Negligent Driving

A 23-year-old drug addict who drove with a revoked license for four years was convicted yesterday on charges including automobile manslaughter in a head-on crash that killed an elderly Pikesville electrician last year.The victim, Milton Stuck, 78, was the father-in-law of Beverly Dearing-Stuck, a Maryland Shock Trauma Center nurse who helped create programs there showing young people the lTC medical consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.Travis Jacob Coker of the 2800 block of Guilford Ave. in Baltimore had no alcohol in his blood July 6 when his southbound truck was speeding on the wrong side of Park Heights Avenue Extended near Caves Road and hit Mr. Stuck's car, tests revealed.

Faced with doubts about circumstances surrounding an accident that killed five people at a Woodlawn bus stop last summer, a Baltimore County judge yesterday acquitted Raymond Charles Haney of charges that could have sent him to prison for 50 years.Circuit Judge John Grason Turnbull II fined Haney $2,500 for speeding and for reckless and negligent driving -- $500 for each victim -- and ordered him to pay another $2,500 in court costs. But the judge said questions remained about whether Haney's driving justified the more serious charges of vehicular manslaughter.

The tractor-trailer driver in the crash that killed two teenagers at a nonworking Howard County traffic light is not only fighting the two traffic citations from the accident. Gary L. Dicks, 24, of Stephen City, Va., was served notices of wrongful death and negligence lawsuits recently for his actions on the night of Jan. 6. The parents of Scott E. Caplan, 19, of Columbia, and Theresa E. Howard, 18, of Eldersburg, separately have filed $5 million wrongful death lawsuits against Dicks.

Harford County sheriff's deputies and Maryland State Police report: Aberdeen Joseph E. Ensey Jr., 27, of the 200 block of Poclain Road, was charged Monday with second-degree assault. Jessica L. Cook, 19, of the 4600 block of Kimby Lane, was charged Monday with second-degree assault. Michael Lablair Harris Jr., 18, of the 4900 block of Bristle Cone Circle, was charged Sunday with drug possession with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana. Robert V. Stamper, 46, of the 1100 block of Old Philadelphia Road, was charged Saturday with second-degree assault.

If you were to walk around the Inner Harbor firing bullets wildly into the air, would you get a ticket and have your gun handed back the next day? No way. You'd be facing felony or serious misdemeanor charges -- if you were lucky enough to get arrested alive. And say goodbye to the gun. So how is that behavior any more homicidal or suicidal than driving at 120 mph in a 55-mph zone on the Baltimore Beltway? That's what police charged Patrick T. Britton-Harr with doing Oct. 8 -- along with negligent driving and alcohol offenses.

Harford County sheriff's deputies and Maryland State Police report: Aberdeen Gene R. Bowser Jr., 34, of the 200 block of Perrywood Court, was charged Thursday with three counts of possessing a drug other than marijuana and three counts of drug possession with intent to distribute. Marcelles A. Kenly, 25, of the 300 block of Center Deen Court, was arrested Aug. 31 on a warrant for one count of trespassing, one count of marijuana possession, one count of possessing another drug and one count of possessing drug paraphernalia.

Dave Hill program director at 98 Rock, said Thursday afternoon that the station had “parted ways” with afternoon disc jockey Stephen G. Smith, known to listeners as Stash. Smith has not been on the air since an automobile accident in Harford County Sunday that sent five people to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries and resulted in 48-year-old disc jockey being charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, negligent driving and other traffic offenses, according to police.

In a decision that could make it easier for citizens to record police officers in Maryland, a Harford County judge ruled Monday that state police and prosecutors were wrong to arrest and charge a man for taping his own traffic stop and posting it on the Internet. Circuit Court Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr.'s ruling helps clarify the state's wire tap law and makes it clear that police officers enjoy little expectation of privacy as they perform their duties. "Those of us who are public officials and are entrusted with the power of the state are ultimately accountable to the public," Plitt wrote.

Westminster Hihg School students David H. Rousch Jr. and Michael Vernon McNeal Jr. almost got away with playing hooky Wednesday, but somebody threw a little light on the subject.State police reported that the two youths ran into a light pole shortly after 2 p.m. when Mr. Rousch, who apparently was fiddling with a radio dial in the 1990 Buick LeSabre, lost control of the vehicle as he and Mr. McNeal were leaving the school's access road and heading toward Hook Road.Neither youth was seriously injured, police said.