Repair Shop

Detective Hassan Rasheed had been watching the Northwest Baltimore repair shop for weeks as men brought dirt bikes in and out for repairs. Now police, intent on cracking down on illegal bikes, were prepared to move in. Armed with a search-and-seizure warrant, Rasheed and a team of officers gathered up 16 bikes. Some had been reported stolen. As the officers combed the West Belvedere Avenue repair shop, a crowd gathered outside the barbed-wire-topped fence. "I'm sure everyone's [angry]

Detective Hassan Rasheed had been watching the Northwest Baltimore repair shop for weeks as men brought dirt bikes in and out for repairs. Now police, intent on cracking down on illegal bikes, were prepared to move in. Armed with a search-and-seizure warrant, Rasheed and a team of officers gathered up 16 bikes. Some had been reported stolen. As the officers combed the West Belvedere Avenue repair shop, a crowd gathered outside the barbed-wire-topped fence. "I'm sure everyone's [angry]

Wilmer A. "Bud" Rehmeyer, a World War II veteran who owned and operated a Baltimore County clock and jewelry repair shop for more than 50 years, died July 10 of heart failure at Chapel Hill Nursing Home in Randallstown. He was 96. The son of a schoolteacher, who was also a Fuller Brush salesman, and a garment worker was born in Glen Rock, Pa., and later moved with his family to Hampden. He was a City College graduate and worked downtown on Liberty Street for a watch supply company before being drafted into the Army in 1941.

As J.C. Barbely looked at Assateague Island in his rearview mirror Saturday night, he was pretty sure his seaside home away from home wouldn't escape Sandy's fury. But Wednesday morning, the assistant manager of the Maryland Park Service's biggest money-maker readied to reopen the park for day use before the week was out. Bulldozers plugged ragged holes in the dunes with sand washed into the parking lots, inspectors checked buildings, bridges and walkways, and crews gathered debris and counted wild ponies.

Howard County fire fighters put out a one-alarm fire that was reported early Wednesday morning inside a state-owned vehicle repair shop in Dayton. According to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services, crews responded to an alarm around 3 a.m. in the 4400 block of Route 32 and found a vehicle on fire inside the repair shop, causing heavy smoke. The six-bay garage is owned and operated by the State Highway Administration. The fire was extinguished within half an hour, causing little damage to the building and no reported injuries, according to the fire department.

After 90 years of repairing shoes and other leather goods, Hack's Shoe Repair, a fixture in Waverly since 1922, will close its doors for good this week. Its owner, Frank Booker, a veteran cobbler who has owned and operated the business in the 3400 block of Greenmount Ave. since 1968, has decided to retire at age 75. A handwritten message taped to the shop's two bay windows tells the story: "This Shop is Closing on January 31, 2012. Pick up shoes: 10 AM to 4:30 PM. " "I was in the hospital the other day and I'm ailing a bit," said Booker, in a telephone interview last week.

More than 100 firefighters battled a blaze that destroyed a Northeast Baltimore auto repair shop early yesterday and forced the evacuation of at least 20 rowhouses that were threatened by burning embers.Damage to J&J Custom Auto Accessories was estimated at $1.3 million, including damage to more than a dozen cars and race cars inside the one-story brick building in the 1000 block of E. 25th St.Firefighters fought the six-alarm fire for more than two hours. One firefighter hurt his ankle when he slipped on ice. He was treated at Union Memorial Hospital.

Someone broke into the Midlantic Transmissions repair shop Saturday morning, smashed open a cash register and stole less than $50, county police said.Police went to the repair shop in the 6700 block of Ritchie Highway to investigate an alarm sounding shortly after 1:30 a.m. An officer found a window on one of the rear bay door's broken, police said. He also found the cash register on the floor near the front counter.No one was in the shop, and nothing else was taken, police said.

A Frederick County woman accused of stealing more than $6,000 from a Mount Airy automotive repair shop pleaded guilty to felony theft yesterday in Carroll Circuit Court.In return for her plea, Anne Marie Delligatti, 30, of the 2800 block of Hawks Hill Lane in Keedysville was granted probation before judgment by Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. She was placed on three years of unsupervised probation, was ordered to make $2,424 in restitution within 90 days and agreed to perform 125 hours of volunteer community service within the next year in Washington County.

A 54-year-old state employee has pleaded guilty in Anne Arundel Circuit Court to misconduct in office for accepting discount prices on vehicles from a repair shop where he had steered state business.Russell R. Rippel of the 1100 block of Hotel Ave., Pasadena, was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Raymond G. Thieme Jr. to three years' supervised probation and was ordered to complete 1,040 hours of community service as part of a plea agreement negotiated with the state prosecutor."I'm thoroughly ashamed to be here.

