Padlock

POLICE LOG* Ellicott City: 3100 block of Normandy Woods Drive: A 1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo stolen Tuesday was recovered in Woodlawn in Baltimore County the same night.8500 block of Route 40: A maroon 1989 Ford conversion van with Maryland tags ABD58F was stolen from the lot at Normandy Ford between Saturday and Monday. The vehicle had been left there for service.8300 block of Main St.: A window at the office of the Howard County Tourism Council was broken Monday, police said.* Elkridge: 6000 block of Old Lawyers Hill Road: A padlock was pried off a home's basement doors Saturday, but residents are unsure if anything was taken.

POLICE LOG* Turf Valley: Someone stole a $100 cement bird bath from the yard of a house in the 900 block of 220th St. sometime between 10 p.m. Tuesday and 7 a.m. Wednesday.* Pasadena: Thieves stole stereo equipment from a truck and a car parked on the lot of Northeast High School Wednesday morning.* Sunset Beach: Someone cut the padlock off an outside door last weekend to break into a home in the 8400 block of Miramar Road and steal $500 worth of tools.

The owner of a Harney general store told state police that someone cut the padlock on his store and stole $200.Luther I. Ridinger, owner of Ridinger's Store in the 5000 block of Harney Road, said the break-in occurred between 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.Ridinger, 74, recently pleaded guilty to molesting six young boys and was ordered to spend his nights in the county jail for the next nine months.He is allowed to work at the store during the day.FIRE* New Windsor: New Windsor equipment responded for clean-up duties in the 2800 block of New Windsor Road at 9:43 p.m. Wednesday.

* Dayton: 3900 block of Ten Oaks Road: Someone pried a padlock from a garage between Feb. 28 and March 9.

* Glenelg: Someone stole two balance scales valued at $120 and a $50 a Santa Cruz skateboard from Glenelg High School on Tuesday or Wednesday.* West Friendship: 8400 block of Heatherwood Way: A juvenile known to a resident knocked on the victim's door demanding to use the telephone Tuesday. The suspect forced his way into the residence and used the telephone. Nothing was taken.* 8500 block of Baltimore National Pike: Someone stole four tires valued at $550 and four hubcaps valued at $200 from a 1993 Ford Escort at Normandy Ford between Saturday and Monday.

Police Commissioner Edward V. Woods smiled broadly as he hung up a sign proclaiming that the house on East 30th Street, which has been linked to drug trafficking, was being closed under the city's 1986 padlock law.It was the first time the city had successfully used the padlock law, police said.But the owner of the home at 719 E. 30th, Rita Curreri, 40, promises to come back. Curreri, who has pleaded guilty to cocaine possession charges, must leave the residence for one year beginning May 13. She was placed on two years' probation.

One day soon, Luther Braxton may return to the house he's renting on Retreat Street and find it closed and padlocked.The 73-year-old retiree has been convicted of renting rooms to prostitutes for the past 14 years. With more than a dozen arrests to back up their case, police are seeking to shut down the house under a 1986 padlock law being invoked for the first time.He is not alone.Residents of a house in the 700 block of East 30th Street also may be looking for new quarters because police provided evidence recently to show that the building -- located in a drug-free zone -- was being used for drug trafficking.