A man who authorities say robbed banks from Glen Burnie to Brookings, South Dakota, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Monday. Gary Allen Densmore, 56, who used to live in Anne Arundel County, faces up to 20 years on each of three counts of bank robbery.

Prosecutors say that on Feb. 2, he tried to rob the Carrollton Bank on Crain Highway in Glen Burnie by handing a teller a bag and a demand note. He ran out of the bank when the teller hesitated. The next day, prosecutors said he walked into the Severn Savings Bank on Crain Highway, handed the teller a note and a bag, and fled with $2,300.

The Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office said Densmore stole a car and left Maryland. They said he hit banks in February and March in Wisconsin, South Dakota and Iowa before being arresrted in Minnesota.

More details from a statement by the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office:

Continue reading "Serial bank robber pleads guilty; hit several states" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere
        

Don't sit too close the federal air marshals.

A 34-year-old man from South Carolina was charged Monday with assaulting a federal air marshal during what prosecutors describe as a fight on board an airplane making its descent into Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth P. Gesner ordered the suspect, William D. Barna, from James Island, to undergo five to seven days of alcohol rehabilitation then spend 28 days in an inpatient program. Once released, the said he cannot fly on a commercial airline until this case is resolved.
The incident occurred Sunday night aboard Delta Airlines Flight 1624 from Atlanta to Baltimore.

Prosecutors said that 15 minutes from landing, Barna, seated in seat 3A, yelled at a passenger sitting next to him, in 3B.

The criminal complaint says Barna struck the passenger, identified in court documents as Krystopher R. Holloway. But Federal Air Marshal Colby W. Swift, was sitting behind the suspect, in Seat 4C, and his partner, was directly in front of him, in 3C.

The complaint in U.S. District Court in Baltimore says Swift and his partner broke up the altercation and seated Barna away from the other passenger. The court documents say that Barna appeared to fall asleep, but that he suddenly “woke up, threatened Federal Air Mashal Swift with a raised, clenched fist and then attempted to strike him with a clenched left fist.”

Colby and his unidentified partner then tried to subdue Barna and prosecutors said in court documents the three rolled around the aisle and that Swift was “forced to employ a leverage technique in order to gain … control of the subject’s right arm.”

Prosecutors said the air marshals subdued him until landing and that once on the group, police with the Maryland Transportation Authority put a “split face shield and leg restraints” on the suspect. The court documents do not describe what the initial altercation was about; Holloway could not be reached for comment.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County police had been looking for Cornelius Keith Johnson for nearly week in the killing of a man outside a seafood restaurant and Glen Burnie.

Authorities said Johnson unwittingly came to them.

On Nov. 13, the 24-year-old reported to the Baltimore County Detention Center to serve a weekend sentence -- total four days -- for driving on a suspended license. Jail officials discovered there was a warrant out for his arrest.

He was detained and on Monday was taken to Anne Arundel County and charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 13 killing of Andrew Michael Johnson, 25, outside MO's Seafood on Ritchie Highway.

Police have not released a motive or said what led them to the suspect, who is not related to the victim. The shooting occurred about 10:30 p.m. The suspect lives in the 4200 block of Shamrock Ave. in Northeast Baltimore.

Correction: Police said on Tuesday that the suspect and victim are believed to be half-brothers. Read the full story here.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system
        

Anne Arundel County police are seeking a Northeast Baltimore man in Sunday's fatal shooting outside Mo's Seafood restaurant on Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie. Police said the victim was found outside on the parking lot about 10:30 p.m.

Andrew Michael Johnson, 25, of the 100 block of Sloane Drive in Glen Burnie, was pronounced dead at Harbor Hospital of a gunshot wound to the upper body.

Police have charged Cornelius Keith Johnson, 24, of the 4200 block of Shamrock Drive, in Baltimore in a warrant with first-degree murder. Police have not disclosed a motive but said the "killing was targeted and was not a random act."

The suspect is at left in a police mug shot. Police said they do not believe he is related to the victim of the same name. Court records show that Cornelius Johnson was convicted of a handgun possession in 2005 in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, but got a 30 day suspended jail sentence and one year probation.

In 2008, he accepted probation before judgment on a drug possession case and was sentenced to two years probation. 

Anyone with information should contact Detective N. Cooper at 410-222-3453 or Metro Crime Stoppers to remain anonymous. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Commanders in the Anne Arundel County police department who oversee gambling investigations have side jobs as security guards for the developer building Arundel Mills, the Annapolis Capital's Scott Daughterty reported this weekend.

Chief Col. James Teare Sr. told the newspaper that he sees no conflict with the security work - and in fact, Daugherty reported, Teare himself - who earns $138,000 annually - works a side security job for BGE. County Executive John Leopold defended Teare and the command staff, while union officials and ethics and law enforcement experts were critical:

The after-hours security work for Cordish - which the department first authorized in May - shocked the former chairman of the county's Ethics Commission and several law enforcement experts.

"Having people who regulate gambling working for a casino operator is just mind-boggling," said Christopher S. Rizek, who headed the Ethics Commission from 2004 to 2008.

"Anybody working vice, narcotics or organized crime should under no circumstances work (secondary employment). It compromises the officer and it compromises the agency," said Andrew J. Scott III, a former chief of the Boca Raton (Fla.) Police Department who now consults privately on police policies. "It just doesn't look good."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

A 15-year-old girl walking to school in Severna Park told police that a man tried to abduct her Monday morning by reaching through a window of his car. The girl broke free of his grasp, Anne Arundel County police said, and she ran to her school.

The incident occurred about 9:30 a.m. on White Oak Drive near Cear Road. The suspect is described as a Hispanic or White male in his 40’s with a dark complexion, medium build and short, dark hair. He was last seen wearing mirrored sunglasses. The vehicle was described as a dark green, older model, two door pick up truck with tinted windows.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Dave Wood or Sergeant Tim Davis with the Criminal Investigation Division at 410-222-3466 or 410-222-3470.

Information on a reward:

Continue reading "Arundel student says man tried to abduct her on way to school" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

From The Baltimore Sun:

A 25-year-old man died after he was shot Sunday night in the parking lot of Mo's Seafood in Glen Burnie. The Anne Arundel County police department identified the victim as Andrew Michael Johnson of the 100 block of Sloane Drive in Glen Burnie.

According to police, officers responded to a report of a shooting about 10:34 p.m. Sunday outside the seafood restaurant, in the 7100 block of Ritchie Highway. Officers found the victim in the parking lot with a gunshot wound to the upper torso, police said. A fire department crew took him to Harbor Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Johnson received six months of probation before judgment in a 2007 drug possession case, after he entered an Alford plea — acknowledging there was evidence to convict him but not admitting to the crime, according to court records. In 2009, he was sentenced to a year in jail followed by a year of supervised probation after he pleaded guilty in another drug case, according to court records. Both were in Anne Arundel County.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County police have identified the victims and suspect in Friday night's double homicide outside the Arundel Mills mall (read full story here):

On November 11, 2011 at 11:55 p.m., officers responded to the parking lot of the Arundel Mills Mall located at 7000 Arundel Mills Circle in Hanover for a reported double shooting.  Officers arrived and discovered two victims, a male and a female, outside the mall on the parking lot.  Both were pronounced deceased at the scene.  Homicide detectives responded and continue to investigate the case.

**UPDATE**

Witness information later lead detectives to the 8100 block of Rydal Road in Prince Georges County. At that location, the possible suspect in the case, James Coleman, was shot and killed during an encounter with P.G. County Police. The following is identification information for both victims at Arundel Mills and the suspect.

Victims:
- Chonsay Laquez Green, male, age 30, of the 4200 block of Torque Street in Capitol Heights, Maryland.
- Jeneen Desiree Dunn, female, age 25, of the 7700 block of Hanover Parkway in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Suspect:
- James Edward Coleman, male, age 22, of the 8100 block of Rydal Road in District Heights, Maryland.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

From The Sun's Arthur Hirsch:

The man suspected of fatally shooting two people outside of Arundel Mills mall late Friday was shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire near Capital Heights this morning, Prince George's County police said.

Anne Arundel County Police spokesman Lt. Francis Tewey had said early Saturday that the victims in the mall shooting were a male and a female, but he had no further information about them. He said the incident was "probably not a random act of violence."

The shootings occurred shortly before midnight outside Dave & Buster's restuarant at the mall in Hanover. Few other details of the shootings have been released. Read the full story here.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Breaking news, Crime elsewhere
        

Anne Arundel County police say that the victims of Friday night's shooting outside the Arundel Mills mall in Hanover were a man and woman. Police also said they're searching for a dark silver or gray hybrid SUV seen being driven away from the scene.

