Arrest

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore and Baltimore County. Baltimore Central Assault by threat -- A 58-year-old man was walking in the 1300 block of Bolton St. about 5:30 p.m. Thursday when he was stopped by a man who asked for money. When the victim said he had none, the man implied he was armed and said, "Then I'm going to have to shoot you." The victim fled. Western Arrest -- A man sought in the shooting of a man in the 1800 block of Vine St. on Dec. 15 surrendered to police at the district station Thursday.

A man suspected in a rash of recent Craigslist robberies was taken into custody at a downtown library, where police say he was using a computer - possibly to set up more attacks. David E. Brown, 26, is accused of orchestrating at least four robberies that took place in the 3500 block of Callaway Avenue, a residential street in Northwest Baltimore. Two attacks occurred last year, in August and November, but two others were reported to police this month. Detectives were interviewing Brown to determine if he was involved in any other incidents, and charges were pending.

UPDATE : The Baltimore State's Attorney's Office said authorities will speak about the arrest at a 1 p.m. news conference at city police headquarters. An arrest has been made in connection with the killing of Phylicia Barnes, the 16-year-old from North Carolina who vanished while visiting family in Northwest Baltimore in 2010 and was found dead months later in the Susquehanna River. Word broke late Wednesday from Barnes' relatives, and was confirmed by authorities. The attorney for Michael Johnson, the former boyfriend of Phylicia's older sister, confirmed that his client had been taken into custody at about 11:30 p.m. on unknown charges.

A 31-year-old Baltimore County man has been arrested on charges of impersonating a police officer in St. Mary's County, and police are investigating whether he may have committed similar offenses closer to his home. Donald James Church Jr. was arrested May 15 at his home on Sollers Point Road in Dundalk, where police found "police paraphernalia including a badge, a realistic-looking toy gun, and imitation police reports that he had written," according to a statement released by Baltimore County police.

Former Ravens Pro Bowler Jermaine Lewis was arrested Thursday in Baltimore County for driving on a suspended license, an arrest that comes two months before he is due in court for a reckless driving charge from last year. Police said Lewis, who returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the team's 2001 Super Bowl victory, was seen driving a Dodge Charger with his 4-year-old son unrestrained in the front seat just before 10 a.m. near Hanover Pike and Mt. Gilead Road in Reisterstown. The officer conducted a traffic stop and saw that Lewis' license had been revoked, and placed him under arrest, police said.

The arrest late Wednesday of a suspect in the killing of North Carolina teen Phylicia Barnes is a vindication of the tremendous effort and resources the Baltimore Police Department poured into the case after the 16-year-old disappeared from her older sister's Northwest Baltimore apartment in late 2010. But coming as it does amid a probe into the activities of the lead investigator in the case after his own daughter disappeared this month, the arrest also highlights lingering questions about discipline within the department and raises concern about whether officers' misconduct could jeopardize this or other cases.

Swabbing the ol' buccal mucosa for the unique genetic code of someone merely arrested for a crime violates that someone's Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. That's the opinion of the Maryland Court of Appeals, and this ruling has greatly upset police, prosecutors, editorialists and other citizens who see no sense to it. If the cops can take your fingerprints, why shouldn't they be allowed to collect your DNA? We're probably going to need the Supreme Court to settle this issue, and because that court already approved strip searches of just about anyone arrested for anything - even for not paying a traffic fine - it's hard to imagine the justices declaring mouth swabs unconstitutional.

Baltimore County police have made an arrest in a fatal stabbing that occurred Wednesday night in Woodlawn. Police say 35-year-old George Robert Evans Jr., a convicted sex offender who lives in the 1400 block of Langford Rd., was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree murder of 23-year-old Kevin Regusters, who was stabbed to death in the 2600 block of Purnell Drive at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. According to a statement from police, Evans and Regusters, of the 5300 block of Kenilworth Ave. in Baltimore, and been involved in a fight.

Anne Arundel County Police arrested a man who they said walked out of a department store in Laurel with about $800 in merchandise on Saturday, then brandished a knife upon being asked to return to the store with the items. Police said that at approximately 6:40 p.m. they responded to a report of a robbery attempt at a Kohl's department store in Laurel. Police said a loss-prevention officer at the store reported having seen a man conceal numerous beauty products, including fragrances, on his person and leave the store.

A Parkville man has been arrested and charged with the shooting death of an East Baltimore man that took place early Saturday morning in Rossville, police said. Maurice Garnett White, 32, of the 8500 block of Dempster Court in Parkville has been charged with the first-degree murder of Erwin Lee Whaley, 35, of the 3400 block of Mayfield Ave. in Belair-Edison, according to a statement Saturday evening from Lt. Robert McCullough, a spokesman for Baltimore County Police. Around 2 a.m. police and fire officers responded to an apartment on Maidstone Court, where Whaley was found with at least one gunshot wound.

