Man hit with frying pan during armed robbery

A man was hit in the head with a frying plan Monday night during an armed robbery, Baltimore Police said.

Even after a clean-up crew came by there were still visible signs of the attack that took place on the 3400 block of Claremont Street.

According to a police report, two men assaulted the victim with a frying pan around 9:20 p.m. They hit him in the head several times before he fell to the sidewalk, and then the suspects continued to kick him, police said.

One of the suspects took the victim's phone and car keys, running off east on Claremont until they found the victim’s 2006 Altima. The men drove off in an unknown direction. The victim was transported to Johns Hopkins for treatment of his injuries, police said. 

Nick Frisone and his family were watching TV when just after 9 p.m. they heard screaming outside their home.

"I heard a guy last night saying, 'I'll kill you, I'll kill you,'  and then we came out and saw two young men running down the street and then we saw a guy and blood everywhere, on his face and his shirt," Frisone said.

He also said the frying pan was left near the scene of the attack.

"Yes, it was a frying pan and it ended up like right in the street and the top was bent," said Frisone.

Highlandtown Pastor Mark Parker lives around the corner and heard about the violence. He went to check on the victim Tuesday morning, but instead met the man’s roommate who had just learned what happened.

“There was a note saying he was taken to the hospital but no other information, no name, no number, no nothing else,” the victim’s roommate said.

And while crime is a risk in any city, Pastor Parker said he's noticed a slight uptick in his community.

“It certainly has been more active not just the amount of crime but things like this where the type of crime seems excessively violent and dangerous and threatening,” Parker said.

Earlier this year there were several reports of armed robberies with a machete, and just last week a four-year-old was taken in a carjacking.

“Bring it altogether it becomes a pretty compelling and disturbing narrative of crime,” said Parker.

But he added that that narrative doesn't include the positive aspects of living in the Highlandtown community.

“That's what city living is. Certainly part of it is a danger and a threat, it can happen no matter what city you live in or where you are, but there's also a kind of great joy and great benefit from living in a community like this and looking out for each other,” said Parker. 

Baltimore police also confirmed that there were six car break-ins overnight Sunday on S. Linwood Ave. The Southeast District plans to increase patrols in the area and continue to evaluate deployment of resources to the Highlandtown area.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will be holding a public safety forum with Police Commissioner Kevin Davis to address crime in the Southeast District. The event will take place this Thursday, April 21 at 7 p.m. at the Greektown Square and Events center located at 700 Quail Street. 

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