Attempted Robbery

Intruder gets 10 years; his motive is in doubt An out-of-work carpenter was handed a 10-year prison term yesterday for forcing his way into the Odenton townhouse of a woman he had followed home and attacking her, but whether the crime was an attempted robbery or an attempted rape remained in dispute. The victim "was not in danger of any sexual assault," James E. Darnell, 28, of Jessup told Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Joseph P. Manck before he was sentenced. His lawyer said Darnell's crime was an attempted robbery by a man in financial crisis.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore and Baltimore County. Baltimore Southeastern Shooting -- A 16-year-old boy from the 1700 block of E. Lanvale St. was in critical condition yesterday at Johns Hopkins Hospital after he was shot at least once in the head about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday while standing in an alley behind the 100 block of N. Belnord Ave. Police found the wounded youth while responding to a 911 call of a...

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 191 THE VICTIM A man, 19, whose name has not been released, was shot and killed Sunday night in the first block of S. Highland Ave., police said, bringing the city's homicide total for the year to 191. He was the second person shot in the Baltimore Highlands neighborhood of Southeast Baltimore. Lorado Williams Jr., 27, was shot Friday night during an attempted robbery in the 3600 block of E. Lombard St. and died of his injuries Saturday. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides at baltimoresun.

A North Baltimore man died early yesterday of a gunshot wound he suffered during an attempted robbery near Druid Hill Park, police said.John Charles Williams, 36, of the 400 block of Winston Ave. was approached by an assailant with a handgun about 1 a.m. in the 2200 block of Division St. and was shot in the torso, said Sgt. Scott Rowe, a police spokesman. He was pronounced dead at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.Pub Date: 10/18/99

County police arrested two West River men Sunday afternoon in Annapolis Mall on attempted robbery charges after they allegedly tried to take a wallet from a man loading his car in a nearby Home Depot parking lot.Police said Robert J. Sharpe, 52, of Crofton was loading his car in the parking lot in the 100 block of Defense Highway shortly before 5 p.m. when two men approached and tried to sell him patio door locks.When Sharpe refused, one man reached into the car and took Sharpe's wallet, which was on the dashboard, police said.

Howard County police are investigating an attempted robbery at the Mall in Columbia and a robbery of a woman in Fulton last week.About 8: 30 p.m. Thursday, a woman was about to enter her car at the mall when a man displayed what she thought was a gun, police said.The woman screamed and the man fled without taking anything, police said.Later that night, a Columbia woman was walking to her car from the High's convenience store on Murray Hill Road in Fulton when a man pointed a handgun at her, police said.

Two people were killed and four others were hurt, including an 8-year-old boy, in unrelated shootings yesterday in the city, Baltimore police said.One of the slaying victims was identified as Jason Smith, 27, who was discovered lying face down in his home in the 2000 block of Annapolis Road at 3: 57 a.m.The other victim is an unidentified African-American male who was found dead of a gunshot wound to his head on the steps of a house on the 1000 block of...

A young man was killed and three others were wounded early yesterday during what police described as an attempted robbery that ended in gunfire on a street near Lexington Market.Police were trying last night to piece together an account of the shooting and as of yesterday had not been able to find the relatives of the dead 19-year-old.The shooting occurred about one hour after a Dru Hill concert ended at the nearby Baltimore Arena, but police said they did not know whether the victims or the gunman had attended the show.

A clerk at a Linthicum gas station trapped an armed man inside the station's convenience store Wednesday as the gunman tried to shoot his way out, county police said. Fortunately for the clerk, the gun jammed.Police arrived just after the man fled through a rear door, chased him to a nearby restaurant and tackled him.Jerome Charles Koppleman, 39, of the 800 block of Oregon Ave. in Linthicum was charged with robbery, attempted robbery, robbery with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, illegal possession of a handgun, possession of a firearm as a felon and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Howard County police are investigating the attempted robbery of a man and the mugging of an elderly woman in Columbia's Long Reach village late Tuesday and early Wednesday.The victims were not seriously injured. Police do not believe the crimes are connected.In the Tuesday night incident, Michael M. Bittinger, 38, of Ellicott City had withdrawn money from a drive-through automated teller machine in the village center about 9: 15 p.m. when a man approached his car and demanded money, police said.

