Hand Tools

A Brooklyn Park man was robbed at gunpoint early yesterday of his wallet and $190 as he used a pay telephone at a sandwich shop, county police said.Edwin L. Nempomicno, 29, told police he was using the phone outside Charlie Ward's at Fourth and Audrey avenues shortly after midnight when four men approached and demanded his wallet. One of the men showed a .38-caliber black handgun stuffed into his waistband, police said, but Nempomicno refused to give up his wallet. The gunman punched Nempomicno in the mouth and took his wallet, police said.

Police logEllicott City: 4100 block of Pemberton Court: Someone entered an unlocked car and used a garage door opener inside the vehicle to open a garage early yesterday morning. The intruder rummaged through another car inside the garage, but nothing was taken.Ellicott City: 4100 block of Pemberton Court: Burglars broke a window of a car parked in a driveway and used a garage door opener to enter the garage early yesterday morning. The intruders stole a calculator, cellular phone and a briefcase.

A woods fire covering about 10 acres off the 1300 block of Bachman Valley Road between Westminster and Manchester raged out of control for several hours Friday afternoon.Engines and brush trucks from Manchester, Westminster, Lineboro, Reese, Hampstead and Pleasant Hill of York County, Pa., were dispatched to the fire, which was discovered just before 2 p.m. About 50 firefighters carrying backpack water tanks and hand tools walked up a steep hill to get to the fire.The brush trucks carried water to the firefighters, snaking their way around the trees.

Police are investigating a weekend incident at Atholton High School,where vandals set fire to a baseball dugout bench, painted "KKK" andother messages on buildings and stole school supplies.No arrestshave been made in the incident, which occurred between 10:30 p.m. Friday and 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the school, in the 6500 block of Freetown Road.It is apparently one of several race-related incidents to occur on school grounds since January. Last month, "KKK" was painted on Thunder Hill Elementary School.

Police believe they disrupted a major fencing operation involving $100,000 worth of stolen computer equipment, lawn mowers and power tools with Thursday's raid on a Belair Road hardware store in Baltimore.Arrested in the 6 p.m. raid on Lehman Hardware at 5921 Belair Road was David Lehman Lilley III, 54, of the 800 block of Gary Drive in Harford County, near Kingsville. Lilley has been charged with grand theft.His arrest follows a six-week rash of toolshed burglaries in the Belair and Abingdon area.

Three years ago, Anatol Polillo had a close encounter with an electric router that nearly cost him a thumb. "It got ugly pretty fast," Polillo says.A self-taught woodworker and free-lance video producer, Polillo knew there had to be a safer way to build an end table. He found the answer, and a new obsession, by tapping into Web sites and mailing lists where subscribers spoke ardently of such wonders as rabbet planes, hewing hatchets, draw knives, wooden scrapers, levels, chisels and gouges.

DO THE WORDS "some assembly required" send you scurrying for the sofa nearest the TV remote? There's a lot of fear of tools out there, but the fact is, having the right tool for a job is half the battle. It seems hand tools haven't altered much since animals started using sticks to pry insects out of crevices. But that's about to change, as technology gets its icily efficient grip on such things as screwdrivers and drills. Admittedly, we have a weakness for tools. Ron, of course, has a professional license to check out new tools.

Black & Decker Corp. said yesterday that it has named Christopher T. Metz to the newly created position of president of North American hardware and home improvement. Metz, who has been with the Towson toolmaker since 1992, will retain his title as president of Kwikset Corp. The new position marks the consolidation of Black & Decker's Kwikset locks division in Irvine, Calif., and its Price Pfister plumbing products division in Pacoima, Calif. The combined business will be located in suburban Los Angeles.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Southeastern District Shooting: A man, 28, was shot in the upper right leg about 2:15 a.m. Sunday outside Steelworkers Hall in the 500 block of Dundalk Ave. and treated at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Police said the shooting may be related to the assault of a man, 19, minutes earlier outside the hall. That man was struck several times with a baseball bat and also was treated at Bayview.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Southern District Knife attack: Walter McKenzie, 18, of the 500 block of Arsan Ave. was arguing with another man in the 500 block of Maude Ave. about 6 a.m. yesterday when the other man pulled a knife and cut him in the neck and throat. McKenzie was reported in serious condition last night at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Stolen vehicle: A black, four-door 1999 Hyundai with Virginia tag YEB 4960 was stolen Saturday in the first block of W. Lee St. Stolen vehicle: A green 1998 Dodge van with tags 973193M was stolen yesterday in the 2500 block of Frank Ave. Theft from vehicle: A laptop computer valued at $3,000 was stolen during the weekend from a 1996 Saab parked in the 500 block of S. Hanover St. Northwestern District Stolen vehicle: A 1998 Acura with tags 565 BKS was stolen yesterday in the 2600 block of W. Forest Park Ave. Robbery: Police were seeking a 1999 Ford Explorer with tags M892556 that was taken in a robbery about 9:30 a.m. Friday in the 4500 block of N. Rogers Ave. The owner, a 45 year-old-man, was standing outside the vehicle when another man robbed him of his keys and drove off in the sport utility vehicle.