This article first appeared here on wbaltv.com
COLUMBIA, MD. — Howard County authorities said one man’s crime spree left dozens of victims in his wake.
County police said investigators connected 19-year-old Kaishawn Johnson to a series of crimes that spanned nearly half of last year.
“This shows how one person can have such an impact on a community,” Howard County police spokesman Seth Hoffman said.
Investigators arrested Johnson at his Washington, D.C., home on Feb. 1 based on an indictment on 133 criminal counts.
“Taking this one person off the street who has committed so many of these crimes is a big relief for us and, I hope, for Howard County,” Hoffman said.
Johnson is accused of a crime spree that includes stealing 20 vehicles, breaking into and stealing from 92 others and, in three cases, breaking into a home to steal car keys.
“We started to put the pieces together, and we started through good old police work, some newer technology and investigative techniques, we were able to link all these crimes and the suspect was charged,” Hoffman said.
The indictment names at least 89 different Howard County residents as victims who were targeted across 13 days from August to December 2021 from Clarksville to Columbia to Elkridge. A large concentration of crimes were reported in the River Hill and Hickory Ridge communities, among others, in the area of Maryland Route 32 and U.S. Route 29.
“A lot of different areas in Howard County. Just crimes of opportunity wherever was easiest to grab something out of a car or enter a house, so that’s what we saw in a lot of these cases,” Hoffman said.
Police said while Johnson is the only person charged so far, the investigation continues and authorities believe there may be more victims.
Johnson is being held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center. He has qualified for a public defender, and he has a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 7.