Additional Charges

One of the region's major home builders was fined $2,400 in Howard County Circuit Court yesterday after the company pleaded guilty to charges that its workers falsified building inspection documents. Altieri Homes Inc., a Columbia company, entered guilty pleas to two criminal counts each of false entry in a public record and false endorsement of documents. Prosecutors dropped five additional charges against the company and a separate set of charges against the company president, Daren Altieri, during yesterday's hearing.

Two people whose stopped car was hit from behind Thanksgiving night by a man police said was drinking were in critical condition last night at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The accident occurred at 10:20 p.m. on eastbound Route 175 at Route 108 in Columbia, when a Nissan Sentra failed to stop at a traffic signal and hit a Toyota Corolla. The driver of the Toyota, Jennifer Bower, 24, of Montgomery Village, and the passenger, Brian Mathews, 21, of Columbia, were flown to Shock Trauma, where they were in critical condition last night.

A passenger in a pickup truck operated by a suspected drunken driver was killed early today when the vehicle went off a road in western Baltimore County and struck a telephone pole and culvert, county police said.James Dumbart, 39, of the 300 block of S. Franklintown Road in West Baltimore, died at the scene of the 3:30 a.m. accident, police said.Police said Mr. Dumbart's stepson, Robert Larry Whitacre, 22, of the 1700 block of Cole St. in Baltimore, was eastbound in a 1987 Ford F-250 when the pickup ran off Liberty Road near Lyons Mill Road in Harrisonville.

Police seized cocaine valued at $10,000 last night at the Baltimore County apartment of a parolee who was arrested Wednesday in the city and charged with possession of narcotics.Sgt. William Sekinger of the Northeastern District drug enforcement unit said the man -- Ricky Holt, 40, of the 1100 block of Glemsford Road in Essex -- was arrested at Sinclair Lane and Washington Street after police observed drug activity and seized a shoe box containing 20 grams of cocaine.Sekinger said Holt's apartment was searched last night and officers seized 83 grams of crack cocaine.

Two Baltimore officers accused of taking kickbacks from the owners of the Majestic Auto Repair shop in Rosedale have pleaded "not guilty" to additional charges filed against them last week. Samuel Ocasio and Kelvin Quade Manrich were charged with conspiracy to commit extortion and three counts of actual extortion for allegedly accepting payments for steering car customers to Majestic. They denied the charges Friday, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office. Seventeen other officers and two Majestic owners have been charged in the scheme . Most have taken plea deals or have arranged to take them.

A 15-year-old Baltimore youth accused of driving a stolen car through the wall of a Carney bar is facing 17 additional charges, Baltimore County Deputy State's Attorney Howard Merker said yesterday. On Monday, officials charged the teen-ager as a juvenile with grand-theft auto and destruction of property; they also issued seven traffic citations. Police say the youth drove a Subaru Outback through a wall at Firehouse Tavern in the 2800 block of E. Joppa Road on the night of Aug. 14, injuring 16 patrons.

A Pennsylvania man has been arrested in a series of  "peeping Tom" incidents in Fenwick Island. Ocean City Police charged 44-year-old William Devon Jones of West Chester, Pa., with peeping into the windows of three apartments at the East of the Sun complex in Fenwick Island. During the investigation, Jones was observed by police as he rode his bicycle north from Ocean City into Delaware on Tuesday. He was then seen peeping into the windows of the complex, before returning to Ocean City.

Non-countians can attend Howard schoolsResidents of other Maryland counties or other states can send their children to Howard County schools if they are willing to pay the price.This year, students who live elsewhere in the state but choose to attend Howard schools must pay $2,300 for kindergarten or $4,600 for elementary and secondary tuition.Out-of-state students must pay additional charges. The kindergarten fee is $3,000, while the elementary and secondary rate is $6,000.To enroll their children in Howard County, the parents of non-residents must apply through the Pupil Services Department.

A 21-year-old Jessup man is being held without bail in the Howard County Detention Center on charges of stabbing his stepfather during the weekend.Howard County police arrested Montel Demain Gross in the 8300 block of Ashwood Court and charged him with first-degree assault after the Saturday night stabbing.Police said Gross got into an argument with his stepfather, Benjamin Thomas, 41, who lives at the same address, when Thomas accused Gross of not paying rent.According to a police report, Gross repeatedly stabbed Thomas the lower chest and right hand.

A Baltimore City police officer accused of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of his pregnant girlfriend and her 5-year-old daughter received additional charges and was formally indicted yesterday by a Harford County grand jury.Officer Michael Edward Thompson, 26, was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of carrying a weapon with an intent to injure.Thompson is accused of killing Vicky Lee Austin, 30, and her daughter, Jessica Elaine Morgan, in their rural Harford County home April 13.Thompson is being held without bail at the Harford County Detention Center and is suspended without pay from his job pending an administrative investigation.