Brass Knuckles

Alejandro Jose Grant, who killed a motorist last year in an act of road rage, carried out the death sentence he begged for but didn't get.Grant, 27, was found hanged in his Prince George's County jail cell Wednesday afternoon, two days after he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for shooting a 19-year-old college student Oct. 8, after her car accidentally bumped his bicycle at a busy intersection near the Capital Beltway.While horrified motorists looked on, Grant calmly pulled a gun out of his backpack and shot Joy Estrella Mariano Enriquez point-blank in the head after she pulled over to check on his condition.

A melee involving a sword, a lighted flare, brass knuckles and police pepper spray broke out Wednesday night at the Elkridge Days Carnival off U.S. 1.In the end, three adults and two juveniles were arrested on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to carrying a concealed weapon.Police reports describe a chaotic scene:The incident began about 9 p.m., when off-duty Howard County Detective Leslie Stickles saw a man wielding a sword near the dunking booth.He asked the man, Robert McDonough, 22, of Elkridge, to drop the weapon and he did. McDonough told the detective that someone from a nearby crowd of 30 to 40 people had thrown the sword and it had almost hit his child.

A man stole 10 jackets worth $1,575 Wednesday evening from a Woodward and Lothrop store in Parole Plaza and escaped in a Cadillac, county police said yesterday.Cynthia Muller, a security officer at the store, said the man entered the store shortly after 6 p.m. He picked up 10 Polo jackets and walked around the store until an employee asked him if he needed help. The man ran from the store with the jackets, police said.He ran to a beige Cadillac with Virginia tags and drove from the parking lot toward Riva Road, police said.

An Anne Arundel Circuit judge will allow prosecutors to introduce into court several pieces of evidence implicating a 16-year-old Cape St. Claire youth in the stabbing death of a 19-year-old rival.Judge Raymond G. Thieme Jr. ruled this week that prosecutors may introduce a set of brass knuckles, a bloodstained towel and the victim's wallet that were found in the home of Brian Arthur Tate.The youth, a former football quarterback at Broadneck Senior High School, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jerry L. Haines.

An Edgewood couple face a $900,000 lawsuit alleging they failed to supervise their 17-year-old son and to correct his "reckless, violent,malicious and wanton conduct."Eric Lee Richardson, of the 300 block of Hardwick Place, contends he was attacked "suddenly and violently" without provocation by the teen-ager while playing basketball at the Edgewood High School gymnasium April 9.Cheryl H. Worthington, the county's director of community services, her husband, Laurence, and their son, Laurence Randall WorthingtonII, are named as defendants in the suit.

A Circuit Court judge ruled yesterday that Brian A. Tate's father had the authority to consent to a search of his son's room two days after the youth's arrest for murder.But Circuit Judge Raymond G. Thieme Jr. said he will further study the issue of whether Arthur C. Tate Jr. was coerced into consenting to the Feb. 27 search that produced key evidence in the prosecution's case. He will rule on the defense motion to suppress the evidence -- a pair of brass knuckles and a wallet belonging to the victim -- as well as several other motions at a later date.

Bid to limit evidence blockedAn Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge will allow prosecutors to present several pieces of incriminating evidence against a 16-year-old Cape St. Claire youth at his upcoming trial in the slaying of an older teen-ager.Judge Raymond G. Thieme Jr. ruled that prosecutors may introduce a set of brass knuckles, a blood-stained towel and the victim's wallet, all found in the home of the accused, Brian Arthur Tate.The youth, a former football quarterback at Broadneck Senior High School, is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing of Jerry L. Haines, 19.Investigators and charging documents said Mr. Haines was dating young Tate's former girlfriend.

Pakistan observance Wynonna Judd says her first solo appearance was like "singing in public for the very first time.""Thank you all for coming to my coming-out party," the country singer told a crowd of about 4,000 people in Midland, Texas, on Thursday night.Naomi Judd, Wynonna's mother and singing partner for years, ** stopped performing with The Judds because she has hepatitis B, a potentially fatal liver disease.Quayle out in the coldVice President Dan Quayle's connections apparently aren't good enough to get him tickets for tomorrow night's championship NCAA basketball game.

Lawyers for Brian A. Tate argued yesterday that two key pieces of evidence in his upcoming murder trial -- a pair of brass knuckles and a wallet belonging to the victim, both found in the youth's bathroom -- should be excluded because they were obtained during an illegal search.Mr. Tate, 16, a former quarterback at Broadneck Senior High School, is charged as an adult with the Feb. 16 murder of Jerry Lee Haines, 19. Mr. Haines had been dating a 16-year-old girl who had previously dated Mr. Tate.

Moe paced nervously outside the meat locker on the second floor of The Sun building."It's Thor," he said. "He has locked the door and refuses to come out."Thor and Moe are the two enforcers that The Sun keeps on hand in order to encourage good citizenship.If you have ever paid for just one newspaper, for instance, but have taken more than one from a newspaper box, Thor and Moe are the guys who jump out of the bushes and beat a little good citizenship into your skull.Once a year, Thor and Moe also serve as my Poetry Police, enforcing the rules of my poetry contest.

