Stolen Vehicles

Crime in Baltimore County continued to decline in the first half of this year, according to police figures released yesterday, with homicides in particular dipping to the lowest level in two decades -- six in the first six months of 1999.Other violent crimes also dropped significantly during the first six months compared with the same period a year ago. Reported rapes dropped 21 percent and robbery was down 13 percent.Overall violent crime was down 3.7 percent, while all crimes declined 7.3 percent.

Maryland State Police signed an agreement yesterday with a Massachusetts company to use its tracking technology to help identify the whereabouts of stolen cars.Under the agreement, LoJack Corp. of Dedham, Mass., will provide tracking equipment to the state police and seven other police agencies in Maryland to find cars equipped with transmitters, if they are stolen, at no cost to taxpayers.The agreement would benefit those car owners who choose to pay $595 to LoJack to put a transmitter in their cars.

Crime in Baltimore County increased by 8.3 percent -- and violent crime by 10.3 percent -- in the first quarter of 1995, police announced yesterday.The increases include a 16.6 percent jump in robberies, with the 583 incidents representing the highest first-quarter figures since Business robberies made up 43.7 percent of the total in that category this year.Police officials said the weather may be a factor in the statistical increase -- good weather this winter, compared to the harsh conditions that kept many people indoors in the icy winter of 1994.

County police hope to make a dent in soaring auto theft cases with a hot line that lets citizens turn in thieves and those who own stolen vehicles.With a $101,600 grant from the Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council, the county police auto theft squad has set up the hot line and answering machine, said Sgt. James A. Standiford, who heads the squad.Maryland ranks 12th in the nation for total vehicle thefts, and ninth per capita, according to prevention council statistics.County police statistics show that arrests for auto theft increased by more than 300 percent from 1993 to 1994.

A Columbia teen-ager who told police he could steal a car with just a screwdriver was sentenced to eight years in prison yesterday for leading a theft ring that took 20 vehicles last winter.Christopher James Peca, an 18-year-old member of a car club called the Low Riders, was given the sentence after pleading guilty to 12 theft counts in Howard Circuit Court.The prosecution contended that Peca and six other members of the Low Riders stole the vehicles, mostly four-wheel-drive Jeep Cherokees and Chevrolet Blazers, from East Columbia from Dec. 25, 1993, to Jan. 3, 1994.

Two 18-year-old men and a 16-year-old boy, all of Columbia, were arrested Sunday and charged in connection with the thefts of about 25 four-wheel-drive vehicles in East Columbia since late December.Howard County police made the arrests after the three youths allegedly stole two Jeep Cherokees early Saturday and used the stolen vehicles to destroy parts of a pavilion and fitness course at Lake Elkhorn in Owen Brown.Alexi Martinez, of the 9300 block of Gentle Folk, was released yesterday from the Howard County Detention Center on $10,000 bond.

A Columbia man was sentenced to two years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to 11 charges for his part in the theft of at least 23 four-wheel-drive vehicles last winter.Adam Matthew Fattori, 19, of the 8900 block of Blade Green Lane, also was ordered to pay nearly $9,500 in restitution to 10 victims as part of a plea agreement he accepted in Howard Circuit Court.Fattori pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and eight counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle.Before receiving his sentence, Fattori apologized for the incidents and said he got mixed up with the wrong people.

POLICE LOG* Dorsey's Search: 5000 block of Columbia Road: Two cars were stolen after thieves entered a home through a garage shortly after midnight Monday and took cash and car keys. Police said a garage door opener taken from one of the stolen vehicles was used to gain access to the home. The stolen vehicles were a dark green 1992 Infiniti Q45 with Maryland tags AEG 619 and a gold 1990 Acura Legend with Maryland tags ABW 481. Police found a 1985 Toyota Camry reported stolen from Baltimore City -- its ignition and door locks pried -- in a nearby lot. The thieves also tried to steal another Acura in the neighborhood, police said.

Seven youths were arrested after a high-speed chase early yesterday during which two stolen vehicles were wrecked, two police cruisers were rammed and the suspects were tracked down by police dogs after bailing out of the vehicles.Two police officers were injured in the hourlong chase. Sgt. Curt Spanos, a 20-year veteran, and Detective Ellsworth Jones, a five-year veteran, were treated for shoulder and back injuries at Howard County General Hospital in Columbia and released.The youths, ages 11 to 17, all have been charged with auto theft and conspiracy to commit auto theft.

Seven youths were arrested after a high-speed chase in Columbia early yesterday during which two stolen vehicles were wrecked, two police cruisers were rammed and the suspects were tracked down by police dogs after bailing out of the vehicles.Two police officers were injured in the hourlong chase. Sgt. Curt Spanos and Detective Ellsworth Jones were treated for shoulder and back injuries at Howard County General Hospital in Columbia and released.The youths, ages 11 to 17, all have been charged with auto theft and conspiracy to commit auto theft.

