After a five-hour standoff with police, an armed carjacking suspect who had barricaded himself inside a townhouse in Potomac peacefully surrendered Tuesday evening.

Police arrested the suspect, 46-year-old Perry Marcel Bryant, without incident after forcing entry to the residence, located less than two miles from Churchill high school.

Police pursued Bryant after he committed a carjacking just over one mile away from Whitman.
“At 2:39 this afternoon, in the Bethesda area, near the intersection of Bradley Blvd. and Wilson Ln., there was a call for a carjacking,” Captain Paul Starks said Tuesday afternoon. “A black BMW was taken. Shortly after that, a member of the Maryland State Police observed that vehicle on Falls Rd. in Potomac.”

While being pursued by police, Bryant collided with another vehicle before going off the road and crashing into a wooded area near the intersection of Falls Rd. and Tuckerman Ln. Bryant then fled the vehicle and continued on foot, Starks said.

Bryant then forced entry and barricaded himself into a townhouse on the 11900 block of Frost Valley Way. The owner of the townhouse was present when Bryant forced entry, but was able to get away after realizing what was going on, Starks said.

Montgomery County and Maryland State Police immediately blocked off the area surrounding Bryant, closing parts of Falls Rd. and other local streets. Students at nearby Wayside and Cold Spring Elementary schools were sheltered in place, and weren’t allowed to leave the schools until after 5 p.m.

“We are very used to communicating with the schools,” Starks said. “We were just coordinating the reunification of some of the students from these schools with their parents.”

Police began clearing neighboring houses and evacuating citizens when safe to do so.

“My boyfriend told me he saw an entire SWAT team suit up before being pulled out,” said Brenna Meads, whose boyfriend resided in the townhouse directly next to the one Bryant was barricaded in. “He saw a guy running in the backyard,” Meads said. “It’s somewhat open and there’s a trail back behind the houses, and he saw someone running back there right before all the cops arrived.”

Along with police and SWAT, multiple police helicopters circled the house, as police attempted to establish communication with Bryant.

At approximately 8:30 p.m., police entered the residence and arrested Bryant. No gun was found inside the residence, but a firearm was recovered in the stolen vehicle, Starks said.

Residents were allowed to re-enter the area after Bryant was arrested and police left the scene.

After being taken into custody, Bryant was transported to the Central Processing Unit by police, where he was charged with one count of armed carjacking, one count of home invasion, and one count of attempted kidnapping.