[Baltimore Sun] Squeegee workers face charges of stealing money from drivers, Baltimore police say
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Three squeegee workers were arrested Thursday after allegedly stealing thousands from drivers through a mobile payment service, Baltimore police said in a news release.
Officers viewing a Citiwatch camera at Dundalk and Holabird avenues in southeast Baltimore around 6 p.m. Thursday saw an interaction between squeegee workers and a driver, according to the release.
Police said they saw a squeegee worker reaching into the vehicle and taking the driver’s cell phone, the release said. At the same time, police saw two other squeegee workers allegedly cleaning the windshield of the vehicle as a distraction.
When officers arrived at the scene, they spoke with the driver who said they noticed multiple CashApp transactions totaling $550 to their account, according to BPD.
All three squeegee workers were arrested and taken to the Central Booking on larceny charges.
Police added that others said these men had taken more than $2,000 from their Cash App account, and now, additional charges were filed against the three suspects, according to the release.
Squeegee workers’ presence on city streets became a renewed political flashpoint following the 2022 death of Timothy Reynolds, 48, who confronted squeegee workers with a bat at a downtown intersection.
The interaction ended with one of the workers, a then 14-year-old boy, shooting and killing Reynolds. That teen was found guilty last year of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison in October.
In 2023, Baltimore launched a new enforcement approach to the squeegee workers at city intersections. Under the plan, city officials hoped to drive squeegee workers to support services and career opportunities, while also cracking down on the practice, preventing interactions with motorists.
In this effort, the city has placed signage near several intersections to alert would-be panhandlers that the practice is banned there. The Dundalk and Holabird intersection is not an intersection where squeegee work has been banned.
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