Alleged Robber at Shock Trauma Following Chase, Crash

Charges are pending against a Bel Air man who police say disguised himself as a woman, allegedly robbed a liquor store on South Fountain Green Road at gunpoint, and crashed his car as he tried to elude officers on Friday.

The man, who is being identified only as a 26-year-old from Bel Air, was in stable condition Monday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

A warrant charging the man with armed robbery, first- and second-degree assault and theft less than $1,000 has been issued in connection with the liquor store robbery. Traffic charges related to the pursuit and subsequent crash are also expected, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office.

Around 3 p.m. Friday, a man walked into located at 2029 South Fountain Green Road, according to the sheriff's office.

The man was wearing a burqa which covered his entire face, with the exception of his eyes, and he disguised his voice to sound like woman, according to a police account.

He talked to the store employee for a short time, picked out a case of beer, and when the clerk bent to pick it up, the burqa-clad robber allegedly pulled a handgun and demanded money, police say.

After allegedly stealing an undisclosed amount of cash, the man ran to his white SUV and drove away. A  passerby noticed the man run to his car, thought it was suspicious, wrote down the vehicle's tag number an reported it to police, according to the sheriff's office.

Not long after the robbery, police spotted the SUV on U.S. Route 40 in the area of Route 755 in Edgewood and tried to make a traffic stop.

The SUV did not stop for officers and continued westbound on Route 40.

Deputies pursued the vehicle until it clipped another car in the area of Pine Avenue in Joppa and rolled several times, ejecting the suspected robber onto the road, a police news release states.

Paramedics with the Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company treated the suspect at the scene until he was taken by medevac helicopter to Shock Trauma.

Route 40 west of Maryland Route 152 was closed for several hours while police investigated the crash and collected evidence they believed may be connected to the robbery.

No other injuries were reported in connection with the robbery or crash.

Detectives believe the robbery of 3rd Base Liquors is connected to the armed robbery of Xtra Mart in Churchville that led to the lockdown of several Bel Air schools earlier that same day.