Man charged in carjacking attempt of mother of baseball's Cal Ripken

(Reuters) - A Maryland man is facing charges after police said he tried to carjack baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.'s mother, who thwarted her armed attacker in a bank parking lot by activating her car's panic alarm from her keychain, police said Wednesday. Jesse A. Bowen, 33, has been charged with attempted armed robbery, attempted armed carjacking, possessing a dangerous weapon, first-degree assault and several controlled substance-related offenses, Aberdeen, Maryland, police said in a statement. Bowen, whose address is in Aberdeen, was being held without bond at the Harford County Detention Center. The attack in Aberdeen, which is about 25 miles northeast of Baltimore, comes just over a year after Violet Ripken was abducted from her home at gunpoint by a man who drove her around before leaving her unharmed near her house. No arrests have been made in that case. In the latest incident, Violet Ripken reported to bank employees on Tuesday afternoon that a man had approached her with a gun in the parking lot and told her he wanted her vehicle, police said. She was able to set off her car's panic alarm, and the suspect left the scene, police said. Employees called the police, who arrested Bowen after seeing the gunman's picture on an ATM security camera, police said. In July 2012, Ripken was abducted from her garage, tied up and driven around Maryland for 24 hours. Ripken, who was 74 at the time, was found tied up in her 1998 Lincoln Town Car about 100 yards from her home. Cal Ripken has offered a $100,000 reward for the capture of her abductor. The retired infielder set the record of 2,632 consecutive Major League games played, breaking Lou Gehrig's record, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007. (Reporting by Karen Brooks; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Lisa Von Ahn)