Drug charges against city educator dropped
The head of a city high school's special-education department has been cleared of drug charges after prosecutors could not locate a lab analysis of what police said was crack cocaine recovered from her home. Victoria Carter, a 35-year educator assigned to Northwestern High School, was arrested at school administration headquarters in April after police alleged that she conspired with her 19-year-old son to distribute 50 grams of suspected crack cocaine found in a first-floor bathroom. The case was dropped Monday in District Court because a lab report was unavailable, according to Margaret Burns, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore state's attorney's office. Carter maintained that she was not aware of the presence of drugs in her home and said she is trying to clear her name. "To have your employer and co-workers thinking you're involved in criminal activity, when she has worked all her life and been a model citizen, it's quite devastating to have that reputation destroyed in just a few days," said her attorney, A. Dwight Pettit. Her son, Kenneth Carter, was indicted in Circuit Court on March 30 and faces a June trial on drug charges.
FOR THE RECORD - Because incorrect information was provided by police, an article in yesterday's editions mischaracterized 84-year-old homicide victim Lucio Solorzano as homeless. The Baltimore Sun regrets the errors.
- Justin Fenton
Columbia student says she was assaulted by two boys
A 13-year-old student said she was sexually assaulted by two classmates at a Columbia middle school Wednesday, according to Howard County police. A teacher at Wilde Lake Middle School noticed the student was not in class about 11 a.m. A school official found her walking in a hallway, and the student said she had been sexually assaulted in a boys restroom by a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old, police said. She was taken to a local hospital for observation, said police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn. Police are questioning the two accused boys. No one has been charged, police said.
- Liz Kay
Man's throat slashed after argument near Bayview
Baltimore police said a man was in critical condition after his throat was slashed Wednesday morning during an argument at a bus stop near Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. The incident occurred about 11:30 a.m. in the 4900 block of Eastern Ave. in the Greektown neighborhood. A man standing at a bus stop got into an argument that turned physical, and the attacker pulled out a blade and cut the man's throat, according to Troy Harris, a police spokesman. The man, who was not identified, was taken to nearby Johns Hopkins Bayview and listed in critical condition, though Harris said he was expected to survive. A suspect was arrested, but police did not provide details. The bus stop is near a parking lot for Maryland Transit Administration employees and just steps from the hospital campus.
