Metro Crime Stoppers

The administrative coordinator for Metro Crime Stoppers - a regional program that pays rewards for crime tips - has been fired as city police investigate financial irregularities, police and other officials said yesterday. Officials said the investigation is administrative and is aimed at determining whether money is missing and whether a criminal inquiry is possible. Robin Stevenson, who has done volunteer work for the Baltimore Police Department and was hired by the nonprofit Crime Stoppers program last year to process tips, did not respond to interview requests yesterday.

Police in Anne Arundel County are seeking help finding a man who robbed a PNC Bank branch on Fort Meade Road in Laurel. Police said he walked into the bank about 5:30 p.m. on May 3 and handed a teller a note demanding money and threatening to unleash a chemical weapon. The suspect is described a s white male about 40 years old and standing 5 feet 5 inches tall. He weighs about 150 pounds and was wearing a dark-colored shirt, shorts, dark sunglasses and a red baseball cap. The bank is in the 3300 block of Laurel Fort Meade Road, in Laurel.

Gap Suk Suh would have turned 60 years old yesterday. But instead of a celebration, relatives and friends of the electrician gathered on a Baltimore street with a plea to help catch his killer and offered thousands of dollars in reward money. Suh, who was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States 30 years ago, was fatally stabbed Nov. 6 in an apparent road-rage incident. The electrician was driving his van in the 500 block of W. Mulberry St. when it collided with a sport utility vehicle, causing minor damage, police said.

Baltimore County police are making another plea for help in finding the killer of Joann "Jody" LeCornu, a 23-year-old Towson University student who was shot in the back near her car in a shopping center on York Road in 1996. Metro Crime Stoppers has upped an reward to more than $30,000 in the 15-year-old case. The student was killed about 3:40 a.m. March 2, 1996 in the back of the Drumcastle Shopping Center, and managed to drive across the street to what was then York Road Plaza, where she died.

Baltimore County police on Tuesday identified a man found dead last week outside his Cockeysville home. Officers were called about 4:10 a.m. March 10 to the 10800 block of Williamson Lane, where they found Vicente Perez-Soto, 48, suffering from head trauma. His death was classified as a homicide after an autopsy, police said. Detectives have not identified any suspects or determined a motive in the investigation. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call police at 410-307-2020 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCKUP.

Metro Crime Stoppers, which in 10 years has solved 1,200 crimes in the Baltimore metropolitan area and doled out more than $200,000 in reward money, is in need of money to continue its efforts."

Baltimore County Police have released photographs of six unidentified people, three men and three women, in connection with the investigation of a June 13 robbery of a Greene Turtle employee, according to a statement released Wednesday. At about midnight, the male employee was leaving work on Restaurant Park Drive near the Owings Mills Mall, police said. The employee told police that he was cutting across the mall's parking lot when two people approached and displayed a handgun, the statement said.

Maryland National Bank has joined with Metro Crime Stoppers by agreeing to distribute 25,000 "Stop Thief" stickers at its 230 branches.The "Stop Thief" stickers, suitable for homes or cars, put thieves on notice that Metro Crime Stoppers can pay up to $1,000 to someone who reports them for breaking in, says Sgt. Jack Kincaid, a city police spokesman."

Maryland National Bank has joined with Metro Crime Stoppers by agreeing to distribute 25,000 "Stop Thief" stickers at its 230 branches.The "Stop Thief" stickers, which can be placed on homes or cars, put thieves on notice that a reward of up to $1,000 will be offered by Metro Crime Stoppers for "your arrest if you break into this house," said Sgt. Jack Kincaid, a city police spokesman.The stickers can be purchased elsewhere for a donation of $1.50."It's just a way of telling the criminal that we've had enough, this has got to stop, that crime doesn't pay, but Metro Crime Stoppers does pay," said Robert Pivec, chairman of the anti-crime organization's fund-raising committee.

On Monday, Baltimore County Police formally requested the public's help identifying two suspects who last month robbed the PNC Bank inside the Broadmead retirement community, in the 13800 block of York Road. Police say that on May 19, at about 2:15 p.m., two suspects approached the teller area, jumped over the counter, and pushed the teller down. The suspects removed an undisclosed amount of money from the teller's drawer, and fled from the location through a rear door. The suspects are described as black males, 20 to 30 years old, with a medium build, and dark complexion.

Baltimore County police on Wednesday asked for the public's help in a 15-year-old unsolved murder case. On March 2, 1996, Joann "Jody" LeCornu, 23, of Cedarcroft, was shot in the back from the rear of her car in the Drumcastle Shopping Center on York Road in the Towson area. She then drove across York Road to the York Road Plaza, which is now the Giant York Road Plaza. She was found dead there in her white Honda Civic by police after workers at the Giant food store called police at 3:41 a.m. to report the sound of gunshots, police told The Sun at the time.

