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Teen arrested after robbing victims at gunpoint during home invasion

Posted at 6:03 PM, Feb 06, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-06 23:16:41-05

BELCAMP. MD. — Sheriff’s deputies are quite familiar with the house on Sanford Court in Belcamp.

"The SWAT Team was here,” said one neighbor who did not wish to be identified, “They had a couple of guys in my yard here with their guns aimed over here."

And neighbors say in recent months, they have raided the home in search of criminals.

"A guy kept saying, 'This is the Harford County Sheriff. We know you're in there. Come out with your hands up."

But on Friday night, the people who kicked open a door, armed with a gun, did not have the law on their side.

"I was just sitting in the house and they just ran up and I didn't know what was going to happen,” said Joseph Lantzer, “None of us did."

The four suspects moved from room to room, ultimately stealing a safe and running away, but they wouldn’t get far.

"One of the victims actually chased one of the suspects, and since that time, based on our investigation, we've been able to identify one suspect so far, and we're still working on some of the other ones, and that one suspect has been arrested," said Major William Davis of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.

According to court records, the victim confronted a teen carrying the stolen safe who was later identified as 16-year-old Rodgers Timothy Williams, and police tracked him down at his home on Primrose Place in the Arborview community a few blocks away.

While the victims may have seemed somewhat confused over why they had been targeted.

"It was just a robbery,” said Lantzer, “I didn't see any safe or anything."

Detectives soon learned the criminals knew exactly what they were looking for.

"Based on our investigation, this looks like it was a targeted event. It wasn't a random house and someone ran up to rob the people inside,” said Davis, “It looks like this was a drug event. It looks like it was over marijuana."

Deputies in the Belcamp area also recognized Williams as an occupant in a stolen car who was arrested in August of last year.

Meanwhile, police are still trying to identify the other three armed robbers who remain at large.