Reckless Endangerment

The two teenage boys charged earlier this week as juveniles in the chemical burning of a toddler at a Baltimore County playground will face adult charges, the county state's attorney's said yesterday. Kyle Bradley Meredith and Mateusz Stefan Dybala, both 16 and from the Essex area, will be charged as adults with first-degree assault, county State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger said. Juvenile charges of reckless endangerment and second-degree burglary had been placed against the boys, after consultation with the state's attorney's office, police said earlier this week.

Two teenage boys have been arrested in the chemical burning of a toddler last weekend at a Baltimore County playground, but the youngsters are not facing adult charges. The boys, both 16 and from the Essex area, were charged as juveniles after police consulted with the county state's attorney's office, a police spokesman said. The boys poured caustic drain cleaner on a slide, experimenting to see whether the chemical would burn the plastic, but seeing that it did not, they left with the chemical still on the slide, police said.

A Westminster man who attempted to burn the home of his ex-girlfriend, their baby son and her parents received a 30-year prison sentence yesterday in Carroll Circuit Court.Before he was sentenced for arson, Christopher Lee Myers, 19, told Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. he was sorry for igniting gasoline at the New Windsor home last year.Myers entered into a plea bargain in February. After the prosecutor's statement of facts, he was found guilty of arson and five counts of reckless endangerment against each of the people at the home, and of two automobile thefts.

Expulsion hearings were extended yesterday for three Loch Raven High School students accused of shooting at the home of two teachers.The three juveniles -- two age 14 and one 17 -- were granted an extension of five school days, said Charles A. Herndon, the Baltimore County schools spokesman. The hearings were scheduled to start yesterday.Police allege the three and Anthony Lee Palmer, 18, of the 2300 block of Salem Village Road in Carney fired gunshots and paint balls at the teachers' home on Dunwoody Road in Oakleigh Sunday night.

Melvin "Little Melvin" Williams, a drug dealer who revolutionized Baltimore's heroin culture three decades ago and who was recently released from federal prison, was arrested Monday night on charges that he assaulted a 37-year-old man in Southwest Baltimore.Williams, 57, was charged yesterday in the Monday night incident. He faces trial on charges of first-degree assault, possession of a handgun, false imprisonment and reckless endangerment. Williams, of the 8600 block of Winands Road in Randallstown, was released on $50,000 bond.

A 15-year-old Columbia youth was charged yesterday in a rock-throwing incident that left a newspaper delivery woman with severe head and facial injuries, county police reported.Lynn McKissic of Columbia was struck with a softball-sized rock at 4: 25 a.m. Aug. 26 after she finished delivering 350 copies of The Sun. Two of her children, who were with her, helped to drive her van to a gas station, where they called 911.The incident sparked community concern and prompted The Sun and the Howard County Police Department to post a combined $2,000 reward.

A Baltimore County jury acquitted a Middle River construction worker of murder yesterday, but found him guilty of reckless endangerment in an August 1998 death that was ruled a homicide when the body was exhumed after two months.Gary Lee Fischer Sr., 44, of the 13000 block of Twin River Beach Road, was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment in the Aug. 20 death of Allen Eugene Ellis of White Marsh.Yesterday, Fischer stared straight ahead and showed no emotion as the jury acquitted him of all the charges but reckless endangerment.

The former administrator of a Parkville nursing home and a nurse at the facility have been charged with reckless endangerment and neglect in a case stemming from the death of a patient who died shortly after her release from the home in October 1998.The former employees of the Cromwell Center Nursing Home were indicted after an investigation by the state Attorney General's Office that was sparked by testimony before a congressional committee this year.Frank Mann, spokesman for Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., said yesterday that Wesley E. Street, the former administrator, and Robin L. Kelly, a nurse formerly employed at the facility, were charged in indictments -- unsealed Tuesday -- with reckless endangerment, Medicaid fraud and neglect of a vulnerable person.

A 15-year-old Columbia youth was charged yesterday in a rock-throwing incident that left a newspaper delivery woman with severe head and facial injuries, Howard County police reported.Lynn McKissic of Columbia was struck with a softball-sized rock at 4: 25 a.m. Aug. 26 after she finished delivering 350 copies of The Sun. Two of her children helped to drive her van to a gas station where they called 911.The incident sparked community concern and prompted The Sun and the county Police Department to post a combined $2,000 reward.

The father of a 3-year-old East Baltimore boy who fatally shot himself in the head in June has been charged with reckless endangerment and having an unsecured gun in his house, city police announced yesterday.An arrest warrant has been issued for Cliff Garris, 23, whose last known address was in the first block of N. Ellwood Ave. Police said several attempts to locate him have been unsuccessful.Investigators determined that his son, Jordan Garris, found a 9 mm gun under a pillow, went to the basement and accidentally shot himself in the right side of the head June 6. The child died two days later.