Police in Baltimore County are seeking one person in a string of residential burglaries. The Sun's Steve Kilar writes about the case in today's editions . Here is a complete list of the crime, all in or around White Marsh over the past several days: •    On March 25, between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., an unknown suspect pried open a window of a home in the 9200 block of Ramblebrook Road, 21236, and took clothing and purses containing medication....

Baltimore County police are seeking one man they believe responsible for holding up three banks in or around Towson since November. In all three cases, police said he handed a teller a note demanding money and implied that he was armed. The first attack occurred shortly before 2 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the Wells Fargo Bank in the 900 block of Fairmount Ave. The second was at an M&T Bank in the 1000 block of York Road about 12:15 p.m. on Jan. 15. Police said the man hit again about 11:45 a.m. on March 8, at the same Wells Fargo Bank branch that was targeted in November.

Baltimore police have released two pictures of possible suspects in Tuesday night's shooting of a customer during a holdup of a Royal Farms store in Hamilton. The Sun's Steve Kilar wrote: "According to spokesman Det. Donny Moses, officers responded about 9:40 p.m. to reports of a shooting at the store. There, they found a 46-year-old man who had been shot in the chest. "He was conscious and breathing as medics took him to Johns Hopkins Hospital. As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, Moses said the victim was hospitalized in good condition and, barring any setbacks, was scheduled for release later in the day. "According to witnesses, two seemingly masked men - one armed with a silver handgun - came in and announced a robbery, Moses said.

Baltimore County police are asking the public's help in identifying a man who robbed a Catonsville liquor store Feb. 1. Police said the man entered The Store, which sells wine, beer and liquor in the Paradise section of Catonsville at 6500 Frederick Road, in the early evening. An employee told county police, who responded at about 7:20 p.m., that a man had pointed a handgun at him and demanded money from the register. The man then reached into the register and took cash from the drawer.

Baltimore police canvassed the East Baltimore neighborhood where 84-year-old Mary Hines was fatally stabbed and set on fire, hoping to generate tips in a case that has officials and residents outraged.  Police said Monday that they have no suspects in the case. Hines was found dead Thursday morning in a fire that engulfed her home in the 2600 block of E. Biddle St., and an autopsy determined she had been stabbed multiple times.  "The fire definitely complicates the case, and adds a hurdle that we'll have to overcome," said homicide Det. Joshua Ellsworth, who is the lead detective.

Baltimore County Police are asking for the public's help identifying a suspect who robbed the PNC Bank inside the Giant Food, in the 8100 block of Loch Raven Blvd., on June 4. Police said that on Saturday, at about 1:23 p.m., the suspect entered the store and passed a note to the teller announcing a robbery. He fled the location with an undisclosed amount of money. Despite a search of the area, the suspect was not located. The suspect is described as a black male, 25 to 35 years old, 5'6" to 5'11" tall, and between 150 and 175 pounds.

Baltimore County Police are asking for the public's help in identifying a man suspected in the Nov. 15 armed robbery at Wells Fargo Bank, in the 900 block of Fairmount Avenue, Towson. Police said that on Tuesday, at about 2 p.m., a man entered the bank and passed the teller a note demanding money. The suspect implied that he had a weapon. He fled the bank on foot after receiving money from the teller. Police did not disclose the amount taken. The suspect is described as a white male, 25 to 30 years old, 6 feet tall, 140 pounds, and with a thin build and fair complexion.

The reward has been increased to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in connection with the robbery of a Northern Harford County bank earlier this month, the Harford County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday. The robbery was Nov. 10 at the National Bank of Rising Sun's Dublin branch in the 3500 block of Conowingo Road in Street. The sheriff's office said in a news release the reward through Metro Crime Stoppers was raised to $10,000 through a partnership between the Maryland Association of Banks and the FBI. Two suspects, both males, are being sought in connection with the holdup.

Baltimore County Police are asking for the public's help in identifying a man suspected in the Nov. 15 armed robbery at Wells Fargo Bank, in the 900 block of Fairmount Avenue, Towson. Police said that on Tuesday, at about 2 p.m., a man entered the bank and passed the teller a note demanding money. The suspect implied that he had a weapon. He fled the bank on foot after receiving money from the teller. Police did not disclose the amount taken. The suspect is described as a white male, 25 to 30 years old, 6 feet tall, 140 pounds, and with a thin build and fair complexion.