Police Officer

Officer gets probation in hit-and-run case A Baltimore police officer who admitted leaving the scene of an accident in her Canton neighborhood received one year of unsupervised probation and was ordered to pay $250 in court costs yesterday, prosecutors said. The Baltimore Sun reported last month that the Baltimore state's attorney's office was reviewing how police and prosecutors handled the case, in which retired city police officer and District Court Commissioner Anthony Swiderski said he had to press charges more than two months after the 2007 accident because police had not pursued the matter.

The Baltimore police officer who shot and killed a man during a struggle for his service weapon on a Northwest Baltimore street early Thursday had previously shot four people, including one man fatally in 1994, according to department records. All four previous shootings were ruled justified, a Police Department spokesman said yesterday. The latest incident is under investigation. The officer was identified yesterday as Arthur Lee Edmondson Jr., a 19-year veteran assigned to the Northwestern District.

A driver being chased by Howard County police after a hit-and-run collision lost control of his car near Columbia yesterday, crashed and died at a hospital a short time later, police said. Franklin Donnell Sessions, 24, of the 5600 block of Harpers Farm Road in Columbia died shortly after the 3:45 p.m. chase, said Officer Jennifer Reidy, a police spokeswoman. A county police officer saw a collision on Clarksville Boulevard and attempted to stop Sessions' Acura, Reidy said. The driver headed west, driving erractically and nearly striking a school bus before turning north on Homewood Road near the Howard County School of Technology.

Harlow Fullwood Jr., a former Baltimore police officer who made his fortune operating fried-chicken franchises and established a foundation that has helped more than 1,000 students attend college, died of diabetes complications Saturday at Woodbridge Valley ManorCare in Catonsville. He was 65. Mr. Fullwood died just hours after his foundation's annual benefit and award breakfast, which was attended by more than 2,000. "He was holding on to make sure that everything went on as he scheduled it to go," said his daughter, Paquita Fullwood-Stokes of Randallstown.

An undercover police detective shot a 16-year-old boy in the shoulder early yesterday after the youth threatened officers with a gun, according to a city police spokesman. The boy is being treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said Agent Donny Moses. The teenager starting fleeing on a bicycle when approached by plainclothes officers about 1:40 a.m. at Jefferson Street and North Belnord Avenue in McElderry Park, Moses said. The officers chased him several blocks before he crashed his bike as they cornered him in the 2700 block of Jefferson St., Moses said.

Five charged in drug investigation Five Pasadena residents have been arrested on drug charges after a monthlong investigation at a Riviera Drive home, Anne Arundel County police said. Benjamin Magliano and Ronald Fischer Jr., both of the Riviera Drive address, and Kandy Elizabeth Daniels of the 200 block of Arundel Road were charged Thursday with possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine, and with possession of marijuana. Christopher Smith of the 1600 block of Colony Road and Michael Leslie Beck of the 200 block of Glen Road were charged with possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia.

Baltimore police have identified a 47-year-old man who was fatally shot Monday in a suspected robbery in Northwest Baltimore. A police officer in the 2800 block of Quantico Ave. in Park Heights saw a man with a gunshot wound walking out of an alley just after 3 p.m. Andre Bryant of the 3700 block of Overview Road was taken to Sinai Hospital and pronounced dead at 3:38 p.m., police said. Bryant was being robbed by two men and was shot in the back while trying to escape, police said.

The Bridge Officers of the Wellwood Yacht Club are pleased to announce the Wedding of their Rear Commodore, Captain Eileen Law, of Kennett Square, PA, to their Secretary, Captain Stephen E. Stewart, of Port Deposit, on July 7th. The Nautical Wedding was held on the beach under an Arbor of Jasmine and Ivy at their Marina, McDaniel Yacht Basin, in North East, MD. The Bride is a Private Detective & President of CIA, Inc., a full service Detective Agency with...

Demetrius Fortson considered becoming a police officer after he graduated from high school. Instead, he joined the Marine Corps and then worked for years as a correctional officer. Now, at age 40, Fortson is set to join the Howard County Police Department after graduating from the police academy as the oldest recruit in his class. Fortson, a member of the 30th class to graduate from the academy, said the training was physically and psychologically demanding but that being around the other recruits, many of whom were much younger, was "motivating, and it kept [me]

Baltimore's acting police commissioner said yesterday that detectives have an "abundance" of evidence that a Fort Meade-based soldier fired his powerful Desert Eagle handgun just before he was shot and killed by a city police officer. "The bottom line is the facts speak for themselves, and the evidence speaks for itself," said acting Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III. "We have abundance of both." Family members of Army Spc. Alexander E. Larkin, 25, had expressed skepticism that the Iraq war veteran would have fired a weapon in the presence of a police officer early Sunday in the Harbor Park garage.

