Mercedes

NEW KENT, Va. -- Charle's Quest stormed past Mercedes Son in deep stretch, then caught front-running Chilito at the wire to win the $25,000 first-race feature yesterday at Colonial Downs.Charle's Quest, a 5-year-old gelding with Mark Johnston aboard, was last in the six-horse field at the top of the stretch, but angled out between foes in mid-stretch, eased by Mercedes Son and edged Chilito by a neck in a photo finish.The victory was the first in five starts this year for Charle's Quest, who ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1: 47 4/5 and paid $10.80, $3 and $2.60.

County police arrested a Dunkirk man early Sunday on charges of stealing four cars, credit cards and almost $800. One of the cars was damaged, police said.William Russell Green Jr., of the 11000 block of Oakwood Drive was charged with two counts of felony theft and first- and third-degree burglary. Green is being held on $15,000 bond.Police were called to the 1100 block of Cumberstone Road in Harwood about 1: 30 a.m., where owners James and Donna Olfson reported their 1992 Mercedes Benz sedan, cash and credit cards stolen.

Several Anne Arundel County police officers were placed on paid administrative leave while police investigate the department's fatal shooting of a robbery suspect who led them on a chase to a dead-end road in an industrial park.How many officers were taken off patrol was not immediately available, and how long the probe will take is unknown, said Sgt. Edward P. Bergin.Police shot Kevin P. Ferguson, 43, of the 4200 block of Wentworth Road in West Baltimore about 6 a.m. Saturday after he tried to drive through a police blockade, they say.He was pronounced dead at the scene, near East Ordnance Road and Baymeadow Drive.

A Southwest Baltimore man accused of stealing a Mercedes Benz off a car dealer's lot earlier this month was charged yesterday with stealing two other high-priced vehicles.Troy White, 21, of the 2100 block of Boyd St., was being held in the Baltimore County Detention Center in lieu of $35,000 bond. He is charged with three counts of auto theft, three counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and three counts of destruction of property. Police were investigating a second suspect in the case.

Dear Mr. Baseball:What has happened to former Orioles outfielder Luis Mercedes?Elliott PolanskySykesvilleDear Elliott Polansky:Not to boast, but some nifty detective work -- calls to three major-league teams, and a wrong number -- led to the information you're seeking. Along the way, Mr. Baseball also turned up the whereabouts of performer Bobby Goldsboro and a tree surgeon who once tidied the yard of Channel 11 forecaster Tom Tasselmyer, but that's a future column.Mercedes, 27, had a terrific minor-league career in the Orioles' system, cracking the .300 mark four times.

Anne Arundel County police chased a suspect driving a stolen vehicle Tuesday but were unable to catch him, police said yesterday.The suspect, described as a white male with dark brown hair and possibly a mustache, and wearing a bright green shirt, was spotted driving the stolen 1990 Mercedes 300 on Brockbridge Road about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.Two patrol officers gave chase, lost sight of the suspect, then eventually found the stolen car parked in a driveway in the 12800 block of Fernwood Turn.

Don Voorhees is like a kosher butcher with a great por barbecue sauce, or a palace eunuch with Paul Newman eyes.He is the master of his domain, peerless in his specialty, but the culmination of his life's work, published this spring, brutally sums up his sad situation: "The Book of Totally Useless Information" (Carol Publishing, $7.95).Why is North Carolina the "Tar Heel" state? Don knows. In the Civil War, North Carolinians stood their ground so stubbornly it seemed they had tar on their heels.

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Right-field candidate Luis Mercedes sprained his right ankle rounding first base in the second inning of the Orioles' 7-6 exhibition loss to the Philadelphia Phillies yesterday at Jack Russell Stadium.Mercedes hobbled into second base after driving an RBI double to left field. He appeared to be in tremendous pain as he crumpled to the ground, but Orioles trainer Jamie Reed said the injury was not as severe as it may have looked."It's just a slight sprain," Reed said. "We'll know more when we see how much it swells up tomorrow."

The Orioles' organization gained two players and lost two others yesterday during the Rule V draft.In the major-league portion of the draft, the Milwaukee Brewers selected pitcher Jose Mercedes off the Rochester roster. Mercedes, 22, is the first player the Orioles have lost in that fashion since outfielder Andres Mora in the late 1970s.As the Orioles did with Sherman Obando last summer, the Brewers must keep Mercedes on their major-league roster all of 1994 or offer him back to Baltimore for $25,000.

FRANKFURT -- For decades, Germany's industrial giant Daimler-Benz AG has been virtually impregnable to unwanted investors. Those days are now over.Daimler-Benz has decided to open its shareholder roll, both through a stock listing in the United States and by scrapping the Mercedes AG Holding, its main defense against unwanted predators."

1 Gimme a B ...: Gimme a C ...: Remember, Mack Brown, you have to vote the winner of Oklahoma-Florida (8:15 p.m., chs. 45, 5) as the national champion. 2 Theme song: Telecasts of the Mercedes-Benz Championship tournament (6 p.m., Golf Channel) should open with Janis Joplin's song about the car. Oh, Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz. ... 3 Solid gold: Tubby Smith's Golden Gophers are ranked No. 22, and Minnesota has a Big Ten game with Iowa (7 p.m., ESPN2). If his team stays ranked, Smith will be golden himself.

