Malik Kajaun Rivers (left) Shahid Malik Horne (middle) and Samuel Alston Spence (right)
UPDATE 3/7/2023: On March 6, 2023, Samuel Alston Spence, 28, of District Heights, Maryland, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in a 2022 robbery of the Walgreen’s Pharmacy in Prince Frederick. Judge Andrew S. Rappaport of the Calvert County Circuit Court suspended 12½ years of the sentence, leaving Spence to serve 2½ years in the Maryland Division of Corrections. Spence will be on 5 years of supervised probation upon release.
Malik Kajaun Rivers, 27 of Bryans Road was sentenced to 15 years in prison suspended down to 3 years with his sentence starting July 7, 2022. Rivers also has an open criminal investigation in Talbot County, Maryland for robbery, assault, theft and burglary which occurred May 18, 2022 and June 23, 2022.
Shahid Malik Horne, 26 of Upper Marlboro has pending court dates set for later this year for the robberies in Calvert and St. Mary’s County.
On July 14, 2022, Deputies from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Walgreens for a report of a robbery in progress. They quickly located and detained two suspects inside the store. A third suspect, Spence, was located a short distance away. He admitted to being the driver of the getaway car.
Calvert State’s Attorney Robert Harvey wishes to commend Assistant State’s Attorney Benjamin G. Lerner for his handling of this case. He also wishes to commend the Deputies who arrived on the scene within 90 seconds of the initial robbery report, particularly Deputies Bradley and Shoemaker. Their swift action led to the apprehension of the suspects and helped to keep the community safe.
UPDATE 7/18/2022: Charging documents added: On Thursday, July 14, 2022, at 12:48 p.m., police responded to the Giant Pharmacy located at First Colony Way in California, St. Mary’s County.
As the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office investigated, they learned one suspect, later identified as Malik Rivers, jumped over the pharmacy counter and threatened employees with a can of pepper spray and stole a single bottle of Acetaminophene (Tylenol) with Codeine containing 181 pills (valued at $48).
The second suspect that entered the store with Rivers was later identified as Shahid Horne, who stood nearby and acted as a lookout during the robbery. The suspects used masks and gloves to cover their identity.
They both fled the store on foot and ran to the neighborhood behind the shopping center and entered a small white SUV bearing North Carolina registration plates. This information was relayed to Charles County and Calvert County.
Deputies from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office waited along Route 4 and at all pharmacies throughout Calvert County, and at 2:15 p.m., Calvert County Emergency Control Center received a 911 call from the Giant Foods Regional Store Manager, who coincidentally was responding to the Giant in California to assist in the investigation when they decided to stop at the Walgreens located at 355 Market Square Drive in Prince Frederick and observed two suspects enter the Walgreens Pharmacy and noticed they were wearing similar clothing to the robbery in California.
Multiple Calvert County Deputies were in the area and arrived on the scene to find Rivers and Horne inside the store.
As Deputy Shoemaker entered the store, Rivers ran at Dep. Shoemaker, who gave multiple verbal commands to stop and get on the ground. Rivers shoved Dep. Shoemaker in the chest to flee the business and lead police on a short foot pursuit.
During the chase, Rivers discarded a can of pepper spray and shouted “I’m Sorry” multiple times.
Rivers and Horne were both taken into custody without further incident. After a search of Rivers, police recovered several stolen prescription cough syrup medications from his pants.
They were identified as (3) one pint bottles of Promethazine with Dextromethorphan Cough Syrup, (1) one pint bottle of Promethazine Hydrochloride Oral Solution, and (1) 4oz bottle of Brompheniramine Maleate, Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride and Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide Oral Syrup. (Value of approximately $200) and all are not considered a controlled dangerous substance.
Investigation revealed Rivers mistook these bottles for Promethazine and Codeine (which is a controlled dangerous substance )
Upon investigation and witness/victim interviews, Rivers and Horne entered the Walgreens with ski masks, covid-19 masks, and gloves. River jumped the counter while Horne approached the counter and provided the victims with instructions that they were not to speak or move, that they were there to get medicine and would be done quickly, he gave repeated instructions to the pharmacists.
As they were in fear for their safety, they complied to avoid being assaulted or killed and watched as Rivers stole the bottles of Cough Syrup. The victims told police the bottles containing Codeine was directly underneath the ones River stolen. Video showed Rivers handing the stolen bottles to Horne and jumping over the counter. The entire incident took 46 seconds.
After Rivers and Horne were placed in custody. Additional officers searched responded to search Rt. 4 and Rt.231 for the white SUV with North Carolina plates.
Sgt. Kreps located a small white Ford SUV displaying North Carolina registration JKJ-1412 travelling Northbound on Rt.4 in the area of Ponds Woods Road. Before attempting a traffic stop, additional officers responded to the area to set up spike strips if needed and to assist with the traffic stop.
A felony traffic stop was completed and Samuel Spence, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, was taken into custody without incident.
Spence initially told Sgt. Kreps and Detective Buck he was near the locations of both crime scenes prior to being stopped, but denied involvement and claimed he came from Prince George’s County to visit a friend and deliver for Door Dash.
Spence was transported to the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office for further interviewing. The vehicle was seized pending further investigation.
As Detectives conducted video recorded interviews with Rivers, Horne, and Spence. All three waived their rights and gave statements.
Rivers stated that Horne is the cousin of his first cousin and have known each other their entire lives. He was uncooperative in providing information about their driver and the vehicle. River sated he only recently met him, and claimed to go into Washington D.C. earlier that morning before being driven to St. Mary’s County.
