Dhruv Trivedi
‘We Own This City’ follows Baltimore’s notorious Gun Trace Task Force and the crooked police officers that used it to enrich themselves. Through a detailed reality-inspired narrative that spans years, the HBO miniseries dramatizes many rampant crimes by police officers and their subsequent interrogations, which put their actions in context. Episode 3 mentions a particular incident that investigators refer to as the Kitmore Road raid. The episode’s end reveals a particularly tragic result of the operation. If you’re binging on ‘We Own This City,’ here’s what you need to know about the real incident that inspired it.
What Happened in the Kitmore Road Raid?
In the show, the Kitmore Road raid is brought up during Sergeant Thomas Allers’ interrogation. Through flashbacks, we see the sergeant, who was the head of the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) at the time, raid a residence for guns and drugs. With him are detectives Daniel Hersl, Momodu Gondo, and Jemell Rayam. The team enters the home, detaining a couple and their two children as they search for guns. Ultimately, a few illegal guns are discovered, for which the man is briefly arrested. However, Allers also discovers a large amount of money in one of the cupboards, which he doesn’t inform his team about.
Instead, Allers claims to have found nothing when Gondo and Rayam ask for their cut of the raid. Later, the investigator questioning Allers notes that it is probably because the Sergeant didn’t share the loot from the Kitmore Road raid that his subordinates turned on him and testified against Allers. An even more unfortunate outcome of Allers’ actions is then depicted in the closing moments of episode 3. As a result of the Sergeant stealing the money, the home’s resident, Davon Robinson, is unable to repay his drug debts. This results in Davon getting shot by a drug gang member over unpaid debts.
Did the Kitmore Road Raid Actually Happen?
Like many of the incidents in the show, the Kitmore Road raid is also based on true events. Around April 28, 2016, then-Sergeant Thomas Allers (pictured below) and other GTTF members raided a residence and stole more than $10,000 from its occupants. Allers then approved a false incident report in which the money seized was not mentioned.
As depicted on the show, former detectives Momodu Gondo, Jemell Rayam, and Daniel Hersl accompanied Allers on the raid. The residence was located in Northeast Baltimore and was occupied by Davon Robinson, his girlfriend, and their two daughters at the time of the raid. After two guns were discovered in an upstairs bedroom, Robinson was arrested on gun charges. It was seemingly around this time that the money was stolen.
On July 1, 2016, Robinson was released on bail and headed to his grandmother’s house in West Baltimore. According to police reports, he was approached by a gunman outside the house shortly after 3 pm and shot in his head and chest. A 27-year-old man named Antwon Frasier was subsequently charged for killing Robinson, and prosecutors alleged that the killing was over a drug debt precipitated by Allers’ theft of money belonging to Robinson. Frasier was ultimately acquitted.
Read More: Where Was We Own This City Filmed?
