by Christopher Finan

Staff Writer

December 22, 1999

Three suspects involved in a short string of robberies and knife attacks that injured three victims on Dec. 8 and 9 are still being held in the Montgomery County Detention Center in Rockville.

Abdul Tejan Williams, 20, of the 12900 block of Poppyseed Court, Germantown, and Shawn Marquies Henderson, 17, of the 700 block of Clopper Road, Gaithersburg, are both being held without bond.

They face two counts of attempted first-degree murder, six counts of armed robbery and three counts of first-degree assault.

A third suspect, Marvin Levon Craddolph, 36, of the 700 block of Clopper Road, Gaithersburg, is being held on $5,000 bond and faces one count of forgery and one count of uttering a bad check under $300.

During Dec. 8 and 9, police had two reports of two separate victims being robbed by an assailant who came up from behind them, put a knife to their throats, robbed them and cut each of their necks.

In another incident, a Germantown woman was attacked by an unidentified suspect. Her neck was also cut.

None of the injuries were life-threatening, police said.

Police arrested the suspects on Dec. 10 after police arrested Craddolph at a Gaithersburg branch of Chevy Chase Bank at 4 Bureau Drive.

Craddolph allegedly tried to cash a forged Chevy Chase Bank account check, which came under suspicion when a teller found the signature on the check did not match other signatures by the account holder, court documents reveal.

The teller then called the account holder, according to court documents, who said a man robbed her the night before, taking her checkbook; she then told the teller to call police.

When the police arrived, the teller said Craddolph walked away from the teller window and left his State of Maryland identification, according to court documents.

He was then confronted by police outside the bank, and, after questioning witnesses, court documents state, police arrested him for the allegedly forged $100 check.

Craddolph told police he was cashing the check for a neighbor, Henderson, who told Craddolph he needed help cashing the check because he lacked any identification, according to court documents.

Henderson said he received the check from a woman he helped move.

Craddolph told the police where Henderson lived, according to court documents, and at that residence they found Henderson and Williams and arrested them.

After searching Williams, police found a check from the same forgery and robbery victim, according to court documents. They searched Williams' car and found a bloody knife, another sharp implement and more stolen items.

Police also found two dark winter coats in Williams' car, which the victims were wearing at the time of the assault.

On Jan. 20, 1998, Williams pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree burglary and two counts of theft over $300 for his involvement, according to court documents.

A circuit court judge sentenced him to18 months in prison and two years supervised probation.