Catherine Mary Littlejohn, 52, of La Plata
Catherine Mary Littlejohn, 52, of La Plata, has been charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault and disorderly conduct following an alleged confrontation with a customer inside the Wawa on Crain Highway in La Plata on July 17, 2026.
An officer with the La Plata Police Department was dispatched to the store at approximately 6:58 p.m. for a reported assault in progress between two customers. The officer wrote that Littlejohn could be heard yelling from outside the business and was visible near the front checkout counter.
When the officer entered and attempted to speak with her, Littlejohn allegedly continued yelling loudly enough that customers and employees stopped and looked toward her. After being asked to lower her voice, she eventually calmed down enough for activity in the store to resume, according to the police account.
Littlejohn told the officer that the adult male victim had “chest bumped her” and “got into her face.” She repeatedly told the officer to “check the security camera footage,” according to the report.
The store manager told police that he witnessed the confrontation. According to his account, Littlejohn entered through the right-side vestibule and made a comment to the victim about his children not moving out of the way. The two then began arguing.
The manager said Littlejohn bumped her chest against the victim and then spat on him. He also reported that she continued yelling and threw cups around the store. Employees had cleaned up the cups before officers arrived.
Police reviewed surveillance footage from the business. The officer reported that the video showed Littlejohn entering at approximately 6:55 p.m. and appearing to say something to children who were in her path. She then walked toward refrigerated snack shelves and began speaking with the victim.
After the two exchanged words, the victim walked toward Littlejohn in what the officer described as a “non-aggressive manner.” Littlejohn then allegedly walked directly into him and bumped her chest against his “in a rough manner.”
The victim stepped backward. The manager told police that this was when Littlejohn spat on the victim, who stated that “Littlejohn just spit on him.”
After speaking with the victim and manager and reviewing the footage, the officer identified Littlejohn as the main aggressor and placed her under arrest. Police said she was taken into custody without incident.
While being escorted to a marked patrol vehicle, however, Littlejohn allegedly began yelling again. The officer reported that employees and customers repeatedly stopped what they were doing and looked toward her. She was searched, placed in the patrol vehicle and transported to the Charles County Detention Center.
The first-degree assault charge is a felony. The second-degree assault and disorderly conduct charges are misdemeanors. The allegations do not indicate that a weapon was involved or describe an injury to the adult male victim.
Littlejohn appeared before a judicial officer on the night of July 17, 2026. She waived an attorney for that initial proceeding and requested a preliminary hearing. She was released on her own recognizance, meaning she was not required to post money for her release. Her conditions include appearing in court and not engaging in criminal activity while the charges are pending. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on August 12, 2026, in Charles County District Court.
The new allegations arose about four months after Littlejohn was found guilty of disorderly conduct in an earlier La Plata incident.
In that case, a La Plata Police Department officer responded to the emergency-room lobby of Charles Regional Medical Center on Garrett Avenue at approximately 5:13 a.m. on January 5, 2026, for a report of an irate patient.
Hospital security asked that Littlejohn be removed from the property. According to the officer, she began yelling as soon as he spoke with her and said she was experiencing health problems at home, had come to the hospital and was upset about waiting in the lobby. Approximately five or six other people were waiting to be seen.
The officer told Littlejohn that she needed to leave because security no longer wanted her on the property. She allegedly became more upset and argued that “the secretary said that she could stay.”
After being asked several more times to leave, Littlejohn stood and began walking toward the door. Police said she became louder while leaving and screamed “F##k you” multiple times at hospital staff members and officers.
She was arrested and transported to the Charles County Detention Center. She was initially accused of disorderly conduct and remaining on private property after being told to leave.
Littlejohn pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on March 11, 2026. A judge imposed a 60-day jail sentence but suspended the entire term. She was also placed on three years of unsupervised probation.
