Would-be car thief's truck hit by train, police say

A man whose truck got stuck on railroad tracks near Baltimore Washington International Airport over the weekend got out of the stalled vehicle and tried to steal four other vehicles in succession, Anne Arundel County police said.

Police said they were alerted to the serial theft attempts by a woman who said she heard a loud noise. That noise, police said, was the sound of the stalled truck being struck by an Amtrak passenger train. The truck apparently had driven through a fence before getting stuck on the tracks , police said.

They said the truck was empty when struck about 5:30 p.m. Saturday on tracks southwest of the airport, near the 7400 block of Railroad Avenue in the Harmans area.

But when the woman, who was not identified, went to see about the noise, she found something else that was disturbing.

A man was in her car, police said. She shouted and he got out of the car and fled. When she looked inside the car, police said, she found that an attempt had been made to break its steering column, apparently to drive it away.

As police began searching for the would-be thief, they said they were approached by a 28-year-old man who worked at a business in the vicinity. He said someone had entered his business and threatened to stab him unless he handed over the keys to his car.

The man told the would-be thief that he had no car keys, and eluded the man, police said.

As officers continued to search the area, they said, a 33-year-old man came up to them with yet another report of an attempt to take a car.

This man told officers he had found the would-be thief inside his wife's vehicle. The man apparently was trying to drive off in that vehicle, but was unable to do so, and he fled, according to the police account.

Police said they finally found their suspect near Dorsey Road and Aviation Boulevard, not far from Railroad Avenue and the site of the first theft attempt. As officers held their suspect, they said were approached by still another victim of an attempted car theft.

A 61-year-old man said that as he was driving on Dorsey Road, someone had jumped in front of his car. The man said the would-be thief had reached into an open window and tried to force open the car doors.

Police identified the suspect as Gary E. Ensor, 43, of Manchester, Pa. They said he was arrested and charged with attempted robbery, assault and three counts of attempted stolen auto.

They said he was also charged with destruction to possession of drug paraphernalia and drug possession.

Ensor's wife, Dawn, said in a telephone interview Monday night that police had given her information about the arrest. She said she had "not a clue" what her husband would have been doing in Maryland or on railroad tracks Saturday evening.

She described her husband, a self-employed contractor, as "very intelligent, loving ... and very hard working," with "an incredible sense of humor."

But she said, he had experienced emotional and substance abuse problems, and could in certain circumstances have another side to him.

She said "he needs help," but the help has not been "readily or easily available."