Gary Gardner

Baltimore City police on Friday arrested one of their own officers, a Columbia resident, and charged him with child abuse and first-degree murder in the death of his 19-month-old son.Carl William MorrisJr., 33, of the 6400 block of Barchink Place in Columbia, is being held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center. He is accusedof beating to death his son, Christopher, last Sunday. Police arrested Morris at his lawyer's office.When county rescue workers arrived at the Morris home at about 6 p.m. last Sunday, Morris told them his son had fallen down the stairsand a carpet cleaner had fallen on top of him, police said.

Howard County police will work with their counterparts in Baltimore City and Baltimore County to ensure safer shopping and traveling along the busy Route 40 corridor this holiday season.The joint effort, beginning today and continuing through New Year's Day, will cover shopping plazas and intersections in Ellicott City, Catonsville and communities along Edmondson Avenue in the city.Police say Route 40 provides an easy escape route for car thieves, convenience store robbers and other criminals in all three jurisdictions.

Five cars have been stolen from the O'Donnell Honda lot on Route 40 at Ridge Road since the beginning of the month, leaving the business' manager puzzled by the magnitude of the theft."

A Long Reach man wanted in connection with the abduction and rape of a 25-year-old Columbia woman is being held by police in North Carolina as a suspect in five bank robberies there.Michael Tobias Canty, 27, formerly of the 8700 block of Airy Brink Lane, was arrested Friday and faces several state and federal charges, including a parole violation from the U.S. Marshal's Office.A Howard County warrant charges Mr. Canty with kidnapping, first-degree rape, robbery and assault.Police spokesman Sgt. Gary Gardner said Mr. Canty's extradition to Maryland might have to wait until the other charges are resolved.

Howard County Police Chief William J. McMahon has promoted the first African-American to the post of major, the department's second-highest rank. Maj. Kevin Burnett, 47, formerly the commander of the county's Southern District, will oversee administration, which includes human resources, budget, training and forensic departments, among others. Maj. Gary Gardner will oversee a new patrol command, and Maj. Merritt Bender, whom McMahon appointed last year, will oversee special operations, including the county's tactical, canine and traffic-enforcement teams.

On November 30, 2003, DONALD CHARLES GARDNER, of Millersville, MD, beloved husband of the late Margaret Callan Gardner, loving father of Maureen G. Little, Virginia G. Crespo, Elizabeth G. Spears, Donald E. Gardner, William J. Gardner, Joseph C. Gardner, Kenneth P. Gardner, Michael F. Gardner and the late Ronald C. Gardner, dear brother of Eva June McGehee, Margaret L. Bands, Vaughn Gardner, Kenneth Gardner, D. Patrick Gardner and the late Gary F. Gardner,...

At least 30 members of Baltimore area police departments and the Maryland State Police have been called to active duty in the military since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait last August.More than 300 others are subject to call-ups, police officials say.The largest number of call-ups have been reported by the State Police. Eleven troopers, one cadet and a chaplain have left to report for assignments with Desert Shield, now Desert Storm."We estimate that about 100 agency members, sworn and civilian, have some sort of military obligation" and could be called up, said Maj. Morris L. Krome, assistant chief of the Services Bureau.

Police are investigating an attempted rape that occurred Wednesday night in a student parking lot of Howard Community College, when a 23-year-old Columbia woman who was leaving her car was grabbed from behind and forced into a nearby car.At about 7:30 p.m., a man draggedthe woman into the rear seat of a nearby vehicle, placing clothing over her head, said county police spokesman Sgt. Gary L. Gardner.The attacker tried to remove the victim's pants and fondled her while repeatedly striking her in the face, Gardner said.

Howard County police have charged two men in connection with separate armed standoffs.Ronald Jene Hoover, 33, of the 16300 block of Newport Road in Mount Airy, barricaded himself in his home yesterday after firing several shots in the air when his estranged wife came to the house to get her belongings, police said.Terri Hoover, the estranged wife, had gone to the house about 12:30 a.m. yesterday, accompanied by her father and a police officer."When she walked out to her vehicle, he fired approximately five shots in the air from a shotgun from the house," said Sgt. Gary Gardner, a police spokesman.

A suspect in the Friday night burglary of a Columbia apartment may also be responsible for more than 40 break-ins in the same area, police said.The suspect was identified by a 20-year-old college student who woke up during the burglary and confronted the man as he was fleeing from the apartment on the 4900 block of Columbia Road.Police yesterday released a description of the suspect, who had not been apprehended. Police described him as a 5-foot-9-inch white male in his late teens, with short dark hair and a tan complexion.