Few other details were released, including the identities and ages of the victims. Police did clarify that the shooitng just before midnight occurred outside the mall in a parking lot. A woman who said she saw he aftermath said the crime scene was in front of a Dave & Buster's restaurant. The mall closes at 9:30 p.m. on Friday's but restaurants and the move theater are open later.

Both victims were pronounced dead on the scene. No other details have been released. Arundel Mills is the site of a future casino that is to be the state's largest. Many residents who live at Arundel Mills protested the site as unacceptable.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Two people were shot and killed Friday night at the Arundel Mills mall in Anne Arundel County, according to police. Few details were made available this morning, and it was not clear from an initial statement whether the shootings occurred inside or outside the mall.

The address that police provided, 7000 Arundel Mills Circile, is the same for the movie theater. While the mall closes at 9:30 p.m. on Fridays, movies are shown there past midnight. A casino is planned for the mall site as well.

Police said the shootings occurred minutes before midnight and that detectives were searching for a dark silver or gray hybrid Sport Utility Vehicle. Information on the victims, such as their names and ages, were not immediately provided.

Anyone with information is urged to call Anne Arundel County Police at 410-222-8610.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County police are asking for help identifying the driver of this car and driver who sped away from an accident that killed a tow truck driver who was preparing to hook up a vehicle on Route 100 in August.

Here is a statement from the police:

"On August 24, 2011, at approximately 8:04 a.m., officers responded to the area of Maryland Route 100 and Oakwood Road for a report of a Fatal Hit and Run accident.

The initial investigation revealed that the suspect vehicle was traveling eastbound on MD Rt. 100 in the far right lane (#2 lane), west of Oakwood Rd when it struck a pedestrian, (Ted’s Towing driver) who was near the shoulder of the roadway.

The pedestrian was performing his duties, preparing to tow a vehicle from the shoulder of the road when struck. As a result of the impact pedestrian sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. After the impact, the suspect vehicle fled the area continuing east on MD Rt. 100 exiting onto Oakwood Rd and was captured on film travelling north on Hospital Drive.

Based on evidence recovered at the scene and witness statements, the suspect vehicle has been identified as a 1987 to 1995 Nissan Pathfinder, maroon or burgundy in color. The suspect driver is described as a white male with a thin build in his early to mid 30’s with  crew cut or short brown hair.  

The suspect vehicle involved in this hit-and-run sustained damage to the right front fender area. The right front turn signal and possibly headlight were damaged in the crash. The passenger side mirror was broken from the vehicle during the crash. The vehicle should also be missing a hubcap, similar to the one in the photo. Photos below are of the actual suspect vehicle fleeing the scene.

If Your Tip To The Hotline Leads To The Arrest And Indictment, For This Felony Crime, You May Be Eligible For A Cash Reward Of Up To $2,000 from Metro Crime Stoppers. In addition, a $10,000 private reward has been offered by Ted’s Towing for the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for this crime."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County police say a man who asked to see a gold necklace at Kay Jewelers at the Marley Station Mall last month grabbed it and ran out of the store without paying. A surveillance camera captured the man, and police are asking for help finding him.

Here's a statement from police:

On October 27, 2011, the above suspect walked into the Kay Jewelers in Marley Station Mall in Glen Burnie, asked to see a 22” men’s gold necklace valued at $7,000 and indicated that he intended to purchase the necklace. When the sales associate retrieved the necklace and brought it to the register, the suspect grabbed it from the sales associate and ran out of the store. Anyone with information on the identity of the suspect is asked to contact Detective B. Cornwell of the Northern District Detective Unit at 410-222-6135 or Metro Crime Stoppers at the following:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

The cops in Arundel said they were looking for an elopee.

This was their chosen word for a guy who bolted from a prison detail. As my colleague John McIntyre over at the Paragraph Factory noted in his You Don't Say blog, this was probably not the best word choice: 

I assume that the police like elopee as a milder version of escapee, a prisoner wandering off from a work detail being less alarming to the public than a hopped-up thug scaling the wall at the Big House as sirens wail and searchlights play over the Yard. And I have no authority to deny them their linguistic innovations.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Nearly two dozens alleged members of a homegrown prison gang that has spread throughout the country have been indicted on federal racketeering charges that include accusations that they conspired to kill four people, officials announced Wednesday.

Follow this link for the full story.

The alleged Dead Man Inc. members, who refer to themselves as "dawgs" and espouse an anti-government philosophy, used contraband cellphones to direct activities and spread its membership into South Baltimore, eastern Baltimore County, northern Anne Arundel County and at least three other states, authorities said.

Among those charged are the alleged co-founders Perry Roark and James Sweeney. Roark, a Dundalk native who is referred to as the "supreme commander," was charged earlier this year in another murder, days before he was to be released from a 25-year prison term.

"On our streets, this organization has been involved in street robberies, home invasions, property thefts, intimidation, assaults — you name it, they're involved in it," said Randall Jones Sr., an Anne Arundel County police commander. "The northern part of our county has been plagued by these individuals, and this is a major blow to this organization."

The gang formed in the late 1990s. Roark was reportedly close with members of the Black Guerrilla Family, law enforcement officials say, but that gang's rules prohibited him from joining because he is white. With their blessing, officials say he formed a new gang at the Jessup prison that would become an umbrella organization of sorts for other white gangs and performed hits for the BGF.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Gangs, South Baltimore
        

It was a busy day on Tuesday's crime front. The picture by The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam is from Occupy Baltimore, which is embroiled in security issues (see blurb below).

Catch up on the latest headlines:

Today: Attorneys are scheduled to make closing arguments in the bribery trial of state Sen. Ulysses Currie in federal court. Currie, a Prince George's Democrat, is accused of selling his influence as chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee to do political favors for Shoppers Food Warehouse. Read how the state's power brokers are rallying around Currie, and other stories.

* The man convicted of killing a Towson gas station owner for money apologized Tuesday in Harford County Circuit Court to the victim's family and friends, saying "I'm sorry to the last fiber of my being." The apology came shortly before a jury was to begin deliberating whether Walter P. Bishop Jr. will be sentenced to death or life in prison.

* The Occupy Baltimore protest is now entrenched at the Inner Harbor, but its members are questioning whether they can sustain the movement amid a dwindling number of core leaders and allegations of crime and drug use. Reports that a woman was sexually assaulted in a tent, deemed unfounded by city police, have nevertheless put public safety at the forefront.

* A 52-year-old man died after being shot during a robbery at a carryout restaurant in Better Waverly on Monday night, renewing concerns in the community about the crime connected to the beleaguered business. The Yau Brothers carryout, in the 2900 block of Greenmount Ave., was closed Tuesday, as it was after similar shooting incidents in the past two years: In 2010, 72-year-old security guard Charles Bowman was fatally shot in a robbery there, a year after three men were shot following a fight that broke out inside.

* A former professional basketball player pleaded guilty Tuesday in the pistol whipping of his girlfriend's brother after a dispute at a cookout in Arnold.

* Towson University students and employees were briefly alerted to stay inside Tuesday afternoon, because police were looking for a man with a gun on campus. But the man turned out to be carrying a prop gun for an acting class, said Towson spokeswoman Gay Pinder.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere, Downtown, North Baltimore
        

Leaving the courthouse after having just been tried is not the time to commit another offense.

But that's just what Annapolis police said 45-year-old Angela Gregory of Deale did on Wednesday. She was being tried on a charge of speeding -- 68 in a 50 on Route 258 in southern Anne Arundel -- and for driving on a suspended license.

What did police say she did when she walked out of the courtroom?

You guessed it. Police said she climbed into her car and drove away, on the very same suspended license, in front of the very same cop who had testified at her hearing.

"The officer had been in the courtroom when the judge stated that Gregory’s license to drive was currently suspended," police said in a statement. "Gregory told the judge that her son drove her to the courthouse. After court the officer observed Gregory get in a vehicle and start to drive away, she was stopped and arrested.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Baltimore County police have charged a 22-year-old man with sexually assaulting two teenagers, and authorities said they are concerned there might be more victims.

Henry Sukeforth, of the 8200 block of Quarterfield Road in Severn, in Anne Arundel County, was arrested earlier this month.

Police said one case involves a 14-year-old boy and another a 13-year-old boy.

In both cases, police said they confirmed the youths were involved with sexual activity with the young man.

Police said the suspect had a Facebook page and used the social media site to communicate with the victims.

A full statement from police is below:

Continue reading "Man charged with sexually abusing two teens " »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County
        

The South Side Brims, the Bloods gang taken down by the feds on Thursday, worked from one end of the state to the other. Authorities allege a broad scheme that stretched from the Eastern Shore to Western Maryland.

