Tow Truck

Donna Beth Joy Shapiro has had "lifelong, recurring dreams of plunging off an enormous bridge." Earlier this year, she told a friend that one of her biggest fears was that her truck would die on the Bay Bridge. Two days later, she came face to face with that fear. Shapiro, a Bolton Hill resident, was one of several readers who answered the call in last week's column for stories of their experiences with immobility on bridges and tunnels with no shoulders for refuge. Shapiro writes that it was about 3:30 p.m. on a Sunday this spring, while she was driving in 50 mph traffic on the westbound span of the bridge, when "I smelled something acrid for about 30 seconds, and then my truck just stopped."

Anne Arundel : Arnold Boy, 4, dies after being struck by Jeep A 4 year-old boy was killed yesterday evening near his Arnold home after he ran into the street to fetch a ball and was struck by a vehicle, Anne Arundel County police said. The boy - who was not immediately identified by police - was playing baseball with his friends on Whispering Woods Drive near Lodge Pole Court when the ball rolled into the street. An 18 year-old female who had just stopped her Jeep for several children proceeded slowly and hit the boy, police said.

ST. LOUIS From his customary open-air perch high above the Busch Stadium playing field, Mike Shannon was putting his own folksy finishing touch on another St. Louis Cardinals broadcast Thursday afternoon. It was a beautiful day at the ballpark, full of high skies, gentle breezes and good baseball, and you could hear Shannon's unmistakable voice cackling throughout every loudspeaker in the stadium's broad corridors. He sprinkled that familiar "Heh, hehh, hehhh," into every segment of the radio broadcast, then finished the day with a big and satisfied grin as the Cardinals completed a series sweep of the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.

Responding to complaints that some area tow truck drivers are using aggressive tactics to snatch up illegally parked cars, Anne Arundel County officials passed legislation yesterday giving more protection to car owners.The new law, approved on a 6-0 vote of the County Council last night, requires businesses to post detailed signs explaining restrictions at their parking lots and compels towing companies to notify police within one hour if they remove a car without the owner's consent.The law, which takes effect in 45 days, also forbids the use of "spotters," who earn commissions by scouting for illegally parked cars and notifying towing outfits, even if no nearby business has complained about the vehicles.

Baltimore police officials have decided to delay awarding lucrative towing licenses for two months after a published report showed city and police towing policies were being ignored.Police Department spokesman Robert W. Weinhold Jr. said new towing licenses would not be issued until July 31. The 15 existing licenses, which were to expire June 1, have been extended until then, he said."The reason for the delay is to allow for an appropriate and thorough investigation for each of the license applicants," Weinhold said.

To its neighbors, the neat three-story brick building at 2101 Fleet St. looks like any other local liquor store -- a quick, convenient spot to pull in and pick up a half-case of beer.But city records describe the liquor store as something else: the hub of a major towing operation where trucks are efficiently dispatched to accident scenes all across the city's east side.In 1996, the city records show, trucks were called from 2101 Fleet St. 3,057 times.In fact, the Fleet Street property, and nearly a half-dozen others around town, are ghost garages in Baltimore's lucrative tow truck system.

A New York man was convicted yesterday of stealing $20,000 paid by a Westminster auto mechanic and another man for a tow truck he failed to deliver.Vincent J. Decicco, 36, of Kensington, N.Y., will be sentenced Tuesday by Carroll County Circuit Court Judge Luke K. Burns Jr.A jury of four men and eight women deliberated about three hours before finding Decicco guilty of theft. The jury also found Decicco not guilty on a separate felony theft count involving another tow truck.According to prosecutor Edward J. Puls, David Stewart, of Stew's Automotive on Gorsuch Road, planned to purchase a large tow truck from Decicco, who had advertised in a trade journal.

Police arrested a Pasadena man Wednesday on charges that he broke into a vacant lot in the 7800 block of Marley Neck Boulevard and tried to steal a truck that had been used for scrap metal.Randall David Lang, 32, of the 400 block of S. Carolina Ave. was charged with trespassing and felony theft.Donald Smith, a friend of Jane Pitt, the owner of the property, called police about 4 p.m. He told police someone had cut a chain that was blocking the driveway. When police arrived, a man was putting the truck onto the back of his tow truck, police said.

Five people -- including a Howard County police officer -- were injured Monday night when a driver merging onto U.S. 29 in Columbia lost control of her car and barreled into a vehicle being towed from the road shoulder, county police said.Treated at Howard County General Hospital and released early yesterday were Cpl. Robert Leidig, 36; Thomas Pugh, 54, and Joseph Pugh, 18, of Halethorpe; Kenneth Ragland, 52, of Hyattsville; and Marcus Alexander Floto, 35, of Ellicott City.The driver of the merging vehicle, Madeline Paul Durholz, 60, of Lakeland, Fla., was not injured, police said.

A Crownsville man who was reportedly late on his truck payments was arrested Wednesday on charges he fired a shotgun while trying to keep repossessers from taking it, county police said.Shaun G. Bompas, 29, of the 1000 block of Omar Drive was charged with illegal discharge of a firearm and assault.Neighbors called police shortly after midnight when they heard a shotgun blast.Police found James E. Bittner and David J. Brown, repossessers from Laurel Adjustment Bureau, sitting in a tow truck in Bompas' driveway.

