Theft

COLLEGE PARK -- University of Maryland campus police have charged a member of the university's women's basketball team with the theft of items that had been reported missing from a woman's purse in November.Allene K. Williams, 19, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who is known by her middle name, Kwana, surrendered herself to campus police Thursday night after she was charged with four counts of theft of items of a value less than $300, according to a police press release.Williams, who averaged 10.1 points and three assists a game before she was suspended indefinitely by coach Chris Weller before the Florida State game on Jan. 14, was held on $500 bond, which she paid.

Circuit Judge Francis M. Arnold upheld the prison sentence of a Baltimore man convicted in the county's largest residential break-in.On Tuesday, Arnold declined to reduce the sentence of Byron P. Pantazonis, saying that the crime was too serious and that Pantazonis' rolein the crime merited keeping him in jail for seven years.Pantazonis and his girlfriend, Julie R. Wilt, were convicted lastyear of theft as part of a scheme to steal more than $260,000 worth of antiques from the Westminster home of Emily Fink.

A state trooper was suspended without pay yesterday after she was charged with theft, Maryland State Police said.Lisa A. Stratton, 29, was charged with four counts of misdemeanor theft and one felony count. According to a criminal summons, she was videotaped taking money from a cash register at Macy's in White Marsh in January and February.Stratton had been a trooper since July 1996 and was on probation, according to the state police. She was assigned to the Glen Burnie barracks. An internal affairs investigation into the incident is being conducted.

Baltimore County prosecutors have decided not to proceed with theft charges filed in March against a county teacher after students reported that money and jewelry were stolen from their gym lockers. Louis M. Clark, 26, a gym teacher at Dundalk High School, was charged with 12 counts of petty theft. His arrest came after a four-month investigation into thefts from nine students' lockers, police said. District court prosecutors transferred the case on Aug. 3 to an inactive docket, according to court records, which means the charges will not be pursued.

A 22-year-old Sykesville man was arrested on several charges Saturday after six vehicles parked on Bear Branch Road near Clearview Airport were broken into Friday evening. State police said three commercial vehicles and three private autos were entered.Donley Wesley Wood Jr., 100 block of White Way, was charged with four counts of felony theft, two counts of misdemeanor theft, one count of theft by scheme and possession of marijuana.Mr. Wood was being held on $10,000 bond after a bail review hearing yesterday.

The Anne Arundel County sheriff's office is investigating the theft of a handgun from a basement locker in the Circuit Courthouse last fall.Patrick Ogle, Sheriff Robert Pepersack's second-in-command, said Friday that a 9 mm Smith & Wesson pistol was stolen Aug. 31 from a locker in the area housing prison and jail inmates awaiting hearings.An inmate is not suspected, however, and sheriff's office employees are being questioned, Mr. Ogle said.Three full-time deputies who were working in the cellblock the day of the theft have been reprimanded and have paid for the missing handgun, Mr. Ogle said.

Police arrested a Baltimore woman Friday on theft and drug charges after an Ames department store security guard stopped her for shoplifting from the Pasadena store.Mavis Amanda Cole, 23, of the 2200 block of Sidney Ave. was charged with theft, possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.The security guard for the store in the 8100 block of Ritchie Highway, told police he saw a woman take $231 worth of children's clothes from store displays and put them in a large plastic bag. The woman walked out of the store without paying for the items, and the guard caught the woman and held her for police who later discovered a syringe and a small bag of what later tested positive for heroin in her jacket, police said.

Carroll County sheriff's deputies have arrested two Westminster juveniles in the theft of two handguns.The juveniles, ages 13 and 17, were arrested Monday and released to the custody of their parents, pending action by juvenile authorities, officials said. The guns, a .22-caliber pistol and a 9 mm semiautomatic, were reported missing from a Westminster home Dec. 19, deputies said.The .22-caliber pistol was found in the home of one of the juveniles, and the 9 mm handgun was traced to Hanover, Pa., where it was traded for a tattoo, deputies said.

A Scaggsville man has been convicted of theft in a Columbia town-house burglary in May after a jury heard conflicting testimony by two co-defendants.Kenneth E. Kosh, 38, was convicted Tuesday following a two-day trial in Howard County Circuit Court. But jurors acquitted him of a burglary charge and could not reach a verdict on two additional theft counts.He will be sentenced Dec. 1.Mr. Kosh, of the 12000 block of Hall Shop Road, is one of four men charged with taking items worth about $3,000 from a house in the 8900 block of Footed Ridge in the Long Reach village on May 6.Antonio G. Laws, 35, of the 8700 block of Airy Brink Lane, Columbia, testified for the prosecution that Mr. Kosh came to his house and offered him $20 to take a friend to Baltimore.