Warrant

In the calm before the knock on the suspect's door, an officer attempting to serve a warrant often has no idea what's on the other side. He has no idea whether the suspect is armed, whether he's on drugs, whether he's willing to die to avoid arrest. Serving an arrest warrant "is one of the most dangerous things you can do," said Lt. Col. Steven McMahon of the Baltimore City Police Department. He supervises the Regional Warrant Apprehension Task Force, which was executing a warrant yesterday in which an officer was injured and the suspect killed.

Carroll Circuit Judge Francis M. Arnold made a mistake in October when he threw out a drug search warrant that he had signed four months earlier, the Court of Special Appeals has ruled.In a decision last week that resuscitated a nearly dead marijuana distribution case against a Pleasant Valley Road couple, the state's second-highest court said Judge Arnold was correct in signing the warrant."Consideration [of the case] can only lead to the conclusion that the Circuit Court did not err in originally granting the search warrant," the Court of Special Appeals wrote in the brief opinion.

State prosecutors have asked the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to overturn a Carroll County judge's decision that threw out a search warrant and severely damaged a drug-dealing case against a Pleasant Valley Road couple.Circuit Judge Francis M. Arnold, who had signed the warrant, threw it out during a hearing on pre-trial motions Oct. 28. The warrant authorized a search of the home of Robert and Patricia Wantz June 3.A raid by the county drug task on the home, in the 1300 block of Pleasant Valley Road, turned up six full-grown marijuana plants; several grocery bags filled with small plastic bags of dried marijuana; indoor growth lights; sophisticated indoor irrigation planters; and logs charting growth of the plants, authorities said.

A $4,700 addition to the county Police Department's computer dispatch system has officers making more arrests on warrants during service calls.The new feature matches the address of a call with warrant records, then lets the dispatcher know if a wanted suspect lives at that address.Police say the technology is helping to get criminals off the street and keep officers safe."The system is working real good," said Officer Steve Moody, who patrols parts of Pasadena and Severna Park. "We're able to arrest someone on minor calls that we would never check."

Baltimore police said yesterday they had obtained an arrest warrant for a man accused of fatally beating a woman in her Mt. Vernon apartment this month, possibly during a dispute. The victim, Ashley Marie Bellosi, 23, suffered severe head and neck injuries July 7 in an apartment in the 800 block of St. Paul St., police said. She was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where she was hospitalized until her death Wednesday, authorities said. Police did not release the suspect's name.

A Millersville man sought for failing to appear in court was arrested Saturday morning for assault and battery, police said.According to police, Firrell Andrew Wallace, 24, beat up Melissa Ann Parker, 23. Mr. Wallace and Ms. Parker shared an apartment in the 600 block of Milldam Court.Police went to the apartment shortly after 11 a.m. to investigate a domestic assault. Ms. Parker told them Mr. Wallace had pushed her into a wall and twisted her arm when she refused to give him his car keys, police said.

A search warrant used by the county's drug task force in a May raid on a Westminster woman's home wasn't good enough for District Judge Donald F. Smith, who last week ruled that evidence seized in the raid could not be used in a trial against the woman's daughter.On May 7, a Carroll County Narcotics Task Force officer -- disguised as a United Parcel Service employee -- delivered a package containing 1.5 ounces of marijuana addressed to Pamela Davis at her home on Humbert Schoolhouse Road.

Nathan VonGohren, of the 1800 block of Aberdeen Circle in Crofton, wanted county police to find the thief who took his all-terrain vehicle Saturday night. But police arrested him instead on an outstanding warrant and drug charges.Mr. VonGohren, 20, was charged with possession of marijuana and with failure to obey rules of probation, police said.Officer Robert B. Creech was on his way to Mr. VonGohren's about 6 p.m. to answer the call about the stolen vehicle when he learned Mr. VonGohren was wanted for violating the terms of his probation.

A man wanted by county police on a battery warrant also has been charged with drug possession after he was arrested Monday morning in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven store in the 3400 block of Fort Meade Road, officials said.County police reported that officers stopped a suspect as he left the store shortly before 2:30 a.m. after recognizing him as a man being sought on a warrant for battery.Officers said they told the man he was under arrest and saw him drop a plastic bag just before they handcuffed him, police said.

City police have issued a warrant charging a Pimlico-area teen-ager with the slaying of a 19-year-old man who was shot inside the bedroom of his girlfriend's apartment in the 2900 block of Springhill Ave. Tuesday night.Police said the suspect, Renard Jerome McClain, 19, of the 2400 block of Shirley Ave., was charged in the warrant with first-degree murder and weapons offenses in the death of Sammie Lee Dewitt, 19, of the 3800 block of Park Heights Ave.Police said at least two other men, whose names were not known, also were being sought in connection with Dewitt's killing.