Baltimore City Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Carjacking Baltimore Police Department Detective

Baltimore - Today, U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Trevon Gardner, 23, of Baltimore, to 12 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for his involvement in an armed carjacking of a Baltimore Police Department (BPD) detective in Baltimore.

Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office, and Commissioner Richard Worley, BPD.

According to the plea agreement, on May 3, 2022, BPD Detective Aaron Cain was at a 7-Eleven store at 2830 South Hanover Street, located in the Cherry Hill neighborhood. Detective Cain wore his training uniform, which consisted of dark cargo-style pants; a polo shirt with an embroidered BPD badge emblem on the chest area; his BPD credentials on a lanyard around his neck; his BPD badge; radio; and service weapon in his waistband. He was also driving an unmarked BPD vehicle.

Video surveillance camera footage shows Cain walking from the 7-Eleven towards his vehicle and opening the front passenger-side door. Then, the defendant and two other males approached the vehicle. One of the men brandished a handgun and struck Cain in the upper body near his head, causing Cain to fall to the ground and hit his head. While Cain was on the ground, one of the men kicked and punched him. Then the three males entered the BPD vehicle and sped away. Cain stood to his feet and discharged his service weapon at the vehicle.

Additional video surveillance footage from a local business shows the BPD vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed as it exited the Hanover Street Bridge in South Baltimore. The vehicle flipped onto its roof and crashed approximately one-half mile from the 7-Eleven store. The defendant and the other two males bailed from the vehicle and attempted to flee from the scene. But the defendant and a juvenile male were quickly apprehended. The third suspect was not apprehended. A black Taurus 9mm handgun - located next to the wrecked police vehicle - was loaded with nine rounds of ammunition. At the time of the defendant's arrest, he wore one black-and-white Nike slide. The matching Nike slide was located adjacent to the wrecked police vehicle.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods ("PSN"), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

U.S. Attorney Barron commended the FBI and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in this investigation. Mr. Barron also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney John W. Sippel, Jr., who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psn and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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