Maryland State Police

An article in yesterday's Sun transposed the names of two men involved in a fatal car accident on U.S. 50 near Rabbit Hill Road in Easton. Maryland State Police said Craig Lee Schatz of Delaware was driving a Ford pickup truck that was hit by a Buick Park Avenue driven by Halston Andre Tyler Jennings of Pennsylvania. Three separate serious accidents over the weekend on U.S. 50 in the Easton area left three people dead and nine others injured - including two Baltimore teenagers, Maryland State Police said.

Saying that Maryland State Police are withholding information on how complaints of racial profiling are investigated -- and violating the public's right to government information -- the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit yesterday against the agency . The suit, filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court, alleges that the state police are improperly withholding records about any disciplinary actions taken in response to complaints of racial profiling...

Maryland travelers flooded airports, train stations and local roads yesterday, putting authorities on the alert but causing few problems on what was expected to be the busiest travel day of the holiday weekend. The number of people leaving home over the Christmas weekend was expected to be slightly up from last year, despite rising gasoline prices and airfares. "Because Christmas is falling on a Tuesday, it's sort of viewed as a four-day weekend for most people," said Ragina C. Averella, public and government affairs manager for AAA. "That encourages people to travel."

A 62-year-old Baltimore man was sentenced yesterday in federal court to more than four years in prison for possessing more than 600 images of child pornography. In addition to a 51-month prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Andre M. Davis also ordered that Alfred O'Neill register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. According to the statement of facts presented to the court as part of the plea agreement, the Maryland State Police received a complaint in November 2004 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a suspicious person in Maryland using an Internet screen name.

Maryland State Police arrested two men accused of being accomplices of a man wanted for eight bank robberies in Harford and Cecil counties. Police charged Antonio Christopher Butler, 21, of Essex and Jeridan Kevin Harris, 22, whose last known address was in Joppa, with robbery, theft over $500 and conspiracy to commit robbery. State police, FBI and Harford and Cecil County sheriffs are looking for John William Burton, 44, a suspect in robberies of Mercantile Bank in Aberdeen on July 16; BB&T Bank in Churchville on July 27; Harford Bank in Abingdon on July 30; Wachovia Bank in Bel Air on Aug. 13; Cecil Bank in Rising Sun on Aug. 27; Mercantile County Bank in Belcamp on Sept.

The heat descended on the building about 9 p.m. Thursday, sirens blaring, red and blue lights flashing and creating an almost hypnotic, strobe-light effect. The cops emerged from their cars and entered Mason Memorial Church of God in Christ in the 2600 block of Frederick Ave. "I thought they were raiding the church," observed Wayne Thomas, who was standing nearby. "I've never seen a church get raided before." In a way, Thomas was right: Mason Memorial was being raided. But the cheers, the applause, the whoops of sheer glee and delight from church members as police went into the church should have been the tip-off: these churchgoers loved this kind of raid.

In Baltimore CountyPolice seeking help to identify burglar in store break-insTOWSON - County police are asking for the public's help in identifying a burglar whom they believe is responsible for more than 20 break-ins at convenience and liquor stores in the past month.The burglar has broken into closed businesses - mostly in western and northwestern Baltimore County - after midnight, prying open or breaking doors. He then smashes cash registers and lottery drawers. A police spokeswoman said the man takes cigarettes, lottery tickets and cash.

Courts should help police, crime victims confine criminalsThis letter is in response to "Slain officer's family keeps 24-year vigil" (Feb. 25) by Devon Spurgeon. The article walks the reader through the "sips of freedom" a convicted murderer has had since he was imprisoned in 1976 for killing Maryland State Police Sgt. Wallace J. Mowbray.The article also speaks of the Mowbray family's conflict with the justice system regarding the release of Charles Edward Watson, convicted in the murder.

Maryland State Police arrested a Cecil County man yesterday and charged him with the fatal stabbing of a female neighbor in May.Christopher L. Thomas, 28, of the 700 block of Bethel Church Road in North East, was arrested in Pennsylvania, where he was doing construction work, said 1st Sgt. Laura Lu Herman of the Maryland State Police. She said Thomas was taken to the North East barracks yesterday afternoon.State police at the barracks said Thomas waived his right to an extradition hearing shortly after his arrest.

IN WHAT can only be viewed as a blatant case of retaliation, the paramedic who recently won a federal sex discrimination lawsuit against the Maryland State Police now is being required to undergo psychiatric examination.The police agency claims that it is "routine" for officers to submit to psychiatric evaluation when the agency questions their fitness for duty. Statements by Trooper 1st Class H. Kevin Knussman during the trial raised concern about his ability to function as a helicopter paramedic, according to State Police lawyers.

