Kitchen Door

PoliceTaneytown: A resident of Otterdale Mill Road told police that someone forced open the kitchen door of his home between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday and stole personal property. The loss was estimated at $4,650.New Windsor: A resident of Main Street told police that someone shot out the windshield of his vehicle with a BB or pellet gun last week. Damage was estimated at $250.Pub Date: 5/12/97

Vultures have moved into a very tall tree above our house and car. To say there are "bird droppings" is an understatement. Not to mention our house looks cursed. What can we do? Many bird dispersal methods won't work because the vultures are perched so high. The keys are timing, persistence and diversity. Notice what time they congregate and be ready to preemptively target them at those times, every day, until they leave. Subject them to loud noises such as an air horn or distress calls.

POLICE LOG* Kings Contrivance: 9600 block of Sea Shadow: Someone entered a second-floor kitchen door between 9 a.m. and 1:20 p.m. Friday and stole several televisions.* Long Reach: 8900 block of Blue Pool: Someone entered a patio door between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. Friday and stole a wallet.* Oakland Mills: 6100 block of Stevens Forest Road: A 1985 blue Buick Century was stolen between 9 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday.

It looks ugly, ridiculous. A thick, case-hardened metal chain with heavy padlock is shackling our family's version of the great outdoors: four wrought-iron chairs and table with striped umbrella.This deck of ours is supposed to stand for good times and summer fun. At the moment, you can't move one chair without moving them all. Has it really come to this? Manacling the furniture?Yesterday, the police officer who recorded our latest theft -- the third in two weeks -- suggested this arrangement as a swift solution for keeping our property where it belongs.

POLICE LOG* Ellicott City: 3300 block of Rosemary Lane: Someone entered through an unlocked kitchen door Friday and stole tools and a VCR.3700 block of St. Paul Street: Meat was stolen from a freezer between Friday and Sunday after someone entered through an unlocked rear basement door.4200 block of Montgomery Road: Someone tried to break into two storage sheds Saturday or Sunday morning.9300 block of Route 40: The front door of a building was pried open, but nothing taken, last Tuesday or Wednesday, police said.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Howard County.Ellicott City: 4400 block of Rolling Meadows: Someone broke into a house Friday through a garage or kitchen door. Nothing was reported missing.Elkridge: 6000 block of Ducketts Lane: A house was broken into Friday when someone kicked in a basement door. Household items were moved around, but nothing was taken.Elkridge: 6300 block of Patuxent Quarter Road: A vandal broke the side window of a vacant house Friday. Nothing was reported missing.

POLICE LOG* Wilde Lake: 5000 block of Durham Road: Golf clubs were stolen from a garage between last Wednesday and Friday. Police said residents usually leave the garage door open.5000 block of Durham Court: A resident heard a noise in the kitchen at 4:30 a.m. Saturday and found a man with long brown hair and a ski jacket standing there. Police said the suspect, who fled, had entered through an unlocked rear kitchen door.* Hickory Ridge: 6400 block of Lockridge Road: Thieves ransacked a home and took televisions, a VCR, pennies, jewelry and cameras Friday or Saturday.

A 35-year-old man was shot and killed Wednesday night after Baltimore police said several men forced their way inside his Waverly home and fought with the victim before shooting him in the head in his upstairs bedroom. The victim's teenage daughter was home at the time, according to a Police Department spokesman, and called 911 after the assailants left. The victim was identified as Tavon Frederick, who had lived in the 3300 block of Westerwald Ave. in North Baltimore, one block west of the old Memorial Stadium.

A 35-year-old Southeast Baltimore man has been charged with breaking into a woman's home, stealing her thong underwear and sending her taunting text message images of the pilfered panties, according to police. The victim reported the break-in on Feb 2., saying that her rear kitchen door was pried open and cash, a gold necklace, a gold bracelet, and a pair of red underwear had been taken from her home in the 400 block of N. Lakewood Ave. She told police that she had received the jewelry from a man she knew as "Luis," who after the burglary sent her a text message that included a picture of the stolen panties.