DC Teen Charged After Stolen Dodge Challenger Chase Ends in Waldorf Foot Pursuit

An 18-year-old Washington, D.C. resident is being held without bond after Charles County deputies say he tried to steal one car, drove off in an already-stolen Dodge Challenger, and led police on a chase through Waldorf that ended with two loaded handguns tossed from the vehicle and a foot pursuit into the woods off Pierce Road.

Brandon Marquise Jackson was charged with auto theft, attempted auto theft, possession of a handgun by a prohibited person, and other weapons offenses, according to WJLA. The station reports deputies were called to the 15500 block of Woodward Place in Waldorf on Friday, August 21, after reports that someone was possibly breaking into cars while another person acted as a lookout near a Dodge Challenger.

Deputies responding to the scene said they saw someone looking into a vehicle with a flashlight and heard a car alarm going off. A Dodge Charger parked on Woodward Place had been damaged in a way that indicated an apparent attempted theft, the sheriff's office said, per the same report. As deputies closed in, a suspect ran to the passenger side of a running Dodge Challenger, which then sped off.

Guns Thrown From the Car During the Chase

Police pursued the Challenger and said they saw items being thrown from the vehicle during the chase. Deputies later recovered two loaded handguns and an extended magazine that had allegedly been thrown from the car, the station notes. Investigators say the Challenger itself had been reported stolen in another jurisdiction, and deputies later found burglary and auto theft tools inside it.

The pursuit ended when police deployed stop sticks at the intersection of Woodward Place and Western Parkway, flattening one of the Challenger's tires. The vehicle continued down Pierce Road before the people inside abandoned it and ran away on foot, according to the report. Deputies caught up with Jackson after a short foot chase and took him into custody.

Why Muscle Cars Like the Challenger Keep Getting Stolen

The Charles County Sheriff's Office, which traces its roots to 1658 and has held Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies status since 2001, has been leaning on tactics like stop sticks and foot pursuits to end high-risk chases without major injuries, as detailed by The BayNet. Dodge Charger and Challenger models with high-performance V8 engines have ranked among the top five most-stolen vehicles nationwide since the 2011 model year, according to a Highway Loss Data Institute report cited by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, with 2020–2022 Charger SRT Hellcat theft claims occurring at more than 60 times the national average. That trend has coincided with a broader national surge, as U.S. vehicle thefts approached record levels in 2023, with nearly 500,000 vehicles reported stolen nationwide in just the first half of that year, per National Insurance Crime Bureau data reported by Insurance Journal.

Legal Exposure for the 18-Year-Old Suspect

Because Jackson is 18, Maryland's Public Safety Code § 5-133 bars him from possessing a regulated firearm at all, a violation that carries up to five years in prison and fines reaching $10,000. Under Maryland prosecution standards, prosecutors can pursue that charge through “constructive possession,” meaning they don't need to prove Jackson physically held the weapons — only that he had knowledge of and access to guns found in a shared vehicle or thrown from it, which could apply given multiple people were reportedly inside the Challenger. The auto theft charge itself falls under Maryland Criminal Law Code § 7-105, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine, and mandatory restitution to the vehicle's owner. Maryland law also allows prosecutors to submit a sworn affidavit from a vehicle owner as evidence of unauthorized use, sparing owners from having to testify in court unless the defense requests it.

It remains unclear which jurisdiction originally reported the Dodge Challenger stolen, and authorities have not said whether a second suspect who allegedly acted as lookout has been identified or charged. Jackson is being held without bond as the case moves forward.

Part of a Pattern in Charles County

The case adds to a string of recent vehicle and weapons cases handled by Charles County deputies in the Waldorf area. In February, deputies executing a search warrant at a home on Tulip Tree Court recovered two handguns, including one reported stolen in 2025, hidden inside a bedroom dresser, as Hoodline previously reported. Just days ago, deputies arrested a Waldorf man accused of running over a deputy's leg with an ATV and reaching into his waistband before being subdued with a Taser.

The Waldorf chase also echoes a broader regional problem: in April, federal authorities indicted a D.C.-area auto theft ring that used electronic key-cloning devices to steal more than 20 high-value vehicles worth nearly $1 million across Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County. Investigators have not said whether Jackson's case is connected to that ring or any other organized theft operation.