Crofton

An Anne Arundel County fire engine and a Toyota pickup truck collided head-on Wednesday morning in Crofton, sending three people to the hospital, officials said. A fire engine from Station 7, which is on Route 424 just south of Crofton, was responding to a call at 2:53 a.m. when the crash occurred on Route 424 near Neuman Way, Battalion Chief Steve Thompson said. A Toyota Tacoma crossed the center line and struck the fire engine, police Lt. James Fredericks said. "The investigators don't believe speed was a factor.

Depressing news coming out of California today: computer and printer giant HP announced a big restructuring plan that involves it saying goodbye to 27,000 workers, or 8 percent of its 325,000 global workforce , the company said . To put it in perspective, that's equivalent to everybody in Crofton, Md. ( Pop: 27,348 ), getting a pink slip. The company, which hasn't been able to come up with a competitor to the iPhone/iPad/mobile device space, said it expected to save $3-3.5 billion annually with the cuts beginning in 2014.

The second of two teens who fatally punched a 14-year-old Crofton boy was ordered Thursday to spend up to four years in a juvenile facility, ending the prosecution in a death that became a symbol of suburban youth violence. "I see two families that are devastated, yours and Christopher's," Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge J. Michael Wachs told Javel M. George as he sentenced him for manslaughter in the death of Christopher D. Jones. The May 30 homicide raised national concerns about the threat of teen gang violence in suburban communities.

An Anne Arundel County elementary school principal has asked for a transfer to another school after district officials began investigating concerns that she did not respond to complaints about a student before he ended up threatening a teacher. In a letter to the school community this week, Crofton Elementary School principal Shauna Kauffman said Superintendent Kevin Maxwell had approved her request for a transfer to another school. She will be moved at the end of the school year.

Prosecutors will seek the maximum sentence, life in prison, for a 17-year-old boy who pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree rape of a 7-year-old girl he took from a playground in his Crofton neighborhood. But the attorney for David B. Raszewski, of the 1700 block of Granite Court, said he will propose that Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge William C. Mulford II sentence the teenager more like a juvenile - not confine him to an adult state prison and, instead, ensure he receives treatment.

Koch Homes has sold 27 single-family homes in its eventual, 67-home development of Crofton Colony in Anne Arundel County. The community is designed for those ages 55 and older who want an active lifestyle. Crofton Colony offers ranch styling. The dimensions are particularly deep for this type of house, the builder says -- 40 feet wide by 60 feet deep. Options include a finished basement, kitchen upgrades, floor upgrades and decks. Prices for the houses range from $347,900 to $372,900.

A 14-year-old girl told police she was sexually assaulted while she was walking her dog Tuesday afternoon in Crofton, Anne Arundel County police said. Police said they were told that the girl was walking her dog around Ridgley Court and Aberdeen Drive around 3:20 p.m. when two men attacked her. The men left in an older, four-door sedan with faded red paint, police said. Police said the girl was treated at a hospital for injuries and released. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective J. Widup, 410-222-3468.

The parents of a Crofton teenager who died last year after being attacked by other teens plan to sue the assailants and the Anne Arundel County school board. Christopher Jones, 14, was riding his bicycle home last May when he was surrounded by a group of youths and beaten. He fell to the ground and hit his head, an injury that proved fatal. Police said the attack was linked to youth gangs, although Jones was not part of a gang. His mother has said he was bullied by gang members at school.

A 13-year-old boy was struck by an SUV while walking to his school bus in Crofton Thursday morning, according to Anne Arundel County fire officials. Fire crews responded to John Hopkins Road and Lowell Court after a 7:37 a.m. 911 call, said Lt. Cliff Kooser of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. The boy was taken to the pediatric intensive care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital with serious injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, Kooser said. No one else was injured, he said.

A 35-year-old Gaithersburg woman died following a car accident Tuesday night in Crofton, according to the Anne Arundel County police department. Angela C. Biggins was driving a 2000 Toyota Corolla northbound on Route 3, when she entered the southbound lanes and struck a 2000 Mercedes head-on at about 8:32 p.m. The accident occurred near the highway's intersection with McKnew Road. The Mercedes ended up in a ditch, and the Toyota spun around and stopped in one of the southbound lanes of Route 3. Biggins was transported to Baltimore Washington Medical Center, where she later died.

How often do you go to a sports store and get to rub elbows with Ravens' wide receiver Torrey Smith? Or get to swap football observations with Ravens defensive tackle Terrence Cody or the Washington Redskins' defensive back Josh Wilson? You can do so this weekend at Dick's Sporting Goods new store in the Crofton area. The retailer is holding a three-day celebration to mark the occasion. The event starts Friday at 8 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the store located at 1417 South Main Chapel Way in Grambrills.

Principal Derek Burns traveled to Baltimore on Tuesday to accept Crofton Meadows Elementary's Maryland Blue Ribbon School of Excellence award and then made it back in time to direct traffic out of the school's parking lot. The first-year principal scarcely paused long enough to gauge responses from students, parents and staff, whose efforts made it Anne Arundel County's 15th state Blue Ribbon school. Burns isn't one to stand idle. He readily credits former Crofton Meadows Principal Janine Robinson for guiding the school during the past few years, leadership he said has led Crofton Meadows to posting 100 percent marks in five categories in the Maryland School Assessments and a 98 percent mark in a sixth MSA category.

A 35-year-old Gaithersburg woman died following a car accident Tuesday night in Crofton, according to the Anne Arundel County police department. Angela C. Biggins was driving a 2000 Toyota Corolla northbound on Route 3, when she entered the southbound lanes and struck a 2000 Mercedes head-on at about 8:32 p.m. The accident occurred near the highway's intersection with McKnew Road. The Mercedes ended up in a ditch, and the Toyota spun around and stopped in one of the southbound lanes of Route 3. Biggins was transported to Baltimore Washington Medical Center, where she later died.

A Crofton father who admitted Thursday that he slashed the throats of his wife and daughters before cutting himself will be treated at a state psychiatric hospital, after a judge accepted a psychiatrist's findings that the man snapped because of extreme depression and anxiety that apparently stemmed from work pressures. Julio Cesar Esquetini, 50, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree assault and one of child abuse before Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Philip T. Caroom.

Mohammad Akram Bhatti, the owner of an Edgewater gas station and convenience store, died of cerebral meningitis Nov. 9 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 68 and lived in Crofton. Born in Nabah, India, he moved with his family to the Punjab province in Pakistan as a child. He earned a degree from Islamia College in Lahore, Pakistan. He worked briefly for Lever Brothers in Karachi, Pakistan. Family members said that in 1969, with only some pocket money, he immigrated to Florida, where he studied at Florida Memorial College.

A Gambrills man was arrested Wednesday in connection with the distribution of child pornography, police said. Robert J. Hudson 2nd, 24, of the 1000 block of Christmas Lane has been charged with two counts of distributing pornographic images of children, according to a statement by Maryland State Police. On Tuesday, an undercover state trooper was surveilling an online file-sharing network "known for distributing child pornography," the statement said. The trooper engaged in an online chat with another person and they agreed to meet to exchange computer files containing child pornography, police said.

A Crofton man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison as the result of a plea agreement in a case in which he was accused of carjacking a Macy's employee in the parking lot of Marley Station mall, leaving her with debilitating injuries. Andre M. Ennis, 41, made no statements Tuesday as he entered an Alford plea, which allowed him to deny responsibility while acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him. Among that evidence was Ennis' DNA, which prosecutors said was found outside and inside the victim's car, including on the steering wheel and on the straw of a cup, prosecutor Anastasia Prigge told Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge William Mulford II, according to a recording of the plea proceeding.