Six Victims Held in Olney Home, One Texts For Help

OLNEY, MD — A group of people were held hostage in an Olney house by an armed robber during a home invasion Monday night while an accomplice drove one of the victims to another home to search for more cash to steal. While authorities have charged a Prince George's County man in the robbery, they are searching for the man who held the victims captive.

The armed ordeal was reported shortly before 8 p.m. Monday when police officers were called to residences in the 18100 block of Marksman Circle and the 18700 block of Bloomfield Road in Olney. The evening ended with the arrest of Kofi Essuman Kwagyan, 24, of the 3800 block of Kenilworth Avenue in Bladensburg.

Detectives say the robbery began at a house on Marksman Circle, where three men and a woman who were outside of the home were approached by two men wearing ski masks. The suspects, one of whom was armed with a handgun, forced the victims back inside the residence. A short time later, two more male victims arrived at the Marksman Circle home and were confronted by the suspects and also forced into the home.

After the intruders took cash from the resident of the home, one of the suspects ordered two of the male victims to drive with him to a Bloomfield Road home for more money. En route to the house, one of the victims sent a text message to a resident at the Bloomfield Road house warning that he was being robbed and to call the police. After arriving at the residence, the robber saw police respond to the robbery call and he ran away.

Officers then went to the Marksman Circle house to help the other robbery victims; the suspect who held them at gunpoint had fled shortly before police arrived.

About 20 minutes later, officers searching the area for the robbers saw a man who matched the suspect description as he boarded a Metrobus on Olney Sandy Spring Road near Hillcrest Drive. Officers stopped the bus and identified this suspect as Kofi Essuman Kwagyan. Officers discovered evidence from the home invasion robbery in Kwagyan’s possession.

Kwagyan was arrested and taken to the Central Processing Unit, where he was charged with home invasion, armed robbery, kidnapping, assault charges, and related offenses. Kwagyan is being held without bond.
Detectives believe the robbery was not a random event and investigators are trying to identify the suspect who fled from the Marksman Circle house.

Anyone with information about the robbery suspect or the home invasion is asked to call the Major Crimes Division at 240-773-5070. Those who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). Crime Solvers will pay a cash reward of up to $10,000 for information provided to them that leads to an arrest for this crime.

»Photo of robbery suspect Kofi Essuman Kwagyan, courtesy of Montgomery County Police