Police knew just where to find the 17-year-old fugitive from a Baltimore County detention facility. All they had to do was trace a call he made on the cell phone of his lover - an employee at the center. The boy, a sex offender who had been in custody at a treatment facility in Parkville, fled Monday evening during a sanctioned group outing to a White Marsh movie theater. As Maryland State Police officials told the story Thursday, the boy made his getaway by hopping into a waiting car driven by Tyra M. Greenfield, a 26-year-old youth counselor.

A Baltimore County teenager was killed after veering off the ramp from southbound Interstate 83 to the Baltimore Beltway westbound near Lutherville, according to Maryland State Police. Kwest T. Logan, 17, of the 200 block of Lord Byron Lane in Cockeysville, was found dead about 10 a.m. Monday, shortly after police responded to a report of a possible vehicle in the woods near the exit ramp. A motorist called police after noticing light reflecting off the car while driving in slow-moving traffic this morning, police said.

The National Transportation Safety Board adopted a broad set of safety recommendations Tuesday covering medical helicopters, expanding beyond equipment and technology matters to address the business models of the $2.5 billion industry. The board also recommended extending federal oversight to government medical helicopter operations such as that of the Maryland State Police. The most sweeping change was a proposal that Medicare, the nation's largest insurer, pay only for flights conducted by medical helicopter programs that abide by safety and performance standards that the Medicare program would develop.

City man, 20, fatally shot in head in East Baltimore A 20-year-old man was fatally shot in the head Tuesday night in East Baltimore, according to city police. The man, identified as Gregory Wilson, was found by officers about 11:16 p.m. in the 2600 block of E. Oliver St. lying on his back suffering from a gunshot wound, police said. Wilson, of the 1100 block of Whitelock St., was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital and pronounced dead about midnight. Police have made no arrests in the case.

Police seek identity of remains found in Carroll Maryland State Police have released a sketch of what a female homicide victim, whose remains were found in March in Carroll County, might have looked like, in an attempt to identify her. Police believe she was white, in her late teens or early 20s, with a petite build. A Baltimore County forensic artist examined the victim's skull to develop a composite drawing. Police said the woman could have been killed decades ago. The remains were found March 24 in the 900 block of Baltimore Blvd.

Maryland State Police were investigating a fatal motorcycle accident that closed lanes on Interstate 97 Tuesday afternoon. No further details were released pending notification of family members. A caller reported the incident about 2:23 p.m., saying a motorcycle had slid under a truck on I-97 between Crain Highway and Quarterfield Road, said Capt. Debbie Bowen, an Anne Arundel Fire Department spokeswoman. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, she said.

Howard Co. child left in car 8 hours dies of heatstroke A 23-month-old Howard County girl died of heatstroke after one of her parents unintentionally left the child strapped in her car seat in front of the family's Ellicott City residence last week. Neither the identity of the child nor her parents was released. Police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said Tuesday that no criminal charges will be filed. She said that emergency responders were called to the home about 5 p.m. June 25, eight to nine hours after the child had been placed in the car seat.

WASHINGTON -U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies have not fully responded to requests about data shared from a Maryland State Police spying operation into anti-death penalty and anti-war activists, Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin said Tuesday. Cardin said he remains committed to seeking more information amid concerns that the Maryland data were "potentially made available" to U.S. agencies. He added that the Senate may hold a hearing on the matter this year. The Maryland Democrat made the remarks in a brief interview after the first session of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on terrorism and homeland security, which he chairs.

Cops are calling them treasure maps for crime, and the possibilities seem endless: * Not only can the new maps show the location of all the protective orders filed by battered women that need to be served by police in Maryland, but they can isolate the ones for spouses with gun licenses. Maybe those are the ones that should be served first. * Not only can they show the location of every bar, tavern and liquor store in Baltimore, but they can zoom in on ones surrounded by homes of violent offenders.

In tough economic times, lawmakers must make difficult choices about how to allocate resources and rein in spending. But too often, the brunt of the pain falls on the most vulnerable members of society as cuts in social services and the agencies that administer them not only can't keep up with rising needs but find themselves falling further and further behind. In an economy where unemployment is still climbing, businesses are shutting their doors and the foreclosure crisis keeps unfolding, the people hit hardest by Maryland's budget crunch are the state's poorest residents.