Patrol Car

FREDERICK — Police in Frederick County say a Smithburg man has been charged with driving under the influence and other charges after his vehicle struck a Maryland State Police patrol car. Police say 19-year-old Robert John Gery hit the patrol car parked on Raven Rock Road near Fort Ritchie at just after 4:30 a.m. Saturday. The trooper driving the patrol car sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The Baltimore police officer who was thrown over the side of Interstate 83 and fell 20 feet after a car crashed into her vehicle as she helped a stranded motorist has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the driver and the owner of the vehicle. The driver, 23-year-old Robert R. Vanderford, is scheduled to appear in District Court this week for a trial on traffic charges related to the June 21, 2011, incident. The charges include failure to control vehicle speed to avoid a collision, failure to reduce speed in dangerous weather and driving while his license was suspended in another state.

A Baltimore police officer was injured Sunday evening when his speeding patrol car, its siren blaring and its emergency lights flashing, crashed into a pickup truck on York Road in North Baltimore and flipped it onto its roof. Officers who went to the scene of the accident said it appeared to have occurred when the Ford pickup pulled out of a parking lot at 5438 York Road in front of the officer's white-and-blue Chevrolet Impala. The officer, who was not immediately identified, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, possibly with a broken ankle or leg. Debris from both vehicles littered the road.

FREDERICK — Police in Frederick County say a Smithburg man has been charged with driving under the influence and other charges after his vehicle struck a Maryland State Police patrol car. Police say 19-year-old Robert John Gery hit the patrol car parked on Raven Rock Road near Fort Ritchie at just after 4:30 a.m. Saturday. The trooper driving the patrol car sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

A Baltimore police officer was injured last night when the patrol car he was driving in West Baltimore crashed into the front of a rowhouse during the pursuit of car driven by a suspected drug offender, police said. Officer Walter Brown of the Central District was among other police officers pursuing the suspect in the 1400 block of Druid Hill Ave. about 10 p.m. when he collided with another police car at West Lafayette Avenue and careened into the house, causing minor damage to the dwelling and serious damage to the car. Brown sustained chest, neck, head and leg injuries.

A Baltimore County police officer was injured yesterday when his patrol car was struck by a car whose driver was charged with driving while intoxicated.Police said Officer Chuck Massey, a member of the force for nine years and assigned to the Wilkens Precinct, was responding to a minor traffic accident at the Beltway Motel in the 3600 block of Washington Blvd. about 2:20 a.m. and was slowing down to turn onto the motel parking lot when his vehicle was struck in the rear by a Chevrolet Cavalier.

A Baltimore police officer lost control of his patrol car yesterday and struck a pedestrian on a Reisterstown Road sidewalk near the Baltimore County border. Both were taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where the officer was treated for a cut on his forehead and the man - whose name was not divulged - was in serious condition with internal injuries, police said. The officer, whose name also was withheld, was driving south in the 6100 block of Reisterstown Road in response to an armed robbery call about 2:40 p.m., police said.

The Baltimore police officer who was thrown over the side of Interstate 83 and fell 20 feet after a car crashed into her vehicle as she helped a stranded motorist has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the driver and the owner of the vehicle. The driver, 23-year-old Robert R. Vanderford, is scheduled to appear in District Court this week for a trial on traffic charges related to the June 21, 2011, incident. The charges include failure to control vehicle speed to avoid a collision, failure to reduce speed in dangerous weather and driving while his license was suspended in another state.

Two Baltimore City officers suffered minor head injuries last night when their patrol car was rammed by two youths in a stolen van, police said.Police said that about 7 p.m., Officer Chris Powell, 27, and police trainee Billy Shiflett, 26, were joining in the pursuit of a stolen blue 1992 Dodge van in the 5000 block of Frederick Ave. They were in the westbound left turn lane when the driver of the eastbound van turned into the patrol car in an attempt to...

