Machete Robber Captured in Hold Up Try

A North East woman and her accomplice are in the custody on robbery charges after being caught by Maryland State Troopers in the midst of holding up a convenience store in the Bayview community of Cecil County.

Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 28, of the 400 block of Champlain Road, was taken into custody as she tried to rob the High’s Dairy Store, located at 3155 Joseph Biggs Memorial Highway near North East, Maryland at 10:10 p.m. Tuesday. Clendaniel, who faces armed robbery, robbery, first-degree assault and attempted theft charges, was apprehended by Criminal Enforcement Division-Northern Region investigators after she walked into the store, threatened two clerks with a machete and demanded they open the register.

Allen Lynn White, 59, also of the 400 block of Champlain Road, was apprehended by a criminal investigator assigned to the JFK Memorial Highway Barrack as he waited for Clendaniel to return from the store. White was found sitting in a running 1998 GMC truck tucked in dead-end lane in a secluded residential area about 100 yards north of the store. When contacted by troopers, he voluntarily admitted he was waiting for Clendaniel. White faces armed robbery, robbery, first-degree assault and attempted theft and conspiracy charges.

Both Clendaniel and White were taken into custody without incident. Criminal Enforcement Division investigators recovered the machete and other items linking Clendaniel to several open robbery investigations.

Troopers from the Criminal Enforcement Division (including those assigned to the Pro-Active Criminal Enforcement Team, Cecil County Narcotics Task Force and Gang Enforcement Unit), along with JFK Memorial Highway and Bel Air barracks personnel and Cecil County Sheriff’s deputies, were conducting a saturation surveillance detail Tuesday night. The operation focused on the Bayview and Rising Sun communities after a series of convenience store robberies reported to the Maryland State Police and Cecil County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators were looking for the machete-wielding bandit after clerks at the Pantry 1 Mart near Rising Sun reported a robbery on March 21 shortly after 8:37 p.m. Clerks told troopers a small stature female enter the store, brandished a machete and demanded cash and cigarettes. She fled the store on foot.

On March 22, troopers were called to the High’s Dairy Store at 3155 Joseph Biggs Memorial Highway for an armed robbery. The clerks told troopers the masked machete-totting robber walked in demanded cash and cigarettes at 8:12 p.m. The clerks described the suspect as short female.

On March 25, Cecil County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the Pantry 1 Mart near Rising Sun for another armed robbery involving a female suspect armed with a machete. Again, the suspect fled with cash and cigarettes.

No injuries were reported during any of the robberies. Clendaniel was remanded to the Cecil County Detention Center after being denied bond by a District Court Commissioner early Wednesday morning; White was being held pending an initial appearance before the court commissioner. Additional charges against both Clendaniel and White are pending. The investigation is continuing.