Here’s an odd news story for you: A guy pretending to be God attacked the ABC affiliate in Baltimore with a stolen truck. And then ABC2 started reporting on its own newsroom as a crime scene.
So great getting to work with Baltimore crime reporting veteran Peter Hermann on this story.
BY PETER HERMANN AND ZACH C. COHEN
peter. hermann@washpost.com zach.cohen@washpost.com Dana Hedgpeth contributed to this report.
The Washington Post
May 14, 2014
A man rammed a stolen landscaping truck into the lobby of a Baltimore television station Tuesday, police said, prompting a standoff that forced the building’s evacuation and knocked the ABC affiliate off the air for hours.
Authorities in Baltimore County eventually entered the building and found the man armed with a golf club and holed up in a second-floor editing room, where he was watching television accounts of the incident…read more…
Online: “Police arrest man suspected of crashing truck into Baltimore news station”
An updated story came the following day with the release of the police report and the charges, along with a little extra reporting.
BY PETER HERMANN AND ZACH C. COHEN Dana Hedgpeth contributed to this report.
The Washington Post
May 15 2014
A 28-year-old man charged with ramming a truck into a Baltimore television station Tuesday told police he is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and King Tutankhamun and wanted to expose what he called the “multiverses” where bad things happen to people and they disappear, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
Police said Vladimir Mehul Baptiste roamed through WMAR-TV’s headquarters north of Baltimore — prompting a 41 / 2-hour standoff that knocked the ABC affiliate (Channel 2) off the air until after 5 p.m. — and was finally arrested as he watched newscasts of himself from an editing office while holding a golf club…read more…
Updated story the next day: “Suspect in Baltimore TV station crash said he was reincarnation of Jesus Christ and King Tut”
Zach C. Cohen 