Charged With Burglary

Police arrested a homeless man Wednesday on charges of breaking into two Glen Burnie homes and trying to break into a third, county police said.Brian Keith Merico, 23, was charged with two counts of first-degree burglary, attempted first-degree burglary and two counts of theft.Linda B. Johnson, 40, of the 8000 block of Foxwell Road told police she was in her home shortly after 11 a.m. when she heard a knock on her front door.She did not answer but saw a man walk to her back door and push it, police said.

The Maryland State Police superintendent upheld the suspension without pay yesterday of an eight-year trooper who is charged with theft and other criminal counts in the theft of his car from a Taneytown auto repair shop Friday.Tfc. Leonard A. Lucas 3rd, 30, a Baltimore County resident who works at the JFK barracks in Perryville, was charged with second-degree burglary, two counts of theft over $300 and two counts of malicious destruction of property.Samuel E. Pickett, the garage owner. said in a warrant application that he had made repairs on the trooper's 1984 Volvo, but refused to release the vehicle when the owner came to pick it up Friday without money to pay for the work.

Brian Keith Lee, 29, of New Windsor, was arrested and charged with two counts of burglary and theft from the Beltone Hearing Aid Service on Oct. 18.Richard King, owner of the shop in the first block of East Main Street, said his business in downtown Westminster has been broken into on three occasions in the one year he has been at the corner of East Main Street and Railroad Ave.Mr. King said a FAX machine, VCR and TV were stolen in one of the burglaries and computer equipment in another.City police said there was no forced entry in either of the break-ins and Mr. Lee had been a maintenance man in the building.

Two Laurel teen-agers were arrested Friday in connection with five recent burglaries, county police said.John Edward Baker Jr., 18, of the 9300 block Canterbury Riding, and a 16-year-old boy were arrested at Baker's home Friday after witnesses identified them, court records said.Police did not release the name of the juvenile.Among the stolen items were jewelry, an electric guitar, Nintendo game cartridges and a live, 4-foot python, all found at Baker's home, police said.A fingerprint taken from one of the homes belonged to the juvenile, the court papers said.

Baltimore County police have charged two men with second-degree burglary in an explosion early Saturday at a Towson bank a block from the police precinct, authorities said yesterday.Joseph Preston Edmonds, 18, of the 4000 block of White Ave., Baltimore, and Richard Funk, 18, of the 7300 block of Forrest Ave. in Hanover, a northwest Baltimore County community, were arrested Tuesday, police said.They were being held yesterday at the Baltimore County Detention Center pending a bail review. Both have also been charged with second-degree arson.

Archie Wannamaker, a standout running back at Mount St. Joseph, has been charged with burglarizing a Baltimore County home, police said.Wannamaker, 18, a record-setting running back and a potential All-Metro Player of the Year, was arrested Nov. 5 by Baltimore County police, who allege he broke into a home in the Randallstown area. He was charged with first-degree burglary and malicious destruction of property, according to court records.Mount St. Joseph football coach Mike Working would not comment.

Two Mount St. Mary's College students have been arrested and charged in the attempted burglary of the closed Havilah Inn in Taneytown.Taneytown police said yesterday that intruders used a crowbar in an attempt to break into the Taneytown Pike restaurant Sunday afternoon. An alarm was tripped, and Taneytown Sgt. Gregory Woelfel went to the scene. Minimal damage was reported.Charged with attempted burglary are Robert C. O'Connell of Runnymede, N.J., and Brendan Patrick Flynn of Potomac. Both are 20 and students at the Emmitsburg college.

They call him the "Goldilocks burglar."A man who broke into an Edgewater home last week decided to heat up some frozen lasagna, strip down to his gray boxer shorts and take a nap on the couch.The homeowner's granddaughter discovered him when she awoke the next morning and saw remnants of his buttered bread on the dining room table. Anne Arundel County police were called to the home to wake up the droopy-eyed man. He smelled strongly of alcohol, according to the police report, and told the officer that he believed he "belonged at the home."

A Severn man arrived home early Wednesday to find an intruder on crutches rummaging through the night stand in his bedroom. According to the police account, as the alleged burglar tried to hobble past, Henry E. Rey grabbed one of the crutches, tripping the man, and held him for police.Rey, 47, told police he arrived home about 12: 30 a.m. and found the burglar. Police said they searched the man and found his pockets filled with a dozen necklaces, three rings and nine pairs of earrings taken from the night stand drawer.

Baltimore CitySHOOTINGS: Southern District -- A gunman shot two men in the 1300 block of Carroll St. early Wednesday after fruitlessly searching them for drugs and cash. A resident of the 1400 block of Ward St. was shot in the right foot and was being held for observation at the University of Maryland Medical Center. The other man, a resident of the 1300 block of Carroll St., was treated for a graze-wound to the right side and released.ROBBERY: Central District -- A couple was robbed Monday evening in the 100 block of E. Baltimore St. by two men, one with a 9mm gun. From the man, the robbers took jewelry and clothing, all valued at $720.