Suspect

An suspect in an auto theft was arrested yesterday morning after a long, slow-speed police pursuit through several neighborhoods in Baltimore, according to a department spokeswoman. Officer Nicole Monroe said the incident began about 10:30 a.m. in West Baltimore when members of the Regional Auto Theft Task Force spotted the vehicle in the 2400 block of W. Lexington St. They attempted to stop the vehicle, the make and model of which were not immediately available, but the driver didn't stop, Monroe said.

Though the blood of Lillian Abramowicz Phelps was found on the bottom of a suspect's vehicle, prosecutors lack evidence that the man is responsible for her death, defense attorneys told jurors yesterday. The contention came during opening statements as the trial of Charles Eugene Burns, a 35-year-old laborer charged with first-degree murder, began in Harford County Circuit Court. Burns has been charged with sexually assaulting and attacking six other women, and linked as a possible suspect in the deaths of three others.

Two workers at an Overlea catering hall were shot and critically wounded yesterday by a former employee, who was later wounded in the leg during a shootout with city police outside his Northeast Baltimore apartment, police said.The two employees, Dennis Rembert Jr., 38, of the 300 block of Wellingborough Way, Cockeysville, and Duane Thomas, 27, of the 4200 block of Stanwood Ave., Baltimore, were taken by helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Rembert was in critical condition and Thomas was in critical but stable condition last night, police said.

ON THE morning this newspaper began running Todd Richissin's series on juvenile boot camps, some of us got it all wrong. We saw the big color photograph of a teen-age boy in handcuffs, with guards yelling at him. We read a couple of paragraphs about get-tough tactics. Some of us started to mutter a tiny little cheer.We have long since grown frightened of our community's children. Maybe the state's boot camp at Big Savage Mountain, where the name seems a testosterone growl, was the official, long-overdue gesture of retribution: No more kidding around, kids.

A Frederick County man was arrested late Wednesday in connection with the armed robbery of Pizza Hut in the 140 Village Shopping Center in Westminster.The suspect was apprehended less than an hour after the robbery was reported, Westminster police said.The man is also a suspect in the armed robbery of a High's Store in the 400 block of E. Main St. in Westminster on Monday, police said.David M. Evanick, 34, of Walkersville, was charged with armed robbery, robbery, first- and second-degree assault, and theft over $300.

A man charged with killing a Baltimore caterer was brought back to Maryland yesterday after he was deported from Trinidad, city police said.Robert Malcolm Jackson, 28, was arrested on the Caribbean island Jan. 1 on an unrelated charge, which wasn't specified yesterday. On Monday, authorities discovered that he was wanted in Baltimore.U.S. prosecutors had been preparing for an extradition hearing, but police said Trinidad authorities decided to deport Jackson without a court appearance.Two Baltimore City homicide detectives flew to Trinidad Wednesday and escorted the suspect to Maryland yesterday afternoon.

A man fatally shot in West Baltimore Tuesday night was a suspect in seven homicides, and city police said yesterday that he is a prime example of how just a few people can commit a multitude of crimes.Howard Bernard Rice, 31, was shot more than a dozen times after he tried to blend into a street corner dice game to escape a gunman who was chasing him.While Rice was alive, homicide detectives said, they were unable to prove the murder cases against him, but police yesterday closed the books on the seven slayings.

Howard County police have obtained a warrant for the arrest of a suspect in connection with a bank robbery that occurred March 19 at FCNB Bank on Twin Knolls Road in Columbia.The suspect has been identified by fingerprints as Tyrone Kavon Franklin, 20, of the 4800 block of Reisterstown Road in Baltimore, police said. The warrant was issued for robbery, felony, theft, second-degree assault and possession of cocaine.Police say a man entered the FCNB bank about 2: 30 p.m. March 19 and handed the teller a threatening note demanding money and implying that he had a gun.After robbing a teller of an undisclosed amount of cash, the man fled on foot, shedding a brown wig and a jacket.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore and Baltimore County.Eastern DistrictArmed robbery: The owner of Royal Star Carryout in the 1100 block of E. North Ave. was robbed at gunpoint about 10: 30 a.m. yesterday of an undetermined amount of money. The suspect was armed with a nickel-plated automatic handgun.Armed robbery: A man armed with a small handgun and a female accomplice robbed another man of $300 in the 300 block of E. North Ave. about 11: 15 a.m. yesterday.Arrests: Three men were arrested and charged with drug possession about 2: 45 a.m. yesterday in the 2200 block of E. Madison St. Police seized 108 yellow-top vials containing suspect white powder and $159 in cash.

