Two Cars

A month after eight freight cars slipped off the tracks in Patapsco Valley State Park, the rail company says it is about to clean up the last of the wreckage. CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said this week that the two cars that remain near the Swinging Bridge spanning the Patapsco River between Howard and Baltimore counties would be emptied of their cargo, put on a flatbed rail car and moved in the next week. The cars and several broken wheel-axle assemblies left over from the March 26 derailment are on land belonging to CSX. "We try to work as quickly as we can," Sullivan said.

The following is compiled from local police reports. Our policy is to include descriptions when there is enough information to make identification possible. If you have any information about these crimes, call the Wilkens Police Station at 410-887-0872. Fifth Avenue, 800 block, between 1:05 a.m. and 1:15 a.m., May 18. Man was pushed to ground and robbed of wallet and iPhone by two men. Hollins Ferry Road, 3800 block, 5:20 p.m. May 16. Two men asked to use man's cellphone.

Four adults and four juveniles were charged with theft early Sunday after police stopped two cars seen leaving the parking lot of All Tune and Lube in the 8000 block of Ritchie Highway.According to the police report, officers spotted two cars, one with its lights out, leaving the lot at 3:28 a.m. Officers stopped the cars and spotted items that had been stolen from two cars parked in the All-Tune lot.The adults were identified as Heather Clopien, 19, of the 1300 block of Wilson Point Blvd.

The Carroll County Sheriff's Office says a 35-year-old man was killed on Saturday afternoon in a crash at the intersection of Johnsville Road and Piney Ridge Parkway in Eldersburg. At approximately 1:15 p.m., Sheriff's Office personnel and members of the Sykesville Freedom District Fire Department responded to the accident scene, and medical personnel treated a male victim. This man, identified as Leif Erik Foerter, 35, had life threatening injuries and was transported to Carroll Hospital Center, where he died.

Early morning gunfire on Baltimore National Pike in the Westview area left one man wounded yesterday and led to a convoluted chase involving two cars and six arrests.The wounded man, Noel Samuel Smith, 23, of the first block of Athol Ave. in Irvington, told police that he was shot in his left side when two cars pulled alongside his car and the occupants started shooting.Mr. Smith was reported in good condition last night at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center after the 3 a.m. shooting. Police said they had not yet determined whether Mr. Smith was alone in the car.The six men arrested were being questioned last night but had not been charged.

Seven Baltimore residents, including two juveniles, were arrested and charged with conspiracy, felony theft and misdemeanor theft after vehicles were tampered with on the parking lot at a Sykesville apartment complex early Saturday.State police said they received a call about 5:30 a.m. concerning occupants of two automobiles driving around the parking lot and allegedly tampering with vehicles parked there. When officers arrived, they saw the two cars and stopped both vehicles on the parking lot.But when one trooper got out of his patrol car to walk toward one car, the driver put the vehicle in reverse and backed about 200 feet away, where he stopped.

Vandals smash windows of six carsVandals smashed the windows of six cars in different neighborhoods of Pasadena Saturday, county police said.They struck a 1991 Ford parked at the Dutch Treat restaurant in the 8300 block of Jumpers Hole Road, two cars in the 400 block of Royal Beach Road, a 1989 Ford Bronco in the 200 block of Ullman Road and two cars in the first block of Nicholson Road in Magothy Forge.L Police said they did not know if the incidents were related.Midnight Mass set at St. Jane FrancesSt.

During two unrelated raids last night and Wednesday, Northeastern District police arrested three people and seized $7,800, suspected cocaine worth more than $6,000, two handguns, two cars and drug packaging materials.Sgt. Bill Sekinger, head of the district's drug enforcement unit, said Andre X. Deshazo, 29, of the 5100 block of Lodestone Way and David E. Green, 23, of the 4000 block of Chesterfield Ave. were arrested about 6: 30 p.m. yesterday when officers raided Deshazo's apartment.Wednesday night, police raided a house in the 6000 block of Belle Vista Ave. and arrested Sheila Randle, 24, of that address.

The world's cheapest car was driven onto an auto-show stage in India yesterday. It's called the Nano, it has a base price of $2,500, and the idea behind it is to introduce the automotive culture to the millions of Indians who are moving toward middle class status - and eventually to millions more throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America. Some are saying it will do for India what the Model T did for America. To which we wish we could say, with the benefit of sad experience from living in a nation overrun by cars since the Model T first appeared exactly a century ago: Does the world really need this?

