Crime & Safety

Police Investigating Homicide of Robbery Suspect in Pointer Ridge Chinese Restaurant

Police are investigating the death of Henry Lamont Gilbert after he was stabbed multiple times trying to rob the Beijing Café in Pointer Ridge Plaza.

The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Homicide Unit is investigating the homicide of a robbery suspect who was attacked by an employee of in Pointer Ridge Plaza while trying to rob the restaurant.

The suspect in the robberies has been identified as Henry Lamont Gilbert, 29, of Hyattsville. He was pronounced dead Monday after succumbing to injuries he sustained while attempting to rob the Beijing Café in the Pointer Ridge Shopping Plaza on Crain Highway in Bowie, according to reports from police.

Gilbert had a long history with the legal system, dating back to 2002 in Maryland when he was charged with attempted armed robbery and several counts of assault— including assault with a deadly weapon—according to online court records.

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He was put on five years supervised probation in July of 2010, after 6 months of treatment by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, after another case in which he was charged with robbery, assault and use of a deadly weapon.

On the afternoon of May 18, Gilbert walked into the store on Crain Highway demanding money and lifting his shirt to show a handgun to the cashier. The 48-year-old man cooperated, giving the suspect an undisclosed amount of money before he fled the store, nobody was injured in that incident, police said.

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Gilbert then went into the Beijing Café, this time demanding money from an employee—a 31-year-old pregnant woman—who screamed when he approached her. When she started screaming, Gilbert began hitting her in the face and body with his gun, according to police.

Another employee, a 31-year-old man who also is the woman’s husband, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and went after Gilbert, cutting him on his neck, head and body. Gilbert fled the scene and headed down a walking path leading to Patriot Lane. The husband chased him on foot, but lost sight of him when he got to the ‘P’ section neighborhood.

The woman suffered cuts to her head and arm and was taken to Prince George’s Hospital. The male employee had multiple abrasions on his head and face and was treated on the scene. Police searched the area with K-9 on foot and by air, eventually finding the suspect in the 16000 block of Governors Bridge Road and taking him to Prince George’s Hospital. He remained at the hospital until Monday when he succumbed to his injuries.

The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Homicide Unit is continuing the investigation.


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