Aberdeen Police

Terrence G. Johnson, paroled amid controversy in 1995 after serving nearly 17 years in the slayings of two Prince George's County police officers, shot himself to death yesterday moments after robbing an Aberdeen bank with his brother, police said.The shooting, which came as police closed in near the NationsBank branch at Beards Hill Plaza, shocked those who knew Johnson as a model former prisoner. And it brought tears at the University of the District of Columbia law school, where, until recently, he had been a second-year student.

Last week we talked about the binder of Aberdeen police history donated by retired First Sgt. James Testerman to be included in the Aberdeen Room Archives and Museum. The history is long and illustrious, so we will continue this week. As we said previously, the police department moved to the building that housed the Aberdeen Fire Department in the 1960s. When Aberdeen Fire House 1 was completed in 1974, and the fire department moved from the corner of North Parke Street and West Bel Air Avenue, the police department was able to expand, and was renovated.

To Aberdeen Police Chief John Jolley, drugs have affected all types of city households -- rich and poor, young and old, regardless of race or gender.But Jolley believes that the drug problem is no worse in his city than in any other community."

The Aberdeen Room always enjoys getting assistance with extensive record keeping by donors who have been very active in civic affairs in the Aberdeen area. At times we receive help from those who have worked for city government and are very knowledgeable about their work. We were very fortunate to have a visit by retired First Sgt. James Testerman from the Aberdeen Police Department. He brought with him, as a donation, a binder containing pictures and information about the Aberdeen Police Department, from which he had retired after 39 years and 28 days.

The mailman strolled from doorstep to doorstep in the Aberdeen townhouse community when a van drove up and parked across the street. Gun-toting men in green jumpsuits leapt from the back. They crept down the sidewalk and shuffled up to the front door of a house. With two swings of a battering ram, the door had been knocked in, and the men yelled as they rushed upstairs to a bedroom. All the while, the mailman kept delivering. On one level, the drug sting, carried out simultaneously at two locations by the Aberdeen Police Department with members of the Harford County Task Force, was a flop.

During 30 years with the Aberdeen Police Department, Sgt. James G. Testerman has seen it all, from drug arrests to shootings to high-speed chases. Unfortunately, he says, he has also seen dozens of talented officers leave the force for better pay and benefits. Testerman, who plans to retire soon, said any remedy the city might come up with would probably be too late for him. But this week, the city's police officers made a major move toward achieving collective bargaining with binding arbitration, which would send stalled negotiations on compensation and working conditions to a third party.

A body found in the parking lot of a convenience store Sunday was identified yesterday by Aberdeen police.Stephen Eugene Heintz, 30, whose address is not known, died of blunt trauma injuries, police said.The death, which has been ruled a homicide, remains under investigation by Aberdeen police. Police said they have no suspects.Pub Date: 3/09/99

A 20-year-old Aberdeen man who was critically injured Saturday night as he walked along westbound Route 22, died Sunday, according to Aberdeen police. At about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Aberdeen police officers responded to westbound Route 22 just west of Middleton Road to investigate reports of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. Arriving officers found Phillip P. Gaskill, 20, of the 400 block of Law Street in Aberdeen, suffering from serious head injuries. A 2004 Volvo driven by Oxana Keck, of Aberdeen Proving Ground, had struck Mr. Gaskill just west of the Middleton Road intersection.

ABERDEEN -- Police are investigating the death of a Havre de Grace man who authorities said committed suicide in a holding cell at the Aberdeen Police Department. Michael Scott Seaman, 36, of Robin Hood Road was found hanging from the cell block door 5: 49 a.m. Sunday, police said. An autopsy determined the cause of death was suicide by asphyxiation. Seaman was arrested about 3: 30 a.m. Sunday after police responded to a report of domestic violence in the 100 block of W. Aztec St. in Aberdeen.

A Harford County man has been arrested in the armed robbery of a Dollar General store in Aberdeen, police said. Cornelius Alexander, 40, of the 700 block of Pulaski Highway was arrested Saturday and charged with robbery, assault and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. Police said a man used a BB gun to take more than $500 from the store in Aberdeen Plaza near West Bel Air Avenue on Saturday morning. Aberdeen police officers were near the shopping center about 11:30 a.m. when they received a call about the robbery.

