Two Charged in String of Armed Robberies Targeting Baltimore County Business Owners

WOODLAWN— Baltimore County police have arrested two Baltimore men in connection with a series of armed robberies that investigators say targeted business owners as they closed their stores and returned home, including one man who was victimized twice.

According to charging documents, Diamante D. Gilliam, 29, and Timothy E. Evans Jr., 28, are each facing dozens of charges, including six counts of armed robbery, for allegedly participating in at least five holdups over an eight-day period in June in the Woodlawn and Catonsville areas.

Gilliam was arrested June 27, and Evans was arrested June 29, according to online court records. Both are being held without bond at the Baltimore County Detention Center.

The robberies followed a common pattern, police allege. Masked gunmen would wait for business owners to finish work, then rob them either outside their businesses or after following them home.

Howard County police have also charged the two men in connection with three similar armed robberies in that jurisdiction. In those cases, police allege the same victim was robbed twice—on June 8 and June 23—and another person was robbed in the West Friendship area on June 4.

Police estimate the five Baltimore County robberies resulted in approximately $16,077 in losses.

The first robbery occurred June 14 outside Hip Hop Fish & Chicken on Baltimore National Pike, where an employee was robbed at gunpoint while walking to his car after work. Police say the gunmen stole his wallet and fired a shot into one of his tires as they fled.

The following day, a restaurant owner was confronted by two armed men after arriving home in the Windsor Mill area. Police say the robbers stole his car keys, wallet, credit card, cellphone and about $300 in cash.

While helping the victim place fraud alerts on the stolen credit card, officers learned someone had attempted to use the card at a smoke shop.

Detectives reviewed surveillance video from the store and saw two men arrive in a red 2004 Saturn Ion with a missing driver's-side front wheel cover. The purchase attempt was declined.

Investigators later identified the Saturn through license plate reader data and learned Baltimore City police had stopped the vehicle earlier that evening. The driver was identified as Timothy Evans, and detectives noted that a passenger closely resembled the person captured on surveillance video attempting to use the stolen credit card.

Police allege the same Saturn was later seen conducting surveillance near another business that was targeted.

On June 16, the owner of a New York Fried Chicken restaurant was robbed after returning to his home in the Woodlawn area. Police allege three men stole a backpack containing more than $8,000 in cash and his cellphone. Investigators believe the suspects had conducted surveillance of the victim's business before carrying out the robbery.

Five days later, the same business owner was robbed again while closing his New York Fried Chicken restaurant on Baltimore National Pike. Police say the gunmen stole about $665, a cellphone and other personal property. An employee was also robbed of her backpack and wallet.

Later that same day, employees closing a Speedymart on the 1600 block of Forest Park Avenue were confronted at gunpoint while walking to their vehicles. Police say the robbers stole a cellphone and cash before fleeing.

According to charging documents, investigators later determined that cellphones stolen during the robberies had been pawned.

A detective also wrote that historical and real-time cellphone location data placed Gilliam's phone at the scene of each robbery. Police believe a third man also participated in the robbery spree.