 a.m.

"It actually happened right here. The poor guy was in his car," Jennifer Klein told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "Two gentlemen walked up, they had ski masks on, banged on his window. They took his phone. It was at gunpoint, and they took his money."

Klein is a business owner on Andre Street in Locust Point. Her salon's doorbell camera connects remotely to her phone, and she was stunned at the call she received just after midnight. 

"Yeah, hi," the victim said on the call. "I just got robbed at gunpoint. They took my phone and everything. So, I need to get inside."

Klein asked the victim if he was OK and did what she could to help him.

She noted that police were initially only going to take the report over the phone, but eventually came to the scene. 

"The cops did come," she said. "They did say they were teenagers and they were going to look into it." 

Klein has lived in South Baltimore her entire life and feels like crime is getting worse.

"Everybody just turns a blind eye. Everyone keeps wanting to say, 'We're got to do better. We've got to do better.' But nobody's doing better," she said. "You shouldn't have to move away from crime. They need to fix it. We can't keep running."

In Riverside, where the other armed robberies happened, the commotion got Emily Neidenberg out of bed. 

"I remember being woken up around 1 a.m. and the cops were outside trying to just get information about the robberies," she said. "It is concerning. I've lived here since 2020, I feel like the crime rate has increased drastically—just in the last few weeks it feels like that."

Hellgren spoke to someone close to the Byrd Street victim. He said she was parking her car after coming home from a late shift at work when two people approached her wearing balaclava-style masks and took her money at gunpoint. She was not physically harmed but was shaken by the violent encounter.

Police have not said whether the armed robberies are connected.

They are looking for any video from the public that can help solve these brazen crimes. 

Neidenberg told WJZ she has begun to change her routine. 

"I take off my engagement ring when I'm walking around, and I try not to walk my dog after dark," she said.

In:
• Baltimore
• Crime