A man armed with a handgun robbed a Millersville fast-food restaurant Friday and forced the employees into a freezer, county police said.
Michael Hedgecoth, an employee of Wendy's in the 8200 block of Veterans Highway, told police that a man with a small gun approached him about 1 a.m. as he was mopping the dining area.
The man ordered Hedgecoth into the kitchen, where they encountered the manager, Funn Chen, and another employee. The gunman ordered both employees into a walk-in freezer and forced Chen to open the safe, police said.
After he robbed the safe, he ordered Chen into the freezer and left, police said.
The three waited inside the freezer about five minutes before calling police.
A smoldering cigarette left in the bedroom of a Severna Park home sparked a one-alarm fire early Friday that nearly destroyed the two-story building, EMS/Fire/Rescue officials said.
Firefighters battled the blaze at the home of Rufus Jackson in the 400 block of McBrides Lane for nearly an hour at dawn before they brought the fire under control. No one was injured.
The fire caused $105,000 in damage to the structure and contents, according to fire spokesman Capt. Allan Graves. Jackson told firefighters that he and his wife, Denise, had been staying with friends because they had no electricity in their house. But he returned home early Friday, tried to sleep, was not able to and returned to his friend's house, Graves said.
When Jackson arrived, his friend was gone, so he went back to his house to find smoke coming from the bedroom, Graves said.
Investigators said they believe Jackson dropped a cigarette in the bedroom before he left his house, Graves said.
A child playing with a lighter in a Lothian trailer early Friday lighted a small fire on his parents' bed that grew into a blaze that caused $9,000 in damage, EMS/Fire/Rescue officials said.
No one was injured.
Debbie Grzybowski, owner of the double-wide trailer in the 1500 block of Flanders Lane, told firefighters she was taking a shower shortly before 7 a.m. while her 2-year-old child was on her bed watching television.
When she got out of the shower, she found her mattress smoldering and her lighter, which had been on a dresser, next to the bed, fire spokesman Capt. Allan Graves said.
Grzybowski tried patting the fire out with damp towels and then poured water onto the mattress, but by then the fire had spread, Graves said. She called 911, and firefighters brought the blaze under control within minutes.
Fire investigators are looking into the cause of a blaze that did $10,000 worth of damage to two camper vehicles stored in a Brooklyn Park alley Friday morning, EMS/Fire/Rescue officials said.
The fire began in one of the campers parked in the 500 block of Wasena Ave. just after 7 a.m., then spread to the second, fire spokesman Capt. Allan Graves said.
Firefighters spent less than an hour battling the blaze, he said. No one was injured.
An Annapolis cab driver spent five hours Thursday tracking the man he said he believes robbed him, then called authorities to make the arrest, city police said.
Harold Little, 50, a driver for the Annapolis Cab Co., told police he picked up a fare just before 3 p.m. at the Safeway store in the 1700 block of Forest Drive and headed for Newtowne Drive. But when they pulled onto Forest Drive, the man grabbed Little in a choke hold, held a sharp object to his throat and demanded money, police said.
Little pulled to the side and gave the man $100. The man got out, hopped a barbed wire fence and ran into the woods. Little chased him, but lost the man before calling police.
The cab driver did not give up. He drove up and down Newtowne Drive, asking residents about the man, for nearly five hours until he finally got a name and address.
Little flagged down a passing officer on Newtowne Drive shortly before 8 p.m. and gave him the name and address. The officer went to an apartment in the 700 block of Newtowne Drive where Little said he believed the man lived, and Little identified the man as his assailant, police said.
Police arrested Von Danyell Leach, 28, of 700 block of Newtowne Drive, and charged him with robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree assault, armed robbery and theft.
County police arrested a Glen Burnie man Thursday after a neighbor said that he shot her poodle with a BB gun.
Cheryl Ann Rogers, 40, of the 300 block of Burwood Road told police she had been keeping a close watch on her dog because someone had been shooting at it for several weeks.
About 7 p.m., Rogers said, she saw her next-door neighbor standing in his back yard calling the poodle. A short time later, she heard a gun, ran to the window and heard another blast, police said.
She saw her dog yelping and rolling around in the grass. It was hit in the left ear and bleeding, police said.
The neighbor ran into his house, and Rogers called police.
Officer Keith Light went to the neighbor's house and found the man outside drinking. He denied shooting the dog, but Light arrested him.
Robert Dale Colebank, 43, of the 300 block of Burwood Road was charged with discharging a weapon within 100 yards of a home and cruelty to animals.
Pub Date: 7/20/97
