A Maryland man who called police to report that his vehicle had been stolen instead found himself under arrest after officers noticed what investigators said was blood on his hands and clothing. According to the Howard County Police Department, those observations quickly led officers to connect him to a burglary that had just occurred across the street in Ellicott City.
Police identified the suspect as 29-year-old Jalen Godard of Odenton. Authorities allege the incident unfolded around 5:45 a.m. on June 25, 2026, in the 9300 block of Baltimore National Pike, where officers responded after Godard reported that someone had stolen his vehicle from the parking lot of a nearby McDonald’s. At nearly the same time, police received a report of a burglary at a nearby Verizon Wireless store.
