A man in Howard County, Maryland, called the authorities and reported that someone had stolen his truck. The issue was that he had just committed a burglary just across the street, police said. So, he was immediately arrested.
According to footage shared by the Howard County Police Department (HCPD), the incident occurred on Thursday, June 25. At around 5:44 a.m., officers with the HCPD responded to a 7-Eleven and met an individual standing in the parking lot.
Officers had been informed that a vehicle had been reported stolen. The man in the parking lot was the owner of the vehicle, a pickup truck that had just been taken away from him. Based on the footage attached below, this occurred near the intersection of Baltimore National Pike and N Chatham Rd in Ellicott City.
The man, visibly upset, told the responding officers that he was at a McDonald’s when his unattended car was stolen. This, however, was not the full picture, as police would later find out.
Verizon Burglary
Don’t you hate it when your car gets stolen while you’re committing a burglary?
Great work by PFC Buchanan connecting the dots to the burglary across the street when this suspect called to report his car was stolen.
Karma, indeed. pic.twitter.com/TzihxyKjXH
— Howard County Police Department (@HCPDNews) July 2, 2026
Around 30 minutes before the officers made contact with the man, at around 5:16 a.m., the agents had responded to a burglary call. Just across the street, someone had illegally entered a Verizon store.
Footage showed a cracked opening in one of the store’s windows. One of the officers pointed out that there was blood in the window, a piece of information that would become vital during the investigation into both incidents.
The clip would then resume the conversation between one of the responding officers and the man whose pickup truck had been stolen. He was explaining his exact moves after parking his truck at the 7-Eleven, gesticulating with his hands. Immediately, the officer knew that the man was hiding something.
Bloody Hands
“All right, let me just see your hands real quick,” the officer told the man. He complied and showed both of his hands. They were bloodied.
Without thinking twice, the officer instructed the man to put his hands behind his back and handcuffed him. The man acted confused, of course, feigning ignorance about why he was being arrested.
“Were you at that Verizon store?” the officer asked, pointing out the man’s bloodied hands and glasses. The man, now in handcuffs, denied this.
Footage Shows the Lie
Still, the HCPD showed security camera footage from the Verizon store that showed the burglar. The individual appeared to match the man’s likeness and part of his clothing, especially his sweatpants and shoes.
With some insistence, the man eventually agreed to be truthful and to stop denying the accusations of a Verizon burglary. He, however, continued to lament the fact that his pickup truck had been stolen.
The officer, like pouring salt on a wound, told the man, “That’s kind of some karma right there, ain’t it?” He also laughed, while the man revealed he had left the keys in his car. He was then placed in the back of a patrol unit and taken away by the HCPD.
As reported by FOX5, the suspect was then identified as 29-year-old Jalen Godard. He is charged with burglary, theft, and destruction of property.