Called Police

When Ann Geddes called 911 for help with a teenage relative suffering a medical emergency, she worried that she would have to waste precious minutes explaining to officers his struggles with trans- gender issues. To her surprise, Howard County police quickly responded without shock or confusion over the teenager's sexual orientation. The county's gay residents and their supporters, such as Geddes, hope that officers' brief diversity training is changing a male-dominated profession that they say historically has lacked empathy for - and in some cases sanctioned humiliation of - homosexuals.

The sky is falling! Not really - but Maryland police officials fielded dozens of calls last night of that magnitude. "They were calling and saying they saw fire in the sky," said Cpl. John Young of the Baltimore County Police Department. Sgt. Steve Seipp of the Maryland State Police said his Golden Ring office also fielded a flurry of calls for about 10 minutes straight about 8 p.m. "Something green was falling from the sky," Seipp said. "They all said it was green." If you happened to be one of the concerned callers who spotted flashes of light in the night sky, stop the UFO talk.

Howard County police arrested a man at Wilde Lake High School yesterday morning and accused him of threatening two teenagers with a handgun and bringing the gun onto the school parking lot as students were arriving for classes. Edward Brown, 62, of Jason Lane in Columbia was charged with first-degree assault and possession of a gun on school property, police said. Officers received a call about 7:10 a.m. from a person who heard a car alarm, looked out his window and saw a man with a gun get into a maroon Porsche on Jason Lane.

Tapes of 911 calls made to police the night that Noah Jamahl Jones died reveal a chaotic scene outside the Pasadena party where the 17-year-old was beaten more than six weeks ago. According to the tape recording, a nervous caller reported that an armed group had shown up at a house in the 700 block of 205th St. and that he had been struck on the head with a pistol. "There are guys standing outside my house and they're fighting. ... Hurry up! Hurry up!" he yelled before his phone cut off. The caller had phoned 911 moments earlier, but that conversation was cut short when his phone disconnected.

WASHINGTON - Choking back tears, Republican Rep. Bill Thomas of California, one of Congress' most powerful and quick-tempered members, told a hushed House chamber yesterday that he exhibited "poor judgment" in calling the police last week on Democrats. "You deserve better judgment from me, and you'll get it," the usually acerbic chairman of the Ways and Means Committee told his colleagues. "Because of my poor judgment, those outside the House who want to trivialize, marginalize and debase this institution were given an opportunity to do so."

Howard County and area police were seeking three men, two with guns, who forced their way into an Ellicott City apartment last night and robbed the lone male occupant of several pieces of electronics and other items. About 9:30 p.m., the 53- year-old victim opened the door of his residence in the 3100 block of Wheaton Way in the Normandy Woods Apartments after a knock by a person identifying himself as a United Parcel Service deliveryman, police said. After forcing their way in, the intruders bound the victim's feet and left a few minutes later.

A reader owns a town house condominium. The home has a gas fireplace, which had not been properly vented. As a result, heat from the fireplace melted a pipe in a laundry room above it and "melted the insulation off electrical wires and burned insulation and floor joists." Water from the pipe damaged a bathroom on the floor below. The reader's tale of woe continues. She writes: "I called the condominium association to enlighten them of this potentially tragic situation. I was informed by management that no monies were available for repairs and ... that the president of the association had absconded with all the owners' monthly fees and no one knew where he had gone.

A Deale man shot and killed himself last night after he seriously wounded his ex-girlfriend and barricaded himself in the home they used to share, said Anne Arundel County police spokesman Mark Shawkey. The man, 63-year-old Milburne M. Linstrom, arrived at the home in the 600 block of Manns Road yesterday afternoon and shot Amelia Mary Stephonson in the upper body with a shotgun, police said. Stephonson, 43, had recently obtained a court order barring Linstrom from the house, police said.

Baltimore County police investigated a report that a woman was heard yelling for help Sunday night on the street where a 52-year-old state worker was later found bludgeoned to death, officials said yesterday. But the officers apparently didn't knock on anyone's door. And they left the street in Randallstown where Linda Carol Brooks was found beaten with an axe and maul late Monday, saying they didn't notice any signs of distress. Police say they don't know if Brooks was killed Sunday night.

Larry Blank eased off Interstate 70 west of Frederick and into the rest stop where he works as a custodian. It was just before midnight Wednesday. The parking lot was dead - just two other cars. He chose the space next to a blue Chevrolet Caprice. The car, he noticed, had New Jersey tags. Yesterday afternoon, as he stood outside his Hagerstown home surrounded by cameras, the 52-year-old custodian would marvel at how close he came to the two men sleeping inside, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, believed to be responsible for the sniper shootings that have terrorized the Washington, D.C., area.