Police Identify Barricade Suspect Charged in Carjacking

BETHESDA, MD — A Potomac woman was chased out of her house by a fleeing carjacker who stole a BMW at gunpoint in Bethesda and later crashed it and tried to outrun police, according to Montgomery County Police.

Authorities say Perry Marcel Bryant, 46, of an unconfirmed address, is in jail on charges of carjacking and other crimes after a standoff with police Tuesday afternoon. The armed carjacking on a Bethesda street began the incident resulted in a barricade inside a townhouse in the 11900 block of Frost Valley Way in Potomac after the suspect entered a home and refused to come out.

As police tried to arrest Bryant, residents in the neighborhood were urged to stay inside their locked homes, and Cold Spring Elementary and Wayside Elementary students and staff sheltered in place. All students were released by 5 p.m.

Montgomery County Police say a woman driving her 2010 BMW about 2:30 p.m. in the 7200 block of Honeywell Lane in Bethesda was approached by Bryant, who carried a handgun. When he reportedly hopped in the backseat of the vehicle and told the victim to drive, the woman fled from her car and flagged down another driver for help. The suspect fled from the scene in the BMW, but the driver who stopped for the victim called authorities to report he was following the carjacked vehicle. Although the driver lost sight of the BMW, a Maryland State Police trooper was in the area and spotted the car on Falls Road.

Montgomery County Police officers responded to assist the trooper and officers tried to stop the stolen BMW, but Bryant refused and a chase began. As the suspect approached Tuckerman Lane, the BMW left the roadway, crashed into a tree line and stopped. After the collision, police say Bryant ran into a nearby neighborhood on Frost Valley Way in Potomac.

The suspect climbed onto the deck of a residence and attempted to enter the home. The homeowner saw Bryant trying to enter her home through a sliding glass door and she locked the door before he could get inside. Instead, the suspect entered the home through an open window and the homeowner fled from her house. She flagged down officers who were pursuing Bryant on foot and told them that the suspect was in her home.

Police say Bryant refused to leave the home and the department's Emergency Response Team, comprised of tactical and negotiation officers, was called to the home.

Just after 8:30 p.m., Bryant was taken into custody by ERT officers inside the residence.

Bryant was taken to the Central Processing Unit, where he was charged with one count of armed carjacking, one count of attempted kidnapping, and one count of home invasion. Bond information is not available at this time.

»Photo of Percy Bryant, courtesy of Montgomery County Police