Car 9663, where are you?For about a half-hour yesterday, police were frantically relaying that query after a patrol car was stolen from a police officer.Officer Vincent L. Biondo, 32, of the Southeastern District said that he left the car running when he stepped out about 1:30 a.m. to investigate an incident in front of an Eastern Avenue tavern, said Dennis S. Hill, a police spokesman.The officer was asked to investigate a fight at another bar farther down the block. After taking care of that, Officer Biondo said, he looked down the street to discover that someone had made off with his patrol car.The officer said that he immediately radioed in a report of the theft.

Three people, including a Howard County police officer and a suspect in his custody, were injured in a crash in Mount Airy early Sunday morning, police reported. According to Maryland State Police, Howard County Police Officer Richard M. Romberger Jr. was standing next to his patrol car on Route 144 near Griffith Road with Matthew J. Griffis, 27, of the 24000 block of Burnt Hill Road, Clarksburg. Griffis had allegedly left the scene of an earlier crash, police said. The two men were then struck by a 2000 Volvo S-70 driven by Ricky A. Epperson, 25, of the 7800 block of East Hill Road in Mount Airy.

A Baltimore County police officer and two other people suffered injuries Wednesday after the officer's cruiser was struck by a tractor-trailer on the Baltimore Beltway in Towson, forcing police to temporarily close the highway. Detective Cathy Batton said the officer, who was the only person in the patrol car, was being treated at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, and two women who were in a Jeep were taken to Sinai Hospital. None of the patients has life-threatening injuries, said Batton, a police spokeswoman.

Howard County has added 50 portable automatic external defibrillators to police cars, enabling officers on patrol to begin life-saving help on people whose hearts have stopped. The devices, which are used to jump-start a heartbeat, cost $55,850, police said. The units were placed in patrol cars and spread across the county because police sometimes reach emergency scenes before rescue workers, officials said. A police spokeswoman said the department will evaluate their use to determine whether having more defibrillators would be useful.

A Delaware woman died Friday night after being hit by a Maryland state trooper in Queen Anne's County, police said. Iraina J. Curtis, 29, of Dover was struck by a patrol car on westbound Shopping Center Drive in Stevensville, Maryland State Police said in a statement Saturday. She was pronounced dead at the scene. At about 9:00 p.m., six-year veteran of the force Trooper First Class Travis Nelson, 24, was headed to the location of a burglary call when he took the access ramp onto Shopping Center Drive from Route 50, police said.

The modern police patrol car is a wonder of technology, featuring computers with access to police station data banks, plus the Internet, radios, cell phones and, in many cases, video cameras. A patrol car can be a world unto itself, giving a police officer access to all manner of information, and the ability to be in touch with potential backup officers almost constantly. These developments are good. They contribute to an officer's safety, and presumably make police work at least a little bit easier.

A Baltimore police officer was injured on southbound Interstate 83 Thursday evening when her patrol car was rear-ended by another vehicle. Police said the accident occurred shortly after 8 p.m. as the Northern District patrol officer was helping a motorist with a disabled vehicle near 28 t h Street. Police could not confirm whether the officer was inside her cruiser at the time. Detective Kevin Brown, a police spokesman, said the officer suffered minor injuries, including scrapes to the elbow and leg. "She was taken to the hospital as a precaution and released shortly thereafter," Brown said.

A Maryland state trooper was stabbed in the hands as he fought off a knife-wielding man Saturday morning after responding to a car crash call on the Capital Beltway near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Trooper Byron Tribue, 26, was treated and released from Fort Washington Hospital on Saturday morning, police said, while the suspect — 54-year-old James A. Howard of Hyattsville — was held under guard at the same hospital, where police took him for evaluation. Maryland State Police have charged Howard with first- and second-degree assault, second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer in the performance of his duties, carrying a deadly weapon with intent to injure, and attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer.

A gunman opened fire on a Baltimore police officer as he stepped out of his patrol car while responding to a domestic violence call Tuesday night, grazing his hip, according to a statement from a city Police Department spokesman. Police spokesman Detective Kevin Brown said the shooting occurred about 11:40 p.m. in the 1100 block of Cooks Lane, near the southern edge of Gwynns Falls Park and about a quarter-mile from Security Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue. The Southwestern District officer, who has been on the force five years, was treated at Maryland Shock Trauma Center and released.