Transportation Authority Police

Cpl. Courtney G. Brooks left his new home in Hampstead on Dec. 31, 2007, wearing his pressed uniform, leather boots and black nylon belt. Kerri J. King left her home in Elkton on the same day wearing pajama bottoms with fruit slice imprints, green slippers shaped like frogs and a black spaghetti tank top with "Lust" spelled out in rhinestones across her chest. Brooks arrived at Exit 53 on Interstate 95, where he voluntarily relieved a tired colleague and stood on the highway to prevent trucks from entering Baltimore during the New Year's fireworks celebration.

A Maryland Transportation Authority Police officer and her boyfriend were indicted yesterday on charges of selling crack cocaine from the Curtis Bay home they shared. Angela Greene, 25, and Michael Tavares Allen, 27, of the 1000 block of Chestnut Haven Court were charged with conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, Anne Arundel County prosecutors said yesterday. County police searched the home Aug. 30 and found 29 grams of crack, with a street value of about $2,900, in two safes, according to charging documents.

Maryland Transportation Authority police were searching yesterday for a 79-year-old man who left his wife at Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Monday while he went to rent a car.Harley Freemont Burden Jr. of Freemont, Ind., and his wife flew into Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia shortly after 7 p.m., said Cpl. Gregory Prioleau, spokesman for transportation authority police. The couple's Northwest Airlines flight had been diverted from BWI. They had planned to attend the wedding of their son, Ken Burden of Silver Spring, this weekend.

A tractor-trailer that slammed into a commuter bus yesterday on Interstate 95 in Baltimore and injured seven people had faulty brakes -- a safety violation police in Maryland said Virginia authorities missed when they inspected the vehicle seven hours before the crash.The truck carrying 44,000 pounds of cat box litter was ordered off the road in Dumfries, Va., 30 miles south of Washington. Virginia State Police said a routine "walk-around" inspection about 1 a.m. at a weigh station found a brake light that didn't work and the truck to be overweight.

Anne Arundel County police arrested an Annapolis man yesterday in the armed robbery of a Cape St. Claire bank before it opened for business.David Bracken Kilkeary, 28, of the 1800 block of Milvale Road was charged with robbery, said Sgt. Joseph Jordan, a police spokesman.Jordan said an employee at the Annapolis Banking and Trust branch in the 700 block of E. College Parkway told police that a man wearing a blond wig and what appeared to be a painter's work clothes forced his way in about 8: 45 a.m., displayed a handgun and demanded cash.

A three-car accident on the Bay Bridge last night injured five people and backed up traffic for three miles, Maryland Transportation Authority Police said.Police said a westbound 1993 Hyundai hit the rear of a 1992 Oldsmobile about 7: 30 p.m., then overturned and hit a 1991 Acura that also was westbound.State police helicopters took a 4-year-old child to the pediatric unit of Johns Hopkins Hospital and another victim to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Three others were treated at Anne Arundel Medical Center, police said.

Lt. Col. Larry E. Harmel, the Maryland State Police's deputy superintendent and head of the Field Operations Bureau, will retire Aug. 1 after 31 years and become head of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.In his work with the state police, Harmel, 52, has also commanded the state's Executive Protection Division and security operations at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. He joined the state police when he was 20.Harmel counts consolidation of the department's narcotics and criminal investigations units as among his most important achievements.

HERE'S A QUESTION from a woman who commutes daily from Columbia to the Inner Harbor: "Why are there two types of police officers who patrol on Interstate 95 to keep an eye on us when one would be sufficient?"We surely think one type would be enough, but the state police and Maryland Transportation Authority Police shareduties on some highways around the state -- including a stretch of I-95 from Caton Avenue to the Harbor Tunnel Thruway (I-895)."It's like, I just see a state police car pulling some soul over and then a couple hundred yards later I see some [other]

A Southwest Baltimore man was arrested yesterday and charged with stealing luggage from the baggage claim carousels at Baltimore-Washington International Airport as part of what police said was a ring operating for more than a year.Norman G. Alt, 62, of the 1200 block of James St. was charged with 10 counts of felony theft and two counts of conspiracy to commit theft. He was released on $7,500 bond.Maryland Transportation Authority Police said they are unsure of how much luggage was taken, but that they found 40 pieces of luggage filled with jewelry, clothing, books and personal items in a raid at Alt's house July 17.They delayed making an arrest until they matched items seized in the raid with reports filed by passengers who said their luggage was stolen, said Lori Vidil, a police spokeswoman.

An article in yesterday's editions of The Sun in Anne Arundel about a man arrested on charges of burglarizing cars near Baltimore-Washington International Airport incorrectly identified the police agency that made the arrest.Maryland Transportation Authority police arrested the man.The Sun regrets the error.A Washington man who police believe broke into at least six cars at hotels near Baltimore-Washington International Airport was arrested yesterday after a high-speed chase around airport property, Mass Transit Administration police said.

