Officer

Baltimore County police say they shot a woman in Pikesville early Saturday after she pulled a handgun on an officer. The woman was in serious condition at a local hospital Saturday evening but expected to survive, police said. According to a news release, the officer was called to the 3100 block of North Brook Road before 2 a.m. to investigate a report of a suspicious person. He saw a woman throw a large rock at a house, officials said, breaking a window. The woman allegedly drew a handgun, and police said the officer repeatedly ordered her to drop, then shot her multiple times in the upper body.

Baltimore's housing office has disbanded its security unit, laying off seven sworn police officers, the agency said Thursday. The duties of the Lease Enforcement Unit — which investigates criminal activity in public housing to determine if a resident has violated his or her lease — will be assumed by the city's Inspector General's office, which investigates fraud, waste and abuse, said Cheron Porter, a spokeswoman for Baltimore Housing....

A Baltimore police sergeant was indicted Wednesday on charges of misconduct and violating state wiretap statutes for secretly recording a conversation with a judge, the city State's Attorney's Office announced. Sgt. Carlos M. Vila, who has served on the executive board of the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police, is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Oct. 10. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday. According to the state's attorney's office, he recorded part of an April telephone conversation with Maryland District Court Judge Joan B. Gordon without her knowledge and played it a month later at the Southeast District Police Station.

A school police officer at Pikesville High School was assaulted after responding to a fight in the gym this morning, Baltimore County police said. The fight broke out between two students shortly before 9:40 a.m., said Cpl. Cathy Batton, a police spokeswoman. No injuries were reported. Charges are pending against both students, Batton said. alisonk@baltsun.com twitter.com/aliknez

Montgomery County police say an officer was killed when his police cruiser struck a tree while he responded to an officer who needed backup. Police have yet to release the officer's name. He was a seven-year veteran of the department and worked the midnight shift. Police say the officer was en route to the scene of a fight early Sunday when his car ran off the road and hit a tree. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died. Detectives are investigating the crash. - Associated Press

FTI Consulting Inc., a Baltimore-based provider of forensic accounting, corporate restructuring and other business services, said its chief financial officer has resigned "to pursue other opportunities." Jorge Celaya left Thursday and was replaced by David G. Bannister, formerly the chief administrative officer, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday. Celaya, who agreed to work as a consultant through May, will get a year's salary as severance plus $700,000.

A Baltimore City officer suffered a concussion Tuesday in a motorcycle accident on Interstate 795 in Owings Mills. The officer, a 10-year-veteran of the city motorcycle unit, was traveling to a training exercise in Sykesville. He lost control of the motorcycle on the rain-slick road and collided with a Jersey wall about 8 a.m., police said. The officer, whose identity has not been released, was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he is in good condition.

The Carroll County Sheriff's Office says a 29-year-old New Windsor man died Monday when he failed to stop for an officer attempting to pull him over and subsequently got into an accident on Route 140. The incident occurred at about 6:25 a.m., when the sheriff's deputy saw a Dodge Ram 1500 traveling at a high rate of speed in the Finksburg area. The deputy tried to pull the car over, but the motorist failed to stop and continued at a high rate of speed onto Old Gamber Road, then turned right onto Old Westminster Pike, according to the sheriff's office.

Baltimore Police on Tuesday identified the officer who shot and killed a Baltimore County man last weekend after witnessing an apparent domestic dispute in Northwest Baltimore. Northwest District patrol officer Paul Heffernan, 37, had witnessed Michael Wudtee of Randallstown repeatedly assaulting an his girlfriend, in a gas station lot on Liberty Heights Avenue, police said. Heffernan, a 13 year veteran, has not been involved in any prior police involved shootings. According to a police department statement, officers pulled up next to Wudtee's vehicle and attempted to confront him, when he fled on foot.

Osvaldo Valentine, a 40-year-old Baltimore police officer, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison Thursday for taking kickbacks from an auto repair company, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced. Sixteen Baltimore officers were convicted in the scheme, which involved referring car crash customers to Majestic Auto Repair in Rosedale in exchange for cash payments, falsifying police reports and increasing damage to vehicles to boost the insurance payouts. Valentine is the ninth officer sentenced to federal prison thus far. His term is on the high end of the range, which spans eight to 30 months.