Rivers confessed to entering Giant Pharmacy in St. Mary’s County and threatening employees with pepper spray in order to steal Promethazine and Codeine (which he referred to by its street name “Lean” in order to sell on the street for several hundred dollars due to recent financial difficulties in his life.
In the interview with Horne, he confirmed Rivers and him were related. He stated he met with Rivers and their driver at a Chick-Fil-A in Forestville, MD. Horne stated Rivers knew the driver, but it was the first time Horne has seen him. He was also uncooperative in describing the driver and vehicle, just stating Rivers called him around 11:30 a.m., and picked him up from his residence in an undescribed vehicle.
Horne claimed to be unknowing of the intent when stopping at the Giant in St. Mary’s County and stated he was surprised by River’s actions and ran away once he jumped back over the county. Rivers asked “If they had parked out front, Horne responded Hell no.”
He then confessed that he knew the intent when entering the Prince Frederick Walgreens. While Horne and Rivers approached the counter, Horne stated he spoke to the pharmacists telling them to stay quiet, keep calm, and that they would be done soon.
During Spence’s interview, he confessed to meeting Rivers a week prior to discuss the robberies and planned them through text messages, Facetime audio calls, and that he was paid by another subject known to both Rivers and Spence in order to be the driver to steal “Lean” from Pharmacies.
The morning of July 14, 2022, Spence received a pindrop location in Washington D.C., where he picked up Rivers and Horne and drove to St. Mary’s County where they scoped out multiple pharmacies before “they hit” the Giant in California.
Spence stated Rivers realized he only acquired one bottle of Tylenol with Codeine in a pill form, which was “useless for their purposes”, and threw the bottle out of the car window in Calvert County.
They then canvassed multiple pharmacies in Calvert County that were deemed not worthy of a hit before arriving to the Walgreens in Prince Frederick. Spence stated he parked near the Office Depot while Rivers and Horne committed the robbery, Spence stated he observed Deputies run into the Walgreens, he began to drive away from the scene towards his home before being stopped by police.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
Rivers, Horne, and Spence have additional charges pending in St. Mary’s County.
UPDATE 7/15/2022 @ 1:00 p.m.: All three suspects are being held on a no bond status at the Calvert County Detention Center. Additional charges are pending in St. Mary’s County.
Malik Kajaun Rivers, 26 of Bryans Road, has been charged with Robbery, Con-Robbery, Assault 2nd degree, Theft $100 to under $1,500, Resist/Interfere with arrest, and false imprisonment.
Shahid Malik Horne, 25 of Upper Marlboro, has been charged with Robbery, Con-Robbery, Theft $100 to under $1,500, and false imprisonment.
Samuel Alston Spence, 27 of District Heights, has been charged with Robbery, Con-Robbery, and Theft $100 to under $1,500
UPDATE 7/15/2022 @ 11:15 a.m.: On Thursday, July 14, 2022, deputies with the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division’s Criminal Intelligence Unit responded to an armed robbery call at the Giant grocery store in California.
Deputies canvassed the immediate area and determined the suspect vehicle was a white SUV, which was observed traveling northbound on Three Notch Road driving recklessly after the robbery.
The Criminal Intelligence Unit broadcasted a lookout for the suspect vehicle to neighboring jurisdictions.
At 2:15 p.m., the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office responded to a robbery at a pharmacy in Prince Frederick and apprehended two suspects at the scene. The white SUV was located and stopped by Calvert deputies, resulting in the arrest of a third suspect.
The three suspects arrested in Calvert County have been positively identified as the same suspects in the robbery in St. Mary’s County and charges are forthcoming from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office today. The investigation continues.
The suspects are currently being held at the Calvert County Detention Center.
Updates will be provided when they become available.
7/14/2022: On Thursday, July 14, 2022, at approximately 12:50 p.m., police responded to the Giant located at 45101 First Colony Way in California, for a silent alarm.
Police arrived on the scene and found the Giant Pharmacy was robbed with at least one employee suffering minor injuries.
Witnesses reported two black males wearing black hoodies, white gloves and white surgical masks fled in a white SUV with North Carolina registration plates.
Witnesses said the suspect jumped over the pharmacy counter and threatened to pepper spray employees before stealing an unknown amount of narcotics and fled.
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.
A short time later, on Thursday, July 14, 2022, at approximately 2:15 p.m., deputies from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Bureau responded to the Walgreens pharmacy located at 355 Market Square Drive in Prince Frederick, MD, for the report of a robbery in progress.
Preliminary investigation revealed two suspects entered the business, approached the pharmacy clerk, jumped over the pharmacy counter, and stole prescription medication.
Deputies arrived on the scene in under 3 minutes and apprehended two suspects on scene at gunpoint. A third subject of interest was apprehended during a traffic stop Northbound Rt. 4 in the area of the Norfolk Dr. in Owings, MD.
Detectives from the Criminal Investigation Bureau have assumed the investigation.
Anyone with information about this incident or subjects involved is asked to contact Det. Ted Yates at [email protected].
Calvert County Crime Solvers offers rewards of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest or indictment of a person responsible for a crime in Calvert County. All individuals who provide tips through Crime Solvers will remain anonymous. Anyone with information about an unsolved crime or the location of a fugitive may contact Calvert County Crime Solvers by calling 410-535-2880.
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office and Calvert County Sheriff’s Office are actively investigating. Updates will be provided when they become available.
Samuel Alston Spence, 27 of District Heights
Malik Kajaun Rivers, 26 of Bryans Road
Shahid Malik Horne, 25 of Upper Marlboro
