He told store managers he was sent to investigate counterfeit cash that had been circulating at local businesses.
But the real phony in the back office of the Food Lion in Hanover that morning was Kenneth Thomas Jones, who pretended to be a cop and held up employees at gunpoint before swiping $6,230 from the safe.
Jones, 42, of Pasadena, pleaded guilty Thursday to armed robbery and two counts of first-degree assault.
Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner sentenced Jones to 45 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised probation.
Prosecutors said Jones walked into the store at 2655 Annapolis Road just after 7 a.m. on June 15 wearing a hat, a T-shirt with a Baltimore Police Department logo, gloves and a badge around his neck.
He approached the customer service desk and identified himself as a police officer. He then asked to speak to the store manager.
The clerk paged store managers over the intercom, said Assistant State's Attorney Michael Dunty.
An assistant manager greeted Jones at the front of the store and escorted him to the business office.
Jones told another manager in the office that he was investigating counterfeit money passing through businesses in the area. After being asked for identification multiple times, Jones pulled out a handgun and announced a robbery.
He told the manager, who at that point was alone with Jones, to turn around. Jones zip-tied the man's hands behind his back, pointed the handgun at him and threatened to shoot the man if he didn't open the safe.
The manager said the safe was outside the office and he could not open it. Jones had the assistant manager paged to the office.
Dunty said the assistant manager had a bad feeling about Jones. Before going back to the office, she told a clerk something didn't seem right. She told the clerk to go outside and jot down the license number of the 1993 Honda Accord that Jones drove to the store.
Jones pointed the handgun at the assistant manager as she re-entered the business office and zip-tied her hands behind her back. He took her keys and got the pin number to the safe. He snatched the thousands in cash and ran out of the store.
The managers were shaken but not hurt.
County police checked the license plate number and discovered the Honda had been stolen in Baltimore City earlier that day. They found the stolen car in Severn.
Surveillance footage showed Jones placing a pouch on the office desk as he tied the manager's hands. The pouch, which was left behind, contained Jones' identification card as well as a paper with the license plate number of the store manager.
Dunty said Jones had obtained the manager's license plate number before robbing the store. That information concerned the manager so much that he quit his job and eventually moved.
Employees identified Jones in a photo lineup.
Jones, a divorced father of two children, ages 18 and 10, was convicted of robbery in 2004, a bank robbery in 1996 and theft in 1995.
Copyright 2012 Capital Gazette Communications, Inc.All Rights Reserved
