Transit Police

Maryland transit police are warning travelers to be alert on trains and buses, amid a long-running rash of mobile-device thefts targeting riders who were texting, listening to music or talking on the phone. The Maryland Transit Administration has logged more than 200 such incidents since it began tracking them at the beginning of last year in response to a series of customer complaints. A spike in these crimes followed the 2011 release of Apple's iPhone 4S, and the trend has kept up, with thieves taking music players, e-readers and tablet computers.

A 68-year-old man died Tuesday morning after a struggle with Maryland Transit Administration police investigating a report of an attack on a bus driver in West Baltimore, authorities confirmed. MTA officers were called to the 1100 block of Cloverdale Road about 5:45 a.m. for a report that a "man with a cane" was assaulting the bus driver and another rider, according to Paulette Austrich, an MTA spokeswoman. Austrich said the man was being combative and went into cardiac arrest when four officers attempted to restrain him. She said he was revived through CPR and taken to Maryland General Hospital.

NEW YORK -- A subway turnstile did what Tennessee authorities couldn't do in 11 years: catch Billy Forrest.Forrest, a convicted armed robber, was serving a 45-year sentence when he escaped from a minimum-security facility in Nashville on July 4, 1980.For 11 1/2 years, Forrest eluded the law. Until yesterday.Trying to beat the $1.15 fare, Forrest, 52, hopped a turnstile at the Times Square subway station and into the waiting arms of Transit Police Officer John Palmieri, transit police said.

Maryland transit police are warning travelers to be alert on trains and buses, amid a long-running rash of mobile-device thefts targeting riders who were texting, listening to music or talking on the phone. The Maryland Transit Administration has logged more than 200 such incidents since it began tracking them at the beginning of last year in response to a series of customer complaints. A spike in these crimes followed the 2011 release of Apple's iPhone 4S, and the trend has kept up, with thieves taking music players, e-readers and tablet computers.

A Maryland Transit Administration police officer fatally shot a man last night who was trying to rob a passenger near the Reisterstown Road Plaza subway station, police said. Police said the robbery suspect pulled out a gun after being confronted, forcing the officer to fire in self-defense. The officer was part of a team of seven plainclothes officers who were patrolling the area last night in response to a wave of robberies, said Capt. David Marzola of the transit police. Police reported seeing the suspect, accompanied by two other men, approach a passenger leaving the subway about 7 p.m. The man pressed a pistol into the passenger's back and then rifled through his pockets, Marzola said.

NEW YORK -- Transit Police Officer Denfield Otto was riding to choir practice when the firebomb went off just 15 feet from him.The noise was deceiving -- little more than a firecracker pop. But he spun around in his seat fast enough to see a flash, a small flame -- and then 15 seconds later a roaring blast of flames.And the bedlam.Officer Otto immediately stifled all thoughts of singing Christmas carols in his West Indian baritone voice -- and went into action."Passengers scattered and ran to ward the exits," Officer Otto said.

NEW YORK -- Keron Thomas' obsession with subway trains did not begin in early childhood because in early childhood he was in Trinidad, and Trinidad does not have trains.But, oh, when he got to New York.He fell in love with the cruising, squealing monsters. Keron, 16, sometimes rode them just for fun. He hung around subway stations and learned the lingo of the motorman. He got his hands on the Transit Authority's book of rules and regulations and thumbed it until its cover was creased. He hung Transit Authority posters in his room.

NEW YORK -- The New York subway system holds many mysteries. How much will the fare go up? Why does the public-address system never seem to work? How do you stop fare-beating?And here is a really hard one: How did a well-dressed couple persuade a token clerk to let them buy 12,000 tokens with a stolen cashier's check?In a bizarre larceny case last month that has baffled transit officials, a man and a woman, saying they wanted to buy a lot of subway tokens for employees of a corporation, persuaded a token clerk to give them $16,000 worth of tokens and cash in exchange for the check.

To make travel on its subway, light rail, commuter trains and buses as safe as possible, the Maryland Transit Administration may soon call on the largest and most expert security team available - the tens of thousands of people who ride public transportation in the Baltimore area each day. Text messaging, those short little bursts of information fired from a cell phone, Blackberry or similar device, could let transit police know when and where crime is...