A jogger was stabbed Thursday night in Columbia and went door-to-door seeking help before Howard County police found him, authorities said. About 9:30 p.m., police received a report of a man knocking on doors asking for help in the 5700 block of Columbia Road. Officers said the stabbing occurred in the area of Columbia Road and Brook Way. The victim, William Iberg, 24, of Elkridge, suffered a stab wound to his torso and was flown by state police helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Teen gets 30 years in fatal shooting A Baltimore teenager was sentenced to 30 years in prison yesterday for fatally shooting another teen after a fight last year, the city state's attorney's office said. Tevin Moultrie, 17, of the 1600 block of Cliftview Ave., was also sentenced to 20 years for the use of a handgun in a crime of violence and one year each on two counts of reckless endangerment, all to be served concurrently. Moultrie pleaded guilty in March to shooting Steven Washington, 17, in the 1600 block of Cliftview Ave. after an altercation on March 13, 2007.

Police investigate deaths of two men in city City police are investigating the killing of two men who died last week in separate incidents. Wilbert Flowers, 31, who was shot three times in the head July 28, succumbed to his injuries Aug. 25, police said. He was found lying on the ground in the 800 block of East 43rd St. off York Road and was taken to Sinai Hospital with critical injuries. He died at a local hospice, and his death was ruled a homicide Aug. 26. Floyd Jones, 56, was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital at 3 p.m. that day suffering from head injuries and was later pronounced dead.

A Howard County jury acquitted a Baltimore man of attempted-murder charges yesterday but convicted him of assaulting his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend in the same incident last year. Kazeem Akinniyi, 26, testified during his three-day trial that he was defending himself against Jefferson Bolden, whom police discovered with several serious stab wounds to the face, back and chest early Dec. 23. The jury convicted Akinniyi of second-degree assault and one count of reckless endangerment. He could be sentenced to 15 years in prison for the two convictions.

Two men have been arrested and charged in the attempted murder of another man in a shooting last week at a Northeast Baltimore shopping plaza, police said. Members of the city's Warrant Apprehension Task Force arrested Marc Mitchell, 18, early Tuesday without incident at his home in the 1600 block of Pentwood Road. Another suspect, Tavon Hammond, 23, was arrested Aug. 13. His last known address was in the 100 block of Denison St., court records show. The men are accused of wounding another man Aug. 13 in the area of Havenwood Shopping Plaza, in the 1600 block of Havenwood Drive.

Annapolis man charged in assault An Annapolis man has been arrested after he was accused of pinning his ex-girlfriend against a wall and cutting her thigh with a knife, city police said. Gregory Michael Burno, 27, of Bens Drive allegedly went to the victim's apartment on the 700 block of Newtowne Drive on Aug. 10 and started to argue with her. He grabbed a kitchen knife, pushed her against the wall and slashed her leg, police said. Two days later, he was arrested on a warrant charging him with assault and reckless endangerment.

A 25-year-old Middle River man was charged with attempted murder after his girlfriend's boss was stabbed repeatedly as he walked her to her car in Severn early yesterday, Anne Arundel County police said. Officers responded about 6 a.m. to the 2100 block of Piney Branch Circle in the Arundel Preserve community in Hanover, where a man had been walking a female employee from his townhouse to her car when he was struck with a crowbar and stabbed several times, police said. The assailant ran to a vehicle and fled.

An Emmitsburg man is being held in the Carroll County Detention Center after the stabbing of a Taneytown man during a fight at a party, authorities said yesterday. Maryland State Police responded to the first block of Franklin St. in Taneytown about 12:30 a.m. Monday after a call about an argument between two men. According to witnesses, one of the men produced a knife and stabbed the other several times in the chest and torso, police said. Police said that Jeremy Anderson, 18, was flown to Washington County Hospital in Hagerstown with possible life-threatening injuries.

Odenton man charged in stabbing An Odenton man was arrested Monday and charged in a stabbing at a party early Saturday morning in Gambrills, county police said. Police were called just before 3:15 a.m. to Waugh Chapel Road near Four Seasons Drive, where a woman said that her husband had been stabbed at a party by someone who fled the scene on foot, police said. Officers discovered a blood trail and eventually found the victim at 2252 Misthaven Court, suffering from several stab wounds to the head and neck.

A man arrested near the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus Tuesday after a police officer said he was carrying a makeshift explosive device was charged yesterday with assault, reckless endangerment and concealing a deadly weapon. Baltimore police spokesman Sterling Clifford identified the suspect as Dallas Jermaine Smith, 22, who has no fixed address. A District Court commissioner yesterday ordered Smith to be held without bail; his next court appearance has not been set. Clifford said that a university officer stopped the man in the 800 block of W. Baltimore St. on Tuesday morning because he was clutching his side as if he was trying to hide a weapon.