About $36,000 in currency was seized from two passengers at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport this week, and another man was arrested on a drug possession charge after marijuana was found in his baggage, customs officials announced yesterday. Officials also announced that two stolen vehicles were intercepted last week at the port of Baltimore before they could be shipped to West Africa, bringing the number of stolen vehicles recovered there this year to eight.

Following a trail that led from Maryland to Belgium and Nigeria, the Baltimore Regional Auto Theft Task Force has recovered two shipments of stolen luxury cars and sport utility vehicles from one of the larger international stolen-vehicle rings to have operated through the port of Baltimore, authorities said yesterday. The vehicles were being carried aboard container ships. However, before the shipments could be unloaded overseas, the vessels were ordered to return to Baltimore, where the cars and SUVs were seized by local and federal investigators.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The deal went quickly. Nasser el-Din Said handed a stack of hundred-dollar bills totaling $4,500 to another man yesterday, took the keys to a white Nissan pickup truck and put freshly prepared registration papers on the seat beside him. Asked where the vehicle had come from, the 74-year-old simply smiled and said, "Korea and Japan." The true answer became obvious as he pulled out of the dusty lot. The blue license plate of the former Iraqi government hung from the back bumper.

Crime in Baltimore County continued to decline in the first half of this year, according to police figures released yesterday, with homicides in particular dipping to the lowest level in two decades -- six in the first six months of 1999.Other violent crimes also dropped significantly during the first six months compared with the same period a year ago. Reported rapes dropped 21 percent and robbery was down 13 percent.Overall violent crime was down 3.7 percent, while all crimes declined 7.3 percent.

Maryland State Police signed an agreement yesterday with a Massachusetts company to use its tracking technology to help identify the whereabouts of stolen cars.Under the agreement, LoJack Corp. of Dedham, Mass., will provide tracking equipment to the state police and seven other police agencies in Maryland to find cars equipped with transmitters, if they are stolen, at no cost to taxpayers.The agreement would benefit those car owners who choose to pay $595 to LoJack to put a transmitter in their cars.

County police hope to make a dent in soaring auto theft cases with a hot line that lets citizens turn in thieves and those who own stolen vehicles.With a $101,600 grant from the Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council, the county police auto theft squad has set up the hot line and answering machine, said Sgt. James A. Standiford, who heads the squad.Maryland ranks 12th in the nation for total vehicle thefts, and ninth per capita, according to prevention council statistics.County police statistics show that arrests for auto theft increased by more than 300 percent from 1993 to 1994.

Crime in Baltimore County increased by 8.3 percent -- and violent crime by 10.3 percent -- in the first quarter of 1995, police announced yesterday.The increases include a 16.6 percent jump in robberies, with the 583 incidents representing the highest first-quarter figures since Business robberies made up 43.7 percent of the total in that category this year.Police officials said the weather may be a factor in the statistical increase -- good weather this winter, compared to the harsh conditions that kept many people indoors in the icy winter of 1994.

A Columbia teen-ager who told police he could steal a car with just a screwdriver was sentenced to eight years in prison yesterday for leading a theft ring that took 20 vehicles last winter.Christopher James Peca, an 18-year-old member of a car club called the Low Riders, was given the sentence after pleading guilty to 12 theft counts in Howard Circuit Court.The prosecution contended that Peca and six other members of the Low Riders stole the vehicles, mostly four-wheel-drive Jeep Cherokees and Chevrolet Blazers, from East Columbia from Dec. 25, 1993, to Jan. 3, 1994.

A third member of a theft ring alleged to have stolen about 20 vehicles from Columbia last winter pleaded guilty yesterday in Howard Circuit Court to four charges for his role in the thefts.Charles William Danzer of the 9300 block of Many Flowers Lane in Jessup accepted a plea agreement in connection with two counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle, being a rogue and vagabond, and theft for possessing stolen property.Danzer, 19, will be sentenced by Judge James Dudley Nov. 22, pending a report by the county Department of Parole and Probation.

Seven youths were arrested after a high-speed chase early yesterday during which two stolen vehicles were wrecked, two police cruisers were rammed and the suspects were tracked down by police dogs after bailing out of the vehicles.Two police officers were injured in the hourlong chase. Sgt. Curt Spanos, a 20-year veteran, and Detective Ellsworth Jones, a five-year veteran, were treated for shoulder and back injuries at Howard County General Hospital in Columbia and released.The youths, ages 11 to 17, all have been charged with auto theft and conspiracy to commit auto theft.