Frederick teenagers have been charged as adults after police said the two entered a man’s apartment and robbed him at knifepoint.
Jerrell Isiah Smith and Tayquan Cornwell Palmer, both 16, were charged with armed robbery and first- and second-degree assault after being arrested Friday by Frederick police.
Police were called to the Brookside Apartments on Willowdale Drive at 2:36 a.m. for a report of an armed robbery, said Lt. Clark Pennington, police spokesman.
Officers spoke with a man who said two teenage boys he knew came into his apartment and tried to steal belongings from him. He said Smith threatened him with a folding knife.
The man tried to fight off the intruders with a baseball bat, Pennington said, and Smith slashed at him with the knife, cutting his jacket but not injuring him. Smith and his accomplice then left the apartment with the victim’s belongings.
Officers arrested Smith a short time later. They arrested Cornwell at about 5:30 p.m. Friday and took him to central booking.
Smith was being held Friday at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center in lieu of $50,000 bail, according to court records.
Anyone with further information is asked to contact Cpl. Thomas Tokarz at 301-600-1240 or leave an anonymous tip at 301-600-TIPS or fpdcrimetip@frederickmdpolice.org.
Staff writer Patti S. Borda contributed to this report.