My first reaction to that cell-phone video of Jolita Berry being pummeled by one of her students was this: Any one of the teachers of my youth could have taken that girl, easy. But then, I didn't go to Reginald F. Lewis High School in Baltimore; I went to Catholic school in suburban Chicago where the nuns - however wizened and, at least in my earliest grades, weighed down by their veils, robes and swinging ropes of rosaries - were quite fearsome. They could drag kids of any size by the ear and slam them into the supply closet, which I guess would be the pre-historic, pre-litigious version of today's time-out.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore and Baltimore County. Baltimore Southwestern Shooting: A man, 24, was walking in the 400 block of Furrow St. about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday when a man standing through the sunroof of a passing car fired a shotgun, the pellets striking the victim in the back. The man was treated at Bon Secours Hospital. Northwestern Robbery try/shooting : Police were seeking three men who forced their way into a house in the 3700 block of Glen Ave. about 1 p.m. Wednesday and demanded money from a 19-year-old male occupant.

Two rows of men, police officers and bikers, faced each other yesterday morning - lining the edges of Old Eastern Avenue as bagpipes played and city police carried the casket of Norman Stamp to a waiting hearse. The police wore their dress uniforms to honor the death of the man who spent the past 44 years working for the city's Police Department. The motorcycle riders wore the red cross of the Chosen Sons on their backs to signal their association with the motorcycle club that Stamp helped to found 39 years ago. It was an unusual sendoff for a man who was one of the city's longest-serving police officers.

Annapolis man, 21, charged in shooting Annapolis police arrested yesterday a 21-year-old Annapolis man who was charged in the shooting death of Benjamin "Benjie" Philip Evans, 25, authorities said. Derrick Lamont Brown, 21, of Dogwood Road was charged with second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and related handgun charges, police said. Brown was also served with an outstanding warrant related to six drug offenses after cocaine was sold to an undercover police officer in November 2004.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Central District Carjacking try/arrest: Eric Yelcich, 36, was stopped at a traffic signal in the 1100 block of W. North Ave. about 11:40 p.m. Wednesday when a man - implying he had a gun - forced his way into the 1992 Honda Accord and told Yelcich to drive to Park Circle. Instead, Yelcich turned onto the driveway of a nearby BP station and told a bystander to call the police.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Western District Victim identified: Police named Darmel Ford, 23, of the 800 block of N. Streeper St. yesterday as the man fatally shot Monday night in the 600 block of N. Pulaski St. Anyone with information about the slaying was asked to call Detective Sean Jones at 410-396-2100. Central District Burglary: A computer, digital camera, telephone, wallet and BB pistol -- all valued at $1,114 -- were stolen Wednesday from an apartment in the 1500 block of Mount Royal Ave. Robbery: A 29-year-old woman was walking in the first block of W. Lafayette Ave. about 10 p.m. Wednesday when a man riding a bike and armed with a handgun robbed her of her purse containing cash and a cell phone.

Around the Baltimore County Courts Building, it is known simply as "the box." To a layperson, it looks like a prop for a gang war. For Sheriff R. Jay Fisher, it is a reminder of why security has been one of his top priorities during his first year in office. The box, taken out for sheriff's office training sessions and occasional judiciary show-and-tells, holds the collection of items seized from people entering the courthouse in recent years. There are brass knuckles with ugly-looking spikes, belt buckles that hide knives, a compact that looks like a lipstick but twists out a blade instead.

A Frederick County teen-ager -- arrested Wednesday evening after state police reported finding nearly $1,500 and more than a pound of suspected marijuana in his possession -- has been ordered held in confinement, pending action by juvenile authorities. The boy, 17, is not being named because of his age. He was charged with possession of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of a deadly weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia. A juvenile counselor told court Master Peter M. Tabatsko at a hearing yesterday that state police made a routine traffic stop in the Carroll County portion of Mount Airy and became suspicious of the driver's demeanor.

Alejandro Jose Grant, who killed a motorist last year in an act of road rage, carried out the death sentence he begged for but didn't get.Grant, 27, was found hanged in his Prince George's County jail cell Wednesday afternoon, two days after he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for shooting a 19-year-old college student Oct. 8, after her car accidentally bumped his bicycle at a busy intersection near the Capital Beltway.While horrified motorists looked on, Grant calmly pulled a gun out of his backpack and shot Joy Estrella Mariano Enriquez point-blank in the head after she pulled over to check on his condition.

A melee involving a sword, a lighted flare, brass knuckles and police pepper spray broke out Wednesday night at the Elkridge Days Carnival off U.S. 1.In the end, three adults and two juveniles were arrested on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to carrying a concealed weapon.Police reports describe a chaotic scene:The incident began about 9 p.m., when off-duty Howard County Detective Leslie Stickles saw a man wielding a sword near the dunking booth.He asked the man, Robert McDonough, 22, of Elkridge, to drop the weapon and he did. McDonough told the detective that someone from a nearby crowd of 30 to 40 people had thrown the sword and it had almost hit his child.