A Baltimore County man was charged with second-degree assault and a related weapons charge after he allegedly threw an airsoft grenade at a group of men in a Home Depot parking lot.
Police allege that Brent Goetz, 23, of Sparrows Point, threw an airsoft grenade out the window of a car toward a group of men waiting for work in the rear parking lot of a Home Depot in Southeast Baltimore.
No injuries were reported. Goetz was ordered held without bond, according to online court records. He does not have an attorney listed.
Around 1:20 p.m. Sunday, a light-colored sedan approached the group of men, and a victim reported seeing the driver of the vehicle throw an object toward the group, according to charging documents.
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The man told police there was no discussion or prior exchange between the driver of the vehicle and the group.
The victim said the group heard a loud noise immediately after the object was thrown, and the vehicle “sped off quickly,” police said. After reviewing surveillance footage, police identified the vehicle as a 2016 Toyota Camry.
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The group checked themselves and parked cars for damage, and found pieces of “a green object” on the ground, police said.
Bomb squad and arson investigators, as well as federal law enforcement, went to the scene along Eastern Avenue and investigated for several hours. A Wendy’s in the area briefly closed, though the Home Depot remained open.
Later that day, federal officials drove to the address the sedan was registered to in Sparrows Point and saw the vehicle parked outside, the charging documents state.
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The next day, Baltimore Police Department officials interviewed the registered owner of the Camry, who said his son — Goetz — is the one who drives the car.
Officials were able to connect Goetz to the crime using the Life360 location-tracking app on his and his father’s phones, according to charging documents.
Using data from the app, police determined that Goetz’s cellphone traveled from the Sparrows Point residence to the Home Depot, without making any other stops, on Sunday afternoon.
Later that evening, Baltimore County Police, Baltimore City Police and ATF officers executed a search warrant of the Camry and found a pull pin from an airsoft grenade that matched the type of weapon found at the Home Depot, police wrote.
Airsoft grenades are simulation weapons that generally use compressed gas or springs to explode, with some expelling pellets or plastic and foam fragments.
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Officials said they found two other airsoft grenades in a box on the floor of Goetz’s bedroom. Goetz allegedly said, “I know why you are here” and “They are just airsoft grenades” to investigators, police wrote.
WJZ’s Adam Thompson and Tara Lynch contributed to this article.
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