A 40-year-old man wanted back at the Carroll County Detention Center made a break for the woods behind a Frederick County drug treatment facility Thursday, September 10, 2026, triggering a multi-agency manhunt that ended less than an hour later with him back in handcuffs. Robert Andrew Bloom cut off his court-ordered GPS ankle monitor and ran toward Buckeystown Pike and Manor Woods Road before Frederick County deputies closed in and took him into custody.
Bloom had been staying at the Orenda Center of Wellness, a 32-bed men's residential treatment facility at 3619 Buckeystown Pike that provides treatment for substance-use and mental-health disorders, according to The Orenda Center of Wellness. Bloom had landed there under a court order stemming from a February burglary arrest, and he was being discharged for violating the terms of his treatment program, per the seed reporting from WBFF.
Carroll County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived at Orenda around 3:30 p.m. Thursday to remand Bloom back to the Carroll County Detention Center, and they watched him bolt from the rear of the facility into a wooded area, according to WBFF's report. Bloom was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt and black shorts, and officials said he may have been armed with a sharp object. His flight lasted less than an hour, as reported by Daily Voice.
A Fast-Moving Search Near a Busy Commercial Corridor
Frederick County Sheriff's Office deputies established a perimeter around the area and searched for Bloom, per officials cited by WBFF. Search teams deployed drones, K-9 teams, and a Maryland State Police helicopter as they combed the woods near Buckeystown Pike. The search zone sits along a major commercial strip in Frederick County near retail hubs including Westview Promenade, an area Hoodline has covered before in reporting on the opening of Big Greek Cafe along the same Route 85 corridor.
During the search, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office issued a public statement clarifying that the heavy police presence around Buckeystown Pike and Manor Woods Road was targeted specifically at capturing Bloom and was not connected to any nearby businesses. Authorities eventually found Bloom and took him into custody, and the Carroll County Sheriff's Office reported that he was back in custody, per its own account. He was returned to the Carroll County Detention Center.
Why a Discharge Turned Into a Criminal Charge
Bloom will be charged with second-degree escape, a misdemeanor under Maryland Criminal Law Code § 9-405 that carries a maximum penalty of up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, according to FindLaw. Maryland law recognizes home detention as custodial confinement, and tampering with an electronic monitor may support a second-degree-escape charge, per FrizWoods. Bloom's brief run into the woods therefore carries potential legal consequences.
The Frederick County Sheriff's Office also has additional charges pending against Bloom related to his arrest there, separate from the underlying escape matter tied to his Carroll County custody. The exact nature of those pending Frederick County charges has not been detailed.
A Cross-County Case From the Start
Bloom's case had been a cross-county affair since before Thursday's escape. He was originally jailed in Westminster after his February arrest by Taneytown police, who accused him of breaking into a Sunoco gas station late at night and charged him with second- and fourth-degree burglary, theft between $100 and $1,500, and malicious destruction of property, according to 930 WFMD. He was later placed in the court-ordered treatment program at Orenda while still technically in custody.
Because Orenda's facility sits in Frederick County while Bloom remained under Carroll County's legal custody, his remand involved a cross-county handoff. The incident illustrates how a case can involve more than one county.
The Bloom search involved a multi-agency operation. Authorities used a state police helicopter and K-9 units in Thursday's search for Bloom.