To understand the sometimes perilous work of being a police dog, it's helpful to remember that the animals react to danger far differently than humans do. "We see somebody with a gun or a weapon ... we will get out of the way," said Officer Steven W. Sturm, a dog trainer with the Baltimore Police Department. "Dogs react totally the opposite. They go. No matter what they see, they're going to be going unless we call them off." That partly explains how a city police officer armed with a .40-caliber Glock handgun shot Blade, a German shepherd, during a pursuit Sunday evening in South Baltimore.

George Frederick "Fred" Alban, a retired security guard who earlier had been a police officer, died Monday of cancer at his Westminster home. He was 71. Mr. Alban was born in Baltimore and spent his early years in Govans before moving to a Westminster farm with his family in 1952. After graduating from St. John High School in 1955, he owned a painting business with a cousin. He also served in the Maryland National Guard before being discharged in 1963. Mr. Alban joined the Westminster Police Department in 1967 and worked as a police officer, retiring with the rank of corporal in 1976.

A Baltimore police dog was shot Sunday evening by a police officer during a foot pursuit of a motorist who drove through a speed checkpoint in South Baltimore, said a Police Department spokesman. About 6 p.m., police were manning the checkpoint in the 2600 block of Wegworth Lane near Hollins Ferry Road, near Wegworth Park, when a male motorist failed to stop when ordered and drove through the stop, said Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesman for the Police Department. Guglielmi said the motorist got out of the car a few moments later and was fleeing on foot when officers at the checkpoint enlisted the aid of a K-9 unit to chase the man down.

The State of Maryland v. Walter Grant commenced on time and on schedule at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 28 in Room 3 of the District Courthouse on East North Avenue. Grant faced charges of taking a blue Honda Civic with keys stolen during a burglary of a home in Carney in August. The judge was there. The prosecutor was there. The defense attorney was there. Walter Grant was there. Honda owner Matthew Crouch was there. The only person not there was Officer Ronald J. Wilson Jr., a member of an auto theft task force who had found the missing car in September and had arrested Grant in East Baltimore.

Five Annapolis wards have contested races for alderman this year. (Wards 1, 2 and 4 are uncontested.) We asked the candidates to tell us in their own words why they thought they were the best person for the job: WARD 3 Classie Gillis Hoyle (D) I am the best person to represent Ward 3 on the City Council because I am accessible and responsive to constituents. I will bring experience and continuity to the next administration on issues such as financial management, city growth, economic stability, intergovernmental relations and transportation/traffic improvement.

Convicted killer charged with gun possession A police officer answering a call Wednesday night about a man with a gun on Mangold Street in South Baltimore's Pigtown neighborhood arrested a suspect carrying a loaded revolver. Police said the man had been recently released from prison. Dameon Antonio White, 37, was charged with handgun possession after his arrest about 7:30 p.m., according to police. Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said an officer saw White in the 800 block of Mangold St. and recovered a loaded, .32-caliber Regent revolver and cartridges.

Rush Limbaugh has once again found himself the subject of national attention, this time for his failed bid to become a part owner of the National Football League's St. Louis Rams. After the world was reminded of Mr. Limbaugh's history of racially charged commentary, the group trying to buy the team rightly realized that Mr. Limbaugh's involvement in the effort could cripple their chances. Rush was dropped - which is exactly how he should be treated by the Miss America Pageant. Mr. Limbaugh is slated to be a Miss America judge in 2010, in spite of the deep-seated misogyny that he has broadcast nationwide throughout his career.

Jeffrey S. Neral, a 17-year veteran Baltimore County police officer, died Sunday at Good Samaritan Hospital after being injured in a motorcycle accident. The Abingdon resident was 42. Officer Neral, who was riding his 2009 Harley Davidson south on Old Harford Road, was thrown from the motorcycle after it nearly collided with another automobile. He was born in Lancaster, Pa., and raised in Hollidaysburg, Pa. He was a 1986 graduate of Hollidaysburg High School, where he had excelled at varsity track and field.

Man accused of dragging police officer is arrested A man charged in a warrant with assaulting a Western District police officer by dragging him with his vehicle was arrested Monday in Northeast Baltimore after a city-wide manhunt. Rickey Hughes, 27, of no fixed address was arrested in the 4300 block of Roberton Ave. by members of the Regional Warrant Apprehension Task Force and was being held Tuesday at Central Booking and Intake Center, said Agent Donny Moses, a police spokesman. On Oct. 1, Hughes appeared at the police station at Riggs Avenue and North Mount streets for a hearing with his probation officer when he learned he was to be arrested in a home invasion in Baltimore County a month earlier, police said.

On the street, he's Baltimore Police Officer Timothy Hall. On stage, he's the "Comic Cop." His main job is locking up criminals by serving warrants around the city. His other job is that of a comedian, poking fun at the crooks he's busted and the civilians he's encountered. On the street, he has to be deferential and professional; on stage he can let loose and say things he couldn't get away with wearing a badge and a gun. Hall jokes about how hard it is to be a cop in Baltimore because "nobody fears the police anymore."