Police Officer

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for cloudy skies, patchy fog in the morning and a chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a high temperature near 80 degrees. Wednesday night is expected to be mostly cloudy, with a low temperature around 66 degrees. TRAFFIC Check our traffic updates for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM LAST NIGHT... City schools pass 2013 budget; charters' per-pupil funding down : As the amount spent on students in traditional schools increases, the system's 33 charter schools will see their per-pupil expenditures drop by $257 from 2012, for a total of $9,007.

Sgt. Richard Willard, who this week settled a lawsuit he filed against the city alleging he never got help after fatally shooting a man in 2005, sent me an email wanting to explain his situation further. I had talked to his attorney on Wednesday. The sergeant, who agreed to drop his litigation in exchange for the city dropping its bid to fire him, will retire July 1, giving him 20 years on the job and enough time to collect his pension, about half his $73,000 salary. His allegations raised questions about whether city officers who fire their guns suffer emotional distress and whether the department gives them enough help.

Man's remaining sentence to be in rehab A Columbia man who served 19 months of a four-year jail sentence for assaulting a Howard County police officer three years ago will have the remainder of his sentence suspended upon his admission to an in-patient drug addiction program. Phelton Hall of the 5400 block of Ring Dove Lane will finish his term in a halfway house. Prosecutors had asked retired Circuit Court Judge Dennis M. Sweeney to keep Hall at the Brockbridge Correctional Institute in Jessup.

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for cloudy skies, patchy fog in the morning and a chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a high temperature near 80 degrees. Wednesday night is expected to be mostly cloudy, with a low temperature around 66 degrees. TRAFFIC Check our traffic updates for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM LAST NIGHT... City schools pass 2013 budget; charters' per-pupil funding down : As the amount spent on students in traditional schools increases, the system's 33 charter schools will see their per-pupil expenditures drop by $257 from 2012, for a total of $9,007.

The man suspected of fatally shooting two people outside Arundel Mills mall in Hanover late Friday night was shot and killed, and a police officer was wounded, in an exchange of gunfire in a residential area of Prince George's County on Saturday morning, police said. Cpl. Henry Tippett, a spokesman for Prince George's County police, said the suspect, James Coleman, 22, was tracked by Anne Arundel police investigators to his house in the 8100 block of Rydal Road in District Heights.

Police arrested two men on weapons charges Wednesday after one allegedly dropped a gun while he was eating in a Gambrills McDonald's, county police said.Mark Frederick Castle, 29, of Woodbridge, Va., and Elroy Andrew McAlexander, 29, of the 100 block of Truck House Road in Severna Park, were each charged with illegal handgun possession.An employee of the McDonald's in the 1100 block of Route 3 South called police about 2: 40 p.m. after a customer dropped a gun.The man identified himself as a police officer after he dropped the gun, police said.

A 10th Baltimore police officer was sentenced to federal prison Friday for taking kickbacks from an auto repair company, the Maryland U.S. attorney's office announced. Leonel Rodriguez, 32, of Essex, was sentenced to 30 months for extortion and conspiracy and ordered to pay restitution of more than $16,000. Rodriguez admitted illegally referring car crash participants to Majestic Auto Repair in Rosedale in exchanges for a $300 fee from the shop owners, who've also pleaded guilty in the scheme.

A 31-year-old Baltimore County man has been arrested on charges of impersonating a police officer in St. Mary's County, and police are investigating whether he may have committed similar offenses closer to his home. Donald James Church Jr. was arrested May 15 at his home on Sollers Point Road in Dundalk, where police found "police paraphernalia including a badge, a realistic-looking toy gun, and imitation police reports that he had written," according to a statement released by Baltimore County police.

A Baltimore police sergeant was suspended and criminally charged with perjury and misconduct after a months-long investigation into allegations he used false information to obtain a search and seizure warrant. Sgt. Dennis W. Workley, who's been on the force since 1996 assigned to the Eastern District, was charged Wednesday by the Baltimore state's attorney's office via criminal information. No details were immediately available. Police union lawyer Michael Davey, who expects to represent Workley, said Wednesday afternoon that he  hadn't yet seen the charging documents and couldn't comment.

