Malicious Destruction

A Hampstead man was held on $100,000 bond after he was charged with burglary and theft of jewelry and cash valued at more than $7,500 and a .38-caliber revolver, according to District Court documents.David Scott Utz, 24, of the 2400 block of Fairmount Road was arrested Friday morning and charged in the burglary at the home in the 100 block of Portland Drive on March 25.Officers said a bedroom door was broken and drawers were ransacked while the family was away. Mr. Utz also was charged with malicious destruction of property.

Anne Arundel County police officers responding to a report of a residential burglary in progress in Churchton yesterday had no trouble cracking the case: They found a suspect asleep on a couch inside the house. Police said Benjamin D. Leitch's green pickup truck was in a ditch on the lawn outside the house in the 1100 block of Deep Cove Road when they arrived about 2:20 a.m., and Leitch was inside dozing. Leitch, a Galesville resident whose age was not available, was not an invited guest, police said.

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge has dismissed misdemeanor charges against several war protesters who on Jan. 17 climbed to the roof of the Fifth Regiment Armory, where one allegedly poured blood on a sign.The case against two other protesters -- Max Obuszewski, 31, charged with trespassing, and Richard Ochs, 52, accused of malicious destruction of property -- was expected to go to a jury today.Judge Edward J. Angeletti yesterday acquitted four of the six defendants -- members of the Baltimore Emergency Response Network -- of both counts against them after determining that the state had failed to prove its case.

Crime Solvers offer cash for assistanceThe Harford County Crime Solvers are offering up to $1,000 in reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the person who broke into a private residence in the 2200 block of Price Road in Darlington.According to a description released by police, the suspect is a black man in his mid 20s, 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighing 160 pounds.The suspect has short hair and, at the time of the break in, he was wearing a black cap and gray pants, the police description said.

Police arrested a Westminster man Saturday and charged him with stabbing a woman with a 10-inch-long screwdriver.Larry Allen Williams of South Court Street was charged in Carroll County Circuit Court over the weekend with assault and battery, malicious destruction and assault with a deadly weapon, the screwdriver.Maryland State Police Lt. Dean Brewer said Mr. Williams was one of about 50 people involved in a fight near South Court Street at Center Alley about 11 p.m. Saturday.The woman, identified in Circuit Court documents as Cheryl Gibson, told police that when she tried to stop a confrontation between her cousin and Mr. Williams, she was stabbed in the shoulder.

A Pimlico man was arrested Friday on charges of stabbing a Winfield man who died the next day of natural causes, court and police records show.Patrick McIntyre, 27, of Northwest Baltimore was being held on $10,000 bail at the Carroll County Detention Center pending a bail review hearing.McIntyre faces charges of first- and second-degree assault, malicious destruction of property and malicious destruction of a motor vehicle by throwing an object, reckless endangerment and use of a deadly weapon -- a screwdriver -- in the commission of a felony, court records show.

Baltimore County Police have arrested an 18-year-old Eldersburg man accused of spray-painting racist and pornographic graffiti in the newly built Taneytown home of an African-American woman last month. Jason M. Young of the 4200 block of Jim Bowers Road was charged Thursday with malicious destruction of property, grand theft, grand theft scheme and eight counts of burglary. Taneytown Police said Young and a 16-year-old companion broke into three houses there during the night of Oct. 4, including one being built by Karen Magruder, a participant in a church-sponsored self-help project.

Two Westminster men charged with breaking into the homes of neighbors in unrelated incidents last month were held yesterday at the Carroll County Detention Center in lieu of $100,000 bail on burglary and related charges.State police said a man broke into the home of his next-door neighbor on Sunshine Way on Sept. 14 and stole items valued at $3,190. Officers said the suspect forced open a rear window to get into the house.Police said the man stole a necklace, ring, watch and a small safe and pawned the jewelry at a pawn shop in Baltimore.

Five teenagers have been arrested in a weeks-long Carroll County "vandalism spree" that caused $20,000 worth of damage to 129 cars and saw more than $5,000 worth of portable electronics, jewelry and other valuables stolen, according to the Carroll County Sheriff's Office. "The only explanation given for this is a case of youthful mischief," said Major Phil Kasten, a sheriff's office spokesman. Police said the teens, all North Carroll High School students between the ages of 14 and 17, began their crime spree on Aug. 4, spending the night shattering car windshields, bending antennas and removing nearly $1,500 worth of valuables and prescription drugs from vehicles parked in residential driveways.

The federal government will give $364,000 to the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Site to upgrade the entrance and parking facilities, Maryland's two U.S. senators announced yesterday. The money - to come from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration - will help relieve safety concerns about schoolchildren, pedestrians and tour groups walking amid rows of buses to enter the Fort McHenry visitor center, according to the senators' offices. The parking lot will be improved, and a study will begin to look at building a circular route for transit vehicles to enter the lot from Fort Avenue.