A third person has been arrested by Baltimore County police as part of an investigation into the Healthy Life Medical Group prescription drug clinic in Lutherville, police said Monday. The arrest of Alina Margulis, 45, of Brooklyn, New York, on drug distribution conspiracy charges follows a May 15 raid of the clinic, in the 1100 block of York Road, by about 25 county police narcotics officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents. Two men identified as the operators of the clinic - Michael Jacob Reznikov, 51, also of Brooklyn; and Gerald Wiseberg, 78, of Boca Raton, Fl. - were arrested the same day as the raid, also on drug distribution conspiracy charges.

A 21-year-old Baltimore man was arrested and charged Thursday with possessing and distributing child pornography, according to Maryland State Police. Jason Barron, of the 300 block of South Baylis Street, now faces 30 years in prison and $55,000 in fines, police said. Barron was identified after a state trooper on the Maryland Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force identified a computer offering pornographic videos of children to others on the Internet, and then linked the computer to him, police said.

A routine traffic stop in Annapolis on Monday led to the discovery of a large stash of heroin and three arrests, police said in a Friday news release. The 80.3 grams of heroin seized, which would have been worth $16,000 on the street, were not found in the vehicle stopped but in a rental vehicle parked nearby, police said. The woman and two men arrested were all from Annapolis. According to police, officers first stopped a bright green Lincoln in the 1100 block of Medgar Evers Street for undisclosed traffic violations at about 4:40 p.m., and discovered the driver, Deon Matthews, 20, had a suspended license.

A day after Baltimore County police set up a task force to target metal thieves who strip homes and businesses, tactical officers found themselves surrounding an abandoned state hospital building where two men were trying to steal copper pipes. Someone called about two suspicious men in an asbestos-laden building at Spring Grove State Hospital in Catonsville on Tuesday afternoon. The bystander saw the men carrying crow-bars and saws into the building, closed since 1974, according to Maryland State Police.

Two unidentified operators of a prescription drug clinic in Lutherville that was raided by Baltimore County narcotics officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents Tuesday have been arrested, according to county police. One was arrested at the Healthy Life Medical Group clinic in the 1100 block of York Road, the other at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, police said. Both have been charged with conspiracy to distribute Schedule II narcotics, which include amphetamines, methamphetamines and other drugs that can be used in a medical setting but have "a high potential for abuse which may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence," according to the DEA website.

Two alleged copper thieves were arrested at Spring Grove Hospital Center on Tuesday, one after hiding for hours in the attic of an abandoned building on the Catonsville campus while police surrounded him. Dennis W. Dyer, 43, of the 8100 block of Mild Haven Road in Dundalk, climbed out of a porthole in the roof of the psychiatric hospital's Hamilton Building, which was closed and condemned in 1974, and handed himself over to state police troopers...

Anne Arundel County police have arrested a Severn teenager and charged him in the stabbing of a 21-year-old man at a New Year's Eve celebration at the Aloft Arundel Mills Hotel, but police said they have no suspect in a shooting that took place at about the same time there. Rashon Tyrek Gordon, 18, of the 1700 block of Severn Tree Court was arrested Tuesday and is facing charges of attempted second-degree murder, assault and related counts, police said. He was jailed in lieu of $1.5 million bail, according to court records.

A blogger from California who helped police link a suspect to a viral video of a downtown Baltimore beating says he thinks the story got out of hand and the suspect shouldn't do prison time.  "I actually take no pleasure in his arrest," Mandich said. "... I genuinly feel some empathy for his situation and I certainly hope he learns from this. He doesn't seem to be 'beyond help.'" Anthony Mandich told The Sun two weeks ago that he had been outraged by the video and watched one night as users of the popular 4chan message board worked for hours one night to pinpoint Parsons' as a suspect.

A cocaine trafficking ring that for years distributed "vast amounts" of Honduran cocaine throughout the mid-Atlantic region has been busted, and three Maryland residents and 25 Virginia residents involved have been arrested, according to federal prosecutors. The drug ring, based in Northern Virginia, routinely paid couriers to fly into the United States from Honduras with cocaine stashed in shoes, decorative wooden frames and other "innocuous items" that would blend in with their luggage, according to a statement on the bust released Thursday by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Harford County State's Attorney's Office held its annual awards ceremony Wednesday for the top law enforcement officers who made outstanding drunk and drugged driving arrests in Harford County during 2011. State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly presented the awards in the ceremonial courtroom in the courthouse. "Our law enforcement officers are the best in their efforts to maintain safety on the roads in our county," Cassilly said. "They are responsible for saving many lives and sparing families the devastation caused by impaired drivers.