Police Charged

Hoping to get leads in a series of violent incidents that have occurred in West Baltimore, federal and local authorities announced the arrests of 24 people on drug-related charges after a months-long operation that included undercover work. Police said the operation was launched after a wave of violence in the area around the Franklin Square and Penrose neighborhoods, including the fatal shooting of a 32-year-old man at a barber shop and 10 non-fatal shootings. With agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and city prosecutors, police worked to build charges against those they believed were involved, including using undercover drug buys - which Deputy Commissioner John Skinner described as “one of the riskiest types of operations” police can use. In all, 24 people have been indicted in the case - Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts described them as “24 criminals that impacted the city of Baltimore, and will not do that any further.” As of Friday afternoon, only 10 had been arrested, and most had been released on bail.

Baltimore County police on Monday said a fight that erupted at the North Point Flea Market Sunday afternoon was between rival gangs, identified as the Demon Souls Motorcycle Club and Titan Motorcycle Club. Police have charged two men, Brandon Shane Quinet, 20, of Halethorpe and Allen Warren Lull Jr., 26, of Dundalk, after officers were called to the market in the 2400 block of North Point Road in Dundalk about 1:10 p.m. Sunday. Police spokesman Lt. Robert McCullough said Quinet and Lull are members of the Titan Motorcycle Club, while a victim, a 52-year-old man from Dundalk, was a member of Demon Souls.

A neighbor of a woman found stabbed death this week in Pigtown has been charged in her killing, police said Thursday.  Police say Antonio Johnson, 52, of the 1200 block of Washington Blvd., has been charged with the murder of Deborah Simon, 55, who had moved a few doors down after her home caught fire in August.  Johnson has been in jail since Nov. 4 on an unrelated assault charge - the day before Simon was found by a relative. But police believe the killing occurred on Nov. 3, and say they found some of her stolen belongings, including a television and cell phone.  "We believe he was looking for money, and she let him in because he was a neighbor," spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.  Court records show Johnson has been picked up for drug and assault cases.

A 54-year-old Baltimore woman was charged with hitting a pedestrian on Ritchie Highway in Brooklyn Park Thursday and driving away, Anne Arundel County police said Saturday.. Robin L. Sears, of the 1600 block of Ceddox Street, hit Michael J. Diegel, 57, of Severn, with her gold 2001 Chevrolet Venture van at 12:37 a.m. Thursday, police said. Diegel, of the 1200 block of Thomson Avenue, is in critical condition at Maryland Shock Trauma. Officers found Diegel laying on a northbound lane of Ritchie Highway near Camrose Avenue.

A Baltimore City police detective was charged Thursday with lying in a search warrant affidavit to gain entry to a Canton home, then trying to obstruct an ensuing internal affairs investigation. The raid resulting from the affidavit led to the discovery of guns and suspected drugs, police said at the time, and a 39-year-old man was arrested. But the man's lawyer says an analysis came back negative for drugs, and prosecutors were forced to drop the gun charges after the misconduct allegations arose.

A 46-year-old man died after he was stabbed Thursday night during an argument in Laurel, and a 20-year-old man has been charged on multiple counts, according to the Howard County police department. Officers were called around 7:15 p.m. Thursday to the 10000 block of North 2nd Street in Laurel, police officials said. They found Robert Lynn Foster of Savage lying near the entrance to the Midway mobile home park with stab wounds. Foster was taken to Laurel Regional Hospital with stab wounds and was pronounced dead there, according to police.

Anne Arundel County police arrested a Glen Burnie man after they responded to a caller telling them that his mother was being held at gunpoint by a former boyfriend, police said. Anne Arundel County police arrested a Glen Burnie man after they responded to a 21-year-old caller telling them that his mother was being held at gunpoint by a former boyfriend, police said. Police said that at about 10 p.m. Friday, they received a call saying that the 38-year-old woman was being held in a bedroom of a home in 200 block of Maryland Avenue by an ex-boyfriend, police said.

Two teenagers were arrested Sunday and charged in the robberies of two people in the parking lot of Marley Station mall in Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County police said. Police said that when they responded to a call around 6:07 p.m., a 34-year-old man told them he was walking to his car when he was attacked by a man, hit repeatedly and robbed of cash. The victim told police he tried to run away, but was chased to a parked car. There, his attacker assaulted a 30-year-old woman and stole cash from a purse inside her vehicle, police said.

Anne Arundel police have charged a 19-year-old city man with burglary after he was spotted carrying a TV at the North Linthicum Light Rail Station. Corey Monte Williams, of the 1800 block of Woodbourne Avenue, faces two counts of burglary and one count of theft in the incident Friday. Witnesses told police they had seen a man walking along Regency Circle near Minta Court with a television in his hands. A homeowner in the 200 block of Minta Court had just reported a stolen TV, police said.

Baltimore County Police have charged a 20-year-old Baltimore man with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a city funeral home director. Mark Brown Jr., of the 200 block of North Washington Street, in a neighborhood near Johns Hopkins Hospital known as C.A.R.E., is charged in the stabbing death of Phillip Weatherford on Monday in White Marsh. Weatherford had owned Phillip A. Weatherford Funeral Services on Oliver Street in the Broadway East neighborhood since June 2005.