Edward Hopkins

A 16-year-old girl was killed Saturday when the pickup truck she was riding in slammed into a tree near Bel Air, said a spokesman for the Harford County Sheriff's Office.Amy Renee Trent, of the 300 block of Holy Cross Road in Street, suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene of the 7: 15 p.m. accident, said Chief Richard A. Woodward of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Department, which responded to the accident.The driver of the truck, Steven Riley Crehen, 18, of the 1000 block of Brookwood Drive in Joppa, was released yesterday from Fallston General Hospital, said Sgt. Edward Hopkins, the sheriff's office spokesman.

Dr. William Edward Beschorner, a former associate professor of medicine in the departments of pathology and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who was internationally known for his research on organ and tissue transplants, died March 15 of brain cancer at his Omaha, Neb., home. The former Baldwin resident was 63. "He was important on two fronts. His work with bone marrow transplants and pathology was internationally recognized, as was his work with xenotransplantation, with which he had a lot of luck," said Dr. Allan D. Hess, a medical school colleague of Dr. Beschorner's who is professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins Cancer Center.

Police were seeking a man who broke into the home of a Joppa woman yesterday and sexually assaulted her, said a spokesman for the Harford County Sheriff's Office.Sgt. Edward Hopkins, the spokesman, said the woman was at home alone about 5: 15 p.m. when the man entered through a door.Hopkins said the woman, who was not raped, was treated at Fallston General Hospital for lacerations.The woman's attacker was described as a white man wearing dark clothing, about 6 feet tall, weighing 220 pounds, with severe acne, Hopkins said.

A 17-year-old Baltimore youth stabbed another boy at a state-run juvenile detention center early Sunday, authorities said yesterday. State police identified the assailant in the incident at the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School as Rayce Justin Robinson. He has been charged as an adult with attempted murder, assault and possession of a deadly weapon, officials said. The victim, 16, was treated for minor injuries at a hospital and was then returned to Hickey, said Edward Hopkins, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services.

Two employees were fired last week from a Department of Juvenile Services Eastern Shore facility for failing to follow proper procedures after learning that two youths had engaged in a sex act in a classroom, the department said. The employees became aware that a 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl had sexual intercourse as a film was shown in a darkened classroom on Tuesday but failed to report the incident for several hours, delaying an investigation, said Edward Hopkins, a department spokesman.

A Joppa man was killed early yesterday, apparently when he was run over by his own car outside his home, the Harford County Sheriff's Office said. Amnon Birenzvige, 67, of the 300 block of Chimney Oak Drive was found pinned under his 2003 Nissan Sentra GXE about 6 a.m. Police believe that Birenzvige went to retrieve a newspaper after starting his car and that the car drifted down the driveway and ran him over. Birenzvige was pronounced dead at the scene. "There doesn't appear to be anything suspicious," said Edward Hopkins, the sheriff's spokesman.

The body of an unidentified woman was found along a rural road in Harford County yesterday morning, and police were treating her death as an apparent homicide. A motorist looking for deer spotted the body in the 1400 block of Stepney Road near Aberdeen about 7:05 a.m., said Edward Hopkins, a spokesman for the Harford County Sheriff's Department. He said he had no description of the woman, and no identification was found. Hopkins said police could not be sure of a cause of death until after an autopsy, which was not expected to be performed until today.

A 26-year-old Bel Air man accidentally shot himself in a finger while he was destroying his family's cat, the Harford County sheriff's office reported yesterday.The man was identified in a deputy's report as Christopher Bledsoe of the 1900 block of Millington Square.Mr. Bledsoe told authorities that he and his wife decided that the cat should be destroyed, so he carried it to the basement, and held it in one hand while firing a .22-caliber bullet at it from a weapon in his other hand. The bullet passed through the animal and pierced his finger.

A teen-age boy was fatally shot last night in the bedroom of his home in Level, said a spokesman for the Harford County Sheriff's Office.Lt. Edward Hopkins said James Irwin Ashby, 13, and his brother, 14, were in a second-floor bedroom of their home in the 700 block of Craigs Corner Road about 6: 30 p.m. when a firearm that the older boy was allegedly handling discharged, fatally striking James in the head.The brother, whose name was not released, dialed 911 and reported the shooting, telling a dispatcher it was an accident, Hopkins said.

