By Jessica Gresko and amanda Lee Myers
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Ronald Anderson spent his 48th birthday going on a crime spree in Washington and Maryland, police say.
On Thursday about 5:30 p.m., authorities say, Anderson kidnapped his girlfriend from a street in the nation’s capital, forcing her into a green Honda Accord at gunpoint. Roughly 30 minutes later in nearby Maryland, police say, he shot a guard at the Census Bureau after the guard spotted the car and two people fighting inside. The guard later died. About 7:30 p.m. back in Washington, Anderson got into several shootouts with police who were pursuing him that left both him and an officer wounded.
The woman was found safe after Thursday’s crime spree.
Anderson was taken to the hospital in critical condition, according to a court document, but his condition was unknown Friday. He was charged with armed kidnapping and assault on a police officer as more details emerged about the two-hour crime spree, his criminal history and the guard he fatally shot. More serious charges are expected to follow in Maryland where the guard was killed.
Anderson’s attorney’s phone number rang busy Friday.
Thursday was not the first time Anderson had a run-in with police over the woman, identified in court records from February as his girlfriend.
On Feb. 17, Anderson was arrested on a charge of assaulting the woman in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Prince George’s County, court records show. The woman, who is 20, was in tears when police arrived at a home she shared with Anderson to investigate a report of a domestic dispute, according to the records.
“The victim was shaking, crying and was whispering while speaking because she was afraid of the suspect hearing her,” wrote an officer who responded to the scene, according to the documents.
The woman, whose 10-month-old son was home, told police that Anderson had hit her several times, knocking her into walls, because he thought she was looking at another man, the records say.
A drug charge related to that case had been set for a dismissal hearing Friday, but that was canceled following the crime spree. The trial on the assault charge is set for July.
Another record filed in D.C. Superior Court shows that Anderson pleaded guilty to manslaughter while armed in 1991 in Washington, D.C. No other details were immediately available about that case. Court records also show he previously pleaded guilty to crimes including cocaine possession, simple assault, and reckless driving.
More information about the guard who was shot at the Census Bureau in Suitland, Maryland, was also released Friday.
Lawrence Buckner, 59, died at a Maryland hospital after the shooting. He was a contractor working for the federal government through the Hunt Valley, Maryland-based company Master Security. The company said in a statement Friday that Buckner had served for about eight years in the U.S. Army and worked in the security field for more than two decades. He had been with Master Security for four years and leaves behind a wife, son and four grandchildren as well as a large extended family.
The police officer wounded in the shooting was recovering Friday and in good condition, a police spokesman said. He has not been identified by police.
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