Crime & Safety

Police: Escaped Prisoner Stole From Brother's Essex Business

Vincent Michael Avila allegedly stole and cashed payroll checks from ABC Driving School.

A man  after he kicked through the window of a patrol car on York Road and was later captured, had just been charged with stealing payroll checks from his brother’s driving school in Essex, according to Baltimore County police reports.

Vincent Michael Avila, 25, entered the ABC Driving School on the 11000 block of Old Eastern Avenue without permission between Sept. 20 and 21 and stole 23 payroll checks, police said. He allegedly cashed four of them, taking a total of $1,873.

Avila’s brother told police he discovered the checks were stolen on Sept. 29 after reviewing his bank statement online, which led him to review and inventory his payroll checks.

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Vincent Avila allegedly illegally cashed the following payroll checks:

  • $376 on Sept. 22
  • $745 on Sept. 23
  • $376 on Sept. 27
  • $376 on Sept. 27

Avila’s brother also told police that he had broken into the business before and stolen cash. Avila’s brother believes his younger sibling made a copy of the key to the business without his permission, as he is not allowed on the property.

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Avila, who had been in custody on charges prior to the alleged theft from ABC Driving School was being transported on Monday when he made his escxape from the patrol car. According to police, at around 6:15 p.m., Monday, Avila removed his shackles and broke out through the back window of a patrol car and fled north on York Road.

Avila was taken back into custody around 9:30 p.m., Monday in a parking lot at the at the intersection of York Road and Seminary Avenue, across the street from a police staging area in the Galleria parking lot, police spokesman Officer Shawn Vinson said.

Avila, who is currently homeless, has several other recent arrests, including September charges of theft, issuing a false document, destruction of property and drug possession, according to court records.

Towson Patch editor Tyler Waldman and Perry Hall Patch editor Emily Kimball contributed to this story.


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