As The Sun's Justin Fenton wrote today, court documents describe a virtual modern-day tutorial in gangs. Along with the allegations of murder, revenge killings, drug running and gun use, federal prosecutors say members used YouTube, Facebook and text messaging to communicate and to boast.

It's a colorful rendition.

They kept meticulous notes and lists of members, including phone numbers, broken down by geographic region. Those who were locked up were called "G-Wall Homies." Those on the street were "G-World Homies."

Alleged gang members threw dues into a kitty to pay expenses, such as bail, firearms and legal bills. They had the Brim Association Blood Application, a list of signs and signals, and the Brim's Concept of War. Many had multiple nicknames -- Squeaky, Redrum, Platinum, Diamond,
Trigger, Ransom, Blaze, Breezy Brim.

Targets were "on the menu." Members went on Facebook, openly talking about their affiliation and posting pictures of meetings.

Leaders, called "hats," had "round table" discussions, once the feds say, to plan on how to gently recruit two members from a rival gang without inciting a war.

They had First Lady's," one of whom kept the books in Salisbury.

The feds said one text message from a First Lady: "Bang Bang Brim Gang Hat Til I Die."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere, Howard County
        

[Note: Embedded video does not appear to be a Maryland Bloods member but was linked to on a Frederick South Side Brim member's YouTube account]

Read the full indictment here.

Two years after police found a gang roster in a Frederick motel room, federal authorities announced Thursday a racketeering indictment charging 35 alleged Bloods gang members with murder, kidnapping and other crimes from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore — a move they said had "dismantled" the gang.

Authorities say cells of the South Side Brims coordinated gang activity across the state and region, and court documents offer a tutorial on how modern criminal organizations operate, including posting photos and messages on Facebook, and uploading initiation videos on YouTube.

Those indicted are accused of at least one murder in Baltimore, an attempted murder in Wicomico County, a home invasion in Howard County, a kidnapping in Frederick, and witness intimidation in Allegany County, among a host of other alleged crimes.

"Gangs represent the most significant violent crime challenge we face throughout the state of Maryland," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein, flanked at a Baltimore news conference by police officials from across the state. "We hope these gang indictments send a message to gang members and prospective gang members to get out while you can."

Frederick police chief Kim C. Dine said the case was "extremely significant" for his city, which he said has been conducting gang outreach work in recent years but is not immune to the spreading of gangs. "Sixteen of these gangsters are from Frederick, and it will have a huge impact on the city of Frederick and quality of life," he said.

The alleged leader of the gang was identified as Andre Ricardo Roach, a 34-year-old Prince George's County native. Known as "Redrum," he's accused of leading the gang since 2005 from behind bars at the North Branch Correctional Institute in Cumberland, where he is serving a 50-year sentence for second-degree murder.

Here's an article from the Frederick News Post from March in which a county detective told citizens that the South Side Brims were among several active sets there. 

The list of people charged is after the jump:

Continue reading "Feds indict members of Bloods gang subset" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Crime elsewhere, Gangs, Howard County, Witness intimidation
        

A man suspected of stealing from a drug store in Brooklyn Park Wednesday afternoon threatened an off-duty Anne Arundel County police officer with a needle, according to authorities.

"When confronted, the suspect pulled out a hypodermic syringe, repeatedly stabbed himself with it and threatened to infect the officer with a communicable disease," a statement from police says.

The officer protected himself and the man was caught on Ritchie Highway a short time later. For more details, read the news release from police:

Continue reading "Man threatens officer with needle, disease, police say" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

From The Sun's Andrea Siegel:

A former track coach at Archbishop Spalding High School is facing child pornography charges after Anne Arundel County police said he exchanged sexually explicit photos by cellphone with a 16-year-old student involved with the team.

Brian Timothy Funk, 40, of Pasadena, who was to become a track and field coach at Catholic University of America this month, turned himself in to police Sunday on one count each of allowing a minor to engage in child pornography and displaying an obscene image to a minor.

Charging documents claim that over about five months, Funk and the girl met, kissed and exchanged sexual images, including videos, by cellphone. The girl's father spoke with Archdiocese of Baltimore officials after he saw his daughter and Funk leave a movie theater in Linthicum on July 16 and kiss, the documents allege.

Read the full story here.

Read the statement from Anne Arundel County Police:

Continue reading "Former track coach faces child porn charges" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Tweet of the day from the Baltimore fire union:

@BCFDL734: GOT MILK? SB I97closed @ ex15 for an overturned tracto rtrailer hauling 6400 1 gal jugs of milk. Looking for closest cookie truck to respond.

Followed by this one:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

An off-duty Anne Arundel County police officer thwarted a carjacking near Arundel Mills Boulevard early Saturday, according to police.

The suspects, including a teenager, were driving a stolen car and got involved in an accident. They ran fromthe scene and carjacked a woman, accoriding to police. But authorities said the suspects didn't know the off-duty police officer was behind them.

Below is a statement from police with more details:

Continue reading "Off-duty Arundel officer thwarts carjacking" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Police have identified a man found dead Friday in an alley in Brooklyn as a 42-year-old Glen Burnie man.

Armando Santiago was found unresponsive at about 6:15 p.m. Friday in an alley in the rear of the 700 block of E. Patapsco Ave. There were no signs of foul play or trauma to his body, but police say an autopsy shows that he had been strangled. 

Santiago was from the 5600 block of Park Rd in Glen Burnie, and police say they didn't have any additional information about the case as detectives investigate. Anyone with information was asked to call 410-396-2100.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, South Baltimore
        

While everyone was trying to stay dry on Thursday, I spent the day trying to get wet.

I headed down to Severna Park, to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department's Jones station, Company 23, headquarters of the special operations command. Accompanied by Sun photographer Barbara Haddock Taylor (her pic at left), I was trying to get out with a water rescue team on a call.

In the photo, Lt. Jeff Halpern, left, and Firefighter/Paramedic Ronnie Carr await a call. Read The Sun's storm coverage. Read Frank Roylance's weather blog for the latest updates.

The previous 12 to 14 hours had been busy for firefighters here, responding to more an a dozen calls for people trapped in water, most of them after having driven into what at first glance looked like a puddle but was really a small lake.ne person had died in Pasadena, a person a bit south drove into a sink hole big enough to have swallowed her car, and firefighters got their truck stuck while helping a county police officer, also stranded in the water. In another case, police officers used ropes to rescue a stranded motorists (more details on that later).

More details below:

Continue reading "Firefighters rescue people stranded by storm" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Crime elsewhere
        

A man charged with kidnapping and rape in North Carolina was caught early today after he escaped from a cell in Annapolis District Court. Bonrick Lee Barksdale, 25, overpowered guards and got out after a judge denied him bail, police said.

Police went on a door-to-door search Thursday. He was found in a hotel in Glen Burnie.

Barksdale, who gave police an Annapolis address, has prior convictions in Maryland and a pending assault charge.

Here are details of his escape and apprehension from Anne Arundel County police:

Continue reading "NC rape suspect caught after escaping Annapolis cell" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Quote of the day from federal prosecutor Leo J. Wise, at Tuesday's sentencing of a man who duped law enforcement agencies into thinking they were hiring a retired special ops commander instead got a fraud (read full story here):

“They thought they were getting Black Hawk Down,” Wise said during the hearing in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. “Instead, they got Rambo. They got fiction.”

William G. Hillar, a 66-year-old Millersville man, was sentenced today to 21 months in prison for perpetuating the fraud, which includes lying about his educational background, lying about being in the Army Special Forces and lying about his daughter being kidnapped, enslaved in a sex ring and killed. He claimed his experience to be the basis for the 2008 movie “Taken” starring Liam Neeson.

Here are some more quotes from today's hearing in U.S. District Court in Baltimore:

Continue reading "Man who faked Black Ops credentials sentenced to 21 months" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system
        

In case you missed out on today's paper, here are some police stories to ponder:

Video of Select Lounge shooting released. This is the January shooting where police officers mistook a colleague for a suspect and fatally shot him outside a nightclub. Watch the shooting.

Roommate testifies that the suspect in the killing of Johns Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn confessed to robbing him in Charles Village.

Annapolis teenager pleads guilty to killing toddler.

Nathan Krasnopoler, the Johns Hopkins University student who was struck and critically injured by a car while riding his bicycle along University Parkway in February, died Wednesday morning. A lawyer for the family said the 83-year-old driver who struck Krasnopoler has agreed to forfeit her license. Read Michael Dresser's Getting There blog.

Jurors are expected to begin deliberating this morning in the case of a man charged with killing an informant in a federal drug case. The victim's statement to the FBI was leaked and posted around his Westport neighborhood.

A series of mall robberies in the city, Anne Arundel and Howard Counties are linked, and also connected to a murder in Baltimore.

