Police: Substance used in Maryland syringe attack was semen.

Police: Substance used in Maryland syringe attack was semen.

CHURCHTON, Md. – Anne Arundel County police say the substance used in the syringe attack on a woman at a store in Churchton last week has been identified as semen. They also

  • PublishedFebruary 28, 2020

Anne Arundel County police say the substance used in the syringe attack on a woman at a store in Churchton last week has been identified as semen. They also believe that the suspect, Thomas Bryon Stemen, may have attacked other victims. Previously, investigators said that Stemen unsuccessfully attacked two other victims at Christopher’s Fine Foods on Shady Side Road on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

Stemen is being held without bond after an appearance in Anne Arundel County court on Wednesday morning. That day, the judge in the case called the alleged attack “absolutely bizarre and disturbing” before ordering Stemen held in jail.

Stemen recently moved from Ohio and has six prior convictions on his record from 1986 to 1996. Barnard said the first and second-degree assault charges, as well as reckless endangerment charge against Stemen carry lengthy prison sentences. If convicted, Stemen could spend decades behind bars.

The incident was captured on surveillance video on February 18 at Christopher’s Fine Foods on Shady Side Road in Churchton. In the video, Stemen appears to stab a female victim with a syringe as she entered the store.

“I know, it feels like a bee sting, doesn’t it?”

At first, she thought her injury was a cigarette burn but realized she had been stuck with a syringe after she didn’t find a hole in her leggings. The victim said the jab left a round lump with a bright red center. The woman is taking preventative medication as a precaution.