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Two Captured In Machete Armed Robbery Spree

BALTIMORE, Md. (WJZ) -- Authorities staking out the Bayview community Tuesday night captured a North East woman sought following a series of armed robberies after she allegedly tried to hold up a Cecil County convenience store with a machete.

Maryland State Troopers and Cecil County Sheriff's deputies also arrested a would-be getaway driver found sitting in a running GMC truck parked not far from the store, who told investigators he was waiting for the woman.

Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 28, and Allen Lynn White, 59, both of Champlain Road, were booked into the Cecil County Detention Center on armed robbery, robbery, first-degree assault, and attempted theft charges, according to the Maryland State Police. White also faces a conspiracy charge.

Investigators had been lying in wait for Clendaniel when she walked into the High's Dairy Store, located in the 3100 block of Joseph Biggs Memorial Highway, armed with a machete about 10:10 p.m. and demanded that the two clerks behind the counter open the register, authorities said.

Troopers located White inside a running truck parked in a dead end lane in a secluded neighborhood, about 1000 yards north of the store targeted in the robbery attempt. He acknowledged he was waiting for Clendaniel.

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Allen Lynn White, 59 (Photo: Maryland State Police)

Investigators launched a surveillance detail of the Bayview and Rising Sun communities after multiple reports of armed robberies at area convenience stores by a short female armed with a machete. In each case, the suspect got away with cash and cigarettes and no injuries were reported, according to police.

In the first case, machete-toting woman robbed the Pantry 1 Mart near Rising Sun after 8:30 p.m. March 21. A suspect with a similar description held up the High's Dairy Store in Bayview after 8 p.m. March 22, employees told investigators. Then, on March 25, the suspect again got away with cash and cigarettes after allegedly robbing the Pantry 1 Mart near Rising Sun.

Additional charges are possible for Clendaniel and White, both of whom are being held without bond.

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