Police said they had a suspect almost immediately after 81-year-old Milton Stiekman was fatally stabbed in his Park Heights home in 1988. But they couldn't match fingerprints to the woman they were questioning.A decade later, city police said they have finally made the link. Yesterday, they arrested the original suspect in the case and charged her with repeatedly stabbing the elderly man as he ate dinner at his kitchen table.Marvina "Peanut" Spriggs, 31, of the 900 block of Chauncey St. was arrested at her home yesterday morning by members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and charged with first-degree murder.

Police arrest 2 suspects in Howard armed robbery Two men from Prince George's County have been charged by Howard County police with robbing a Jessup bank Friday. David Wayne Holloway of Landover and David Dwayne Ford of Forestville are charged with armed robbery, handgun violations, robbery, first-degree assault, endangerment and theft, police say. They are accused of robbing a Bank of America branch in the 7300 block of Assateague Ave. shortly before 10 a.m. No customers or employees were hurt, police said.

A city police officer responding to a domestic dispute shot a man who was carrying two knives Wednesday in East Baltimore after he ignored commands to drop the weapons and moved toward the officer, according to Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the department. Officers went to the 2700 block of Jefferson St. in the McElderry Park community about 6:30 a.m. to investigate a disturbance involving a mother and son, Guglielmi said. Police had been called to the same address about 1:30 a.m. for a similar complaint and found the man "intoxicated but compliant," Guglielmi said.

The Supreme Court began its new term Monday with an inquisitive new justice and a case from Maryland about how long police must honor a suspect's request for an attorney. Justice Sonia Sotomayor displayed no reticence on the first day of her first term on the court; in the two cases on the court's docket, she asked as many questions and made as many comments as Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. The only sign of her newness was that she at times forgot to turn on her microphone before posing a question.

Baltimore police announced Friday that detectives have arrested suspects in two killings last month, including a fatal shooting during a robbery that netted $18, according to police and court documents. In the robbery case, police said Abron Scott, 42, of the 4500 block of Manor View Road was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery and gun offenses in the shooting Sept. 9 of Shelton Elliott in a house in the 500 block of N. Carey St. in West Baltimore. Police said the suspect walked into a third-story apartment through an unlocked door about 7:40 p.m. and threatened four occupants with a pistol.

Baltimore police are searching for a man who they said broke into a West Baltimore home, struck a woman in the head with a baseball bat and then raped her at knifepoint. Authorities released a computer-generated sketch of a possible suspect described as a medium- to dark-complexioned black male in his early 20s with a slim build and standing about 5 feet 7 inches tall. He has short-matted dreadlocks and boyish features, according to police. A clothing description was not available. The attack occurred Sept.

A city officer was injured Thursday afternoon when he was dragged five blocks by a car whose driver was trying to escape arrest in West Baltimore. In a separate incident in Westport, an officer shot a man suspected of dealing drugs who drew a gun during an undercover drug buy, authorities said. The injured officer, whose name was not released, joined the department 18 months ago and was assigned to the Western District. He was listed in fair condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Details of his injuries were not released, but police said his bullet-resistant vest was shredded as he was dragged.

A city police officer shot and killed a drug suspect after the man attempted to stab another officer in the back early Wednesday in East Baltimore, according to police. Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said two officers were arresting two suspects on drug charges about 12:30 a.m. in the 2500 block of Orleans St. in the McElderry Park neighborhood when one of the suspects got loose and "repeatedly stabbed the officer" in the back with a knifelike object. The other officer then shot the suspect several times.

An off-duty Baltimore police officer shot and critically wounded a man who had tried to rob him at gunpoint in his Northeast Baltimore home, according to police. He chased the man for two blocks before opening fire, police said. The officer, a seven-year veteran assigned to the Southwest District, was attempting to enter his home in the 3600 block of Glenarm Road in the leafy Glenham-Belford neighborhood about 1 p.m. when the suspect, a 19-year-old man, stuck a gun in his back and forced him inside the home, according to Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman.

A 76-year-old man was in serious condition after he was beaten while fishing with his wife in what police are treating as a hate crime. Police said a 28-year-old suspect, who professed to be a white supremacist, was taken into custody. The victim, who was not identified, was at Fort Armistead Park in South Baltimore about 5 a.m. when three men began assaulting him while yelling racial epithets, police said. The attackers fled in the victim's vehicle. He was taken to a local hospital, then transported to Maryland Shock Trauma Center because of the severity of the injuries to his head.

A man who was jailed without bail for months because a Baltimore police officer said he tried to disarm her was set free Tuesday after Officer Traci L. McKissick changed her story during emotional courtroom testimony. Earlier this year, McKissick told prosecutors that Joseph A. Forrest was the man who stepped on her hand as she held a gun and wrestled with Forrest's 61-year-old uncle, who was killed by police during an altercation in February. But in court last week, McKissick referred to the person who tried to get her gun only as the "mystery man" and "the voice."