Assault Charges

Jerrod Rowlett is counted among Baltimore's worst criminals. He's racked up dozens of arrests in his 25 years, including at least four murder charges (one of which is still pending). He has a handful of gun, drug and assault convictions, and he's classified as a "violent repeat offender" by the state. He's also never served any significant time. But he's about to. After cutting Rowlett a generous break in 2007, setting him free under probation via a plea deal on assault and drug charges, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart ruled Thursday that he would have to serve the rest of his previously suspended 15-year sentence because he violated probation.

A 28-year-old Columbia man was convicted yesterday on assault charges in the shooting of two people in a North Laurel mobile home last year.Darrin B. Ridgeway faced charges of attempted murder in the shooting in the first block of Cross St.Three shotgun blasts penetrated the mobile home and hit a man and woman while they slept. The shots missed three young girls sleeping in another bedroom.The man and woman were taken to a hospital, treated and released.Prosecutor I. Matthew Campbell said Ridgeway fired at the mobile home in retaliation for being assaulted by three men. Ridgeway believed that those three men often visited the mobile home.

Less than three weeks after he successfully launched his latest ring comeback by knocking out Francois Botha, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is on the ropes again. He faces the possibility of being found guilty of second-degree assault on two Maryland motorists, thus violating his probation on a rape conviction and being sent back to jail for as long as 20 years.Tyson's fate rests in the hands of District Court Judge Stephen Johnson in Rockville this afternoon. The fighter had pleaded "no contest" to the charges of having struck a glancing blow to the jaw of Abimelec Saucedo, of Gaithersburg, and kicking Richard Dale Hardick, of Frederick County, in the groin after the two were involved in a fender-bender with a car driven by Tyson's wife, Monica, near Gaithersburg, last Aug. 31.Tyson, 32, settled the civil suit with both defendants for an undisclosed amount of money, but still must face criminal charges for the alleged assault.

ROCKVILLE -- The Mike Tyson traveling legal show and media circus rolled through the stately Montgomery County District Courthouse yesterday so the former boxing champ could enter a plea, talk about his next fight and proclaim his new political awareness.Assuming he can stay out of prison, that is.Tyson pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor assault charges stemming from an Aug. 31 fender bender in Gaithersburg. Judge Stephen P. Johnson accepted the plea and set sentencing for early next year.

A Laurel man was arrested Monday and accused of raping an Anne Arundel woman in retaliation for assault charges the woman pressed against him last year.Police charged Robert Mason Underwood, 31, of the 13000 block of Old Stagecoach Road with rape, kidnapping, false imprisonment and assaulting a woman at a North Laurel motel Monday night.Underwood was being held yesterday at the Howard County Detention Center, awaiting a bail review hearing today.The suspect ordered the woman into a car, forced her to sign for merchandise bought with a stolen credit card, then took her to a motel in North Laurel, where he raped her, police said.

A third suspect accused in a fatal drag race near Finksburg that killed a Mount Airy Middle School teacher June 1 was arrested yesterday on auto manslaughter and assault charges.Mark E. Eppig, 22, of the first block of Chase St. in Westminster was released on an unsecured $25,000 bond.Eppig was charged with manslaughter in the death of Geraldine Lane "Geri" Wu, 42, of Westminster and with the second-degree assault of Min-li Wu, 14, a passenger in her mother's car. The girl was flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where she was treated and released the next day.Eppig also was charged with two counts of reckless driving, negligent driving, participating in a speed contest, exceeding 85 mph in a posted 55 mph zone, failing to drive in a reasonable and prudent manner, passing unsafely and failing to reduce speed to avoid a collision.

County police arrested an Edgewater man on assault charges Thursday after he allegedly stabbed his roommate during an argument over rent money.Anthony E. Wood, 19, of the 500 block of Fairmount Drive was moving his furniture and clothes out of the house he shared with James E. Melvin, 23, about 8 p.m. when the men started arguing about the money, police said.During the argument, Wood picked up an oar and struck Melvin across the face, breaking his nose and front teeth, police said.As the men wrestled, Wood allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed Melvin in his back, knee and on his side, then fled in his truck, police said.

Baltimore police were searching last night for a lieutenant who was charged for the second time with beating his girlfriend and who has threatened to kill anyone who tries to capture him, authorities said yesterday.Police filed an arrest warrant for Lt. Charles Milland, a member of the force for 27 years whose department weapon was taken away after his first arrest in October but who apparently fled his apartment early yesterday with a revolver.Police radio warned officers last night that Milland is to be considered armed and dangerous and has threatened "to kill anyone who attempts to apprehend him."

A Sykesville man accused of shattering the jaw of a sleeping man at a party last month was ordered yesterday to be held without bond at the Carroll County Detention Center.Court records show that George D. Henneman, 19, of the 700 block of Central Ave. was free on $5,000 bail for unrelated assault charges when the recent incident occurred Aug. 23 at a home on Fern Way in Sykesville.According to police, witnesses said a man repeatedly kicked and stomped on the face of John M. Sullivan, dragging him from a bed. Sullivan said he recognized the suspect, police said.

