Armed robbery at East Baltimore bank ends in I-895 chase, arrest

A shotgun robbery at Wells Fargo’s Eastern Avenue branch in East Baltimore quickly became more than a bank crime Monday morning, sending police onto southbound I-895 and forcing the temporary closure of a branch that sits on one of Highlandtown’s busiest commercial strips.

Police said a man dressed in all black walked into the Wells Fargo at 4820 Eastern Avenue around 9:30 a.m. on June 1, armed with a shotgun. Investigators said he assaulted a customer inside the bank and fled with a large amount of U.S. currency. The bank, which offers ATM service, was shut while investigators processed the scene.

The chase widened beyond the block almost as soon as the robbery was reported. Baltimore County Aviation and members of the Regional Auto Theft Task Force located the suspect vehicle, and officers followed the pursuit until the man pulled over on southbound I-895 and surrendered without further incident. Police did not release the suspect’s name.

The robbery hit a stretch of Eastern Avenue that carries daily foot traffic, banking trips and neighborhood commerce through Greektown and Highlandtown. Live Baltimore describes Greektown as a blue-collar Southeast Baltimore neighborhood with Eastern Avenue as its main business corridor, a setting where a bank, nearby storefronts and customers are part of the same everyday landscape. A violent theft there does not just affect one branch. It disrupts access to a major financial institution and raises the sense of risk for people running routine errands along the corridor.

The case also showed how quickly Baltimore-area agencies can escalate a response when a crime spills onto a roadway. Baltimore County Police say their helicopters can communicate with ground units and joint task forces, a capability that helped direct the search once the suspect vehicle was spotted. That coordination ended the incident without further reported violence, but not before the robbery drew police, aviation support and a brief highway pursuit into one fast-moving scene.

The arrest came as Baltimore leaders said the city had recorded 40 homicides and 120 non-fatal shootings through June 1, with robberies down 14% compared with the same point in 2025. Even against that broader improvement, the Eastern Avenue case stood out because it landed in a visible neighborhood business district, interrupted a bank branch and sent an armed suspect onto a major city highway before police closed in.