Body parts found along Arundel creek 2 State police say they have not ruled out the possibility that body parts found Saturday in northern Anne Arundel County are human but that they also could be from an animal. Investigators said forensic examinations will be conducted. Police and volunteers continued a search late Saturday after body parts were found in Cockey Creek. State police spokesman Greg Shipley said county police were called to the 400 block of Riverside Drive in Pasadena shortly after 7 a.m. after a homeowner found a severed foot along the beach.

Police have identified three recent homicide victims, bringing to five the total number of people killed over the past weekend as violence continued on the city's West Side. Among the victims was Marcella Lawson, 64, who was found behind a vehicle that was being taken away by a tow truck driver. An officer had called for the tow truck after noticing the Honda Accord with its lights on in the 2800 block of Edgecombe Circle North, in Northwest Baltimore, and determining it was abandoned, said Nicole Monroe, a police spokeswoman.

A teenager died from a gunshot wound to the back Sunday afternoon after someone "opened fire without warning" in a West Baltimore neighborhood across from a recreation center and Gwynns Falls Park, police said. The 18-year-old male victim and a 47-year-old man, who suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his left leg, were taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Police had been called to the 800 block of Allendale St. shortly after 1 p.m.; the teenager was pronounced dead at the hospital less than an hour later.

Woman is killed in collision with tow truck 3 A Lothian woman was killed when her Chevrolet Cavalier was rear-ended by a tow truck and landed in bushes off Bay Front Road in Lothian shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday, Anne Arundel County police said. Nancy Kelley Dowell, 48, of the 200 block of Main St. was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Police said Dowell's car was eastbound and stopped to turn left into a driveway in the 800 block of Bay Front Road. Behind it, a Mercury Villager pulled onto the right shoulder and passed her car. A tow truck that had been behind the Villager did not swerve to avoid Dowell's car and struck it, police said.

A 13-year-old boy was killed Wednesday in a two-vehicle crash at Route 32 and River Road in Sykesville, according to Howard County police. The boy, Vincent Woodward, was riding in the front seat of a 2008 Mazda 5 minivan driven by Kyong Hae Kim of Sykesville, police said. Kim was turning left from River Road onto southbound Route 32 about 5 p.m. when she pulled into the path of a flatbed tow truck, police said. Kim, 51, of the 12200 block of Howard Lodge Road, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore in critical condition, according to police.

At exactly 3:15 p.m. yesterday, Ed Lott eased his tow truck into a space in front of Sheldon "Sam" Deller's home near the Pennsylvania line. Half a dozen cars quickly pulled up behind him, and people piled onto the front lawn. Venessa Bond rang the bell, and Deller came to the door, surveying the crowd of unknown faces. "Sam, I would like to let you know there's a secret Santa," Bond told him. "There's a gift." She jangled a set of keys and gestured to the tow truck. It was carrying a green 1998 Plymouth Voyager - Deller's new car. The 48-year-old's kidneys are failing, and he had no reliable transportation to dialysis in Bel Air. As his family swirled around him, hugging and crying, Deller asked again and again, "Who did this?

A Baltimore County youth was identified yesterday as the victim of a fatal accident Friday in Montgomery County. Police said Joseph Louis Lineberger, 18, of the 9200 block of Oswald Way in the Canterbury Apartments near Rossville was northbound on Georgia Avenue in Brookeville about 5:30 p.m. and was attempting a right turn in a curve when the van he was driving crossed over the double yellow lines and crashed into a southbound 2002 International heavy-duty...

Donna Beth Joy Shapiro has had "lifelong, recurring dreams of plunging off an enormous bridge." Earlier this year, she told a friend that one of her biggest fears was that her truck would die on the Bay Bridge. Two days later, she came face to face with that fear. Shapiro, a Bolton Hill resident, was one of several readers who answered the call in last week's column for stories of their experiences with immobility on bridges and tunnels with no shoulders for refuge. Shapiro writes that it was about 3:30 p.m. on a Sunday this spring, while she was driving in 50 mph traffic on the westbound span of the bridge, when "I smelled something acrid for about 30 seconds, and then my truck just stopped."

Anne Arundel : Arnold Boy, 4, dies after being struck by Jeep A 4 year-old boy was killed yesterday evening near his Arnold home after he ran into the street to fetch a ball and was struck by a vehicle, Anne Arundel County police said. The boy - who was not immediately identified by police - was playing baseball with his friends on Whispering Woods Drive near Lodge Pole Court when the ball rolled into the street. An 18 year-old female who had just stopped her Jeep for several children proceeded slowly and hit the boy, police said.

A collision between a sport utility vehicle and a tow truck yesterday afternoon on a road near Dunkirk in southern Anne Arundel County claimed the life of one man and injured another, a county Police Department spokesman said. Their names were not released. Shortly before 5 p.m., the driver of a 1988 Jeep Cherokee was eastbound on Chesapeake Beach Road when he crossed the center line and crashed head-on into a westbound 37-foot roll-back tow truck, said Sgt. Dave Ennis, the spokesman. Ennis said the driver of the Jeep, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown onto the roadway and was pronounced dead at the scene.