Convenience Store

Three teen-age girls were arrested early yesterday, and police were seeking a fourth suspect in the burglary of a Westminster convenience store, authorities said.The arrests occurred after police responded to an alarm at a High's Store in the 400 block of E. Main St. about 3: 30 a.m. Police found a door propped open with a milk crate. A man seen in the back of the store fled on foot.Police noticed three girls in a car pulling out of a nearby parking lot and stopped the vehicle, police said.

Maryland State Police are searching for a man who robbed an Eldersburg convenience store early yesterday morning.Police said an assailant robbed the 7-Eleven convenience store at 2033 Liberty Road about 4: 30 a.m. The robber threatened an employee with a chrome-finished semi-automatic handgun and fled with an undisclosed amount of money. Police searched the area with dogs but were unable to find the robber.Police describe him as a black man, 22 to 28 years old, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and about 130 pounds.

An Aberdeen man was arrested and charged yesterday with first-degree murder and assault in the death of a man found lying outside a convenience store last month.Jeremiah Kirkland, 19, of the 100 block of S. Deen Ave. was arrested by Aberdeen Police Detective Donald Licato and charged with killing Stephen Eugene Heintz, 30, of Mount Royal Avenue in Aberdeen.Kirkland is being held at the Harford County Processing Center pending a bail hearing today in District Court.Heintz's body was found March 7 next to a trash container in the parking lot of a convenience store at West Belair and Mount Royal avenues.

Responding to a rash of robberies at a popular WaWa Food Markets in Savage, store officials announced yesterday they would close the mini-market for good late last night.The news distressed a number of residents, who say there isn't another convenience store nearby. "I don't think this is good at all for our community," said William B. Waff, president of the Savage Community Association and a longtime resident.Over a five-month period this year, the store, in the 9000 block of Baltimore St. in the historic section of Savage, has been robbed five times, with bandits usually making off with several hundred dollars, police said.

This is not your father's interstate: Road rage may have existed then, but not on today's scale. And just appearing vulnerable on the road can mark you as a victim.So here are hints on how to steer clear of trouble, courtesy of AAA, "Safety and Security for Women Who Travel" (Travelers' Tales Guides, $12.95), and the new and sassy "The Bad Girl's Guide to the Open Road" (Chronicle Books, $14.95).Keep the gas tank at least half-full ... or is that half-empty? Whatever. The idea is to have plenty of gas so you won't run out or be forced to leave your route in search of fuel in an unsavory neighborhood.

A young man who hinted he had a concealed weapon robbed the Dobbin Center Mobil gas station and convenience store in Columbia just after 10 p.m. Friday night.Howard County police said the man waited around the store for 30 minutes before confronting the clerk, demanding money and implying he had a weapon.The clerk opened the cash register and gave the robber an undetermined amount of money. The man then fled.Police described the suspect as a 6-foot-tall black man in his 20s with a light complexion, wearing a red T-shirt and blue denim shorts.

In the wake of recent armed robberies in Carroll, state police in Westminster are cautioning convenience store and gas station clerks to beware of suspicious activity."

It looks like a quiet bank lobby. Suddenly, a robbery breaks out and, moments later, two nervous policemen arrive."He just left. You could probably catch him," the teller yells as the officers run in. Money is scattered over the floor, and the waiting-line rope is knocked down.A bank patron hurries out, saying he doesn't want to get involved. The two officers split up. One talks to customers, the other to a teller. They learn that the robber left a note.Five minutes later, it's over. And Baltimore County police recruits are evaluated for how they handled the simulated holdup.

Adele Nowowieski, 79, convenience store ownerAdele Nowowieski, former owner of an Essex convenience store, died Saturday from complications of surgery at Bon Secours-Stewart Circle Hospital in Richmond, Va. She was 79.The former Essex resident and her husband moved to Richmond eight months ago. They had owned Newman's High's store in the 2000 block of Eastern Blvd. from 1950 until the early 1980s, when they sold the business and retired.The former Adele Jankowska was born in South Philadelphia and graduated from public schools there.

Four Baltimore County residents were arrested and a fifth was being sought in the armed robbery yesterday morning of a Harford County convenience store.State police in Bel Air said a Royal Farms store in Churchville was robbed about 1: 25 a.m. Police stopped a 1999 Toyota Corolla traveling south on Interstate 95 in Joppa and arrested three occupants. Two others fled into a nearby woods. Hours later, one of them was arrested at his Essex home.Charged in connection with the robbery and held at the Harford County Detention Center were Melanie L. Smith, 19, of the first block of Hedgeford Court; Mark B. Topfer, 18, of the first block of Waldmann Mill Court; and Ronald R. Jackson, 19, of the first block of Bellington Court, all of Perry Hall; and William Burr, 20, of the 2000 block of Firethorn Road, Essex.

Seeking to prevent a 24-hour 7-Eleven store from opening near the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon, Baltimore City Councilman William H. Cole IV introduced a bill yesterday that would restrict the operating hours of any convenience store in the historic district. "A 24-hour location in that area is not going to help the community at all," he said. "Everything to me says this is not going to be a good fit." He said he's troubled by the late-night crowds drawn to a 7-Eleven in Federal Hill and would rather see the Mount Vernon building remain vacant than allow the store.