A Baltimore drug dealer is sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement in a fatal hit and run crash.

A Glen Burnie man was fatally stabbed and his female companion is being held in her death.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Downtown, Howard County, North Baltimore, Police shootings
        

A Glen Burnie man has died from his wounds after a stabbing Tuesday inside his home, and Anne Arundel County police have identified a woman who lived with him as the suspect.

James Gray Pfaff Jr., 47, of the unit block of Fifth Ave. in Glen Burnie, died Wednesday from stab wounds to the upper torso, county police said in a news release. Investigators have identified Phyllis Marie Amonica, 38, of the same address, as the suspect. The case is being investigated as a domestic incident, police said. Charges have not been filed.

According to police, officers from the Northern District responded to a call about a domestic dispute at the residence about 8:27 p.m. Tuesday. They found a man suffering from a stab wound to the torso and a woman suffering from minor cuts. Both were taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where Pfaff died Wednesday morning.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

A word of warning -- give up your beer!

Annapolis police reported this morning:

Robbery – 700 block of Annapolis Neck Rd – 8/10 at 12:28am:  A victim was attacked for refusing to give up his beer.  After he refused, Gerald Jones, a 46 year old male from Annapolis repeatedly struck the victim in the head with a rock and stick and then fled the scene.  Jones was quickly located by police.  Gerald Jones is charged with Armed Robbery, 1st and 2nd Degree Assault, and Reckless Endangerment.  He is currently being held at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center on $500,000.

Police, unfortunately, don't say what kind of beer was involved.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

A former Annapolis and Baltimore police officer is facing manslaughter and drunk-driving charges in a car crash that left one man dead.

James Salyers, 52, of Gambrills, was indicted last week by a Baltimore grand jury in the October death of Andrew Arnold-McCoy 19, of Glen Burnie, according to court records. He is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 9 in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

Charges against Salyers in the 10-count indictment include running a red light and speeding, according to court records. Reached by telephone, Salyers referred calls to his lawyer, Andrew I. Alperstein.

"The fault of the accident remains very much in dispute," Alperstein said. "There is evidence that refutes the state's theory of the case." He declined to discuss details.

Alperstein said his client retired from Baltimore city police as a detective before going to work with Annapolis Police Department and had a "long career of helping other people." Salyers had spent the last eight of his 28 ½ years with the Baltimore department in the executive protection detail for Mayors Martin O'Malley, Sheila Dixon and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, according to Alperstein.

Salyers, who had joined the Annapolis Police Department in late August 2010, resigned Aug. 1, 2011, said Sgt. Beth Nelson, a spokeswoman for the Annapolis department. He had been on administrative duty since the crash.

In 2008, according to a report at the time, Salyers traveled to Egypt on a city-funded "economic development" trip with Dixon. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, South Baltimore
        

A dispute between two groups at a Crofton house party probably led to the shooting early Sunday of a 22-year-old man, police told The Sun's Andrea F. Siegel.

Anne Arundel County police said officers responded to calls of shots fired outdoors about 2:22 a.m. in the area of Judicial Way and Lower Court — near Route 424 and Reidel Road. Witnesses told police that a man was helped into a vehicle, which drove away.

Police said the 22-year-old was at a party on Lower Court before the shooting. He was involved with one of the two groups of people with a dispute, but spokesman Justin Mulcahy said Monday the nature of the argument was not immediately known.

"There is a lot of follow-up investigation to conduct here," Mulcahy said. "The investigation is ongoing."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

[Photo by Sun photographer Barbara Haddock Taylor]

Update: Read complete story with victims' names here.

Anne Arundel County police say a male fatally shot himself and three others, including two juveniles, in a house in Brooklyn Park this morning. Police, called by the man's mother who said her son sent a troubling email, were outside when the final gunshot was heard.

Police have just released the following statement:

Continue reading "Man fatally shoots three, then self in Anne Arundel " »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

National Night Out has become a big community event, getting residents and cops together to take back the streets. Below is a list of events in the city and the counties, scheduled for today, Aug. 2

National Night outs:

Baltimore City

Baltimore County

Harford County

Anne Arundel County

Howard County

I could only find one in Carroll County, in Eldersburg. Here is a link to details. If anyone knows of more here, please let me know and I'll post.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Carroll County, City Hall, Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Howard County, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, Southwest Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

Bumper Bash on the Magothy River this weekend drew hundreds of revelers, and man cops worried about a repeat of last year's fights, rowdy behavior and drunks on the water. But the party on the river turned out relatively tame.

Here, from Outdoors Girl Candus Thomson, is a summary of people who behaved badly:

The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) responded to several incidents at Saturday’s Bumper Bash at Dobbins Island in the Magothy River. The event was attended by an estimated 2,000 to 2,500 people with approximately 500 vessels.

NRP and Anne Arundel County Police responded to 14 fights/ disorderly situations, arrested three for operating a vessel while intoxicated and one on an outstanding warrant. NRP also charged one with theft and charged two with underage possession of an alcoholic beverage. Officers issued 59 citations and gave out 44 warnings.

The Anne Arundel County Fire department responded to ten medical incidents where three were transported to area medical centers for minor injuries.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

From Baltimore and Maryland State police:

Multiple criminal and traffic charges are being filed this afternoon against a suspect who is under arrest and a Baltimore Police officer is undergoing treatment for what are believed to be non-life threatening injuries after a late morning police pursuit down the Baltimore Washington Parkway ended at an Anne Arundel County mall.

The accused is identified as Darin L. Sympton, Jr., 22, of Brooklyn Park, MD. He is being charged with possession with intent to distribute both heroin and marijuana, possession of both heroin and marijuana, fleeing and eluding, resisting arrest, multiple counts of assault, driving on a suspended/revoked license, and other traffic charges. After processing, he will be taken before a court commissioner for an initial bond hearing later tonight.

The officer from the Baltimore Police Department who was injured was involved in a single vehicle traffic crash during the pursuit. He was transported by ambulance to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

More details:

Continue reading "Man arrested after police chase to Arundel Mills Mall" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

The hotels and motels around BWI Marshall Airport are frequently used by prostitutes, as anyone monitoring police reports out of Anne Arundel County can attest. Here are some details on the latest arrest:

"On July 7, 2011, at approximately 10:30 p.m., members of the Anne Arundel County Police Department’s Vice Unit executed a search and seizure warrant on a hotel room located in the motel/hotel district in Linthicum, Maryland. The execution of the search warrant was the result of numerous complaints of prostitution taken place at the hotel.

"During surveillance conducted on the hotel, detectives were able to stop a client as he left the hotel and conduct an interview. The subject indicated that he responded to an ad located on Baltimore backpage.com. The male client revealed that he paid money for an appointment with a female in exchange for sexual favors. During the execution of the search and seizure warrant, several condoms were located in the room along with four cell phones, prepaid credit card receipts, prepaid credit cards along with U.S. currency. The female subject located in the hotel room was charged with Prostitution by Any Means and Assignation by Any Means."

Suspect: Naomi L. Mason, 23, of 11504 Sheffield Street, Oklahoma City, Okla.   

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Maryland State Police have reopened all lanes of the Baltimore Washington Parkway but are continuing to seek a person who took a hammer to a speed enforcement vehicle. The man also had a shotgun, but police said no shots were fired.

Still, the incident shut down for hours a major highway between Baltimore and Washington, creating havoc on the roadways, and sent heavily armored police to the highway and roads near BWI Airport. An empty BW Parkway is seen above, in a picture by The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum.

The latest update from Maryland State Police:

Continue reading "Parkway reopened, police still seek attacker " »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

An update from Sun reporters Mike Dresser and Julie Baughman on the scene unfolding on the Baltimore Washington Parkway near BWI (police now say no gunshots fired (picture of closed Parkway by The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum):

A man with a hammer and a gun attacked a speed enforcement vehicle  on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway near the exit leading to BWI Marshall airport this morning, prompting police to close down all lanes of the highway, according to law enforcement authorities.

While the assailant was armed, police disputed early reports of gunfire.

Maryland State Police spokesman Gregory M. Shipley said the attack occurred about 11:30 a.m. in the southbound lanes near I-195. He said an older man came out of the woods and approached a  parked State Highway Administration Jeep being operated by a speed enforcement contractor. Shipley said the man tapped on the rear window with a hammer before yelling incoherently and then striking the windshield with the hammer.

More details:

Continue reading "BW Parkway still shut and police hunt man who attacked worker with hammer" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

An update on the investigation that has shut down I-295, just sent out by Maryland State Police:

Maryland State Police and Anne Arundel County Police are searching for an armed suspect in the area of I-295 and Rt. 195 in Anne Arundel County.  I-295 is currently closed in both directions at Rt 195.

