Handgun Violations

Edgewater man stabbed outside bar A 39-year-old Edgewater man was listed in critical condition after being stabbed early Saturday during an altercation outside a Crofton sports bar, Anne Arundel County police said. The victim, who was not identified by police, was stabbed in the neck outside Krazy Otto's Sports Saloon in the 1300 block of Defense Highway about 1 a.m. during a fight in the bar's parking lot and was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center with life-threatening injuries, police said.

Two Virginia men arrested last month in an armed robbery in Northwest Baltimore -- both of whom were living in a motel on Reisterstown Road -- are suspects in two Richmond slayings, city police said yesterday.Though the men have not been charged in the shooting deaths, police said authorities are planning to extradite them to Virginia on outstanding abduction warrants. They have been charged with handgun violations and robbery in Baltimore.The case began Oct. 31 when Sgt. James Rood and Officers Kevin Hagan and Chris Wade, members of the Northwestern District's major crime unit, were flagged down by four teen-agers, who said they had been robbed near Northern Parkway and Reisterstown Road.

A key witness in the trial of Maurice Blevins, who is charged with first-degree murder in the January shooting death of 3-year-old James Smith III in a West Baltimore barbershop, testified yesterday that gunfire erupted after Blevins came in wielding a gun.But earlier yesterday, during opening statements, Blevins' attorney said the true killer was the witness, Kenya Davis, 21, whom Blevins allegedly wounded."

Maurice Blevins was found guilty yesterday of murdering 3-year-old James Smith III in a West Baltimore barbershop in a January shooting that outraged a community battered by violence.A Circuit Court jury deliberated for less than four hours in the case and also found Blevins guilty of assaulting the boy's mother, Cheryl Whittington, 24; of attempting to murder Kenya Davis, 21; and of three handgun violations. He showed no emotion as the verdict was read, but Whittington, sitting in the rear of the small courtroom, cried softly.

A man whose 3-year-old nephew shot himself in the head Tuesday with a gun the man kept under a mattress at their northeast Baltimore home is a convicted felon and faces prosecution in handgun violations, law enforcement officials said yesterday.Devon A. Marshall, 25, of the 3300 block of Kenyon Ave. has been charged with keeping an unsecured firearm within reach of a child, city police said. A warrant obtained by police this month charges him with battery and carrying a handgun, alleged offenses that are unrelated to Tuesday's shooting.

Two Baltimore men were killed and a third seriously wounded in separate shootings Saturday evening, city police reported yesterday.Valjene D. Austin, 22, and a companion were standing in the 1000 block of McCulloh St. at 5:30 p.m. Saturday when they were approached by two men, one of whom pulled a handgun and fired.Mr. Austin of the 5800 block of Waycross Road in Northeast Baltimore died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head. His companion, Tavon E. Roberts, 19, of the 1400 block of Argyle Ave. also suffered a head wound.

A 22-year-old Randallstown man was being held in lieu of $100,000 bond yesterday at Baltimore County's Woodlawn Precinct, charged with carjacking, armed robbery and handgun violations, police said.Andre Duane Boone of the 8200 block of Church Lane was arrested at 10 p.m. Saturday, after a woman was accosted in the 8300 block of Church Lane and her car taken.The victim, a 26-year-old Owings Mills woman, said she was getting into her car to leave a friend's house when a man approached her and demanded her car keys.

When the McCabe Avenue Boys wanted to send a message to their rivals, the Old York Road Boys, Ernest Woodard was willing to carry a Tech 9 pistol to a drive-by shooting. But gang loyalty goes only so far for Woodard, who decided yesterday he'd rather testify against his friends than stand trial with them on murder charges.Woodard's move, which came after 2 1/2 days of jury selection and pretrial motions in Baltimore Circuit Court, prompted two of the other McCabe boys to rethink their not-guilty pleas.

Prosecutors have dropped all charges against a man arreste last month in the shooting of 12 people on an East Baltimore street after a Saturday night craps game.The case against Sean Levin Brooks -- 12 counts of attempted murder and handgun violations -- was dropped at a preliminary hearing Thursday.Mr. Brooks, 23, who had been held on $1 million bail, was released from jail, prosecutors said.The information that led to Mr. Brooks' arrest the day after the April 10 shooting turned out to be questionable, Patricia Jessamy, Baltimore deputy state's attorney, said yesterday.

Doctor charged with sexual assaultsA 37-year-old physician has been charged with sexually assaulting two North Arundel hospital employees, one in a conference room and another in his private office in Glen Burnie.Dr. Krishan Kumar Singal, of the 700 block of Stacy Oak Way in Millersville, faces three counts of 4th degree sex offense and one count of battery. He was served with a criminal summons Tuesday by Anne Arundel County police.Kevin W. Murnane, a spokesman for North Arundel Hospital, said Dr. Singal, a cardiologist, was suspended Feb. 5. Further action could be taken after criminal proceedings are completed, he said.