A 20-year-old Aberdeen man who was critically injured Saturday night as he walked along westbound Route 22, died Sunday, according to Aberdeen police. At about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Aberdeen police officers responded to westbound Route 22 just west of Middleton Road to investigate reports of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. Arriving officers found Phillip P. Gaskill, 20, of the 400 block of Law Street in Aberdeen, suffering from serious head injuries. A 2004 Volvo driven by Oxana Keck, of Aberdeen Proving Ground, had struck Mr. Gaskill just west of the Middleton Road intersection.

A man was stabbed in the chest by his son outside an Aberdeen shopping center Wednesday afternoon, Aberdeen police said. Officers were called at 3:47 p.m. to the Aberdeen Shopping Plaza, off Route 40, where they found a man with a stab wound to his chest. He was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, but his condition was not known Wednesday night, police said. The man's son was arrested after the incident, but police did not immediately release the name of the victim or his son. Witnesses told officers that the man was stabbed after an argument, police said.

A 19-year-old man has been charged after Aberdeen Police say he stabbed his father in the chest with a knife outside an Aberdeen shopping center Wednesday afternoon. Joseph Thomas Waters IV of Aberdeen was held on $500,000 bail on charges including assault, reckless endangerment and concealing a deadly weapon, according to online court records. Officers were called at 3:47 p.m. to the Aberdeen Shopping Plaza, off Route 40, where they found Joseph Thomas Waters III with a stab wound in his chest, said Aberdeen Police spokesman Lt. Fred Budnick.

Aberdeen police are investigating a fatal accident Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of Aberdeen Thruway and Post Road in Harford County. Joseph Anthony Moor, 31, of Havre de Grace, was driving a 2003 Ford pickup when he struck the side of a tractor trailer operated by Wayne Todd Jr. of Baltimore. Moor died at the scene, police said. Todd was not injured. The cause of the crash is still under investigation by the Maryland State Police, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and the Aberdeen Police Department Crash Team.

A 16-year-old boy who was stabbed in the chest in Aberdeen over the weekend has died, according to police, who identified the victim Sunday as Thomas Burdsall Jr. Officers responding to a call found Burdsall about 7:30 p.m. Saturday on the 200 block of Edmund St., He was taken to Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace, where he was pronounced dead "a short time later," according to Aberdeen Police. Officers said they are looking for four people — two men and two women — who may have been present during the attack.

The man killed last Friday when he was struck on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor tracks in Aberdeen was identified Thursday as James Dexter Sharon, 48, of the Aberdeen area. According to Aberdeen Police Department spokesman Sgt. Fred Budnick, relatives have been notified but police are not aware of any fixed address for Sharon. Court records show him listed at addresses in Edgewood and Perryville. Sharon, who had a long record of convictions for trespassing, public drinking and other offenses, was struck by a southbound train at the 600 block of S. Philadelphia Blvd.

A soldier who was shot and wounded by an Aberdeen police officer last month has been charged with first- and second-degree assault, police said yesterday. Evan Chandler Parker, 20, of Fairport, N.Y., who was absent without leave when the shooting occurred, is being held without bail at the Harford County Detention Center. On Sept. 17, Parker held a gun and ignored an Aberdeen police officer's order to drop it at Ken's Motel in the 600 block of S. Philadelphia Road. When Parker waved the gun in a threatening manner, the officer fired several shots, Aberdeen police said.

Aberdeen police are investigating a fatal accident Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of Aberdeen Thruway and Post Road in Harford County. Joseph Anthony Moor, 31, of Havre de Grace, was driving a 2003 Ford pickup when he struck the side of a tractor trailer operated by Wayne Todd Jr. of Baltimore. Moor died at the scene, police said. Todd was not injured. The cause of the crash is still under investigation by the Maryland State Police, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and the Aberdeen Police Department Crash Team.

Aberdeen police have charged a 31-year-old Baltimore man with attempted murder and assault in connection with a parking lot melee that injured five people. Four victims, including an off-duty Aberdeen police officer who tried to stop a knife fight that broke out early Saturday between two men, remain hospitalized at Baltimore Shock Trauma Center in serious condition with multiple stab wounds. Kibwa Cazemba Evans, who was treated for injuries at Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital and later released, is charged with several counts of attempted murder and first- and second-degree assault.