Brooklyn Park

Anne Arundel police are investigating the death of an 50-year-old man who died Friday night after an apparent assault in Brooklyn Park. At 9:02 p.m. officers responded to the 6000-block of Richie Highway in Brooklyn Park in response to a reported assault. There, officers found the body of Nick Gilbert Gartelman Sr. CPR and medical aid was performed by officers and by Fire Department personnel. Gartelman Jr. was transported to Harbor Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Auditions The Theatre at AACC will hold auditions for its spring production of "The Underpants" at 7 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, Feb. 11-12, in the Robert E. Kauffman Theater in the Pascal Center for Performing Arts, 101 College Parkway in Arnold. The play has roles for seven actors — four or five male and two or three female — ages 18-50. Information: 410-777-7125. Theater performance Theatre at AACC will perform the comedy, "The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)," through Feb. 16 in the Humanities Building Room 112, 101 College Parkway in Arnold.

Anne Arundel County officials have begun an initiative to help revitalize Brooklyn Park. County Executive John R. Leopold has formed an interagency Revitaliation Action Plan Committee charged with organizing a comprehensive plan to improve residential and commercial areas of the nothern Anne Arundel community. The Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp. and the county Department of Planning and Zoning will lead the effort to spur economic development, facilitate physical impovements, renew community involvement and enhance the role of the Chesapeake Arts Center.

John Leopold has been found guilty of misconduct in office ("King of Arundel, deposed," Jan. 31). Like many people, I was horrified and deeply disappointed as witness after witness provided detailed accounts of Mr. Leopold's behavior in office. Simply said, Anne Arundel County, you deserve better! But now that the dark cloud of this trial is over, we can focus our attention on moving forward. The first order of business is the appointment of a new county executive. The second, and perhaps more important, order of business is to restore integrity and credibility to county government.

A Baltimore cyclist has died of his injuries after he was struck by a dark sedan that left the scene on Thursday morning, according to Anne Arundel County Police. Alex Canales Hernandez, of the 4100 block of Duane Street in Brooklyn was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center for treatment after the crash, which occurred on Ritchie Highway near Bon Air Avenue in Brooklyn Park, police said. Hernandez was trying to cross the northbound lanes when he was struck by the car at about 8 a.m., police said.

Anne Arundel County police have arrested a 17-year-old Baltimore man and charged him as an adult in an Aug. 13 Brooklyn Park killing. Police said that Marcus Allen McFadden of the 2400 block of Marbourne Ave. and two other teens approached Eric Javonn Hill's Honda Civic and attempted to rob him at gunpoint in the 100 block of West Edgevale Road in early August. Police believe McFadden to be the gunman; the two other teens have been identified but have not been charged. When McFadden pulled out a handgun and demanded money from Hill and his passenger, police said Hill appears to have stomped on the accelerator, and he was shot in the upper torso.

A young boy died Wednesday night after he was found unresponsive in a residential swimming pool in Brooklyn Park, according to the Anne Arundel police department. According to Anne Arundel County Police Lt. John McAndrew and fire department Lt. Cliff Kooser, emergency crews received a call around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday about a child, aged 3 or 4, who was found in a pool in the 600 block of Old Riverside Road. The child's identity has not been released. Paramedics attempted to revive the child on the scene and then transported him to Harbor Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead around 10:25 p.m., according to McAndrew.

A gunman held up a 7-Eleven store Sunday morning in the 4000 block of Ritchie Highway in Brooklyn Park, Anne Arundel County police said. Police said they were called to the store around 5:05 a.m. Employees said a man with a handgun had come in and demanded cash, police said. The man took money from the cash register and ran toward Belle Grove Road, police said. The suspect was described as probably in his 20s, about 6 feet tall, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black work gloves and blue jeans, police said.

Anne Arundel police spent much of Friday morning investigating reports of slashed tires in Brooklyn Park. Neighbors of several streets in the Arundel Village area, near the city line, began realizing their tires had been slashed at about 8 a.m. Officers found more than 30 vehicles damaged during the overnight hours in the 500 block of Taney Avenue, the 5200 block of Kramme Avenue, the 5200 block of Ballman Avenue, the 5000 and 5100 blocks of...

A Severn man was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in critical condition Thursday morning after a vehicle struck him in Brooklyn Park and kept going, Anne Arundel County police said. Police said that Michael J. Diegel, 57, was struck in Ritchie Highway's northbound lanes at Camrose Avenue. A caller reported the hit-and-run accident around 12:37 a.m., police said. Police said paramedics treated him at the scene and then took him to Shock Trauma. A preliminary investigation indicates that the vehicle was northbound when it struck Diegel, who apparently was wearing dark-colored clothing and not walking in a crosswalk, police said.