A Baltimore police officer who said in an interview that he had received no counseling after he shot and killed two people nine months apart in 2006 and 2007 has been suspended from the force, and stripped of his gun and badge. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the eight-year veteran, Andrew W. Gotwols Jr., made comments that concerned commanders about his fitness to serve. He described the 36-year-old as being "medically suspended. " Gotwols told The Baltimore Sun that he has nightmares that "guys are trying to shoot and kill me, and that I'm trying to shoot and kill them.

A Baltimore police sergeant who claimed he was never treated for post-traumatic stress disorder after he fatally shot a man in 2005 has settled a lawsuit against the city, in a deal that allows him to retire with his pension, according to court documents and his attorney. Under terms of the settlement, Richard A. Willard, 45, dropped the federal suit and a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the Police Department canceled an administrative hearing that could have led to his termination.

A 31-year-old Baltimore County man has been arrested on charges of impersonating a police officer in St. Mary's County, and police are investigating whether he may have committed similar offenses closer to his home. Donald James Church Jr. was arrested May 15 at his home on Sollers Point Road in Dundalk, where police found "police paraphernalia including a badge, a realistic-looking toy gun, and imitation police reports that he had written," according to a statement released by Baltimore County police.

A city police officer was taken to Mercy Medical Center after his police cruiser was rear-ended by another vehicle on the southbound Jones Falls Expressway late Monday afternoon, according to a police spokesman. The officer was on the side of the roadway near West 29th Street writing a report on a separate accident when his cruiser was struck, said Sgt. Anthony Smith. The officer did not have apparent injuries, but was taken to the hospital to be checked by medical personnel as a precaution, Smith 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 adult drivers, including a Baltimore City police officer, were transported to the hospital Sunday afternoon following a two-car accident in the 800 block of Walker Avenue, near The Alameda. According to witnesses, the city police car and a burgundy sedan collided on Walker Avenue, and the police car knocked down part of a wooden fence. The sedan was driven by a woman, according to one witness. Neither driver appeared to be suffering life-threatening injuries, and the officer was seen walking around after the accident, according to a witness.

A day after Baltimore County police set up a task force to target metal thieves who strip homes and businesses, tactical officers found themselves surrounding an abandoned state hospital building where two men were trying to steal copper pipes. Someone called about two suspicious men in an asbestos-laden building at Spring Grove State Hospital in Catonsville on Tuesday afternoon. The bystander saw the men carrying crow-bars and saws into the building, closed since 1974, according to Maryland State Police.

Lee Edward Goldman, deputy director of the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commission, died Feb. 17 of complications from lung cancer at Howard County General Hospital. He was 69. Born in Baltimore and raised near Druid Hill Park, Mr. Goldman was a 1957 graduate of City College. After serving in the Navy as a weather forecaster from 1957 to 1961, he joined the Howard County Police Department. He had attained the rank of sergeant at the time of his retirement in 1996.

A Baltimore police sergeant who claimed he was never treated for post-traumatic stress disorder after he fatally shot a man in 2005 has settled a lawsuit against the city, in a deal that allows him to retire with his pension, according to court documents and his attorney. Under terms of the settlement, Richard A. Willard, 45, dropped the federal suit and a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the Police Department canceled an administrative hearing that could have led to his termination.

A Baltimore police sergeant was suspended and criminally charged with perjury and misconduct after a months-long investigation into allegations he used false information to obtain a search and seizure warrant. Sgt. Dennis W. Workley, who's been on the force since 1996 assigned to the Eastern District, was charged Wednesday by the Baltimore state's attorney's office via criminal information. No details were immediately available. Police union lawyer Michael Davey, who expects to represent Workley, said Wednesday afternoon that he  hadn't yet seen the charging documents and couldn't comment.

A man who voiced contempt for Baltimore police and told defectives he had "no love lost" for the department was sentenced on Tuesday to 25 years in prison for using a rifle to shoot an officer last year. The officer, Andrew Zdura, with five years on the force, had been answering a domestic call near the suspect's in-law's house when he was struck in what appeared a random attack. Authorities said the bullet hit his holstered gun, causing it to discharge. The officer suffered shrapnel wounds.