A Verizon employee in Arnold had just locked up for the night Sunday when a masked man pulled a gun on him, stole his wallet and phone, and fled. The confrontation unfolded outside the store in the 1400 block of Ritchie Highway, leaving Eastern District detectives searching for a suspect who fled in an unknown direction.
According to WBFF, officers were first dispatched around 6:30 p.m. to the 500 block of Ritchie Highway before determining the actual robbery happened a short distance away, outside the store in the 1400 block. Anne Arundel County Police say the victim had just finished his shift when a male suspect approached him, pulled out a gun, and demanded his belongings before fleeing in an unknown direction. The department's own account, detailed in a release tied to incident report 26-732744, confirms the case has been handed to Eastern District criminal investigation detectives, according to the Anne Arundel County Government.
Police describe the suspect as a Black man standing about 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a dark jacket, a black ski mask, and baggy blue jeans. Anyone with information is asked to call 410-222-6145, and those who wish to remain anonymous can reach the county's tip line at 410-222-4700, per the station's report.
A Violent Weekend for the Eastern District
The Arnold robbery capped a busy stretch for county investigators. The same Eastern District detectives were also working an October 9 shooting in nearby Pasadena, where a 19-year-old suspect later surrendered to police, as reported by Shore News Network. The Eastern District's headquarters is at 204 Pasadena Road in Pasadena, according to Anne Arundel County Government records.
Ritchie Highway has seen other commercial robberies in recent years. In November 2024, a gunman targeted a Royal Farms store in Glen Burnie along the same corridor, according to prior Hoodline reporting on a separate knife robbery at a Severn Royal Farms. Those robberies took place at businesses on Ritchie Highway.
Countywide Robbery Numbers Are Falling
The incident arrives even as overall robbery trends in Anne Arundel County have moved sharply downward. Citizen robberies fell 47 percent in 2025 compared to 2024, dropping from 192 reported cases to 102, while commercial robberies dropped 46 percent over the same period, falling from 61 cases to 33, according to the Anne Arundel County Government. The department has attributed the decline to proactive technology use and analytical surveillance work.
Anne Arundel County has a centralized Real Time Information Center.