A man was shot during a home invasion just outside the Baltimore City limits in Brooklyn Park on Wednesday evening, according to Anne Arundel County Police. Police responded to the 200 block of Southerly Road about 6:34 p.m. and found a 27-year-old man with non-life-threatening injuries from a single gunshot wound, police said. Investigators interviewed witnesses and determined two male suspects entered the home, produced a handgun and announced a robbery. The victim was shot during the robbery.

A pedestrian, who police say was jaywalking on Ritchie Highway in Brooklyn Park Thursday night, died after being struck by a pickup truck. Cheryl Lynn Knick, 57, of the 5100 block of Brookwood Road in the same neighborhood, died at Harbor Hospital soon after the 7:44 p.m. accident on the highway, south of the intersection with 11th Avenue West. The truck was traveling south on the highway. Its driver, a 53-year-old Gambrills man, swerved to avoid the victim, who was not crossing at a designated crosswalk and had failed to yield to southbound traffic, police said.

Anne Arundel police have charged a 29-year-old homeless man with attempted murder. Louis Vaden also faces assault charges stemming from an incident involving his girlfriend Monday in Brooklyn Park. The victim told police that the suspect had violently assaulted her early in the day in a wooded area behind the 6000 block of Ritchie Highway, where the couple had been living. Investigators said the two became involved in an argument that led to an altercation. The suspect dragged the victim through a bonfire, police said.

A Brooklyn Park man was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for trying to kill his estranged wife in an bloody attack that took place a month after she left him in the wake of what prosecutors said was an earlier assault. "The difference between this case and a murder case is only the grace of God," Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Paul A. Hackner told William C. Ward III, 44. The judge also cut off contact between Ward, a construction worker, and the couple's three sons - one of whom saved his mother's life - telling Ward that the only way for Rachel Ward and the children to move along in life "is for you not be a part of it" unless a family law judge says otherwise.

A Severn man was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in critical condition Thursday morning after a vehicle struck him in Brooklyn Park and kept going, Anne Arundel County police said. Police said that Michael J. Diegel, 57, was struck in Ritchie Highway's northbound lanes at Camrose Avenue. A caller reported the hit-and-run accident around 12:37 a.m., police said. Police said paramedics treated him at the scene and then took him to Shock Trauma. A preliminary investigation indicates that the vehicle was northbound when it struck Diegel, who apparently was wearing dark-colored clothing and not walking in a crosswalk, police said.

Anne Arundel police are investigating the death of an 50-year-old man who died Friday night after an apparent assault in Brooklyn Park. At 9:02 p.m. officers responded to the 6000-block of Richie Highway in Brooklyn Park in response to a reported assault. There, officers found the body of Nick Gilbert Gartelman Sr. CPR and medical aid was performed by officers and by Fire Department personnel. Gartelman Jr. was transported to Harbor Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

A pedestrian, who police say was jaywalking on Ritchie Highway in Brooklyn Park Thursday night, died after being struck by a pickup truck. Cheryl Lynn Knick, 57, of the 5100 block of Brookwood Road in the same neighborhood, died at Harbor Hospital soon after the 7:44 p.m. accident on the highway, south of the intersection with 11th Avenue West. The truck was traveling south on the highway. Its driver, a 53-year-old Gambrills man, swerved to avoid the victim, who was not crossing at a designated crosswalk and had failed to yield to southbound traffic, police said.

An Anne Arundel County police surveillance team has charged two men with drug possession in a Brooklyn Park neighborhood. Kevin Charles Brown, 32, of the 6000 block of Amberwood Court in the city's Frankford neighborhood, faces two counts of heroin possession and one count of intent to distribute. Dale Charles Edge, 30, of the 100 block of Lincoln Ave. in Glen Burnie, was charged with possession of heroin. Officers, responding to numerous residents' complaints of drug activity, set up surveillance Tuesday in the area near First Avenue and Ritchie Highway.

Anne Arundel's three regional concert series offer entertainment bargains to county residents in search of live musical performances by classical, folk and jazz artists. Societies that have been around for at least 30 seasons hold the concert series at convenient locations, with two at local high schools and one at an arts center. Anne Arundel Community Concert Association, the 61-year-old organization based in Severna Park, has a reciprocal arrangement with South County Concert Association, which is opening its 37th season at Southern High School in Harwood.

A gunman held up a 7-Eleven store Sunday morning in the 4000 block of Ritchie Highway in Brooklyn Park, Anne Arundel County police said. Police said they were called to the store around 5:05 a.m. Employees said a man with a handgun had come in and demanded cash, police said. The man took money from the cash register and ran toward Belle Grove Road, police said. The suspect was described as probably in his 20s, about 6 feet tall, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black work gloves and blue jeans, police said.