City Police, and Prince George's County Police acting on a tip set up a roadblock on across all 12-lanes on Interstate 270 and walked car to car with pistols, shotguns and semiautomatic rifles searching for three armed bank robbery suspects. The incident brought hundreds of cars and thousands of motorists on the interstate to a standstill for 45-minutes as dozens of police officers conducted vehicle-to-vehicle searches. The search tactics came into question, with reports of officers walking down I-270 between stopped cars with guns drawn, telling people to get back in their vehicles, and open their trunks. One woman was reportedly shouted at by police with weapons drawn after she'd opened her car door to throw up, having gotten carsick from sitting in traffic. MCPD Chief Manger defended the incident. Don Troop, a motorist in the traffic, told the Washington Post that a group of officers made its way to his car and other cars around him. "They were just walking along saying: "Pop the trunk! Pop the trunk!" Troop said he overheard a man in a truck next to him call out to another motorist: "The police are looking for bank robbers." A short time later, about nine officers approached his car — including state police in tan uniforms, county police in dark uniforms and at least one plainclothes officer wearing a yellow tie. Among their commands to motorists that Troop heard: "Stay in your car." "Pop the trunk." "Get your hands on the steering wheel. Get you hands up where we can see them." Cpl. Aaron Smith, a pilot flying a Prince George's County helicopter dispatched to assist stated "We saw that they were searching traffic and going vehicle to vehicle." Montgomery County Police spokesman Captain Paul Starks described the incident as a "systematic check of trunks and rear hitches" of detained vehicles. Three suspects were identified in the traffic and taken into custody without incident. One handgun and bank currency were recovered. No legal action was filed against any police department due to the incident. See also List of law enforcement agencies in Maryland State Police (United States) State Patrol Highway Patrol Maryland State Police Museum - Pikesville, Maryland References External links MSP Aviation Command Maryland Trooper's Association State law enforcement agencies of Maryland Government agencies established in 1921 1921 establishments in Maryland