JACK MAPLE is the father of Baltimore's crime-fighting strategies - in more ways than one - and his death Aug. 4 of colon cancer is being felt at City Hall and police headquarters, where officials recalled an eccentric and brilliant man dedicated to fighting crime. Maple was known for his homburg hats, bow ties and two-toned shoes. Born in 1952, he was the son of a postal worker and nurse. He dropped out of high school, eventually earning a graduate equivalency degree. He joined the New York Transit Police in 1970 - after his father dragged him to Grand Central Station and made him look at coffins of soldiers in the Vietnam War. "Kid, if you don't make something of yourself, you're going to die in Vietnam," his father said, according to a 1997 New Yorker magazine article.

To make travel on its subway, light rail, commuter trains and buses as safe as possible, the Maryland Transit Administration may soon call on the largest and most expert security team available - the tens of thousands of people who ride public transportation in the Baltimore area each day. Text messaging, those short little bursts of information fired from a cell phone, Blackberry or similar device, could let transit police know when and where crime is...

Timothy J. Hynes Jr., a Pearl Harbor survivor and World War II gunnery officer who later was chief of the Maryland Transit Authority Police, died Aug. 17 of a cardiac arrest at his Mays Chapel home. He was 89. Mr. Hynes was born and raised in New York City. After earning a bachelor's degree in business administration from Fordham University in 1941, he was commissioned an officer in the Navy. Mr. Hynes was stationed at Pearl Harbor and was an eyewitness to the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941.

A Maryland Transit Administration police officer fatally shot a man last night who was trying to rob a passenger near the Reisterstown Road Plaza subway station, police said. Police said the robbery suspect pulled out a gun after being confronted, forcing the officer to fire in self-defense. The officer was part of a team of seven plainclothes officers who were patrolling the area last night in response to a wave of robberies, said Capt. David Marzola of the transit police. Police reported seeing the suspect, accompanied by two other men, approach a passenger leaving the subway about 7 p.m. The man pressed a pistol into the passenger's back and then rifled through his pockets, Marzola said.

Officials from the Community College of Baltimore County and the Maryland Transportation Authority Police are to renew today an agreement that provides college credit for studies at the police academy. The eight-year-old program allows Transporation Authority Police academy students to take CCBC courses that count toward a School of Justice certificate. Once academy students earn the required 45 credits, they are encouraged to take 19 general education credits at CCBC to receive an associate degree.

Two months after discovering what the chief called a "design flaw" in pistols purchased for the Maryland Transportation Authority's more than 400 police officers, 450 new handguns arrived last week to replace them. The .40-caliber Glocks will be handed out in the coming week as officers are trained to use them, said authority Police Chief Gary W. McLhinney. The new guns were paid for with $230,000 in emergency procurement money, he said. The Berettas originally purchased were not reliably firing when the trigger was pulled, McLhinney said.

JACK MAPLE is the father of Baltimore's crime-fighting strategies - in more ways than one - and his death Aug. 4 of colon cancer is being felt at City Hall and police headquarters, where officials recalled an eccentric and brilliant man dedicated to fighting crime. Maple was known for his homburg hats, bow ties and two-toned shoes. Born in 1952, he was the son of a postal worker and nurse. He dropped out of high school, eventually earning a graduate equivalency degree. He joined the New York Transit Police in 1970 - after his father dragged him to Grand Central Station and made him look at coffins of soldiers in the Vietnam War. "Kid, if you don't make something of yourself, you're going to die in Vietnam," his father said, according to a 1997 New Yorker magazine article.

Officials from the Community College of Baltimore County and the Maryland Transportation Authority Police are to renew today an agreement that provides college credit for studies at the police academy. The eight-year-old program allows Transporation Authority Police academy students to take CCBC courses that count toward a School of Justice certificate. Once academy students earn the required 45 credits, they are encouraged to take 19 general education credits at CCBC to receive an associate degree.

NEW YORK -- Transit Police Officer Denfield Otto was riding to choir practice when the firebomb went off just 15 feet from him.The noise was deceiving -- little more than a firecracker pop. But he spun around in his seat fast enough to see a flash, a small flame -- and then 15 seconds later a roaring blast of flames.And the bedlam.Officer Otto immediately stifled all thoughts of singing Christmas carols in his West Indian baritone voice -- and went into action."Passengers scattered and ran to ward the exits," Officer Otto said.

NEW YORK -- Keron Thomas' obsession with subway trains did not begin in early childhood because in early childhood he was in Trinidad, and Trinidad does not have trains.But, oh, when he got to New York.He fell in love with the cruising, squealing monsters. Keron, 16, sometimes rode them just for fun. He hung around subway stations and learned the lingo of the motorman. He got his hands on the Transit Authority's book of rules and regulations and thumbed it until its cover was creased. He hung Transit Authority posters in his room.