Calls to police began shortly before 11:30 a.m. today reporting a man armed with a long gun (shotgun or rifle) along the highway at that location.  It is not known if shots were fired.  It is believed the suspect may have used a hammer to break out windows of a vehicle parked near the location.  No one has been injured .

The suspect is described as a white male, between 50-60 yrs old, wearing a black and red flannel shirt and blue jeans.

State and county police have established a command post at 295/195.  A search is underway with K-9, helicopters and police officers on foot.    

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Breaking news
        

Christopher Jones, 14 got caught up in a gang dispute that he wasn't a part of, got punched while riding his bicycle near his home, fell off and died. He lived in Crofton.

The cases heightened awareness of suburban gangs and revealed flaws in how schools officials, who knew about a gang problem, failed to tell police because of privacy concerns. Now, just two years later, Christopher's killers are getting out of jail.

The Sun's Andrea Siegel reports today that the second of two teens, found responsible for manslaughter in juvenile court, is set to be released and put on supvervised probation. The other was freed earlier this month. Picture of the crime scene is by The Sun's Amy Davis.

Christopher's mom, Jennifer Adkins, had this reaction: "Two years for killing somebody? That's a joke."

The parents have been on a crusade of late; in May, the Anne Arundel County Sheriff's Department did a warrant sweep in their honor.

Read Andrea's complete story here.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County Police are searching for the owners of thousands of dollars worth of tools, lawn equipment and guns that were discovered during a search of a Lothian home where two people were arrested, The Sun's Liz F. Kay reports.

Police detectives have been investigating a tip received in May that a resident in the 1100 block of Mount Zion Marlboro Road had been dealing drugs and accepting stolen goods as payment, according to a police spokesman.

Among the 180 items found in the home and detached sheds on the property include a U-Haul car dolly, 49 long guns, snow blowers, generators, power washers, weed eaters, leaf blowers, chain saws, power drills, circular saws, concrete saws, nail guns and fishing rods.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Earlier this month, Anne Arundel County police were investigating complaints about a white van or minivan with a male driver who was seen trying to lure a 9-year-old child into a van, and then pulling up next to a 12-year-old boy on a bicycle.

The incidents occurred June 16 in the Sherwood Forest section of Arundel and later that same day near Shipley's Choice Elementary School.

Today, police released a statement saying they found the van and the driver, and cleared him in the case. They said the two incidents were unrelated and coincidental. Police "determined that the operator of the vehicle was in the community conducting legitmate business." Authorities said they could not verify that the driver talked to the child and could not "substantiate that there was any criminal intent behind the driver's actions that day."

Statemente from Anne Arundel County Police:

Continue reading "Suspicious suspect cleared in child stalking case" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

An officer at a prison in Jessup suffered a broken jaw and cheekbone during an attack by an inmate, and another officer at the Baltimore City jail was sexually assaulted by a detainee, according to state prison officials.

The first assault occurred Monday at the Maryland Correctional Institution at Jessup. Authorities said the officer was trying to move an inmate from one housing unit to another about 2:20 p.m. when he was hit. It took six to eight other officers using Mace to subdue the inmate, officials said.

On Saturday, prison officials said a correctional officer at the Baltimore City Detention Center reported being sexually assaulted by a detainee. Authorities said an investigation is underway and a person of interest is being questioned. No further details were released.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services reports that serious assaults by inmates on officer has fallen over the past few years, with down 50 percent since 2007. Attacks involving sexual offenses are down 35 percent during that same period.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Confronting crime, Downtown, Prisons
        

A man driving a white van near Annapolis tried on Thursday to lure a 9-year-old child inside, telling the boy that he wanted to take pictures, according to Anne Arundel County police. Authorities believe the same van was seen outside Shipley's Choice Elementary School on the same day.

Police are warning parents and children to never enter a vehicle with a stranger.

The first incident occurred Thursday about noon when a man approached a boy on Robin Hood Hill in Sherwood Forest. "The male driver requested that the child enter the van so that he could take pictures of the child."

Police sad the child did not get in, but that the grandmother saw the van leave the area, and that it had dark lettering ont he side referring to a carpet business. The driver was described only as a white male.

Later Thursday, police said a 12-year-old boy riding his bicycle near the school reported that a van pulled up next to him and that a front-seat passenger rolled down the window slightly. The driver of the van drove off, apparently without saying anything.

The youth described the vehicle as a minivan with tinted rear windows and driving by a white or Hispanic male with short to medium length hair.

Anyone with information is urged to call Anne Arundel County Police at 410-222-6155.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Police in Anne Arundel County have been investigating a multiple stabbing in Crofton that left a family injured (picture of crime scene by The Sun's Barbara Haddock Taylor).

The Sun's Steve Kilar and Andrea Siegel report:

Shortly after 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, county officers and Fire Department rescue crews responded to a telephone call from one of the daughters saying that she, her mother and sister were stabbed by their father, police said. According to neighbors, the mother was brought out from the home in a pressurized suit, and the daughters were in better condition.

Police with dogs searched the area for the 49-year-old father. He was found about 7:30 a.m. in the woods behind the townhouse complex, in the 2400 block of Chelmsford Drive. Police said they had yet to determine if his injuries were self-inflicted.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

A 16-year-old speeding along a winding road.

A 3-year-old sitting in his aunt's lap, in the back seat, with a seat belt wrapped around both.

Occupants screaming for the teen to slow down.

This is the scenario described by Anne Arundel County police after a car filled with teens and the child crashed into a tree Wednesday night in Hanover, just north of Patapsco Valley State Park. The toddler died.

Police and prosecutors are still investigating the deadly crash. The picture from The Sun's Gene Sweeney Jr. shows the skid marks, painted blue by police investigators, and the tree alongside Ridge Road, near the Elkridge Furnace Inn.

Here is the full story by The Sun's Liz Kay, and the full statement by Anne Arundel County police follows:

Continue reading "Accident leaves 3-year-old dead; police say toddler was sitting on aunt's lap in speeding car" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County police arrested two suspects in an armed robbery of a Severna Park pizza shop, and are trying to link them to a series of other holdups:

On June 7, 2011, at approximately 8:34 p.m., officers from the Eastern District responded to the Carini’s Pizza located in the 100 block of Ritchie Highway in Severna Park for a report of an armed robbery.

Upon arrival, officers spoke with employees, who indicated that a male suspect entered the business armed with a shotgun and announced the robbery. A store employee complied by handing over an undisclosed amount of personal money to the suspect, who fled the business and entered a waiting Chevy Camaro being operated by a female suspect. The vehicle was observed fleeing west on Earleigh Heights towards Light Street.

Suspect #1: Robert Lee Thomas, Jr., 30, of 3 Maple Avenue, Pasadena, Md.
Suspect #2: Carrie Marie Bryan, 29, of 104 Garrett Road, Glen Burnie, Md.

Details on other incidents, from a police statement:

Continue reading "Serial armed robberies investigated in Arundel" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

An Anne Arundel County man has been charge with a firearms violation and animal cruelty after police said he shot his Severna Park neighbor’s pit bull that had “aggressively” barked and growled at him.

Police said the shooting occurred about 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the 300 block of Benfield Road. “The male subject reported that the dog was aggressively barking and growling at him,” police said in a statement. The man pulled out a gun and shot the dog once, police said.

The dog ran away and later died. Charles McConnell Jr., 39, of the 300 block of Benfield Road, was charged with discharging a firearm in a residential area and animal cruelty, both misdemeanors.

Police said prosecutors are reviewing the case and that the investigation continues.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County police are investigating the fatal shooting of a pit bull in Severn. It apparently occurred during a fight between two dogs, and the man who opened fire said the only way to stop it was by using gunfire.

And authorities in the city are investigating a pit bull attack on an elderly woman in Southeast Baltimore's Greektown neighborhood. The dog has been quaranteened until the investigation is complete. We don't have an immediate update on the woman's condition.

Meanwhile, Tricia Bishop reports that one of the twins accused of setting fire to a pit bull two years ago has been arrested again and charged with drup possession. The animal cruelty trial ended with a hung jury and is to be tried again.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Southeast Baltimore
        

City police today are identifying the woman found shot to death in Leakin Park on Sunday night.

Lois Smyth, 40, who was also known as Lois Vance, was found by a jogger in the 3900 block of Windsor Mill Road, between the Gwynns Falls Trail and a stream, police say. Smyth was from the 400 block of W. Maple Road in Linthicum, and had no criminal record.

Police are interviewing people of interest and have a motive, though it was not disclosed for investigative reasons. According to The Sun's homicide map, Smyth is the fifth female killed in Baltimore this year, and just the second white victim out of 83 victims.

