Pepper Spray

With all the attention to the ouster of Occupy Baltimore, we've been a bit behind in updating some crime. So here is a wrapup of some of the lastest: No criminal charges will be filed against the Howard County police officers who shot and killed an Elkridge teen in November, county prosecutors said Tuesday. Prosecutors decided that "the actions of the officers in using deadly force were justified," Howard State's Attorney Dario J. Broccolino said in memo sent to police. If only Baltimore prosecutors would publicly defend their decisions in such a manner.

A school security officer used pepper spray to break up a fight between two students at an Essex high school, causing the school to be evacuated and sending 16 students to the hospital Tuesday morning, officials said. About 11:30 a.m., two students started a fight in the front lobby of Chesapeake High School, in the 1800 block of Turkey Point Road, according to a statement from Baltimore County police. A school resource officer saw two boys fighting as they were leaving lunch and attempted to break up the fight.

A funny thing happened to the First Amendment on its way to the public forum. It was hijacked. According to the Supreme Court, money is now speech, and corporations are now people. Yet when real people without money assemble to express their dissatisfaction with the political consequences of this, they're treated as public nuisances -- clubbed, pepper-sprayed, thrown out of public parks and evicted from public spaces. The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision last year ended all limits on political spending.

A Baltimore County police officer was treated for injuries at a local hospital after being bitten by a pit bull Monday outside a Towson elementary school. Police Cpl. George Erhardt said the officer responded just before noon to a call reporting two loose pit bulls outside the Halstead Academy of Science and the Arts, a public elementary school at Deanwood and Halstead roads. He said a six-year veteran of the force responded and was attacked by the dogs. According to Erhardt, one of the dogs bit the officer multiple times.

A Green Party operative gathering signatures at Ellicott City's Charles E. Miller branch library to keep the group on Maryland's 2012 election ballot was pepper-sprayed and arrested by Howard County police, who charged him with trespassing and resisting arrest. That much about the Dec. 18 incident is not in dispute, but practically everything else is, highlighting a sore subject in Maryland, and especially in Howard County — the difficulty in mounting a successful petition drive.

Three Overlea High School students were taken to a Baltimore County hospital to be evaluated after school resource officers used pepper spray to break up a fight, a county school spokesman said. About 7:40 a.m. Wednesday, two male students started fighting in the cafeteria, said the spokesman, Charles Herndon. Three school officers responded and used the spray, which then affected other students, according to Baltimore County police. Of the 11 students who complained of being affected, most of whom were in a nearby classroom, 10 were taken to Franklin Square Hospital Center, Herndon said.

A 25-year-old Ellicott City man was shot in the hand during what Howard County police say was a carjacking attempt Monday night outside a Elkridge hotel. Police were called to the Comfort Suites Columbia Gateway in the 7100 block of Old Waterloo Road about 11:40 p.m. by a witness who reported a robbery in progress. Steve Dimarzo told police he was in a parked car when two people approached him. One of them showed a gun and told Dimarzo that they wanted his car. During a struggle that ensued, Dimarzo was shot in the hand and sprayed with pepper spray.

If you haven't been to the airport since last year's Thanksgiving trip, some things have changed - but much has stayed the same, including the ban on liquids. Although you might not want to pay those extra fees to check your luggage, you may have to if you're bringing a jar of your special turkey gravy recipe. Here's a sampling of things you cannot pack in your carry-on: 1. Meat cleaver: 2. Mace/pepper spray: 3. Cooking fuel: 4. Gel candles: 5. Perfume: 6. Snowglobes: 7. Cranberry sauce: 8. Maple syrup: 9. Oils and vinegar: 10. Wine, liquor and beer: Also, passengers are still limited to 3-ounce or smaller containers of liquids and gels, placed in a quart-size zip-top bag. Items such as baby food, breast milk and medicines are allowed to exceed three ounces.

If you haven't been to the airport since last year's Thanksgiving trip, some things have changed - but much has stayed the same, including the ban on liquids. Although you might not want to pay those extra fees to check your luggage, you may have to if you're bringing a jar of your special turkey gravy recipe. Here's a sampling of things you cannot pack in your carry-on: 1. Meat cleaver 2. Mace/pepper spray 3. Cooking fuel 4. Gel candles 5. Perfume 6. Snowglobes 7. Cranberry sauce 8. Maple syrup 9. Oils and vinegar 10. Wine, liquor and beer Also, passengers are still limited to 3-ounce or smaller containers of liquids and gels, placed in a quart-size zip-top bag. Items such as baby food, breast milk and medicines are allowed to exceed three ounces.

Baltimore County police on Friday identified a 27-year-old Lochearn man who was shot by two officers Thursday after he summoned police to his home and then became violent and irrational, a spokesman for the department said. The spokesman, Bill Toohey, said the man, Odatei Kwadwo Mills, was shot several times and was recovering from surgery at Sinai Hospital, where he was under sedation. Mills has not been charged with an offense, Toohey said. The county's 911 switchboard received a call about 4:30 p.m. Thursday saying there was an emergency, but the caller did not provide an address before hanging up. An operator traced the call to a house in the 3600 block of Forest Grove Ave., and two officers were sent.