Man disarms would-be carjacker with quick punch | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

It was the second time in about 10 minutes the alleged carjackers had tried to rob someone of their keys outside an apartment complex, county police said.

Tony Hopkins Jr., 25, was walking to his apartment with his father, Tony Hopkins Sr. in the Marley Run Apartments when two men pointed a handgun at them and told them to hand over their car keys, police said.

"One of the guys pointed a gun at me and just told me to drop the food and everything I had in my hands," the younger Mr. Hopkins said.

He said he works about 50 hours a week to afford parts for the two vehicles. He's put $40,000 worth of work into, and wasn't going to hand the keys over without a fight.

Mr. Hopkins kept an eye on the gun that was pointed at him and waited for the gunman to "slip up."

"The whole time I was watching his movement and with that type of gun, you have to cock it for the bullet to be in the chamber," he said.

"He didn't do that."

The armed man pointed the gun at the older man, and that's when Mr. Hopkins took his chance.

He punched the robber in the face and took the handgun from him. With the tables turned, the man chased his attacker down the steps and through the parking lot to a silver Dodge Stratus.

The men got into the vehicle and got away - or so they thought.

Mr. Hopkins' neighbor, Mike, had gotten into his car in an attempt to find the getaway car. A couple of minutes after the robbery, he spotted the Dodge and began following it, Mr. Hopkins said.

As he tailed the vehicle, the man called police and relayed his location to officers on his cell phone.

A police helicopter soared over the scene and spied the vehicles on Ritchie Highway. Officers caught up with the Dodge near Arnold Road and conducted a felony traffic stop. Two men and a woman inside the car were arrested without incident.

Police found a .380 caliber handgun during the traffic stop.

Darryl Z. Moore, 27, of Conley Drive in Annapolis; Rico D. Thomas, 22, of Hammarlee Road in Glen Burnie; and Ashley Cully, 19, of Melrob Court in Annapolis, were each charged with attempted robbery, attempted armed robbery, attempted carjacking, attempted armed carjacking, first-and second-degree assault, and use of a handgun.

Ms. Cully also was charged with attempted carjacking, attempted armed robbery, attempted armed carjacking, first-and second-degree assault, and use of a handgun while committing a felony in connection with the first incident on Americana Circle in Glen Burnie.

In that attack, a 39-year-old woman told police she was walking from her vehicle to her apartment about 10:48 p.m in the Americana Southdale complex when a woman pointed a handgun at her and demanded her car keys.

Before she could hand them over, a witness started screaming and scared the armed woman. The woman ran empty-handed to a waiting silver Dodge Stratus that had been seen cruising the area before the robbery.

As police searched for the vehicle, they were called to the second carjacking attempt on Elmberry Court.

Mr. Hopkins said his father handed the gun his son grabbed to police and told them what happened. Officers at the scene were surprised and told the younger Mr. Hopkins, "Wow, that's pretty cool."

The elder Mr. Hopkins is now calling his son a lifesaver.

"Oh yes, he saved my life last night," he said.

He said he knew his son had the gunman under control, but did worry about the second man who was waiting at the bottom of the steps.

Police are happy with the outcome, but warned fighting back is a dangerous move.

"In this particular situation the victim was not injured. We would rather have the individual attempt to safely flee if possible," said Sgt. John Gilmer, a county police spokesman. "By no means do we want the victim of a crime to be unnecessarily injured.

"On many occasions the information we obtain about a crime is the result of citizen involvement. We would encourage citizens getting involved by relaying pertinent information about a crime to responding officers if this can be done in a safe manner."