Driveway Fires, Snapchat Arrest, Uber Assault: Columbia Crime

COLUMBIA, MD — The Howard County Police Department provided the following information about recent incidents in Columbia. Arrests do not indicate convictions.

The lock at Mini U Storage was broken in the 8400 block of Snowden River Parkway. After getting in the back gate, the burglar(s) accessed 26 storage units. It was not clear what was stolen in the burglary, which happened at 2 a.m. on March 20.

A pile of newspapers was burned and left in a man's driveway in the 6300 block of Velvet Path. The malicious burning occurred between March 19 and 20.

A small fire was set in front of a woman's driveway in the 6500 block of Early Lily Row between March 19 and 20. Officials are investigating whether it may be related to the case above.

A 19-year-old Columbia man from Hourglass Place was charged with auto theft and theft after allegedly stealing a vehicle that was involved in a crash. When officers responded to the crash in the 10700 block of Little Patuxent Parkway at 2:15 p.m. on March 20, they learned that three suspects in one of the vehicles ran. The vehicle was determined to have been stolen from a neighboring jurisdiction. Two other suspects — a man and a woman — were not located.

An Uber driver was assaulted and robbed of his cell phone in the 5600 block of Harpers Farm Road. At 1:38 a.m. on March 19, the driver arrived at the location to pick up his passengers. The trio assaulted the driver and stole his call phone, then left. Police have partnered with the Uber security team to investigate.

Three teens are suspected in a robbery attempt and assault in the 5400 block of El Camino at 9:19 p.m. on March 19. They approached a man and his teen son, then assaulted the man before running away. There were no injuries and nothing was stolen.

A 17-year-old Clarksville boy was charged with a weapons violation after allegedly taking a Snapchat video of himself pointing a gun at a marked police car at Little Patuxent Parkway and Harpers Farm Road. The officers were at a red light in their marked car at the intersection when they saw what looked like a driver pointing a black handgun at their vehicle. They got out and ordered him to drop his weapon, which the teen did. It was later determined that the item was a BB gun. He was arrested at 4:49 p.m. on March 16.

Change and a garage door opener were stolen from a parking garage in the 10000 block of Windstream Drive. At 11:06 a.m. on March 17, police said the suspect broke a side door to get into the parking garage and took items from an unlocked vehicle.

A Honda Accord was stolen from the 8900 block of Footed Ridge at 8:38 p.m. on March 19.

File photo.