Crofton

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 35-year-old Crofton man is charged with drug possession and distribution and handgun offenses. Michael A. Shepherd was arrested Thursday evening at his home in the 1600 block of Airy Hill Court. After a series of surveillance operations that stemmed from community complaints about illegal drug activities, detectives obtained a search warrant and arrived at the home about 9:30 p.m. Officers recovered two handguns, one of which was stolen, and several rounds of ammunition.

Crofton technology company Force 3 said Monday that founder and CEO Rocky Cintron is stepping down after two decades and will be replaced by the company's chief operating officer. Les Trachtman, the company's new CEO, has served as COO since joining Force 3 in 2008. Cintron, who has run Force 3 since founding it in 1992, will become chairman of the board. The company provides services in federal security, communications and medical imaging to federal agencies and private firms.

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.

An Anne Arundel County fire engine and a Toyota 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.

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.

A 52-year-old woman died a day after she was rescued from a burning home in Crofton, Anne Arundel County fire officials said Thursday. Patricia Hart died at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Wednesday from injuries sustained in a fire Tuesday afternoon at her home in the 1800 block of Foxdale Court, fire officials said. Firefighters reported smoke from the second floor of a two-story townhome and found Hart in a second floor bathroom. She was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center and later transferred to Bayview.

Beginning next Tuesday, Crofton residents will have a space in The Anne Arundel County Sun to call their own.The Neighbors section, devoted to community events and people, will expand to include Crofton.Sue Haller, a Crofton resident for seven years, has been named Crofton correspondent.Haller is the registrar and record keeper forthe Crofton Athletic Council and treasurer for the Crofton Meadows Elementary PTA.Before moving to The Anne Arundel County Sun, Haller was a columnist for the Crofton Crier for two years.

Anne Arundel County Police are investigating a collision in Crofton that killed a 91-year-old Columbia woman Monday afternoon. According to preliminary information, Frank Elmer Boyd, 94, attempted to make a left turn from northbound Davidsonville Road onto Farrell Street in a Buick Riviera at about 4:15 p.m. The sedan traveled into the path of a 2003 Dodge Ram traveling southbound on Davidsonville Road. The truck struck the sedan on the passenger side, injuring Dorothy Amelia Boyd of Vantage Point Road.