On Facebook, friends of Smyth were organizing a candlelight vigil at Old Mill Senior High School for Thursday night.

Police also provided names for two other recent victims of fatal gun violence:  Fareed Abdullah, 28, of the 8600 block of Pine Road in Jessup, was identified as the man shot while sitting in a vehicle on Saturday morning in Northwest Baltimore, while Maurice Gray, 35, of the 800 block of Bradhurst Dr., was identified as the man shot and killed Tuesday night in the 700 block of E. Eager St.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Southwest Baltimore
        

Anne Arundel County police are seeking help identifying a bank robbery suspect who held up a 1st Mariner Bank on May 6. Police said the man walked in to the branch in the 1600 block of Annapolis Road in Odenton about 11:15 a.m.

Police said the man walked up to a teller, "announced a bank robbery and gave verbal commands.

 The suspect brought a bag into the bank with him and had the bank teller put the bank money in the bag." Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Clifford Van Hoesen of the Robbery Unit at 410-222-3469 (3566) or Metro Crime Stoppers.

Continue reading "Arundel police seek bank robber" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

A man who died after crashing his vehicle into a tree and hitting three people Sunday night in Glen Burnie had been stabbed prior to the accident, police said today.

Lamonte Tracey Sherman, 39, of the 300 block of Stephens Circle in Aberdeen, was driving from Americana Circle onto Ritchie Highway about 10 p.m. when he apparently lost control of his car, a green 2006 Dodge Magnum station wagon, Anne Arundel County police said.

Police earlier had said the vehicle jumped the curb and struck a tree, then hit two people in the parking lot of Ann's Dari Crème, who received only minor injuriies. Lt. John McAndrew, a police spokesman, said Monday afternoon that the vehicle struck a table outside the eatery at which a 15-year-old girl was sitting with her family before continuing on to strike the tree.

Read more here.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Despite what numerous drivers running errands on Saturday afternoon seemed to believe, a handicapped parking permit is not a family pass for choice parking.

At the Glen Burnie Wal-Mart, Cpl. Eric Trumbauer snagged two such drivers at once. One woman, teary-eyed and apologetic, said she used her husband’s handicapped placard because she was only running in to get dog food. The other, 31-year-old Trina Mendez, was less remorseful.

“There’s nowhere to [expletive] park,” Mendez said, her painted toenails resting in the window as Trumbauer wrote a $140 citation.

Lavona Arnold could only shake her head at the situation. Arnold is 70,and, as she puts it, has “two bad knees and two bad feet.” She leaned on a shopping cart, her cane hooked inside, and walked by the cars shaking her head.

“I had to park all the way down there,” she said. “You think that’s not disgusting? By the time I walk from there up to here, I’m ready to turn around and go back. They think they can get away with it. [They say,] ‘My grandmother has a handicap. I’m going to use it. They won’t catch me.’”

Anne Arundel County police have been cracking down on such violations as part of an initiative called Operation HIDE, or Handicap ID Enforcement. Cpl. Nicholas DiPietro, a 15-year veteran and the traffic enforcement coordinator for the county’s Northern Police District, has heard every excuse in the book.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County prosecutors will seek life in prison without parole for Perry Roark, a reputed founder and leader of the violent prison gang Dead Man Inc., who was recently charged with first-degree murder in the 1994 death of another prisoner, The Sun's Andrea Siegel reports.

Roark, 42, a muscular man with a long ponytail, was notified Thursday in Anne Arundel County Circuit court during a hearing to set his trial date, of the possibility that he will never be freed. A trial was scheduled to start March 26, 2012, and is expected to take two weeks.

“We look forward to a fair and speedy trial and the vindication of our client,” said Assistant Public Defender Michael Morrissette.

Roark was to have been released from 25 years in prison several months ago, worrying law enforcement officials, who blocked his freedom with the murder charges. DMI has spread outside Maryland prisons in the Baltimore area as well as outside the state. Dissension among the mostly white membership led to permitting members to exit in April 2009 without penalty.

Before his expected release from prison several months ago, Roark was indicted in the beating death of inmate George Hartman, who was officials say was fatally beaten in the now-closed Maryland House of Correction.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Gangs, Prisons
        

From Anne Arundel County Police:

On May 22, 2011, at approximately 9:33 p.m., officers from the Eastern District responded to the Shell gas station located in the 300 block of Hospital Drive in Glen Burnie for a report of a robbery. 

A male suspect entered the business, displayed a shotgun and demanded the money from the drawer. The clerk complied with the demands and turned over an undisclosed amount of money to the suspect, who then fled the store on foot.

The suspect was described as a white male in his early to mid 20’s, approximately 5’5”-5’7”, 150-170 pounds and clean shaven, wearing a black bandana on his head, black sunglasses, blue jeans, black gloves, a black, zip-up sweatshirt with a hood an unknown graphics on the front.

Anyone with information on the incident or suspect is urged to contact Detective Wills of the Robbery Unit at 410-222-3432(3566) or call 410-222-8610.

You can also call, email, or text your tip to Metro Crime Stoppers Hotline Available 24-Hours A Day Toll Free at 1-866-7LOCKUP or Text “MCS plus your message” to CRIMES (274637).

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County police quickly arrested a suspected bank robber Monday morning after a brief chase in Glen Burnie.

Police said the man armed with a handgun threatened a teller at the Carrollton Bank in the 400 block of Crain Highway shortly before 10 a.m.

The female teller told police that she gave the man money and that he fled. Officers then located the suspect driving a green pick-up truck northbound on Ritchie Highway.

He bailed from the car and was caugh after a foot chase near Stranden and Norland roads in Baltimore City.

Randall Paul Shreve, 43, of the 1400 block of Northshire Road in Baltimore, was charged with armed robbery, felony theft and five counts of second-degree assault.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

The 66-year-old wife of a prominent Annapolis church leader has been identified as the woman whose body was found partially submerged under the Jones Falls Expressway in North Baltimore last week.

Police were called Friday morning to the 1800 block of Union Ave., just west of the highway in the Woodberry neighborhood, in the Jones Falls, where they found the body of Emma Eileen Baltimore, of Pasadena. There were no obvious signs of trauma to her body, and police were continuing to investigate.

Baltimore was the wife of senior bishop Wilbert L. Baltimore, of the King's Apostle Holiness Church of God, which according to a 2000 article includes 20 churches in seven states. He was also a longtime administrator in the Anne Arundel County school system.

Anne Arundel County police spokesman Justin Mulcahy said Baltimore had been reported missing May 4 after her vehicle was located about two miles away from where her body was eventually found, in the 4900 block of Falls Road. Her relatives told police that she suffered from mental problems and had spent time in a Baltimore-area facility multiple times in the past year, city police spokesman Donny Moses said.

Continue reading "Annapolis church leader's wife found dead in North Baltimore" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, North Baltimore
        

A 43-year-old Glen Burnie man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for child sex trafficking, after a missing 12-year-old called relatives from an Anne Arundel County motel room and said she had been "recruited" into prostitution.

Derwin Samuel Smith's sentence also includes 20 years of supervised release, according to federal prosecutors:

According to his plea agreement, on June 7, 2010, members of the Maryland Human Trafficking task Force recovered a 12 year old girl who had been reported missing and was believed to be involved in prostitution, from a motel room in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  The child had called a relative from the motel room and investigation revealed that the room was registered to Smith. The child told the officers that Smith had said that he would be back later that evening to have sex with her. 

The child was taken to police headquarters and further identified Smith as the person who had picked her up on the street in Washington, DC, paid for sexual services performed in the backseat of his car and recruited her to work for him as a prostitute.  Smith had then driven the girl to Atlantic, City New Jersey where at Smith’s direction, men paid to have sex with her over the weekend.  The child gave Smith all of the money.

Continue reading "Glen Burnie man gets 10 years for child sex trafficking" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

The Sun's Andea F. Siegel reports this unusual development in a civil case:

The parents of a teen killed in Crofton were handed a pair of new athletic shoes Wednesday as part of the settlement of a civil lawsuit over their son's death. The shoes had belonged to a youth accused of having a role in the death of Christopher Jones in 2009.

"I saw him in brand new shoes, and I thought he's got a lot of nerve coming in here with brand new shoes and he's saying he has no money," said Jennifer Adkins, whose 14-year-old son, Christopher Jones, had been riding his bike home when youth gang members in western Anne Arundel County punched him in the face in May 2009, leading to his death.

She suggested, during a settlement conference of the family's civil lawsuit against the six teenagers, that he hand over the shoes that he appeared to be so proud of.

"I wanted him to walk out of the courthouse in his socks and be embarrassed and humiliated. He can say Chris Jones' mother took the shoes off my feet," Adkins said. Her request surprised the retired judge who was holding the settlement conference.