New convenience store could add to crime I am appalled that 7-Eleven might successfully lease a property for a new 24-hour convenience store at a corner adjacent to Mount Vernon Square ("Bid to block 7-Eleven in Mount Vernon falls short," Nov. 25). As it is, the neighborhood often serves as a crossroads for the homeless and - much worse - for muggers, petty thieves, drug dealers, prostitutes and recently even a serial rapist. The fact that administrators of the Peabody Conservatory apparently view this development with indifference is especially outrageous, since their own students are frequently mugged and sometimes raped in the area.

A Mount Vernon group says it has failed to prevent a 7-Eleven from opening in a former restaurant overlooking the Washington Monument. City agencies, cultural groups and neighbors pledged $297,000 toward an effort to buy the building and stop the convenience store, but R. Paul Warren, who organized the effort, said his group stopped making offers when the price reached $450,000. "We reached our limit," Warren said. "We raised $300,000 in three weeks. That's not bad." Gregory N. Friedman, a real estate investor-broker, bought the former Buttery restaurant on the ground floor of a 19th-century building at Charles and Centre streets this year for $310,000.

A long-vacant basement coffee shop near Mount Vernon's Washington Monument could become a 7-Eleven convenience store over the objections of community activists, who are enlisting city support to buy the spot as a tourist information center. The former Buttery restaurant, at the southeast corner of Charles and Centre streets, faces the Washington Monument, Walters Art Museum and Peabody Institute. Negotiations are under way with its owner and a convenience store operator to open a 24-hour-a-day retail operation, which under zoning rules is a permitted use. "I'd rather have a 7-Eleven in my own backyard than on Mount Vernon Place," said R. Paul Warren, a Park Avenue resident who is vice president of the Mount Vernon-Belvedere Improvement Association.

Man disarms two in robbery attempt A Pasadena man disarmed one of two would-be robbers who accosted his family outside their home, Anne Arundel County police said. The man, 50, said that he and his wife, 53, were walking from their car to their front door in the 7900 block of Marydell Ave. at 1:30 a.m. Saturday when two men approached. One pointed a shotgun at them and grabbed for the woman's purse, knocking her to the ground and giving her a swollen lip. The husband grabbed the shotgun and struggled with the suspect, which resulted in a round being fired into the air. The victim disarmed the gunman, and both robbers fled.

Three teens charged in break-in, threats Three teenagers have been charged with breaking into a house in Glen Burnie and threatening two occupants with a gun in a dispute over money, Anne Arundel County police said yesterday. The residents of the house in the 300 block of Georgia Ave. N.E., told police that the three youths confronted them outside shortly after 2:30 p.m. Monday. One placed a gun to the head of one man while others stole personal items from the other. The victims were able to run into the house and lock the door, police said, but the suspects forced the door open and again threatened the occupants with the gun, telling them to hand over any money they had, police said in a statement.

One man was killed and another seriously injured in a shooting in front of a Northwest Baltimore convenience store Saturday night, police said. About 10:15 p.m., a gunman approached two men standing in front of a store in the 2900 block of Garrison Blvd. and shot them, police spokesman Officer Troy Harris said. An 18-year-old man who was shot in the head collapsed on the curb. He was taken to Sinai Hospital and pronounced dead about 10:45 p.m., Harris said. The second victim, a 43-year-old man, was shot in the neck and staggered into the convenience store before collapsing.

Police charge pair in shooting, robberies Police have charged a man and a teenager with a shooting and three armed robberies that occurred this month in Howard County. Shawn Timothy Crockett, 14, and Terrence Edward Boone, 24, both of Baltimore, have been charged in the Oct. 16 shooting of an Exxon station clerk during a robbery attempt in the 10100 block of Little Patuxent Parkway, across the street from Columbia Town Center, said Howard County police said in a statement. The two have also been charged with the Oct. 5 robbery of a 2-Go convenience store in the 9000 block of Washington Blvd.

Boy, 5, hit and killed by Jeep is identified A 5-year-old boy killed Saturday when he darted in front of a vehicle while chasing after a group of teenagers was identified yesterday. Anne Arundel County police said Colin Matthew Cunningham of Stevensville had run onto Whispering Woods Drive in an Annapolis-area townhouse community around 6:30 p.m. and was struck by a Jeep Wrangler driven by an 18-year-old who lives in that community. Police said a group of seven teenagers had crossed the road ahead of the Jeep on their way to play football in an open area, and Colin suddenly ran after them.

Firefighters to discuss blaze with residents Firefighters will meet with residents at 7 tonight to respond to questions about the Tuesday afternoon fire at a Randallstown apartment complex that displaced more than a dozen families. The fire, which is under investigation, damaged 17 apartments in the three adjoining brick buildings in the Brookhaven Estates complex, said Lt. John Cromwell, a county fire spokesman. "Whenever there's a significant fire or fire death, very typically the fire departments walk through the community to talk about the value of having smoke detectors and to answer questions," Cromwell said.