Columbia Man Indicted in Bloody Syringe Robbery

A Columbia man has been indicted by a Howard County grand jury on charges he held up an , as well as for robbery charges in an incident at a Bank of America branch in Columbia.

The indictments were announced Thursday by Howard County Attorney’s office officials.

Benjamin Blessing, 52, of the 5200 block of Golden Sky Court, Columbia, was indicted on two counts of armed robbery, assault and reckless endangerment charges, according to indictment documents.

On April 18, police responded to a on Centennial Lane in Ellicott City at about 4:20 a.m. . 

Employees told police that the suspect held the syringe near the pharmacist’s chest and said it contained AIDS-tainted blood. Red liquid came out of the syringe, but police said it did not touch the pharmacist. 

The suspect told the pharmacist to open a safe containing prescription drugs, the pharmacist complied and the suspect left with more than $27,000 worth of prescriptions, police said.

Police identified Blessing after watching surveillance video footage. When they searched his home, police said they found medication that was stolen from CVS on April 18. Police also recovered the syringe and are testing the blood.

Police have not yet announced the findings on those tests.

Blessing was also identified by police in another surveillance video, this one of an . 

In that incident, a victim told police that she was with her 4-year-old child in the ATM vestibule at about 1 p.m. on Oct. 10 when a man approached her with what looked like a TASAR device and demanded money.

The woman said she saw a cab pull up, and she pointed to it, shouting that the police had showed up. She said the suspect then walked out of the bank and she ran out with her child.

Police say no one was injured in either case.

Blessing is being held at the Howard County Detention Center.