Two men crash through window

August 31, 1999|By MARLO BARNHART

Two men who crashed through a third-floor window at the rear of the Holiday Motel Monday morning had forced their way into Room 33, displayed a handgun and demanded money from the occupants, Hagerstown City Police said.

The two jumped from the window of the 12 N. Prospect St. motel around 6:30 a.m. after a person in an adjacent room heard the disturbance and kicked open the locked door.

As the person was trying to get in the door, one of the two men broke out a window and both men jumped, police said.

One man landed in a pile of broken glass and was injured while the other man ran, witnesses said.

"I heard glass breaking and here he comes out the window," said Thelma Smith who was walking in Wareham Alley that runs east to west behind the motel.

That man, whose identity was not released, was in fair condition at Washington County Hospital Monday night.

Police said he had head injuries.

Smith said the second man who came out of the broken window landed on his feet.

"He said 'Oh my God' and took off, running east in the alley," Smith said. "I couldn't believe it."

Smith said the man was black, young wearing shorts.

Others said the man who fled was about 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighed 140 pounds, and was in his 20s. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and long pants, Lt. Gary Spielman said.

Dorsey Scheetz also was a witness to the Monday morning incident.

"I heard glass breaking and then I saw a young black man running through the alley," witness Dorsey Scheetz said.

Spielman said money was found in the injured man's shoe. He said agents from the Washington County Narcotics Task Force were called in to check for drugs.

B.K. Patel, manager of the Holiday Motel, formerly known as the Midtown, said he wasn't at the motel when the incident occurred.

Patel said Room 33 was rented to a pregnant woman and another woman. Police said the victims were a woman and a man.

Forensic chemist Jeff Kercheval and his team from the Western Maryland Crime Lab were summoned to the scene to collect evidence.

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