Officers spotted them running toward the wooded area and gave chase
In the quiet before dawn on a December Wednesday, two young men from neighboring cities arrived at an Annapolis dealership with the intention of stripping tires from luxury vehicles — only to find that the darkness they counted on offered less cover than they imagined. Police, alerted to the tampering at Sheehy Infiniti just after 4 a.m., gave chase into the surrounding woods and deployed a drone to finish what a foot pursuit began. The arrests of Domonick Malikye Murphy and Devon Vincent Harris speak to a broader tension between opportunistic property crime and the quietly evolving tools communities use to protect what they've built.
- At 4:05 a.m., officers rushed to a darkened dealership lot where two men were already pulling tires from vehicles and bolting toward the tree line.
- What began as a foot chase quickly escalated into a coordinated manhunt, with multiple units converging and a drone sweeping the woods for heat and movement.
- The aerial advantage proved decisive — both suspects were located and taken into custody before they could disappear into the pre-dawn darkness.
- Domonick Malikye Murphy, 23, of Baltimore, and Devon Vincent Harris, 23, of Washington D.C., now face theft-related charges with proceedings pending.
- The incident lands as one more data point in a troubling pattern of targeted dealership thefts across the Baltimore-Annapolis corridor, pushing businesses toward costlier security investments.
Just after 4 a.m. on December 10th, Annapolis police were dispatched to Sheehy Infiniti on Ferguson Road after reports of two men tampering with vehicles on the lot. Officers arrived to find the suspects already fleeing into the woods alongside the dealership, turning a routine call into something more demanding.
What followed was a coordinated response. Additional units closed in around the wooded perimeter while police deployed a drone overhead — an increasingly common tool that allowed officers to track movement through dense vegetation far faster than any foot pursuit could manage. Both men were located and taken into custody within a short time.
The two arrested were Domonick Malikye Murphy, 23, from Baltimore, and Devon Vincent Harris, 23, from Washington D.C. The apparent goal had been to strip tires and wheels — high-value components that can be quickly resold — a crime well-suited to the pre-dawn hours when dealership lots sit largely unguarded. That police arrived in time to witness the suspects fleeing suggests a rapid alarm response or a nearby patrol.
Both men remain in custody awaiting charges. The incident is part of a wider pattern of property crimes targeting dealerships in the region, one that has prompted businesses to invest in surveillance systems, motion lighting, and overnight security — a quiet arms race between opportunistic theft and the communities working to deter it.
Police in Annapolis arrested two men early Wednesday morning after catching them in the act of attempting to strip tires from vehicles at a dealership. The call came in around 4:05 a.m. on December 10th, when officers were dispatched to Sheehy Infiniti on Ferguson Road following reports that two individuals were tampering with cars on the lot. By the time police arrived, the suspects were already moving—officers spotted them running toward the wooded area adjacent to the dealership and gave chase.
What might have been a straightforward foot pursuit became a coordinated manhunt. Additional officers converged on the scene, and police deployed a drone to search the woods where the men had fled. The aerial support proved effective. Within a short time, both suspects were located and taken into custody.
The two men arrested were identified as Domonick Malikye Murphy, 23, from Baltimore, and Devon Vincent Harris, 23, from Washington, D.C. Both now face charges related to the attempted theft. Police have not yet released details about the specific charges or the exact number of vehicles they targeted, but the incident underscores a persistent problem for dealerships in the region—organized efforts to steal high-value components like tires and wheels, which can be quickly resold or stripped for parts.
The early morning timing of the attempt is typical for this kind of crime. Dealership lots are largely unattended in the pre-dawn hours, and thieves can work with minimal interruption. The fact that police responded quickly enough to observe the suspects fleeing suggests either that an alarm system alerted authorities or that a security patrol was nearby. The use of a drone—increasingly common in police operations—allowed officers to cover ground faster than they could on foot and to maintain visual contact even as the suspects moved through dense vegetation.
Both men remain in custody pending further legal proceedings. The incident is one of several property crimes affecting the Baltimore-Annapolis corridor in recent weeks, a pattern that has prompted dealerships to invest in better security measures, including surveillance cameras, motion-activated lighting, and increased overnight patrols.
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why would two young men from different cities coordinate on a tire theft in Annapolis specifically?
Tires are currency in a certain economy. They're easy to remove with basic tools, they're valuable, and there's a ready market for them—repair shops, resellers, chop shops. If you're organized, you hit multiple lots in a night.
The drone detail—that seems almost cinematic for a tire theft.
It is, but it's become routine police work now. A drone covers ground faster than officers on foot, especially in woods. It's the difference between a suspect disappearing and a suspect being found.
Do you think they expected to get caught?
Probably not. Most people committing property crimes at 4 a.m. believe they've calculated the risk. They've likely done this before. What they didn't account for was how fast the response would be and how well-equipped the police would be.
What happens to them now?
They face charges—likely attempted theft, possibly trespassing. If they have prior records, the sentences could be steeper. But the real question is whether this stops the pattern or just pauses it. One arrest doesn't solve the underlying economics that make tire theft attractive.