Baltimore Police make arrest in killing of Little Italy restaurant manager
A Halethorpe man and several other suspects descended onto the Fells Point neighborhood late one January night for a “robbery spree,” during which a Little Italy restaurant manager was fatally shot as he got into his car, police said.
Baltimore Police detailed for the first time in court documents Wednesday the events that preceded the deadly shooting of Chesley Patterson, the general manager at La Scala restaurant, on Jan. 23.
Samuel Wise, 22, was arrested and charged late Tuesday night after briefly attempting to flee police headquarters, the department said.
Wise, of Halethorpe, is charged with first-degree murder and is being held at the Central Booking and Intake Center downtown. He does not yet have an attorney listed in online court records.
Patterson, 44, was killed in 1700 block of Eastern Avenue, less than half a mile from the restaurant.
Police said that at 11:05 p.m., Patterson drove to the area, parked and went inside the Bristol Liquor store. He then came outside, put items in his truck and proceeded to get into the driver side.
A gold Honda Odyssey minivan pulled up, and a person wearing all black got out of the passenger side, walked up to Patterson, pointed a gun at him and pulled Patterson’s driver-side door open. The gunman fired at Patterson then got back into the van, the charging documents said.
Police managed to track the van to a South Baltimore gas station. Officers attempted to stop the van that night, but it fled. The vehicle was found abandoned on Jan. 25, and crime scene technicians were able to recover fingerprints from the passenger door that matched Wise’s.
Wise was later interviewed on March 17 and admitted to being in the van, charging documents said.
Police also looked at Wise’s cell phone and found several text messages from the night of the killing. In one exchange with his girlfriend, Wise tells her “im robbing.”
The document said that shortly after the shooting, Wise’s girlfriend sent a “location ping” to his phone, and “Apple location puts Mr. Wise in the 4200 block of Eastern Avenue,” at 11:18 p.m.
Wise also tells her, “bae im on my way I was not with a bitch,” according to the document.
Police said Wise and other suspects were responsible for two other robberies, including one in the 1500 block of Lancaster Street and the 800 block of Bond Street.
Charging documents say two other suspects were in the van the night of the shooting.