Chrysler's plant in Newark, Del., would likely close under a secret DaimlerChrysler restructuring plan dubbed "Project X. The plan, to be unveiled Feb. 14, is focused on transforming Chrysler into a smaller, more efficient automaker with closer ties than ever to its German parent company and the Mercedes-Benz luxury division. It calls for unprecedented sharing of vehicle architectures and parts between Chrysler and Mercedes, including developing small cars and SUVs together. The plan also details deep cost cuts similar to those at General Motors Corp.

Anne Arundel County prosecutors dropped manslaughter charges yesterday against Jason Robert Dehn, saying it is unclear whether he was driving the car that struck a van carrying dialysis patients, killing two of them. Forensic analyses led to "contradictory results" about who was driving the 1993 Mercedes Benz that struck the van on Admiral Drive, said Kristin Riggin, a spokeswoman for the state's attorney's office. Police said that Dehn, 24, of Annapolis and Fontaine Pridgett, 46, of Arnold walked away from the Dec. 30 crash involving the Mercedes they were traveling in, police said.

Who hasn't had a Walter Mitty daydream of roaring over the open road in a Mercedes-Benz with the top down, a beautiful companion at your side, and the speedometer standing slightly off the century mark? These elegant driving machines that have been synonymous for over 100 years with luxury, affluence and power politics are the subject of Apex of Glory: Benz, Daimler & Mercedes-Benz 1885-1955, a recently published book written by Blaine Taylor of Towson. The book, which tips the scales at a little over 4 pounds and includes 450 photographs of the fabled cars, will send the most dyed-in-the-wool Mercedes fan over the top. Of the vehicle's birth, Taylor writes, "The car ... had been invented jointly but separately by German entrepreneurs Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler in 1885, and their firms remained fierce rivals until their unexpected merger in 1926."

Auburn Hills, Mich. -- DaimlerChrysler AG's chief financial officer suggested yesterday that the German automaker might jettison its American partner as it tries to cut losses racked up by the Chrysler Group. "We don't exclude anything here," Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber said during a conference call on DaimlerChrysler's third-quarter results, which were marred by a $1.48 billion loss at Chrysler. Pressed about the possibility of spinning off Chrysler or pairing it with another automaker, Uebber told reporters and analysts that the company was analyzing the situation and would draw its conclusions afterward.

STUTTGART, Germany --In a town where the car is God, there's a new cathedral. Silvery and enigmatic, the Mercedes-Benz museum sits just off the B14 highway as it dips into a gentle fold of the Neckar Valley. Designed by Dutch architects Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos, the 15-story building looks like a loosely interleaved stack of postmodern pancakes, its bands of aluminum and glass rising in an undisciplined kinetic wobble above a granite pavilion. Mercedes-Benz has long had its stamp on Stuttgart's sky - a three-pointed star rotates above the Hauptbahnhof, or train station - but now, with the $50-million edifice planted on the outskirts of the city as a kind of ceremonial gateway, the company's dominion seems more ecclesiastical than corporate.

On August 4, 2006, MERCEDES GARCIA, beloved wife of the late Fernando B. Tayag Sr, devoted mother of Josefina Naraval, Felicitas Caladiao, Zenaida Tayag, Myrna Javier, Jesus Tayag, Perla Marucut, Armando Tayag and the late Fernando Tayag, Jr., loving grandmother of 23 and great grandmother of 13. Family and friends may call at THE JOHNSON FUNERAL HOME, P.A., 8521 Loch Raven Blvd. (Beltway exit 29-B) on Tuesday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. All are invited to attend a Funeral Mass on Wednesday, in the Church of The Immaculate Heart of Mary at 9 A.M. Interment Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.

DETROIT -- Since their 1998 merger creating the world's fifth-largest automaker, Mercedes Benz and Chrysler have seemed to be sitting at either end of a trans-Atlantic seesaw. When Chrysler was down, Mercedes was up. Then, a reinvigorated Chrysler helped the company stay profitable last year while it fixed problems at Mercedes. Now, Mercedes has become the heavyweight again, as Chrysler grapples with slumping sales that it blames on high fuel prices and intense competition in the United States.

CHICAGO -- He doesn't wear a cowboy hat and mask like the Lone Ranger, an early Chrysler pitchman. Nor does he wear a tuxedo and promote the rich Corinthian leather, as actor Ricardo Montalban did. And forget the expensive imported Burberry raincoat that Lee Iacocca sported when imploring shoppers to "Buy American." All he has is a bushy mustache, a pronounced accent and a wry sense of humor. And he uses those well as he runs a crossover vehicle into a crash barrier, expertly folds passenger seats into the floor of a minivan and bounces a soccer ball off his head.

NEW YORK -- DaimlerChrysler AG and its Mercedes-Benz USA unit were sued yesterday by a Los Angeles car dealer who wants his money back for a $1.7 million Mercedes AMG Roadster that died after driving only 10 blocks. The silver two-door sports car - the most expensive production car ever built - started malfunctioning during its first customer test drive in 2004, Mark Johnston, the owner of Grand Prix Motors, said in a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. The lawsuit claims breach of contract and negligence and seeks a full refund for the car. During the test drive, the 12-cylinder vehicle didn't shift properly and its oil light came on, the complaint said.