As groups of prospective students and their parents toured Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus on this day, the focus off campus turned to security after a recent rash of crimes on the street.
"We got an email from the administration talking about how there had been some recent cases of some robberies and it may have been the same people that have targeted some people that live around this area," said Jaime Martinez, a JHU graduate student.
That email came on the heels of one of the most brazen crimes to date when two people got out of a light-colored Chrysler sedan on Saturday afternoon in the 200 block of Chancery Road and robbed three students of their money and cell phones at gunpoint.
When a nearby homeowner stepped out to investigate, a third suspect robbed him.
Johns Hopkins Campus Safety and Security boosted patrols following this seventh armed street robbery in 10 days' time.
"I live really close to the Charles Village and the Oakenshawe neighborhood so I'm trying to stay away from walking around these parts at night," said Martinez.
Armed with surveillance video and detailed descriptions of the suspects and their vehicle, Baltimore City Police launched a dragnet, which soon paid off with arrests.
"We were able to identify three suspects and stop them in the area... recover a replica firearm, and at this point, we know that they're responsible for several robberies in the Northern District and in the Eastern District of Baltimore," said BPD Media Relations Chief T.J. Smith. "What's tragically sad about this is the individuals involved---one is as young as 13 years old, and we have a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old."
Police say two of the teens will be charged as adults, while the 13-year-old will be handed over to juvenile court.
They add this crime follows a trend, which is most pronounced in the Southwestern District, where robberies have skyrocketed and more than 40 percent of the suspects arrested are juveniles.\