It was a day in late spring 2005 when I first met George Tarburton. The Maryland Transportation Authority police officer showed up without notice in the lobby of The Baltimore Sun. An editor asked me to go downstairs and talk with him. He was a thin, intense man with a lot on his mind. Tarburton, who was assigned to the detail that protects the port of Baltimore, was worried that the security at the marine terminals was riddled with holes that made it vulnerable to attack. He wanted to talk with somebody, anybody who could bring the problem to the attention of the public and the people who make decisions in this state.

Elkridge boy, 8, dies after scooter and minivan collide An 8-year old Elkridge boy rode a motorized scooter into a minivan in the 6700 of Deep Run Parkway and was killed Saturday, Howard County police said. Police said the child, Vincent Anastasi, darted into traffic at 3:05 p.m. The child was taken to Howard County General Hospital and was pronounced dead. The driver was not injured. - Larry Carson Two in serious condition after Pulaski Street shooting Two men shot about 9 a.m. Saturday in the 700 block of N. Pulaski St. were listed in serious condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, according to Baltimore police spokesman Troy Harris.

Cpl. Courtney G. Brooks left his new home in Hampstead on Dec. 31, 2007, wearing his pressed uniform, leather boots and black nylon belt. Kerri J. King left her home in Elkton on the same day wearing pajama bottoms with fruit slice imprints, green slippers shaped like frogs and a black spaghetti tank top with "Lust" spelled out in rhinestones across her chest. Brooks arrived at Exit 53 on Interstate 95, where he voluntarily relieved a tired colleague and stood on the highway to prevent trucks from entering Baltimore during the New Year's fireworks celebration.

Man fatally shot outside Arundel bar A Baltimore man was fatally shot in the parking lot of an Anne Arundel County bar after a skirmish early yesterday, police said. The victim, Nathaniel Benjamin Wallace, 37, and at least one other person were involved in a fight inside Dietrich's Tavern in the 7300 block of E. Furnace Branch Road and were escorted outside by bouncers, Anne Arundel County police said in a news release. Several minutes later, witnesses told police, Wallace was shot in the upper body.

A checkpoint to examine truckers' identification is set to begin tomorrow for access to the Dundalk Marine Terminal, according to city transportation workers. To accommodate the checkpoint, the left lane of Keith Avenue will be closed from the bottom of the exit ramp off Interstate 95 southbound to Vail Street. The checkpoint, set to run from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, will enable Maryland Transportation Authority police to ensure truck drivers have identification cards. Truck drivers without cards will be directed to follow a detour to a lot on Broening Highway, where Maryland Transportation Authority Police will conduct a background check on drivers and issue temporary identification cards, according to city transportation officials.

State transportation authorities shut down a portion of the Bay Bridge yesterday, continuing their probe of a fatal crash that sent a 40,000-pound tractor-trailer skidding along a section of jersey walls before breaking through and plummeting into the water near Kent Island. Traffic on the two-lane eastbound span was closed from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. to allow four inspectors to get a look at the underside of the structure from a pair of specialized bucket trucks known as snoopers, said engineer Geoffrey Kolberg, the chief engineer for the Maryland Transportation Authority, which oversees the heavily traveled twin spans.

DNA tests confirm identity of dead child DNA tests confirm that the body recovered from the Patapsco River is that of Turner Jordan Nelson, a 3-year-old whose father is accused of throwing him off a bridge five months ago, Maryland Transportation Authority Police said yesterday. Police said Stephen Todd Nelson, 37, of Baltimore admitted tossing the boy off the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Feb. 3. He is charged with first-degree murder, and his trial is set to begin today in Baltimore Circuit Court.

Authorities recovered from the Patapsco River yesterday what they believe is the body of Turner Jordan Nelson, a 3-year-old boy who was flung from the Key Bridge five months ago. Maryland Transportation Authority Police wrote in a statement that their detectives "responded to the scene as part of their ongoing homicide investigation" into the boy's death and said they are waiting for positive identification. The clothing recovered from the body matched the description of what the child was wearing when he was last seen, according a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak about it publicly.

A body discovered by a boater near Kent Island last week has been identified as a 17-year-old Severna Park High School student, Maryland Transportation Authority Police said. Emily Rose LeClare had been missing since Dec. 18, when her vehicle was found abandoned on the Bay Bridge. The police "don't know how she got in the water," said Cpl. Jonathan Green, a spokesman for the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. The boater who found the body first contacted the Maryland Natural Resources Police, who then contacted the MdTA police, Green said.

Maryland Transportation Authority Police are conducting an internal investigation of a civilian employee who has been accused of misconduct while working a separate job as a bartender at Baltimore's Fraternal Order of Police Lodge, said MdTA police Chief Marcus Brown. The employee is a retired city officer who performs background checks for prospective MdTA officers. "It is a personnel issue," Brown said in a telephone interview. "In any case that we receive an allegation of misconduct, we'll be doing an administrative inquiry.