Robbery Suspect Falls Into Storm Drain While Running From Police
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- An armed robbery suspect is under guard at a Maryland hospital after falling 12 feet into a concrete storm drainage system while trying to elude police.
This incident began just before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, when Maryland State Police troopers were called about an armed robbery at Liberty Gas Station, located in the 20500 block of Jefferson Boulevard, near Hagerstown.
Witnesses said the suspect fled in a 2008 Honda Accord.
A trooper in an unmarked vehicle saw the suspect's vehicle nearby, and tried to stop the suspect on Medical Campus Drive.
The driver, later identified as Dennis Von Gundy, 26, initially pulled over, but then drove off again.
The Hagerstown Police Department and Washington County's Sheriff's Office assisted Maryland State Police during the four-minute pursuit, which ended when the suspect hit two MSP vehicles while going the wrong way in an alley in Hagerstown.
Von Gundy then got out of the car and ran about a block, before jumping over a wall and falling 12 feet into a concrete storm drainage system.
Fire crews helped get him out, and he was taken into custody.
A passenger in the vehicle, 18-year-old Courtney Miranda Ruppenthal, was also taken to a hospital and is now in custody.
A trooper was treated at a hospital for minor injuries to his arm. He has since been released.
No other injuries were reported.
Authorities believe Von Gundy may also be responsible for a robbery at the 7-Eleven on Salem Ave. in Hagerstown earlier in the morning.
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