But soon, the Jones' family's lawyer, Richard Jaklitsch, was holding the shoes. "It was the first time in my 28 years of practicing law that this has happened," he said.

Read the full story here.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

A man fired shots at a police officer around 5 a.m. Wednesday from a home in Glen Burnie as officers responded to the residence for earlier reports of a gunshot, Anne Arundel police said.

The officer, a 17-year-veteran of the force, returned fire and took cover as officers from the Special Operations Section and Crisis Negotiations Unit surrounded the home, in the 100 block of Oak Spring Drive, just off Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard. Negotiators convinced a man inside the home to surrender at around 7:45 a.m.

The man was wearing body armor when he was taken into custody, police said, and no one was injured during the incident.

Police believe the man may have fired multiple shots at a home located behind the one on Oak Spring Drive, which prompted the initial call to police.

-Yeganeh June Torbati

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Police shootings
        

Alert Anne Arundel County officers who stopped people driving through a school parking lot without headlights after midnight this morning found a cache of candy and sports drinks taken from a school concession stand.

The car had been in the parking lot of Old Mill High School about 12:10 a.m., and police said the officer saw the contraband inside. "It was determined that the suspects had been involved in burglarizing the concession stand on the high school’s playing field," a statement from police said.

Three were arrested adn two were charged as adults with theft, fourth degree burglary, trespassing and malicious destruction of property. One suspect was charged as a juvenile with the same offenses. Approximately $300 in concessions were recovered and returned to a school representative.

Police identified the suspects as:

Suspect #1: Michael Aaron Hicks, 18, of 7919 Carriage Drive, Severn, Md.
Suspect #2: Nathaniel Matthew Stevenson, 18, of 7805 Winbourne Lane Apartment F, Glen Burnie, Md.
Suspect #3: 16-year-old male from Hanover 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

The Anne Arundel County NAACP and county police are appealing for help in the killing of a 63-year-old retired teacher found shot to death in her vehicle parked in a shopping center parking lot.

On Jan. 28, before 11 a.m., officers were called for a report of a sick/injured person in the 7300 block of Ritchie Highway, the parking lot of the Pep Boys and Gavigan's furniture store. In the vehicle, Myra Elizabeth Cason was suffering from a gunshot wound to her upper body.

Here's an update from county police:

This incident remains an active homicide investigation. Investigators have conducted interviews, collected evidence to be analyzed, consulted with other jurisdictions to determine if there were any incidents similar in nature and have reviewed and monitored law enforcement databases in an effort to identify a possible suspect.

On April 25, 2011, at approximately 6:30 p.m., the Anne Arundel County Branch of the NAACP is holding a planned gathering in the parking lot where the homicide took place in the 7300 block of Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Detectives from the Homicide Unit will be present to hand out informational fliers and to continue to seek information from the public regarding this incident. Anyone with any information on this crime is asked to contact Detective Regina Gow of the Homicide Unit at 410-222-3417 or the Anne Arundel County Police Department at 410-222-8610.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County police have arrested a Silver Spring man in the March 29 shooting in the parking lot of the Marley Station Mall on Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie. Police said that the suspect and victim, 23-year-old Rickey Johnson of Snow Hill, had been arguing.

Two friends of the victim drove the wounded man to a nearby Dunkin Donuts and called police, who put out a lookout for two men in a dark gray Honda. Anne Arundel County police described the shooting as "drug related" and that the mall parking lot was picked as "meeting point."

The suspect was identified as Christopher Royal Gayle, 22, of the 1700 block of Mount Pisgah Lane in Silver Spring (pictured at left). Police said he was arrested at his Montgomery County house and hcarged with attempted first and second-degree murder, using a handgun in the commission of a felony and illegal possession of a handgun. Police said they are still trying to identify the second suspect.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County police say the victims of an attempted armed robbery in Pasadena turned the tables on their attackers.

Police officers responded at 8 p.m. Thursday to the 200 block of Mountain Road, where they saw a suspect being detained on the property. The victims told police that they were in a garage when two suspects approached, one of them displaying a handgun, and demanding money. A 38-year-old male relative and a 26-year-old female relative came from inside the residence and chased after the suspects, who were trying to flee. A "struggle" ensued, and they managed to hold down the suspect until police arrived. Officers detained a second suspect.

Charged are Delonte Preston Thomas, 20, of the 8900 block of Oakwood Way in Laurel, and Paul Rashon Atterberry, 17, of the 9200 block of Steeple Court in Laurel. Atterberry, who was charged as an adult, is pictured above, displaying what appear to be the after effects of the "struggle." Click to enlarge

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

From The Sun's Andrea Siegel:

Maryland's highest court is scheduled to take its first look at the state's new death penalty law today, when lawyers for a prisoner accused of murdering a correctional officer argue that prosecutors should have to convince a judge that they have the evidence now required for a capital case.

The controversial 2009 changes to the death penalty law restrict prosecutors' authority to seek execution for first-degree murder convictions only in crimes in which there is DNA or other biological evidence, a videotaped confession or a video recording of the crime.

Lawyers for Lee Edward Stephens, 31, said Anne Arundel County prosecutors indicated that biological or DNA evidence ties Stephens to the July 2006 fatal stabbing of David McGuinn.

McGuinn was a 42-year-old correctional officer at the Maryland House of Correction, where Stephens and co-defendant Lamar Cornelius Harris, 41, were then serving life sentences. The prison has since been closed.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system
        

A jewelry store robbery in Howard County may be linked to others in Baltimore and Annapolis, as well as to the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old who was killed a day after his car was identified as the getaway vehicle in a robbery at the Columbia Mall.

Howard County detectives on Monday arrested three Baltimore men and charged them in an armed robbery last week that netted more than $300,000 in high-end watches. Mall security officers saw the license plate of the getaway car, a Mitsubishi Diamante that was traced to Derek Jones, an aspiring rapper seen at right from this picture on his web site.

But the day after the robbery, Jones was fatally shot in the head as he left a barber shop in West Baltimore in the 1200 block of Winchester St. It was just hours after he had been questioned by county detectives, officials confirmed.

County police announced the robbery arrests Tuesday, but there was no mention in charging documents of Jones beyond describing his vehicle. Sherry Llewellyn, a spokeswoman for the Howard County police, said county detectives had been investigating Jones’ possible involvement in the robbery but said that police were not prepared to charge him at the time of his death.

City homicide detectives were “not prepared to comment” on how the robbery might play into the murder investigation, Baltimore Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

Jones was a rapper named “Nu-Boy” and “D. Jones,” and had produced an album in late 2008 that was sold at local Best Buy stores. Street life was prominent in his music – album covers are splashed with images of guns and bullets. A song released last fall featured the chorus, “Air ‘em out” with the sounds of guns firing and the clinking of bullet casings hitting the ground.

But a follow-up album, his site promised, was to be called “American Dream,” and discussed “his emergence from the bitter realities” of life in Baltimore that comprised his first album. “It was his wish to give the world more of himself as a person, and less of the tragic images he experienced day to day living in Baltimore,” it reads.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 5:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Howard County, West Baltimore
        

A series of police raids over the past several days in Anne Arundel County has led to the arrests of several suspects and the seizure of drugs and guns linked to a suspected heroin and marijuana trafficking ring.

Police hit homes in Pasadena, Severn and Annapolis and traced packages containing suspected drugs through a parcel delivery service. Five people were arrested on drug and gun charges in operations conducted Wednesday and Thursday.

Authorities said they traced drugs being sent through the mail to various locations. The total value of the marijuana seized is estimated at $215,000 and weighted about 20.5 pounds, police said. Guns taken by police include an Uzi machine gun, four handguns and assorted rifles and shotguns.

The photographs are from the Anne Arundel County Police Department. For more information about the raids, read the police statement below: 

Continue reading "Raids in Arundel yield guns, drugs" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Breaking news
        

There has been no shortage lately of corruption investigations, and the latest out of Anne Arundel County mixes cops and power. The county executive, John R. Leopold, no stranger to controversy, is reportedly under investigation for using his police security detail to campaign, including picking up campaign checks and removing signs of an opponent.

This is just the latest in controversies in and around Baltimore involving police officers, and this one in Arundel appears to stem out of a $10 million sexual harassment suit filed by a female county employee.

Sun reporters Andrea F. Siegel and Nicole Fuller write that an attorney representing five county officers on the security detail are negotiating an agreement with the state prosecutor's office to testify in exchange for immunity.

Other recent corruption cases involving police: 

Continue reading "Arundel County Executive under scrutiny; accused of using police to campaign" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Police in Anne Arundel County have a mystery on their hands -- a body but no name.