Billie Insley sits in a red leatherette chair at Your Shoe Service in Linthicum, smoking a Wave cigarette and facing a stack of stuff packed for moving or disposal: sheets of leather, boxes of fresh heels and soles, some bearing the red-and-black label of the old Cat's Paw Rubber Co. His life's work is nearly done. In a matter of days, they'll take out the last of the heavy stitching, sanding and polishing machines that have been here as long as he has, since Dwight D. Eisenhower was president and the Baltimore Orioles were the newest thing in the American League.

The following is compiled from local police reports. Our policy is to include descriptions when there is enough information to make identification possible. If you have information about these crimes, call the Wilkens Police Station at 410-887-0872. Washington Boulevard, 5000 block, between Oct. 6, midnight, and Oct. 7, 12:30 p.m. Ten drills and eight iHome units taken from trucks in fenced parking lot at Estes Express Lines. Several boxes of merchandise found outside fence.

Howard County fire fighters put out a one-alarm fire that was reported early Wednesday morning inside a state-owned vehicle repair shop in Dayton. According to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services, crews responded to an alarm around 3 a.m. in the 4400 block of Route 32 and found a vehicle on fire inside the repair shop, causing heavy smoke. The six-bay garage is owned and operated by the State Highway Administration. The fire was extinguished within half an hour, causing little damage to the building and no reported injuries, according to the fire department.

Repair shop owner Alex Moreno said he was approached in 2008 by a Baltimore police officer with an idea to help boost sales at his fledgling Rosedale business: In exchange for a cut, officers would funnel cars to the shop. Soon, Majestic Auto Repair was getting customers almost exclusively from city police - he testified Tuesday in federal court that more than 60 officers would ultimately get in on the scheme , receiving $300 for each referral. Business grew so fast that he had to expand to new lots to store all the cars; the backlog was so deep that they paid for rental cars to keep customers from becoming frustrated by the wait.

After 90 years of repairing shoes and other leather goods, Hack's Shoe Repair, a fixture in Waverly since 1922, will close its doors for good this week. Its owner, Frank Booker, a veteran cobbler who has owned and operated the business in the 3400 block of Greenmount Ave. since 1968, has decided to retire at age 75. A handwritten message taped to the shop's two bay windows tells the story: "This Shop is Closing on January 31, 2012. Pick up shoes: 10 AM to 4:30 PM. " "I was in the hospital the other day and I'm ailing a bit," said Booker, in a telephone interview last week.

Two more Baltimore police officers pleaded guilty Monday to accepting kickbacks from a Rosedale auto repair shop. Jerry Edward Diggs Jr. and Osvaldo Valentine were convicted of conspiracy and extortion in separate hearings. They each face a maximum of 25 years in prison at their sentencings, scheduled back to back on March 12. But they will likely be sentenced to terms of less than four years, according to their plea agreements. Diggs and Valentine join at least seven other officers who have pleaded guilty in the case, along with the two owners of Majestic Auto Repair Shop: brothers Hernan Alexis Moreno and Edwin Javier Mejia.

Vincent Michael Spinoso, retired owner of a Southeast Baltimore auto repair shop, died of lung cancer July 9 at his Hydes home. He was 73. Born in Baltimore, he was raised in Little Italy above his parent's Gough Street grocery store. He was a graduate of St. Ann's parochial school. Mr. Spinoso owned and operated Spin's Body and Fender Shop for many years on Holabird Avenue until he retired in 1995. He restored antique and classic cars, including a 1956 Jaguar, 1938 Ford, 1956 Olds 88 and 1961 Lincoln Continental with suicide doors.

Performance Bicycle 6455 Dobbin Road Columbia, 443-283-1410 www.performancebike.com     What's in store: Focus, a German brand just entering the U.S. market, is part of the store's large inventory of road, mountain and hybrid bikes. Plus gear, clothing and sports nutrition. Each bike comes with free lifetime adjustments. Hidden gem: the Spin Doctor in-house repair shop. Chief mechanic Paul Gobat has 30 years of expertise.

Wilmer A. "Bud" Rehmeyer, a World War II veteran who owned and operated a Baltimore County clock and jewelry repair shop for more than 50 years, died July 10 of heart failure at Chapel Hill Nursing Home in Randallstown. He was 96. The son of a school teacher, who was also a Fuller Brush salesman, and a garment worker was born in Glen Rock, Pa., and later moved with his family to Hampden. He was a City College graduate and worked downtown on Liberty Street for a watch supply company before being drafted into the Army in 1941.