Two 18-year-old women were arrested in Anne Arundel County this week in connection with an attempted robbery and shooting that occurred July 25 in Pasadena, police said yesterday. The pair, who police said in charging documents are romantically involved, were arrested after the mother of one of them found a loaded handgun in her room. A Pasadena man told police that he was walking along Mountain Road when he was shot in the arm and shoulder by a man who said, "Give me your money, I have six more bullets."

State corrections officers mistakenly released a North Baltimore man from jail a day after he was convicted of attempted murder - an error officials say highlights the perils of a decades-old system in which prisoner release and detention instructions are delivered in handwritten notes. A city jury convicted Calvin Boswell, 23, of several charges April 21 but found him not guilty of others. He was returned to the Baltimore City Detention Center, where he was supposed to remain until sentencing June 23. Officials didn't realize until then that he had been released in April.

Howard County police are asking for the public's help in finding the man they believe to be responsible for the robbery of a food chain and an attempted robbery of a bank. The first incident occurred at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 11 at the Subway restaurant on U.S. 1 near Montgomery Road in Elkridge. A man entered the store, demanded cash and fled with an undisclosed amount of money. The second incident occurred at 1 p.m. Friday at the BB&T Bank branch at U.S. 1 and Montgomery Road. A man entered the bank, approached a teller and demanded money.

Suspect sought in bank robbery A Severna Park bank was robbed on Monday afternoon, Anne Arundel County police said yesterday. The robber entered the 1st Mariner Bank at 366 Ritchie Highway around 12:20 p.m. and handed the teller a note demanding money. He did not show a weapon and fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash. He was described as African-American with a dark complexion, 40 to 50 years old, 6 feet 2 inches tall, 190 pounds, with a goatee and wearing a dark blue automotive jumpsuit, blue fishing hat and dark sunglasses.

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 191 THE VICTIM A man, 19, whose name has not been released, was shot and killed Sunday night in the first block of S. Highland Ave., police said, bringing the city's homicide total for the year to 191. He was the second person shot in the Baltimore Highlands neighborhood of Southeast Baltimore. Lorado Williams Jr., 27, was shot Friday night during an attempted robbery in the 3600 block of E. Lombard St. and died of his injuries Saturday. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides at baltimoresun.

An Anne Arundel County man was arrested and charged in the armed holdup early yesterday of a Belcamp gas station. Fontaine D. Smith, 20, of Glen Burnie is accused of robbing the Texaco gas station in the 4200 block of Philadelphia Road and threatening a station attendant with a pellet gun about 2 a.m. yesterday, the Harford County Sheriff's Office said. Smith is charged with armed robbery, attempted robbery and second-degree assault, the Sheriff's Office said.

Intruder gets 10 years; his motive is in doubt An out-of-work carpenter was handed a 10-year prison term yesterday for forcing his way into the Odenton townhouse of a woman he had followed home and attacking her, but whether the crime was an attempted robbery or an attempted rape remained in dispute. The victim "was not in danger of any sexual assault," James E. Darnell, 28, of Jessup told Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Joseph P. Manck before he was sentenced. His lawyer said Darnell's crime was an attempted robbery by a man in financial crisis.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore and Baltimore County. Baltimore Southeastern Shooting -- A 16-year-old boy from the 1700 block of E. Lanvale St. was in critical condition yesterday at Johns Hopkins Hospital after he was shot at least once in the head about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday while standing in an alley behind the 100 block of N. Belnord Ave. Police found the wounded youth while responding to a 911 call of a...

Warrant issued for man in attempted robbery A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a third man who police believe is connected with an attempted grocery store robbery that led to the arrest of one man, the death of another and the shooting of a Baltimore County police officer. Andrew Cawthorne, 32, of no known address, is charged in the warrant with the attempted robbery Dec. 14 of a Super Fresh grocery store in the 8900 block of Belair Road, police said. One man was arrested soon after the attempted robbery, and another was later found dead in a nearby shed after firing at police, officials said.

As the health of a wounded Baltimore County police officer continued to improve yesterday, a Baltimore man charged with attempted murder in the officer's shooting was ordered held without bail at the county jail. Vernon E. Brown III, 34, was also charged with the early-morning attempted armed robbery of a Super Fresh store Thursday that preceded the shooting, and authorities said they were trying to determine whether he was involved in six similar grocery store robberies in Baltimore County this year.