Tipster Leads Police To Suspect In Robbery
COLUMBIA, Md. (WJZ) -- Dozens inside a restaurant watched as a woman punched another woman before robbing her. But it wasn't the witnesses who led police to their suspect. Rather, it was people watching at home.
Gigi Barnett has more on the key piece of evidence in the investigation.
It's one of the clearest examples of crime caught on tape. A woman attacked another woman, punched her multiple times, grabbed her purse and left. The Memorial Day weekend attack happened in Columbia. The bartender working that night was shocked.
"I heard someone yelling in the entrance hallway and so I went ahead and hopped over there and I saw the victim on the ground," said Kevin Fremming, Second Chance Saloon. "We went over the tape and saw that it was not only an assault but a robbery."
"We often have security footage but it's not often that we have something that is such good quality where you can clearly see the suspect's face," said Elizabeth Schrone, Howard County Police.
The assault happened in the foyer of the Second Chance Saloon and that suspect got close enough to the camera that viewers recognized her as Jessica White.
"It got a lot of views. It was distributed through all the major TV stations and online, and from that, we derived a lot of tips from people who were familiar with our suspect," Schrone said.
Court documents reveal that within days, tipsters called police with Jessica White's cell phone number, car description and her nickname, "Pooh."
The 24-year-old victim picked White out of a photo lineup, leading police to arrest her Tuesday.
"We were very happy to have the police leak the footage to the media, even though it might not bring us the best press in all the right lights, because that sort of thing never happens here," Fremming said. "But at the same time, it got done what we wanted to have done."
The private party had its own security at the bar, but in the video, you can see the bouncer step away instead of helping the victim.
The victim suffered minor injuries to her face.
White is being charged with robbery, assault and two counts of theft. She is awaiting a bond hearing.