The Sun's Andrea Siegel brings us a cold case tale of a body of a woman found more than five years ago at the northern tip of the county. Authorities have a composite sketch of what they think the woman looked like, completed from a clay reconstruction of her skull and a drawing by the FBI. Police are awaiting DNA.

Andrea wrote:

The case illustrates the challenges police face in trying to lay to rest an old case with nameless, faceless remains and an unknown cause of death. They hope to bring a sense of closure to families and finality to a case. By reopening the case last month, and putting it in the public eye, they hope somebody who knew or recognizes the woman will come forward. Even a nickname would give them a starting point.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Maryland State Police Sgt. Daniel McLain thought he was pulling up to a disabled motorist this morning.

A car was on the side of Route 100 in Anne Arundel County. But, police said McLain noticed that the man standing next the vehicle had "a look of panic and distress not normally seen, even on the faces of disabled motorists."

McLain, a 20-year veteran assigned to the quartermaster division in Jessup, quickly found out why.

A woman in the backseat had just given birth to a girl. "The trooper saw the at the baby was blue and still attached to the umbilical cord." The sergeant gave the newborn CPR and the girl began breathing, turning to a healthy pink by the time the ambulance arrived.

Baby and mother are reported doing well at Baltimore-Washington Medical Center. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County police are asking for help identifying a man who stole jewelry from the Liljenquist & Beckstead jewelry store at the Westfield Annapolis Mall. Police said the man walked in on Wednesday, March 5 about 7:30 p.m. and asked to see some merchandise. He then ran off with jewelry a clerk had handed to him.

The composite picture from above shows the man walking into the mall. Two days later, two gunmen robbed the same store of watches in an afternoon holdup. Anyone with information is urged to call the Anne Arundel County Police Southern District at 410-222-1960.

The suspect is described as a black male about 30 years old weighing 250 pounds and standing about 5 feet 11 inches tall. He has a round face and dark complexion with what police said is a "tribal style symbol" tattooed on the back of his right wrist that extends upwards into his sleeve. He was last seen wearing a navy blue “Polo” sweater, navy blue slacks and a navy blue driving cap with a bill.

Continue reading "Police seek theft suspect from Annapolis mall" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Annapolis Police are asking residents to stay indoors - and watch "American Idol." 

The department says one of its officers is a cousin of contestant Pia Toscano, a 22-year-old New York native. With no "Part One" crimes to report from yesterday, part of a general downward trend as The Sun's Andrea F. Siegel reported today, the department took the opportunity to talk up their "Idol" favorite, who is related to Officer Michael Macri, a three-year veteran assigned to the Special Operations Section:

Continue reading "Annapolis police pulling for "Idol" contestant" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

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Two men armed with handguns robbed a jeweler at the Westfield Annapolis Mall on Monday afternoon, according to Anne Arundel County police.

The daylight  holdup occurred shortly before 4 p.m. at Liljenquist & Beckstead Jewelers. The owner told police that two men inquired about watches in a display case and then pulled out guns and announced a robbery.

"The suspects ordered the male victim to hand over wrist watches from the display case. The victim complied and the suspects fled the store in an unknown direction," police said in a statement. Last summer, three groups of robbers terrorized merchants at Mondawmin Mall in Baltimore. In one robbery, they escaped with $100,000 in jewelry.

For more details and description of the robbers:

Continue reading "Men rob Annapolis Mall jeweler at gunpoint" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Police responding to the pleas of parents concerned about their 19-year-old daughter uncovered what authorities described as a prostitution ring being run out of a motel room in Anne Arundel County.

The parents had contacted police after receiving text message from the young woman that she was being held against her will. Police found the woman and concluded she was a willing participant, but that the people allegedly running the operation refused to return her to New Jersey, where she was from.

Authorities who went into the Linthicum room said they found the 19-year-old, along with three other adults. "Officers observed two, partially smoked marijuana blunts in the room," the police said.

"Further investigation revealed that the male suspect was controlling the prostitution operation and that he brought the females to the hotel for express purpose of prostitution," police said in a statement. "Additionally, the suspect was utilizing the internet and the website Backpage.com to solicit customers for the females."

Here's a list of suspects (shown from left to right in the mug shots above)

Edward N. Perkins, 26, of Jersey City, N.J., was charged with possession of marijuana, nine counts of human trafficking, three counts of profiting from prostitution business and prostitution by any means.

Nkosazana Zari Adebamgbe, 18, of Philadelphia, was charged with possession of marijuana.

Johnisha Ne-Cole Harris, 19, of Willingboro, N.J., was charged with possession of marijuana.

Brittni Crabill, 20, of Philadelphia was charged with possession of marijuana.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Anne Arundel County police are crediting Facebook with helping catch a purse snatcher.

On Monday, the cops sought the public's help locating two people who on Feb. 17 had stolen a purse from a shopping cart at a Safeway on Mountain Road. Police said a man and a woman took the purse to a restroom at another location, emptied the contents and stole several items.

Police distributed surveillance photos to the news media and posted them on the department's Facebook page. Today about 1 a.m., police said a person who saw the Facebook page recognized the man and woman inside a Royal Farms store on Fort Smallwood Road in Riviera Beach.

Officers arrested two suspects a short time later. Here is some more information on the suspects and to see the surveillance photo: 

Continue reading "Facebook tip leads to purse snatching arrests" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Police in Annapolis are investigating the shooting of two men that occurred Monday. A 39-year-old and a 23-year-old were injured. In Baltimore, police said a man was stabbed early today near Herring Run Park.

Baltimore police also announced an arrest in a non-fatal shooting that occurred Friday. Police said Michael Campbell, 26, has been charged in the incident, which occurred on Marble Hall Road. We're awaiting more details.

City police also announced arrests in three gun cases on Monday. Police in the 200 block of East Fayette Street downtown arrested three people and seized a 9mm handgun. An off-duty officer in the 2300 block of West Baltimore St. arrested one person and seized a stolen .45 caliber handgun. And a patrol officer arrested one person and got a revolver.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Northeast Baltimore
        

In December, a federal judge sentence Byron Keith Brown to 15 years in prison for bilking people out of $17 million in an Internet Ponzi scheme.

On Tuesday, you can buy his luxury cars during an auction run by the U.S. Treasury Department being held in Ellicott City (photo at left provided by the treasury department).

Brown was convicted after a three-week trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. He ran a company called "In God We Trust Financial Services" and several others under different names in Virginia and Maryland. He used to live in Ellicott City.

Prosecutors said that from 2003 to 2009, Brown pushed an investment scheme in which he created fake investors to give the appearance that people were sending him up to $1 million "Brown used funds from new investors to make payments to old investors and to conceal his diversion of investors' monies," prosecutors said.

With Brown securely in prison, the feds can now auction off his cars. Here's a list:

2007 Lamborghini Murcielago            2005 Rolls Royce Phantom
2004 Mercedes Benz Maybach 57       2006 Aston Martin
2008 Maserati Gran Turismo              2002 Ferrari 360
2004 Bentley Continental                  2007 Jaguar XKR CPE
1936 Auburn Speedster                    2006 Land Rover
2006 Mercedes Benz S500                2005 Land Rover Range Rover
2007 BMW 3 Series                          2004 Audi AA8
2005 BMW 7 Series                          2005 Volkswagen Beetle
2005 GMC Canyon

See pictures of the cars here.

For more information:

Continue reading "Cars owned by Ponzi schemer to be auctioned" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere
        

After Edwin F. Hale Sr., the head of 1st Mariner Bank, accepted probation before judgment for carrying a loaded gun into BWI Airport, a reader wondered whether the well-known executive would have to forfeit his carry permit.

I checked with the Maryland State Police, which issues the permits through its licensing division, and got these details from spokeswoman Elena Russo:

Shortly after Hale was cited by the Maryland Transportation Authority Police with violating security procedures at the airport -- a misdemeanor state crime -- state police sent him a revocation letter, which, is sent to every permit holder who gets arrested or who is "believed to be involved in an offense that could lead to an arrest."

The letter invited Hale to come talk to state police, and Russo said he "immediately came in by himself" with his permit. Meanwhile, police met with attorneys who advised that the charge with which Hale had been charged, and later accepted probation, "would not prohibit him from purchasing, possessing or carrying a handgun."

Hale's permit was not revoked.

Maryland Transportation Authority Police said at the time of the incident that they charged Hale with the minor offense because they believed that he had honestly forgotten the gun in a briefcase when he went to the airport to board a flight to Milwaukee. And because Hale had a legal carry permit, he could not be charged with illegal gun possession.

Read more stories:

Hale held in gun case

Hale charged with crime

Hale accepts probation before judgment 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Anne Arundel County