Man charged with murder after police say he stole a forklift from Lowe's and ran over a 73-year-old woman in a Home Depot parking lot

• A Maryland man has been charged with first-degree murder following the death of a 73-year-old woman.
• Authorities say the suspect stole a forklift from a Lowe's and used it to ram into the woman.

A Maryland man has been charged with first-degree murder after investigators say he stole a forklift from a Lowe's Home Improvement Store and rammed it into a woman in the parking lot of a nearby Home Depot.

Charles County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post on Monday that deputies responded to a burglary and theft in progress at the Lowe's Home Improvement Store in Waldorf, Maryland, at about 12.40 a.m. on Sunday.

Waldorf is about 60 miles southwest of Baltimore.

The sheriff's office said that the 20-year-old suspect, Bryce Caleb Timothy Brown, broke into the business, stole a forklift, and rammed it through the back gates of the store.

He then entered the Home Depot parking lot on the forklift and for "unknown reasons" rammed it into a car in the parking lot, the sheriff's office said.

A woman had been sleeping in the car, but got out and began to run away after her vehicle was struck, it added.

The suspect then chased her and mowed her down before stealing her car and fleeing in it, according to the sheriff's office.

The victim, who was later identified as 73-year-old Gloristine Pinkney, was discovered dead underneath the forklift.

The sheriff's office said that the suspect and the victim did not know each other.

Brown was arrested Sunday evening, with the victim's car being recovered near his house.

He is being held at the Charles County Detention Center without bond, and is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, assault, theft, and other related charges.

Insider was unable to reach legal representatives of Brown for comment. Lowe's Home Improvement Store and Home Depot did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.