Outdoor bathroom break leads to robbery, arrest

Charles County sheriff's deputies have charged a 19-year-old with robbery, alleging that he and others assaulted and stole a wallet from a 14-year-old boy who had walked behind a movie theater the night of Feb. 26 to urinate.

Also that night, deputies charged four suspects with robbing a 16-year-old of his tennis shoes outside a McDonald's.

Sheriff Rex Coffey touted the arrests in a news release Thursday. He gets so upset about robberies in Charles County that in the past he has had deputies pose as potential victims, walking through commercial areas with shopping bags. "We have a zero tolerance attitude," Coffey said in the release.

Charles officials said the robbery of the 14-year-old took place behind the AMC Loews Theaters, St. Charles Town Center 9, 11115 Mall Circle, Waldorf. The officials identified the suspect as Dario Harley Smith, of Waldorf, and said they are looking for his alleged
accomplices.

Those accused of robbing the other teenager of his tennis shoes were picked up inside a Jeep near a gas station two hours after the heist. Discovered inside the Jeep: the sneakers, a loaded handgun, and bags of marijuana and crack, authorities said. They identified the suspects as Jacori Rashaad Graham, 19, of La Plata, Anthony Lamont Cooper, 19, of Lanham, Amber She-Brea Muse, 18, of Clinton, and David Earl Howington,17 (charged as an adult), of Landover.

-- Dan Morse