Baltimore will end 2008 tonight with its fewest homicides in two decades, fighting through a late-year spike to mark one of its biggest year-to-year drops. The decline - a drop of almost 50 killings, from 282 to 234 as of midnight - continues a trend that began in late 2007 when Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III took command of the Police Department. It restores the city's homicide total to levels not seen since the late 1980s, before an infusion of crack cocaine routinely drove the annual body count above 300. But the improvement has been tempered by several confounding factors.

A Baltimore man who had served time for attempted murder was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison for violating his probation, the Baltimore state's attorney's office said. Baltimore Circuit Judge John N. Prevas sentenced Michael Freeman, 28, of the 300 block of S. Payson St. The state's attorney's office gave this synopsis: In 2001, Freeman was sentenced to four years in prison plus three years' probation for attempted second-degree murder and handgun violations. While serving that time, he was convicted in federal court of possession of a firearm by a felon, an offense that happened before he went to prison.

A 25-year-old man who was charged with first-degree murder last month but released on bail by a District Court judge has been arrested again and charged in the shooting of a man during a robbery in South Baltimore. Police said witnesses identified Demetrius Smith as the man who shot Robert Long twice in the head near railroad tracks in the 400 block of S. Stricker St. on March 24, and he was charged July 8 with first-degree murder, assault and handgun violations. A bail commissioner held him without bond.

Two soldiers involved in an altercation outside a Baltimore nightclub in which a gun was fired twice into the air could miss their deployments to Iraq this week after their attorney failed to get their trial postponed until the end of their 15-month tour. Pfc. Denario Wesson, 19, and Spc. Joshua Johnson, 24, will have to stay behind and face possible jail time, said their attorney, Arthur M. Frank, who sharply criticized prosecutors yesterday for pursuing the case and "carelessly disregarding" his client's duties to the American people at a time of war. At a hearing Monday, Judge Charles A. Chiapparelli left the final decision on a 15- to 18-month postponement to a city prosecutor, who rejected it. Earlier, according to a tape of the hearing, the judge had asked, "Do we need this kind of a bad guy to be in our Army?

Edgewater man stabbed outside bar A 39-year-old Edgewater man was listed in critical condition after being stabbed early Saturday during an altercation outside a Crofton sports bar, Anne Arundel County police said. The victim, who was not identified by police, was stabbed in the neck outside Krazy Otto's Sports Saloon in the 1300 block of Defense Highway about 1 a.m. during a fight in the bar's parking lot and was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center with life-threatening injuries, police said.

A woman charged with attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of a Baltimore police officer was denied bail yesterday by a District Court judge at a hearing where it was revealed that she had lied about her name and age. Police arrested a female suspect on Monday whom they identified as Brittany Johnson, a 17-year-old and charged her as a co-conspirator in the robbery and shooting of Officer Dante M. Hemingway last week in Westport. Police had charged her on Monday with attempted murder, armed robbery and numerous handgun violations.

Bail was revoked yesterday for five men charged with brazenly robbing 42 people at gunpoint in a remote area of the Loch Raven Reservoir when a prosecutor said that after they were arrested, the suspects discussed killing the victims. While the suspects were detained at the Cockeysville station shortly after midnight Saturday, police heard one of them say, "As soon as we get out of here, we've got to kill all of them," Assistant State's Attorney Richard K. Scott told District Judge Norman R. Stone III yesterday.

The second suspect in a series of carjackings and sexual assaults in Baltimore and Baltimore County last week surrendered to city police yesterday. Investigators said 20-year-old Michael Miles of the 2900 block of Walbrook Ave. in Northwest Baltimore surrendered at 3 p.m. yesterday at the office of a fugitive task force at 29th and Howard streets. Miles was charged with kidnapping, rape, handgun violations and sex offenses in attacks Aug. 25 on four women. Two of the victims were accosted outside an apartment complex on Goodnow Road.

Two Virginia men arrested last month in an armed robbery in Northwest Baltimore -- both of whom were living in a motel on Reisterstown Road -- are suspects in two Richmond slayings, city police said yesterday.Though the men have not been charged in the shooting deaths, police said authorities are planning to extradite them to Virginia on outstanding abduction warrants. They have been charged with handgun violations and robbery in Baltimore.The case began Oct. 31 when Sgt. James Rood and Officers Kevin Hagan and Chris Wade, members of the Northwestern District's major crime unit, were flagged down by four teen-agers, who said they had been robbed near Northern Parkway and Reisterstown Road.

Maurice Blevins was found guilty yesterday of murdering 3-year-old James Smith III in a West Baltimore barbershop in a January shooting that outraged a community battered by violence.A Circuit Court jury deliberated for less than four hours in the case and also found Blevins guilty of assaulting the boy's mother, Cheryl Whittington, 24; of attempting to murder Kenya Davis, 21; and of three handgun violations. He showed no emotion as the verdict was read, but Whittington, sitting in the rear of the small courtroom, cried softly.