A man is in custody after choking and robbing an 8-year-old girl as she walked to school.
On Monday, June 4 just before 8 a.m., Prince Georges County Police say the victim was walking in the 4900 block of Annapolis Road when she was approached by a male suspect who choked her and took a cellphone. The man then crossed the street while maintaining a choke hold on the girl. School staff members eventually confronted the subject and were able to get the victim to safety.
The school was immediately placed on lockdown.
Two Prince George's County Police Officers driving separately to work heard a call dispatched for a suspicious man outside of the school. Both officers quickly responded to the location where they located the individual, who had reportedly just urinated on the building.
Detectives later learned the man identified as Lamar Samuel, 34, of Southeast Washington, met the description of a suspect wanted for groping a woman 20 minutes prior on a metro bus.
Through shared surveillance, investigators determined the subject was indeed the culprit of the groping.
Samuel now faces several charges for each incident including attempted murder, robbery, assault and indecent exposure.