A 46-year-old Abingdon man known on the street as “Chi Town” is behind bars awaiting sentencing after a Harford County jury convicted him of assaulting two strangers at an Aberdeen bus stop last November, one of them when he struck the man in the face with a liquor bottle, causing a cut to his neck.
Alford Delone Johnson was found guilty of first-degree assault and second-degree assault following a two-day trial that wrapped up on September 17, according to Daily Voice. Prosecutors said Johnson had been drinking and was agitated while searching for his girlfriend in Aberdeen on November 7, 2025, when he encountered a 31-year-old man at a bus stop on East Bel Air Avenue and struck him in the face with a liquor bottle, according to the outlet's reporting. The blow left the man with a significant cut to his neck that required emergency treatment and stitches.
Witnesses told investigators Johnson also slapped and punched a 51-year-old man at the same bus stop during the encounter, the same report states. Harford Transit LINK serves Aberdeen, and the City of Aberdeen discusses bicycle and pedestrian planning. Municipal safety studies have examined pedestrian access and crosswalk improvements along West Bel Air Avenue.
How Investigators Tracked Down “Chi Town”
Aberdeen police investigators identified the man witnesses only knew as “Chi Town” as Alford Delone Johnson, and officers arrested him several days after the assault. The Aberdeen Police Department that solved the case operates under Police Chief Henry Trabert, who has led the department since 2011, according to background from the agency itself.
Under Maryland Criminal Law § 3-202, the first-degree assault charge Johnson was convicted of is classified as a felony carrying a maximum sentence of up to 25 years in state prison, per the Cohen Law Firm. The additional second-degree assault conviction is a misdemeanor under Maryland Criminal Law § 3-203 that nonetheless carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $2,500, according to FrizWoods LLC. That statute consolidates three common law theories of liability, including battery, attempted battery, and acts intended to place a victim in fear of imminent harm, the firm's analysis notes.
Prosecutors Praise the Verdict
Because first-degree assault is designated a statutory crime of violence under Maryland criminal procedure, Johnson faces strict statutory restrictions on parole eligibility once he is sentenced, according to William R. Hall, P.A. Deputy State's Attorney David Ryden requested that Johnson be remanded to the Harford County Detention Center following the verdict, and the judge granted that request. Johnson will remain in custody there until his sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled, per Daily Voice's reporting.
Harford County State's Attorney Alison Healey said another Harford County jury had helped send the message that violence in the community's streets will not be tolerated. Healey credited Ryden and Aberdeen police investigators for bringing the case to trial. Healey took office as the county's top prosecutor in January 2023, following her election the prior year.
The Harford County Circuit Court, where the jury reached its verdict, sits at 20 West Courtland Street in Bel Air and serves as the trial court of general jurisdiction for the county. The Harford County Detention Center where Johnson is now held is an 820-bed facility run by the Harford County Sheriff's Office that originally opened in 1973 with just 100 beds before its most recent major expansion in 2011.
