Ski Mask

A man in a ski mask hit an Edgewater Taco Bell employee while the youth was outside the restaurant emptying a trash can Thursday, county police said.Brian Gunn, 18, of Edgewater told police he was emptying garbage in the parking lot of the Taco Bell in the 3000 block of Solomons Island Road about 11: 30 p.m. when a man approached him from behind.Gunn turned and asked the man what he wanted, and the man hit Gunn on his left wrist with a wooden stick four times, police said.Gunn threw a trash can at the man and ran back into the restaurant.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore and Baltimore County.Northeastern District-- Assault and robbery: A man was walking in the 1500 block of Havenwood Road yesterday afternoon when he was approached another man who asked him if he had marijuana. Before the victim could reply, he was struck on the jaw by the assailant. Four or five other men then beat and kicked the victim, who was robbed of $20 in currency and a roll of quarters worth $10.Theft from auto: A woman parked her 1993 Dodge car in the 5100 block of Wright Ave. between 6: 30 p.m. and 7: 10 p.m. yesterday.

Jeremy Hsieh, an eighth-grader at Severna Park Middle School, and his math teacher, Mary Beth White, attended President Clinton's speech to the Maryland General Assembly yesterday and met briefly with the president.They were joined by Kenneth Lawson, associate superintendent for instruction and student services."I mentioned how much I appreciated him signing into the law the Family and Medical Leave Act, because I have been able to use it. I have two young daughters," said White, who has been teaching for seven years.

Roy Rogers, Domino's, McDonald's, Clyde's and Pizza Hut are all names that regularly attract Howard County restaurant-goers. This weekend, police said, they also attracted robbers.Police said holdups of employees and patrons occurred from Friday afternoon to early yesterday. None of the five incidents appear to be related, said Sgt. Tara Ball, a police spokeswoman.The series of robberies began when a youth was accosted in the Roy Rogers restaurant parking lot in Columbia's Wilde Lake Village Center by a knife-wielding teen-ager who demanded money and took $20, police said.

The Valencia Motel in the 10100 block of Washington Blvd. was robbed early Saturday by a man who kicked in the rear office door, Howard County police said.The robber demanded money from the clerk behind the counter about 1 a.m., police said, and took $180 from the drawer.A police report said the clerk activated an alarm after the man fled through the rear door.The robber was wearing a black jogging suit and a ski mask.Pub Date: 12/24/96

A young man riding a bicycle and wearing a ski mask robbed a Pizza Hut in the 3100 block of Mountain Road Saturday of an undisclosed amount of money, county police said yesterday.According to police, the store manager and an employee were leaving the store about 4 a.m. Saturday when the man approached and pointed a revolver. The man forced them into the store and demanded money, police said. He then forced the employees into a bathroom, locked the door and fled.Police are seeking a white male, about 17 years old, 5-foot-5 and with a thin build.

Two men wearing uniforms resembling those worn by Baltimore police officers forced their way into a Southeast Baltimore apartment yesterday, handcuffed the owner and repeatedly beat him, police said.George Vasiliades, 53, who owns the Sip & Bite diner in the 2200 block of Boston St., was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital for injuries to his head and face and released late yesterday.Agent Robert W. Weinhold Jr., a police spokesman, said investigators believe that robbery was the motive.But they were unsure if anything had been taken from the apartment -- above the diner -- because interviews with Mr. Vasiliades were incomplete.

A 42-year-old Towson man was arrested yesterday outside his home and charged in the midmorning robbery of a nearby health food store -- the latest in a series of holdups in the area.Police were called at 10:37 a.m. to the Power House Natural Food Store in the 100 block of Shealy Ave., where a robber with a ski mask, implying that he had a weapon, ordered several people to lie on the floor and took an undisclosed amount of money, police said.Following an escape route pointed out by witnesses, officers arrested Darnell H. McManus at his house in the 400 block of Jefferson Ave. A garbage bag containing money, a jacket, gloves and a ski mask were found in a yard next door, said Detective Robert E. Marley.

A 42-year-old Oakland Mills man says icy ground nearly foiled gunman's attempt to rob him at an automated teller machine early Wednesday.Herbert Haywood, an employee at the Potomac River Commission in Rockville, said he was on his way to work when he stopped his car a block from his home at the Oakland Mills Village Center to make a cash withdrawal at 5:50 a.m. Wednesday.As he walked to the machine, he heard a noise in the parking lot behind him. A man in a ski mask and armed with a sawed-off shotgun ran toward him, slipped on the ice, regained his balance and continued charging.