HYATTSVILLE -- A Prince George's County District Court judge yesterday dropped assault charges against a former University of Maryland women's basketball player who allegedly attacked a teammate.Judge Josef Brown dropped charges against Kalisa Davis, 21, of Williamstown, N.J., accused of hitting McDonogh grad and former Maryland guard Sonia Chase, 21, during an incident after an Oct. 27 practice.The twice-postponed trial -- for which Davis was charged with second-degree simple assault -- was originally scheduled for Feb. 23, then for March 2 before yesterday.

Jerrod Rowlett is counted among Baltimore's worst criminals. He's racked up dozens of arrests in his 25 years, including at least four murder charges (one of which is still pending). He has a handful of gun, drug and assault convictions, and he's classified as a "violent repeat offender" by the state. He's also never served any significant time. But he's about to. After cutting Rowlett a generous break in 2007, setting him free under probation via a plea deal on assault and drug charges, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart ruled Thursday that he would have to serve the rest of his previously suspended 15-year sentence because he violated probation.

With Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon maintaining a public hands-off stance for now, some are waiting to see how she handles assault charges that have been filed by two city officials who previously were romantically involved. Beyond reiterating Wednesday that she has "a no-tolerance level for domestic violence," Dixon declined to comment further on the accusations that Elizabeth C. Smith, a liquor board commissioner, and Demaune Millard, her chief of staff, have made against each other. "This is a private matter - I want to give them that privacy to move through that process as we move forward," Dixon said.

The head coach of the St. Frances Academy boys basketball team - a former star player at the school - was in jail yesterday after being served with two outstanding warrants last week, according to court records and school officials. Mark Karcher, 29, was arrested on two second-degree assault charges and third- and fourth-degree burglary charges stemming from two incidents, one in May and the other in fall 2006, records show. This is Karcher's first year as head coach of the St. Frances team after serving for several years as an assistant under coach William Wells.

A Baltimore man has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two 17-year-olds in June at a city park in West Baltimore. Timothy Crockett, 24, is accused of fatally shooting Darrius Harrison and Djuan Anderson on June 12 at Easterwood Park in the 1500 block of N. Bentalou St. Police said they served Crockett with the murder warrant Monday at the Central Booking and Intake Center, where he was being held after being arrested July...

Charles Carroll, a convicted murderer who more recently faced charges of sexually assaulting students, will be released from prison this month despite having his parole revoked at a hearing yesterday. That is because Carroll, 31, had been trouble-free between his 2001 release on the murder conviction and his 2005 arrest on the assault charges, time for which he received credit from a parole commissioner yesterday. Carroll, 31, was a teacher at a private Christian school in East Baltimore until a 13-year-old accused him of raping her in a classroom.

More than a month after he was mistakenly freed from a Maryland prison, a man accused of a 1999 sexual assault involving a cattle prod was arrested in Louisiana after authorities say he broke into a home on Christmas Eve. Ronald Lee Moore, 40, was picked up in Destrehan, La., where he was spotted riding a bicycle and carrying a bag of tools, said Sgt. Dwayne LaGrange of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Department. Moore, who has been described as a former crack addict with a long history of burglaries, gave an alias but was identified through fingerprints after being taken into custody.

Two Baltimore police officers who had assault charges against them dismissed because of a procedural error can be tried again by city prosecutors, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled yesterday, rejecting the officers' claims of double jeopardy. Officer Jack H. Odom Jr. was charged with three counts of second-degree assault and Officer Michael D. Brassell with one count of second-degree assault stemming from an altercation outside Maria D's on Light Street in October. Akhenaton R. Bonaparte IV, who is black, alleged that the officers, who are white, harassed him and called him a racist as he talked with two female friends about African-American history.

WASHINGTON -- A former Naval Academy football player was arraigned yesterday on two counts each of indecent assault and conduct unbecoming an officer stemming from separate incidents in February and April last year. In what his civilian attorney called "a legal technicality," Kenny Ray Morrison, 24, did not enter a plea on the four charges, leaving open the possibility that his defense team will ask for the charges to be dismissed. Meanwhile, an academy spokeswoman acknowledged that "there have been a number of meetings" in recent days involving former standout quarterback Lamar S. Owens Jr., who was acquitted of rape in July but convicted of two minor charges.

A Columbia man has been indicted on charges of attempted first-degree murder in a stabbing outside a restaurant on Main Street in Ellicott City, the Howard County state's attorney's office said yesterday. Eugino Boyate, 24, of the 5800 block of Stevens Forest Road is accused of stabbing a 25-year- old Glen Burnie man in the torso and upper body with a beer bottle during a fight outside La Palapa restaurant Oct. 20. Boyate also faces attempted second-degree murder and assault charges. A court hearing has not been scheduled.

The Baltimore state's attorney's office has refiled assault charges against two city police officers who had their original cases dismissed last month after a judge ruled prosecutors failed to follow correct procedures, according to court documents. Officer Jack H. Odom Jr. is charged with three counts of second-degree assault and Officer Michael D. Brassell faces one count of second-degree assault, prosecutors said. Both officers have been suspended with pay. The officers are accused of assaulting a man and two young women outside Maria D's, a Federal Hill pizza shop, in October.