A 27-year-old man has been charged in connection with a series of armed robberies in Harford County.
It all began a week ago, when the armed robber was caught on camera during a stick up at the Royal Farms store on Edgewood Road, and he struck again on Monday, targeting a Little Caesars and a business called Wings and Pies just across the street.
A co-worker says the female manager at the pizza place is still recovering from the trauma of having a gun pointed at her.
"She was very, very scared,” said Mohamed Sfiat, “She was shaking and her face changed. You wouldn't believe it. She was like yellow, and she was scared (and) shaking, because everybody could see the gun."
Deputies with the Harford County Sheriff's Office moved quickly on the case, spotting a suspect in the same area where the crimes were committed the following day.
"He saw an individual who he believe could possibly be our suspect and tried to walk up to the person and do a field interview on him at which time a foot pursuit ensued and he chased the suspect down into Harford Commons down to Morgan Street into a house there," said Major William Davis with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.
After a brief standoff, Brandon Ridge Anderson-Ballard surrendered.
Inside the home, deputies discovered what turned out to be a replica, toy handgun that looked like the real thing, and during his subsequent interrogation, the suspect revealed what drove him to rob three businesses a few blocks from his home.
"Based on the interviews we had, it seems like the motive is going to be a heroin addiction,” Davis said. “Like many of the crimes that occur throughout the county and the country, most of them are related to someone who is addicted to heroin and trying to supply that habit and doing robberies or doing thefts and things like that to supply their habit."
Anderson-Ballard is being held at the Harford County Detention Center with no bail.
He faces a series of 14 charges, including three counts of armed robbery in addition to three counts of assault.
