Havre de Grace man arrested after driving car into police station, allegedly said he was going to kill a cop

James Whitlow, The Aegis, Bel Air, Md.
·2 min read

May 24—Police said a Havre de Grace man drove his car through the front doors of the city's police department after he called to say he was going to kill police.

Timothy Joel Jackson Kahl, 24, called the Havre de Grace Police Department around 9:34 p.m. Sunday and said he was going to come there and kill a police officer, Cpl. Ken Terry said.

When police arrived in the area of the 400 block of Village Drive where he lived, officers found Kahl driving erratically in his car — a small SUV, Terry said.

According to Terry, when the officers approached Kahl, he tried to run them over and struck several parked cars in the area. He then drove directly to the city police department at 715 Pennington Ave., ramming his vehicle through the front doors, Terry said.

It is not clear what route Kahl took to the department building or how fast he was going, Terry said. When Kahl arrived, he hit a parked car, then lined his vehicle up with the doors, hopped the curb and rammed it through the building, he said. The doors are not reinforced.

Nobody was in the lobby when the SUV crashed through it, Terry said.

The impact deployed the airbags, Terry said, and immobilized the vehicle. Kahl climbed out and went outside, where he confronted officers, Terry said. The officers used a stun gun on Kahl because he was not following their instructions, he said.

Kahl was then arrested and taken to Harford Memorial Hospital, Terry said.

No police officers or staff were injured, he said, but the department's building sustained "severe damage."

Terry said that drugs and alcohol were not involved in the incident. He said he believes the department had some kind of police contact with Kahl before Sunday's incident. Kahl was still in the hospital as of 10:40 a.m. Monday, Terry said.

Terry said the motivation for the incident was unclear and that it was still being actively investigated.

Police plan to charge Kahl with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and three counts of malicious destruction of property, according to the department's Facebook page.

Havre de Grace Mayor William T. Martin, in a statement posted Monday to the city's Twitter account, praised the officers for "professionally" arresting Kahl without injury to Kahl or themselves. In his message, the mayor warned that no communities are immune to "random acts of violence."

"The events that unfolded late last evening are a testament to the true dedication and professionalism .... of the men and women who make up the Havre de Grace Police Department and shed light on the constant danger and threats they face every day," he said.