Police: Man hid money in pants, ground

BALTIMORE - We have witnessed plenty of robberies targeting armored cars before, but federal prosecutors say 27-year old David Howard and his accomplices pulled off five such heists in Howard and Montgomery Counties.

"We know the defendant and his co-conspirators were tracking where these Dunbar employees were going to be so they could follow them and commit these armed robberies,” said U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, “These were dangerous robberies.  They were armed.  In fact, in at least one occasion they stole weapons from the victims of the crime.  So this was an extraordinarily dangerous group."

And a successful one until investigators broke the case.

The robbers struck during a Dunbar pick up at the Giant Food Store on Dorsey Hall Drive in Ellicott City a few days after Christmas in 2010 wearing disguises and using “throw away” cars.

They even used disposable telephones and rented out hotel rooms in advance so they’d have somewhere to divide up their loot.

"The defendant admitted that he stole in excess of half a million dollars... about $555,000 in the course of these robberies,” said Rosenstein, “Some of the money was recovered.  Much of it was not recovered."

Upon his arrest, prosecutors say Howard produced $2,000 worth of new $20 bills from his groin area, and he later led authorities to the edge of the Forest Park Golf Course at Carleview Road and Eldorado Avenue where he had buried $10,000 more in cash.

"People who commit these kind of crimes, robbing banks or robbing armored car companies---they need to understand that this is one of the top priorities for federal law enforcement,” said Rosenstein, “If you commit this type of crime, you can anticipate that you're going to be at the top of the list of the local police, the FBI and other federal agencies."

Howard is scheduled for sentencing in U.S. District Court on November 20th.

Including a sixth robbery that he did not participate in the total take for the robbery ring topped three-quarters of a million dollars.