Meet the Maryland Team Behind Strongbox Lock & Safe Co. of Maryland
Our Maryland crew has been opening doors, rekeying locks, and getting people back inside when keys go missing for more than four decades. What ties this group together isn’t a handbook. It’s the understanding that the person who opens your lock should be the most verifiable person you’ve ever hired. Every technician here wears a uniform, shows ID at the door, and answers to the 90-Day Done Right Promise. We’re owner-operated, live-answered 24/7, and flat-priced on the phone before any work begins. Named for the iron box where your grandfather kept the deed.
Our People
Gerald Pittman, Owner
I’m Gerald Pittman, and I started this operation more than 42 years ago with a used van and a conviction that locksmithing didn’t have to be the shady trade everyone expected. I’ve rekeyed colonial-era mortise locks in Annapolis row houses, drilled out rusted safe dials in Baltimore basements, and talked more people through lockouts at 2 a.m. than I can count. I’m certified in Medeco and Mul-T-Lock high-security installations, and I still carry a pick set on every job because I don’t ask my crew to do anything I won’t do myself. When I’m not on calls, I’m usually restoring vintage padlocks or arguing with my wife about whether our Chesapeake Bay retriever needs another training collar.
Marcus T., Lead Technician
Marcus has been with us for 14 years and runs the most complicated calls we see, commercial master key systems in Rockville office parks and biometric access installs at Johns Hopkins-adjacent medical clinics. He’s a certified safe technician through SAVTA and specializes in drill-resistant lock manipulation, the kind of work that takes patience most people don’t have. Marcus grew up in Prince George’s County and still lives there with his two kids, which means he knows which apartment complexes have the finicky Kwikset SmartKey cylinders and which ones still run original Schlage from the 1980s. He keeps a handwritten log of every safe he’s opened, organized by manufacturer and difficulty, because he says patterns matter more than brute force.
Darnell K., Senior Installer
Darnell handles our new construction and replacement hardware, the jobs where a Baldwin mortise lock has to sit flush in a solid-core door or a Yale Assure Lock needs clean integration with a home automation system. He’s been installing for 11 years, holds factory certifications from Schlage and Baldwin, and has a particular knack for historic properties in Frederick and Ellicott City where modern hardware has to respect original millwork. Darnell is the one who notices when a strike plate is a sixteenth off before the customer ever would. He builds furniture in his garage on weekends and applies the same standard to dovetail joints that he does to deadbolt backsets.
Sandra R., Service Coordinator
Sandra answers the phones, dispatches the crew, and makes sure the flat price quoted is the flat price on the invoice. She’s been with us for 8 years and knows every technician’s strengths, every supplier’s lead time, and which Maryland ZIP codes flood first during a Chesapeake Bay storm surge. Sandra’s the live person you reach when you call at midnight on a holiday, and she’s the one who confirms your technician’s name and ETA so there’s no stranger at your door. She keeps a map of Maryland counties pinned above her desk with color-coded pins for repeat customers, because she says recognizing someone by voice isn’t enough when you’re sending them help.
Jesse P., Apprentice Technician
Jesse joined us two years ago after leaving a warehouse job in Glen Burnie, and he’s working through the Associated Locksmiths of America fundamental training while riding along on residential calls across Anne Arundel and Howard counties. He’s already proficient in rekeying, lockout entry, and basic automotive key programming, and Marcus has him drilling practice safes every Thursday evening. Jesse asks more questions than anyone on the team, which is exactly what we want. He coaches youth baseball in Pasadena and applies the same patience to a stuck deadbolt that he does to a kid learning to field a grounder.
One Standard, Every Job
From Gerald to Jesse, every person on this team answers to the same standard. The 90-Day Done Right Promise applies whether we’re rekeying a single cylinder in a Bethesda condo or installing a full Mul-T-Lock system at a commercial warehouse in Laurel. Background-checked, uniformed, ID at the door. Flat price quoted on the phone before any work begins. No bait, no switch, no paperwork to fight through if something needs correcting. We stand behind it, no arguing, no extra forms. That’s the K.E.Y.S. value system we run on: Krafted right, Every time, Your home first, Standing behind it. Whether you reach Sandra at 3 p.m. or 3 a.m., you’ll get a live person, a named technician, and a square deal. The price we quote is the price you pay. We’ll be there when we say.
Written by Gerald Pittman, Owner at Strongbox Lock & Safe Co. of Maryland, serving Maryland since 2013.