Howard County Police

Howard County police shot a man Monday near railroad tracks by an Elkridge industrial park after he refused to drop his handgun, police said. Police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn identified the man Monday night as Jeffrey Dustin Nichols, 19, of the 6600 block of Grouse Road in Elkridge. He was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was listed in critical condition, she said in an email. Police said they were called about a man firing shots in the Hanover area around 3 p.m. Police followed him from the area near Loudon and Melrose avenues to an industrial park in the 7400 block of Hi Tech Road.

An Ellicott City barber has been charged by Howard County police with sexually abusing a 13-year-old male client. Jung Gon Kim, 54, is charged with sexual abuse of a minor, second- and third-degree sex offense, sodomy and second-degree assault. Kim, who lives in Boyds in Montgomery County, worked at Scissors Sound Hair Salon, 3419 Plum Tree Drive. He was arrested Oct. 31, and is being held at the county detention center on $500,000 bond, according to police. The victim reported the abuse last month, police said in a news release.

A 72-year-old man was injured in a single-vehicle accident in Columbia when his car slid off a road and struck a tree shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday, according to Howard County police. James Dennis Ellis, of Columbia, was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was in stable condition Saturday night, police said. The crash happened while Ellis was driving eastbound in the area of 10400 Little Patuxent Parkway, police said, adding that Ellis was traveling too fast for the wet roads.

A 30-year-old Columbia man died Saturday after he lost control of his motorcycle and slammed into the rear of a tractor-trailer parked on Brookdale Road in Elkridge, according to Howard County police. The victim was not wearing a helmet and was not licensed to drive the vehicle, police said. The accident occurred shortly before 1 p.m. near Brookdale Road and Route 1, police said. Police said the motorcyclist, Juan Carlos Calderon Mejia, was taken to University of Maryland Shock Trauma, where he died of his injuries.

Howard County Police headquarters were evacuated Monday evening after officials received word of a. possible bomb in a nearby car, but the report turned out to be false. Howard County Police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said that police got a call that there was possibly a bomb in a car. "They found a device. It was a fake," said Llewelyn via an emailed statement. "[That] has been confirmed by [a] bomb expert. " A police official on site said the headquarters was evacuated about 5 p.m., and the building remained unoccupied as a section of the headquarters parking lot was cordoned off by police, fire and ambulance officials.

When his identical twin brother went missing in 2007, Wael Ali sought to organize a search party in Howard County to hunt for clues. Later, after the discovery of Wasel Ali's body, Wael set up a memorial page on Facebook where he lamented that they'd never spend time together again. "Nobody deserves to be murdered," Wael said at the time. On Thursday, Howard County police delivered a twist in the four-year-old case, charging Wael with murdering his brother. Officials in Cobb County, Ga., where Wael Ali had been living recently and where he was taken into custody, say Wasel had been put in a chokehold, crushing his neck.

A Phish concert it was not. Virgin Mobile FreeFest ended Saturday with only three arrests, Howard County Police confirmed today. According to police, an 18-year-old from Brattleboro, Vermont was charged with possession of a controlled substance and "using a laser pointer where prohibited;" a 28-year-old from Portland, Maine was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia; and a 25-year-old from Fairfax, Virginia was...

A man has been charged with attempted murder after a stabbing early Saturday in an Ellicott City parking lot, police said. Howard County Police said they were called at about 2:30 a.m. to the 8300 block of Main Street in Ellicott City where they found 29-year-old Brian Black Jr. suffering from multiple stab wounds Christopher Thomas Hecker, 23, of Columbia was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder and first- and...

Colts legend Art Donovan never thought he'd get his ring back. The cherished keepsake of the 1958 NFL championship game — often called "the greatest game ever played" — was stolen from a Hong Kong hotel room in 1977. Donovan assumed it was gone forever. But 34 years later, the ring has been returned to its rightful owner after it showed up for sale on the Internet. A Howard County police detective followed up on a tip and found the ring, engraved with the defensive tackle's name and jersey number, listed for $25,000 on Craigslist.

A pedestrian attempting to cross Snowden River Parkway in Columbia is in critical condition after being struck by a car early Saturday morning, Howard County police said. Jacob Carl Lanswerk, 27, of Michigan, was trying to cross the road in the area of Snowden Square Drive just before 5 a.m. at a "non-pedestrian crossing location" when he was struck by a 2004 Toyota Camry heading northeast, according to police. Lanswerk was transported by helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, according to a police spokesman.