A 31-year-old man, who was being held without bond for a series of bank robberies, struggled with deputies from Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in a bathroom at Holy Cross Hospital and then escaped.
According to Montgomery County Police, at 6:15 p.m. Jan. 25, Steven Ray Beitzel was in Holy Cross but denied treatment and had been discharged. As he was being escorted out of the hospital, Beitzel asked to use the bathroom. There he pretended to be ill and was released from his restraints by the deputies, according to MCP.
Beitzel then assaulted the two deputies and attempted to grab one of their firearms. He was taken into custody and and returned to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility and was charged with first and second degree assault, disarming a law enforcement officer and first degree escape.
Beitzel is accused of committing bank robberies during December of 2021 and January of this year in Poolesville, Darnestown and Germantown.
On Dec. 14, 2021, MCP said that Beitzel entered the BB&T Bank in the 19600 block of Fisher Avenue in Poolesville, stole money and fled. Then on Jan. 5, he was charged with robbing the SunTrust Bank in the 14100 block of Darnestown Road and fleeing on a dirt bike.
In a third robbery, Beitzel was charged with attempting to rob that same BB&T bank in Poolesville on Jan. 11. However, bank employees locked the front doors before he could get into the lobby, according to police. He then went to the Capital One Bank in the 21100 block of Frederick Road in Germantown but fled on a dirt bike after realizing the bank had reinforced glass partitions at the teller counter, according to police.
That same day, he is accused of robbing M&T Bank in the 21000 block of Frederick Road in Germantown and also fled on a dirt bike.
Montgomery County Inmate Charged With Attempted Escape https://t.co/kRMMxouDAT#MCPD #MCPNews pic.twitter.com/6CzXjrFMba
— Montgomery County Department of Police (@mcpnews) January 27, 2022
