9 Year Sentence for Potomac Teen in Parking Garage Armed Carjacking

In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Judge Christopher Fogleman has sentenced defendant, Herbert Randall, 19, of Potomac, to nine years in prison and five years of supervised probation upon release for charges of Armed Carjacking and Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Crime of Violence. Randall had pleaded guilty to both counts in November 2022. He used a Privately Manufactured Firearm (PMF) or ‘ghost gun’ in commission of this crime. Judge Fogleman is recommending Randall be admitted to the Patuxent Youthful Offenders Program while incarcerated.

The sentence was handed down yesterday by Judge Fogleman and the breakdown is 25 years suspend all but 9: Count Two- Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Crime of Violence, 10 years suspend all but five years, with credit for 207 days of time-served and five years of supervised probation and on Count One- Armed Carjacking, 15 years consecutive to Count Two suspend all but four years, and five years of supervised probation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorneys Peter Larson and Daniel Kroepsch. There are three co-defendants which are being processed in juvenile court. This stems from an incident on June 10^th, 2022. Summery of events as adapted from court documents can be seen below:

On June 10, 2022, at approximately 11:00 p.m., – Montgomery County police officers responded to the county parking garage at 4935 Saint Elmo Avenue in Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland 20814. Upon arrival, officers found the male and female victims, hereafter anonymously referred to as Victim 1 and Victim 2, respectively. Investigation determined the following:

On the above date at approximately 10:55 p.m., Victim 1 and Victim 2 walked up to the second floor of the county parking garage after finished dinner at a nearby restaurant. Victim 1 had been driving a red 2022 Hyundai Elantra, which is registered to his friend, Victim 3, who was not there at the time of the incident. As Victim 1 and Victim 2 walked towards the vehicle, they observed a group of four suspects standing near the vehicle, all with various coverings concealing their faces. Victim 1 opened the front passenger door to let Victim 2 in, after which he walked to the driver’s door. Once Victim 1 got to the driver’s door, he noticed that the group of suspects was now standing by his vehicle and one of them was standing right in front of him pointing a black handgun at his chest. Victim 1 and Victim 2 both noticed a laser pointed at Victim 1’s chest coming from the weapon. The suspect demanded Victim 1’s car keys. Victim 1 complied and handed the keys to the vehicle to the suspect, after which, Victim 2 then exited the vehicle. The suspect with the gun then entered the driver’s seat and the other three suspects all got in the vehicle as well. The suspects then fled the scene in the vehicle towards Cordell Avenue.

Using an electronic tracking service provided by Hyundai, Victim 3 provided your affiant with a location of the stolen vehicle at 12:56 a.m. on June 11, 2022. The vehicle was showing a location of 13000 block of Midway Avenue in Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland. Sergeant Thomas of the Montgomery County Department of Police l 2nd District Assignment Team responded to that location and placed an electronic tracking device on the vehicle at 1:50 a.m.

On June 11, 2022, at approximately 11:30 a.m., Sergeant Thomas saw through the tracking device’s data that the vehicle was mobile. Sergeant Thomas eventually located and observed the vehicle as it drove into Virginia from Montgomery County, Maryland, and then back into Maryland. Additional officers responded to conduct covert surveillance on the vehicle. Officers observed that the vehicle was occupied by a female driver, a female front passenger, and one male in the backseat. Officers followed the vehicle to the intersection of Seven Locks Road and Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland. At approximately 12:40 p.m., officers conducted a tactical block on the vehicle at that intersection and took all three occupants into custody.

The driver and front passengers were identified as 15-year-old and 16-year-old females. Officers located the keys to the vehicle on Randall’s person. A search of the vehicle located a black backpack in the rear seat where Randall had been sitting. Located in the backpack was Randall’s Maryland learner’s permit. Randall was 18 years old at the time. Officers then located a loaded 9mm PBO Privately Made Firearm (PMF) in the backpack. The firearm had a laser pointer affixed to it, which is consistent with the victims’ observations.

All three occupants were transported to Montgomery County Public Safety Headquarters, where they were interviewed after being advised of their rights. All three admitted to being present at the carjacking. On the strength of a search warrant, detectives apprehended a fourth suspect, who is 17 years old and charged as an adult pending the outcome of a hearing on a motion to transfer to juvenile court.

Featured photo shows Herbert Randall’s gun inside of his backpack. Photo below shows Randall’s mugshot.