Joker

The Crofton man accused of threatening a workplace shooting and calling himself "a joker" appeared in a Prince George's County courtroom Tuesday, hours after leaving the inpatient psychiatric facility where he stayed voluntarily for more than three weeks after police raided his home. A county mental health court judge released Neil Edwin Prescott, 28, into the custody of his parents and ruled that he must continue taking medication and attend counseling while he awaits arraignment in Upper Marlboro next week, according to court records.

The Crofton man accused of calling himself a "joker" while threatening to carry out a workplace shooting will be under GPS monitoring and not have access to guns while undergoing mental health treatment, a judge ruled Thursday. Neil Edwin Prescott, 28, appeared in Mental Health Court to update a judge on his first week outside of an inpatient mental health facility after being taken into custody last month. Police raided Prescott's apartment, seized two-dozen firearms he legally owns, and later charged him with using a telephone to make threats.

A Crofton man repeatedly threatened to “blow everybody up” at his former workplace and declared himself a “joker,” according to Prince George's County police - in what authorities believe is a reference to last week's mass murder during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colo. Neil Edwin Prescott, 28, was taken into custody early Friday morning and transferred to Anne Arundel Medical Center for an emergency psychiatric evaluation, police said. He has not been charged with a crime.

The Crofton man accused of threatening a workplace shooting and calling himself "a joker" appeared in a Prince George's County courtroom Tuesday, hours after leaving the inpatient psychiatric facility where he stayed voluntarily for more than three weeks after police raided his home. A county mental health court judge released Neil Edwin Prescott, 28, into the custody of his parents and ruled that he must continue taking medication and attend counseling while he awaits arraignment in Upper Marlboro next week, according to court records.

Prosecutors face a ticking clock as they continue to build a case against the Crofton man who they believe threatened to commit a workplace shooting while calling himself "a joker. " Authorities said Monday that they plan to file charges against Neil Edwin Prescott, 28, before he leaves the custody of mental health officials, though they did not specify what the charges might be. Prescott has been in custody since a police raid Friday found a cache of more than two dozen guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition in Prescott's apartment.

The Crofton gun owner who police say threatened to shoot up his former workplace held a collector's permit that allowed him to purchase more than one regulated firearm per month, according to documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun. Neil Edwin Prescott, 28, bought and registered nine firearms in the year since his application was approved Aug. 16 - eight of them in the past four months, records from the Maryland State Police show. The records were received through a state Public Information Act request.

The Crofton man accused of calling himself a "joker" while threatening to carry out a workplace shooting will be under GPS monitoring and not have access to guns while undergoing mental health treatment, a judge ruled Thursday. Neil Edwin Prescott, 28, appeared in Mental Health Court to update a judge on his first week outside of an inpatient mental health facility after being taken into custody last month. Police raided Prescott's apartment, seized two-dozen firearms he legally owns, and later charged him with using a telephone to make threats.

When Thelma Greathouse rubbed off an ace and two jokers on her "Joker's Wilder" scratch-off lottery ticket, she thought she'd hit it big for $600."I had to look at it three, four times. I thought, 'I can't win that much money,' " said Greathouse.The Middle River lottery player was right -- she didn't."Joker's Wilder," introduced this month as a successor to the Maryland Lottery's popular Joker's Wild game that ended more than a year ago, has a ironic twist: The jokers aren't wild -- at least not in the traditional card-playing way.Unlike the previous version of the game, which let players use jokers to round out threes-of-a-kind, Joker's Wilder requires players to match all three cards to win.The news was a rude awakening for Greathouse and her friend Ginger Rudasill, who thought they had not only a $600 winner but an additional $67 coming from other game tickets.

Dale Jarrett appeared as Batman and Kenny Irwin as the Joker in last night's Goody's 500 NASCAR race in Bristol, Tenn.Their Ford Tauruses have received special paint jobs, and both drivers will wear suits and headgear patterned after the comic book stars.What makes this so special? After all, Winston Cup cars promote everything from Tide to the Cartoon Network to Hot Wheels.This time, though, it's Ford's marketing concept."This gets us into venues beyond traditional race audiences," said Roy Gadomski, Ford Quality Care Motorsports coordinator.

Critic's Pick-- The Caped Crusader tries to beat The Joker (Jack Nicholson, above) to the punch line in Batman (8 p.m.-11 p.m., ABC Family).

The Crofton gun owner who police say threatened to shoot up his former workplace held a collector's permit that allowed him to purchase more than one regulated firearm per month, according to documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun. Neil Edwin Prescott, 28, bought and registered nine firearms in the year since his application was approved Aug. 16 - eight of them in the past four months, records from the Maryland State Police show. The records were received through a state Public Information Act request.

The Crofton man who police have said called himself "a joker" while threatening a workplace shooting has been charged with a single misdemeanor count of misusing the telephone, authorities said Wednesday. Police drew national headlines when they announced that Neil Edwin Prescott was in custody, saying they had thwarted a "violent episode" with links to a mass shooting in Aurora, Colo. But on Wednesday, prosecutors found themselves explaining the relatively minor charge as Prescott's friends criticized the handling of the case.

Maryland police regularly send heavily armed tactical officers to raid houses searching for criminal suspects or evidence. Sometimes the operations turn deadly, as in a recent case in Reisterstown when a Baltimore County officer shot a man who police said attacked him with a sword. One of the first questions The Baltimore Sun asks after such an encounter is whether officers had a “no-knock” warrant, which would have allowed them to enter without having to announce themselves, even briefly, before going through the door.

Prosecutors face a ticking clock as they continue to build a case against the Crofton man who they believe threatened to commit a workplace shooting while calling himself "a joker. " Authorities said Monday that they plan to file charges against Neil Edwin Prescott, 28, before he leaves the custody of mental health officials, though they did not specify what the charges might be. Prescott has been in custody since a police raid Friday found a cache of more than two dozen guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition in Prescott's apartment.

A Crofton man who owned a cache of weapons repeatedly threatened to "blow everybody up" at his former workplace and declared himself a "joker," police said, in what authorities believe is a reference to last week's mass killings during a midnight screening of"The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colo. Neil Edwin Prescott, 28, was taken into custody at his apartment early Friday and transferred to Anne Arundel Medical Center for an emergency psychiatric evaluation, Prince George's County police said.

Jane Jetson was standing in line next to Poison Ivy talking about shoes, while a dozen people back, Willy Wonka was deciding whether she and Dr. Horrible, looming to her right, were officially dating. "Tentatively," she finally decided after several seconds' thought, though her true love may be the candy man. She said she wrote a 70,000-word fan fiction in his honor. "He's really complicated," said Hillary Henson/Wonka. "He's got an awesome back story." Henson, 22, and Dr. Horrible (aka 23-year-old Harrison Lichtner)

Moves Colleges KENTUCKY: Named Joker Phillips offensive coordinator. MICHIGAN: Announced that F-G Lester Abram will miss rest of basketball season after undergoing surgery on left shoulder and that F-C Graham Brown will miss four to six weeks after hernia surgery.

Tropic Thunder *** ( 3 STARS) $16.3 million $65.8 million 2 weeks Rated: R Running time: 107 minutes What it's about: A failing action star (Ben Stiller, above), a drug-addicted comic (Jack Black) and a celebrated Australian actor (Robert Downey Jr.) stumble onto real guerrillas while making a war film. Our take: Downey is daringly funny as a white man from Down Under playing an African-American soldier. At its best, this movie wrings divine madness from wretched excess. House Bunny ** 1/2 ( 2 1/2 STARS )