In Harford County Police release description of unknown woman's body ABERDEEN - The unidentified body found Sunday in the 1400 block of Stepney Road near Aberdeen is described as that of a Caucasian woman 25 to 30 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 110 pounds, with a petite build and dark hair, a Harford Sheriff's Department spokesman said yesterday. The victim had numerous tattoos, and the body was partially clothed when found, said spokesman Edward Hopkins. In an autopsy Monday, the cause of death was ruled as blunt-force trauma to the head and face, Hopkins said.

Two employees were fired last week from a Department of Juvenile Services Eastern Shore facility for failing to follow proper procedures after learning that two youths had engaged in a sex act in a classroom, the department said. The employees became aware that a 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl had sexual intercourse as a film was shown in a darkened classroom on Tuesday but failed to report the incident for several hours, delaying an investigation, said Edward Hopkins, a department spokesman.

A Joppa man was killed early yesterday, apparently when he was run over by his own car outside his home, the Harford County Sheriff's Office said. Amnon Birenzvige, 67, of the 300 block of Chimney Oak Drive was found pinned under his 2003 Nissan Sentra GXE about 6 a.m. Police believe that Birenzvige went to retrieve a newspaper after starting his car and that the car drifted down the driveway and ran him over. Birenzvige was pronounced dead at the scene. "There doesn't appear to be anything suspicious," said Edward Hopkins, the sheriff's spokesman.

2-year-old struck, killed by sitter's van, police say A 2-year-old Edgewood girl was killed Wednesday when a minivan driven by her baby sitter backed out of a residential parking space and struck her, police said. The toddler, Kaiya Alexis Bryant, had been overlooked as the baby sitter placed five other children in a minivan in the 2400 block of Beaver Crossing Court about 12:15 p.m., police said. When the sitter, 25, backed up the minivan, she heard a thump, got out and saw it was the girl, said Edward Hopkins, Harford County sheriff's spokesman.

Skateboarders are everywhere in Bel Air these days, sailing off stone ledges and rolling slowly down paved roads, and opinions abound as to the extent to which their behavior is innocent fun or unnecessarily dangerous and destructive. Although skateboarding is technically illegal in most of Bel Air -- Section 12-326 of city law states: "Skateboards, in-line skates, [R]ollerblades or other similar devices shall not be operated within the commercially or industrially zoned districts or in any playground or parkland or recreation area unless that area has been specifically designated" -- most proprietors seem to care only when the skating directly interferes with day-to-day operations.

Thomas Morgan Hopkins, a former teacher who worked for more than 20 years as an entomologist, died of obstructive pulmonary disease Sunday at Joseph A. Richey Hospice. He was 80 and lived at Charlestown Retirement Community. Mr. Hopkins was born and raised in Haddonfield, N.J., and earned a bachelor's degree in 1950 from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. In 1951, he earned a master's degree in education from Temple University. Mr. Hopkins taught biology at Haddonfield High School until 1959.

In Harford County Police release description of unknown woman's body ABERDEEN - The unidentified body found Sunday in the 1400 block of Stepney Road near Aberdeen is described as that of a Caucasian woman 25 to 30 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 110 pounds, with a petite build and dark hair, a Harford Sheriff's Department spokesman said yesterday. The victim had numerous tattoos, and the body was partially clothed when found, said spokesman Edward Hopkins. In an autopsy Monday, the cause of death was ruled as blunt-force trauma to the head and face, Hopkins said.

Two women arrested after shop is damagedEDGEWOOD -- Sheriff's deputies arrested two women on burglary, theft and malicious destruction charges Tuesday night after several witnesses said a woman drove a brown pickup truck through a chain gate at Nelson & Wrenn Inc., an auto repair center near Routes 7 and 755, a sheriff's spokesman said yesterday.Howard Nelson, the repair shop's owner, recognized the description of the truck and driver that witnesses had given deputies, said Sgt. Edward Hopkins.

Because of an increasing number of calls for law enforcement services in Joppa, Sheriff Joseph P. Meadows has decided to designate that area as a separate patrol beat.That means that, as staffing permits, at least one deputy a shift will be assigned exclusively to Joppa and will leave that beat only to back up deputies in emergencies in other sectors."We recognize Joppa is not the only area with a rising crime rate, but we are seeing a definite increase in the number of responses to that area," Sheriff Meadows said.

The body of an unidentified woman was found along a rural road in Harford County yesterday morning, and police were treating her death as an apparent homicide. A motorist looking for deer spotted the body in the 1400 block of Stepney Road near Aberdeen about 7:05 a.m., said Edward Hopkins, a spokesman for the Harford County Sheriff's Department. He said he had no description of the woman, and no identification was found. Hopkins said police could not be sure of a cause of death until after an autopsy, which was not expected to be performed until today.