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BALTIMORE (AP) — A man who crashed a stolen car into a fence at a Maryland Army installation Wednesday night and hid overnight in a storm drain was arrested almost immediately after he emerged from hiding Thursday morning, authorities said.
The incident began about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday when officers with Anne Arundel County Police spotted a car that had been stolen in a carjacking earlier this week in Baltimore.
The driver led officers on a 4 ½-mile chase from Hanover, Maryland, to the Fort Meade Army installation, county police Spokesman Lt. Ryan Frashure said in a news release. He crashed his car into a fence near an unmanned Fort Meade gate.
The man ran onto Fort Meade property and hid overnight in a storm drain obscured by a bush, according to Fort Meade Garrison Commander Col. Brian Foley.
While law enforcers searched for the man throughout the night, Fort Meade functioned on reduced operations, residents were warned to stay indoors and six nearby schools were closed. "We ensured that service members were safe," Foley said at a news conference.
About 10:15 a.m. Thursday, the driver "probably thought enough time had gone by and it was safe to come out," Foley said. The driver was almost immediately arrested by police.
The man was taken into custody by Baltimore police, Foley said. Authorities there had reported an armed carjacking on Sunday and the car that crashed into the fence as stolen in that crime.
Detective Jeremy Silbert, a Baltimore Police Department spokesman, said in an email Thursday afternoon that the man is being treated for injuries at an area hospital. He has not been charged, and the investigation is continuing, Silbert said.
The incident came six months after National Security Agency police shot two people who ignored orders to turn around a stolen SUV at a security gate, killing one. NSA is located on the Fort Meade campus.
When asked if the two incidents meant a security review is needed at the installation, Foley said work began in June to rebuild and modernize the gate through which the man entered.
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