Crime & Safety

Fort Meade Lockdown Sends Gate-Crasher To Prison

A Baltimore carjacker who crashed a stolen vehicle into an NSA gate in October 2015 was sentenced to prison.

FORT MEADE, MD – The Baltimore carjacker who crashed into an NSA gate at Fort Meade in October 2015 — triggering a virtual lockdown of the Army base and National Security Agency campus – has been sentenced to prison on three federal charges. The Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office says that a judge has ordered Dontae Small, 44, to serve 27 years in prison for carjacking and aggravated identity theft .

Small crashed a stolen car Acura near an unmanned gate at Fort Meade following a carjacking and police chase in Baltimore. He then bailed out of the car and fled the scene. When Anne Arundel County Police officers in the Hanover area tried to stop the vehicle, Small sped away and led officers on a 4.5-mile pursuit. Near Rockenbach Road, Small lost control of the vehicle and struck a fence. He then jumped from the vehicle and fled on foot.

Six Fort Meade area schools were closed for a day because of the manhunt as Small hid from searchers in a storm drain overnight.

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Small earned two years in prison for bank fraud and identity theft charges, reports the Capital-Gazette. While he was being held at the Baltimore City Detention Center, Small stole a jailer's credit card and used it to pay for his wife’s cellphone.

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