EASTON, MD - The Easton Police Department has identified a suspect in a vehicle theft that evolved into a manhunt for a second suspect near Quantico at the end of May.
Easton Police say they were first called to Hertrich Chevrolet on Ocean Gateway in Easton on May 30th, just before 4:15 a.m. on reports of suspicious activity. Authorities say they were notified of a suspicious person driving a truck around the dealership parking lot. Upon arrival, police saw a white Chevy Silverado with Virginia registration leaving the lot.
Officers stopped the truck at U5 Foods in Easton and say they noticed a broken passenger side window and possibly law enforcement-related ammo and equipment inside. The driver, Donya Jenkins-Patterson, 20, of Laurel, MD, was arrested.
Police say they were then informed of a second suspect seen fleeing into the treeline behind Hertrich and returned to the dealership. There, they noticed the broken window of a Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office vehicle parked in the lot. At the time, it was unclear if the suspects may have obtained a firearm.
Investigators searched the woods behind Hertrich but no suspect was located and the search was called off.
Then, just before 6:30 a.m. Easton Police were called to Hawkes Hill Road on reports of a stolen 2024 Chevy Traverse. Because the theft occurred near the Hertrich incident, police say they believed the perpetrator to be the escaped second suspect. The search for that suspect then spread to Wicomico County when the Chevy Traverse was found abandoned near Quantico.
Further investigation by the Easton Police reportedly revealed the Chevy Silverado Jenkins-Patterson was driving had been stolen on May 29th in Baltimore City. Items recovered from the vehicle further connected Jenkins-Patterson to other vehicle break-ins in Queen Anne’s County.
Jenkins-Patterson was taken to the Talbot County Detention Center and has been charged with the following:
-Theft: $25,000.00 to under $100,000.00
-Rogue and Vagabond
-Malicious Destruction of Property less than $1,000.00
-Burglary 4th Degree
-Conspiracy
As of June 12th, there has been no updates in the search for the second suspect, who is believed to have fled the Eastern Shore across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in yet another stolen vehicle, according to police.