POLICE* Westminster: Windows of two cars parked in The Greens of Westminster were broken Sunday, the owners reported to police. One car was parked on Ruby Drive and the other was on Wampler Lane. Damage to the cars was undetermined.Two bicycles were stolen from a bicycle rack at Cranberry Mall on Sunday. The bikes, which were chained to the rack, are valued at $550.A resident of Sunshine Way reported to state police that someone rode away on his 21-gear mountain bike on Saturday. The bicycle was parked on Hahn Road and is valued at $400.

A Baltimore County police officer was injured in a two-crash Friday afternoon, officials said, though they expect him to be fine. The Woodlawn officer hurt in an accident at Ingleside Avenue and Johnnycake Road around 4:30 p.m. was driving a police cruiser, Baltimore County Police said. The officer pulled out of a parking lot and tried to make a left-hand turn onto Ingleside Avenue and was hit by an oncoming car. The officer was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center by ground ambulance as a precaution.

Ferrari, the famed sports car manufacturer with a long, glorious motor sports history, will celebrate it's Italian heritage by bringing its Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) Ferrari team, drivers and crew to Little Italy on Wednesday evening in advance of the American Le Mans Series' Baltimore Sports Car Challenge presented by SRT this weekend. From approximately 6 to 9 p.m., ESM will have the No. 01 and No. 02 Tequila Patrón Ferrari Italia 458s at High Street, between Eastern Ave. and Pratt Street.

The driver of a vehicle involved in a two-car accident in Westminster Saturday was listed in critical condition Sunday night at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The driver of the second car, which police said crossed the center line, is in serious condition at Shock Trauma, the center reported. The crash occurred around 1:30 p.m. on New Washington Road, or Route 97, south of Hook Road, according to Maryland State Police. Ethel Neta Maddox, 51, of Pikesville, was driving south on Route 97 when a Ford Mustang driven by Michael Allen Smith, 55, of Highland, crossed the center line, police said.

A two-vehicle accident in northwestern Baltimore County Friday morning seriously injured five people, including two young children. The Baltimore County Police Department Crash Team responded at 8:18 a.m. to the crash at the intersection of Wards Chapel and Liberty roads, near the Carroll County line at Liberty Reservoir. It took about 20 minutes to free all the victims from a Ford Explorer. Rescue units from Carroll County also responded. The Explorer driver, traveling east on Liberty Road, had turned left into the path of a westbound dump truck, police said.

An incident of road rage in Gambrills Monday led to a stabbing, a two-car crash and an arrest, police said. Ross Brandon Sudbrook, 23, of Old Riverside Drive in Baltimore, has been charged with assault and reckless endangerment as a result of the stabbing. Police found several injured people and two heavily damaged vehicles at about 4 p.m. near the intersection of Route 3 north and Churchview Road. A Ford Explorer and a PT Cruiser were in a drainage ditch. Investigators said the accident and assault stemmed from an altercation between the driver of the Explorer and a 23-year-old male passenger in the other car. Police said that the driver and passenger in the Explorer exchanged seats on at least one occasion at another intersection along Route 3 and the delay led to an exchange of words between the occupants of the two vehicles.

A two-car crash Wednesday afternoon on Belair Road killed a woman and sent another person to the hospital, police said. A woman, who police say was in her 30s, died at the scene on Route 1, between Perry Hall and Kingsville. The second person was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The head-on collision occurred around 4 p.m. No other information was available by 10 p.m.; police were on the scene investigating Wednesday evening. steve.kilar@baltsun.com twitter.com/stevekilar

Baltimore is buying two late-model Lincoln Town Cars to be used for Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's official travel -- at a cost to the city of a little under $50,000.The cars will replace the lone 1989 Lincoln the mayor currently uses, which has 55,000 miles on the odometer and mounting maintenance problems, Mr. Schmoke and other officials said.Mr. Schmoke defended the purchase of the luxury cars, saying that the city's mayors have traditionally had two cars and that his security detail recommended he have two vehicles exclusively assigned to him for safety reasons.

The president of Combined Health Agencies of Maryland was killed yesterday morning in a collision between two cars in Oella, Baltimore County police said.Joseph Forni, 42, of the 8700 block of Manahan Drive in Ellicott City headed a consortium of 23 health charities that is a charter member of the United Way of Central Maryland.Police said Forni was driving a 1995 Oldsmobile east in the 100 block of Frederick Road near Thistle Road about 7: 15 a.m. when the car skidded on ice and standing water, entered the opposite lane and was broadsided by another car.Forni was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Maryland State Police are investigating a two-car, fatal accident in the northbound lanes of I-83 near Shawan Road in Hunt Valley. One person died at the scene, police said. Officers from the Golden Ring barracks and several firefighters responded to the crash shortly before noon. Officers were still investigating in the early afternoon. The crash stalled northbound traffic on the interstate and forced officers to divert many motorists onto alternate routes. mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com