When Anne Arundel County Sheriff Ron Bateman first suggested withholding state tax refunds from people who have open warrants nearly three years ago, critics said it was a foolish pursuit. "One of the criticisms I got was, 'How many criminals have jobs where they are going to get a tax refund?'" he recalled. He couldn't say. Now he can. "There were 396," he told the County Council during a recent budget hearing. This past tax season — the first with the program fully in effect — that's the number of letters the state comptroller's office sent, telling people if they wanted their money, they'd have to clear their open Anne Arundel County warrants.

The Annapolis-based law firm Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC has acquired and is merging with the Law Offices of Arnold M. Weiner, located in Baltimore. The merger will go into effect on July 1, according to a statement from the firms released Wednesday. After the merger, the firm will be called Rifkin, Weiner, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC. Alan M. Rifkin, managing partner of the firm, said that Rifkin, Livingston has been looking to re-establish a Baltimore office and this merger offered the right opportunity.

Maryland officials agreed Wednesday to buy the historic Annapolis post office building from the U.S. Postal Service for use as part of the government complex surrounding the State House. Without dissent, the three-member Board of Public Works agreed to pay $3.2 million for the 13,000-square-foot building on Church Circle. Built in 1901, the structure is listed on the Maryland Historical Trust inventory of historic properties. Under the deal, the state will lease space back to the Postal Service to continue services for eight to 20 months until it relocates.

I saw it with my own eyes -- Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley standing centerstage Tuesday in the Oval Office. Only it wasn't the one in Washington. It did, though, make for a light but fascinating kind of political-pop-culture-meta moment. O'Malley was in Harford County to visit the set of "House of Cards," the $100 million Netflix political thriller starring Kevin Spacey. The reason for the visit as the cast and crew settles in to film Season 2 was to highlight the success of a state film incentives program backed by O'Malley that has brought such award-winning productions as HBO's "Game Change" and "VEEP" as well as "House of Cards" to Maryland.

Top state officials will decide Wednesday whether to buy the Annapolis post office on Church Circle to use it for government offices. The Board of Public Works -- comprised of the governor, comptroller and treasurer -- will vote on spending $3.2 million to buy the building. Appraisals for the building at 1 Church Circle range from a low of $950,000 to a high of $3.55 million, according to the state. The property is less than one acre and the building is 13,058 square feet.

Baltimore County police identified a 40-year old woman who was charged after brandishing what an officer believed to be a gun before he shot her multiple times in Pikesville early Saturday. Stephanie Kamlot threatened an officer with a metallic replica of a large-caliber semi-automatic handgun after he ordered her to drop it several times, causing him to shoot Kamlot, according to a police statement. Kamlot was shot in the upper body and taken to a city hospital for treatment, police said.

Baltimore police on Monday identified the officer who shot a man police said was firing guns in the backyard of a house Thursday night. The officer is Steven Angelini, a seven-year veteran of the department. Police said officers were called to the 6700 block of Danville Avenue, which is off Dundalk Avenue, about 8:30 p.m. Thursday for reports of gunfire. Officers found a man in the backyard of a home shooting weapons, and Angelini shot the man. The man was taken to a hospital for his injuries, and no officers were hurt.

A Baltimore County police officer pleaded guilty to misconduct and agreed to resign after admitting to filming himself numerous times engaging in sex acts and neglecting to respond to calls while on duty. Aaron Z. Pross, 29, who had been assigned to the Pikesville Precinct, took more than 120 images and 20 videos engaging in sexual acts with himself, including one where he masturbated inside his patrol car while reports of "possible guns involved," can be heard over a police radio, prosecutors said.

A woman shot Saturday in Pikesville by a Baltimore County police officer - after the officer thought she had pulled a weapon - turned out to be holding a replica of a semi-automatic handgun, according to police. Police had responded to the 3100 block of Northbrook Road in Pikesville just before 2 a.m. for a call about a suspicious person. When the officer arrived, he saw a woman standing in front of the house and saw her throw a large rock at the house, which broke a window, police said.