Crime & Safety
HdG Man Charged in Vi Ripken Holdup Blames Drugs
Jesse Bowen of Havre de Grace was charged in the armed robbery attempt involving Violet Ripken outside an Aberdeen bank.
The man charged with attempting to carjack and rob Violet Ripken, mother of baseball great Cal Ripken Jr., outside an Aberdeen bank Tuesday attributed his behavior to a drug problem, according to charging documents.
Jesse A. Bowen, 33, of the 800 block of Lafayette Street in Havre de Grace, "gave a written statement advising that he had a drug problem," court documents state, "and that he approached the victim in her car and demanded money."
Ripken had reportedly just left NBRS Bank in the 200 block of W. Bel Air Avenue and was in her car Tuesday afternoon when Bowen, whom she did not know, approached her with what appeared to be a gun and said he needed her money and vehicle.
Ripken told police she hit the panic button of her Buick LeSabre and the man took off toward the east side of Aberdeen.
Officers from the Aberdeen Police Department responded to a call from the bank reporting an armed man at 3:01 p.m. Tuesday and found surveillance footage showing a man using the bank's ATM, then walking toward Ripken, police said.
According to charging documents, Aberdeen police captured still images from the video and distributed them through the department, where one of the officers recognized the man as Bowen from a recent traffic stop.
A detective canvassed an area where Bowen was known to frequent on the east side of Aberdeen and found him walking in the 400 block of Post Road at 5:15 p.m., police said.
Bowen was wearing a backpack seen in the surveillance video, and police said it contained a replica Sig Sauer 1911 4.5 caliber BB gun, 10 grams of marijuana, three Alprazolam (Xanax) tablets, rolling papers, razors for cutting cocaine, copper Brillo pads, straws, a pen cap containing a white powdery substance identified as cocaine and a glass pipe used for smoking cocaine.
At 6:08 p.m. Tuesday, Bowen was given his Miranda rights and taken for an interview, and "during his statement Mr. Bowen advised that he made a mistake," according to charging documents.
When police asked where the clothes from the robbery were, Bowen reportedly said they were outside a residence in the 300 block of S. Deen Avenue.
After obtaining permission to search outside the property, police said they found two bags of clothing including a white T-shirt, blue jacket and hat matching the outfit worn by the suspect in the surveillance video.
Police charged Bowen with possession of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia, attempted robbery, attempted armed robbery, attempted carjacking, first-degree assault and carrying a concealed weapon.
He was being held without bail at Harford County Detention Center, according to ExploreHarford.com.
Related Articles:
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
