Police Search

The High's Dairy Store in the 400 block of East Main Street in Westminster was robbed of an undisclosed amount of money about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, state police said.Investigators said a man entered the store and took merchandise to the cash register. After placing the items on the counter, the man pulled a handgun from his waistband, showed it to the clerk and demanded the money in the register.The clerk removed the cash from the register and placed it in a book bag carried by the suspect. The suspect fled on foot.

City homicide detectives are looking through reports of missing children here and in New York as they continue to investigate the case against a convicted child molester who has been charged with strangling a boy and a teen-ager in Baltimore.Shawn E. Brown, 27, was charged Saturday with the strangulation of Obdul Richards, 16, whose body was found Friday in a boarded-up school at East Eager and Valley streets. A convicted child molester, Mr. Brown was charged last week with first-degree murder in the death of City Springs Elementary School third-grader Marvin Douglas Wise Jr., 8.Homer Pennington, the city detective handling the case, said Mr. Brown is cooperating with police and answering their questions.

UPDATE: 8-year-old found safe in vacant rowhouse . An 8-year-old boy was walking with friends in southwest Baltimore when he was taken by someone driving a green Ford Taurus Monday night, Baltimore City police said. Darrick Charles Brown was walking in the 300 block of Gwynn Ave. at about 6:30 p.m., when, witnesses told police, a light green, newer model Ford Taurus with two people suddenly stopped near a group of kids. One of the people inside the Taurus got out and grabbed Brown and threw him into the trunk and sped away, police said.

Baltimore County police today were searching for a missing 12-year-old Essex girl. Amber Nicole Lazarek of the first block of Shone Court was last seen around 3 p.m. yesterday at Middle River and Compass roads, authorities said. Police described Amber as 4 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 55 pounds, with shoulder-length, blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call the Essex Precinct at 410-307-2020. Originally published March 18, 2004, 9:48 AM EST

ANNAPOLIS -- The Maryland Court of Special Appeals has given a gun-advocacy group permission to review police records of a search of its Baltimore office on the eve of a gun-control referendum in 1988.The court yesterday reversed an order by Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Lawrence H. Rushworth that prevented the Maryland Committee Against the Gun Ban from obtaining internal investigation reports compiled after police searched its offices in the 2500 block of N. Calvert St. on Nov. 7, 1988.The lower court had concluded that disclosure of the records would be contrary to the public interest.

City police today continued their search for Kenneth Lambert, 25, of the 2000 block of Kennedy Ave., in the fatal shooting and attempted robbery Tuesday of a 23-year-old barber outside a carryout in the 2600 block of Harford Road.Police said a warrant charging Lambert with first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery was issued yesterday after witnesses gave police information.The victim, Derek Session, who worked in his father's barber shop on Kirk Avenue and lived in the 1500 block of Gorsuch Ave., was standing outside the Star Carryout in the 2600 block of Harford Road shortly before 11 p.m. when he was accosted by a man armed with a handgun who demanded Session's jewelry.

WASHINGTON - When the police arrived at a Las Vegas apartment in July 1998 to execute a warrant to search for drugs, they knocked on the front door and called out: "Police search warrant." But LaShawn L. Banks, the resident, was taking a shower and did not hear them. After waiting 15 or 20 seconds, the officers used a battering ram to knock the door down. Entering the apartment, they found crack cocaine, three guns and $6,000 in cash. Whether the officers should have waited longer was the question in a Supreme Court argument yesterday.

State troopers using a helicopter and police dogs were searching last night for seven of nine teen-age boys, described as "hardcore" offenders, who escaped from the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School by crawling through a broken window, officials said. The boys broke out about 8:30 p.m. and ran into nearby woods, state police said. State police said juvenile justice officials discovered the escape during a routine check of the boys' rooms and noticed the broken window. There were conflicting reports last night about whether the boys scaled a tall fence topped with barbed wire or cut through it. The boys should be considered dangerous, said police, who warned people to use caution if they see them.

Six people were killed in traffic accidents over the weekend, including a 16-year-old Towson resident who died of injuries he received when the car he was riding in crashed into a tree last night.And in the city, police today continue to search for a Toyota involved in a hit-and-run accident in which a pedestrian who was crossing the 6100 block of Harford Road was killed Saturday night.Last night, Baltimore County said James Lankford, 18, of the first block of Fellowship Court in Towson, was driving a 1992 Chevrolet Camaro at a high rate of speed eastbound in the 2700 block of Taylor Ave. about 8:30 p.m. when he lost control of the car on a curve and struck the curb.