Warrant

Home owners surrounding the new Liberty Exchange office, retail and warehouse development in Eldersburg are hoping to see the traffic light at the entrance of the center at Liberty Road become operational - and sooner than later. Currently, the signal at Exchange Drive and Liberty Road (Route 26) is a blinking yellow light, but residents are concerned about possible accidents as cars attempt to get through the heavily-traveled stretch of Liberty Road. "I have witnessed several close calls during the day, especially when the high school students are dismissed around 2:30 p.m.," said Jen Hoey, president of the nearby Sumner's Hollow home owner association.

A bill to withhold the tax refund from anyone wanted on an open criminal warrant in Anne Arundel County will return to the General Assembly for a second attempt at passage. The measure would create a one-year local trial, but proponents say it has the potential to lead to a statewide program. It would force people with unserved warrants in the county to choose between turning themselves in or forgoing tax refund dollars. The county sheriff hopes people will be hungry for the money.

Police believe retaliation may be the motive behind Tuesday evening's double shooting in Perryman that sent two men to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. An arrest warrant has been issued in the case for Michael Anthony Mack, 44, of the 200 block of Mayberry Drive in Perryman. The shooting is the second violent incident in the Perrywood Garden Apartment complex in the last six weeks. Around 4 p.m. Tuesday, police found one man, Tyrell Polley, 21, who was shot in the upper torso above the shoulders.

Howard County Police have identified a man who was fatally stabbed in a Columbia parking lot Tuesday afternoon, and a man has been charged with his murder. Phillip Edward Wise, 46, was pronounced dead at Howard County General Hospital, according to a statement Wednesday by the Howard County Police Department. Officers responded to a report of a man bleeding in an apartment complex parking lot in the 5500 block of Harper's Farm Road at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. The 911 caller told police that he heard his car alarm go off and found the victim when he went out to check it. Investigators believe the victim fell against the car, setting off the alarm, before hitting the ground.

State officials have invested more manpower and money in an effort to get the most violent offenders sought on warrants off Baltimore's streets. Added Maryland state troopers will join the Warrant Apprehension Task Force, a collaboration of law enforcement agencies, through June in seeking Baltimore suspects in violent crimes such as robbery, assault, gun and sex offenses, domestic violence and more. A grant of nearly $152,000 from the Governor's Office on Crime Control and Prevention will cover overtime costs for the Summer Jumpstart Warrant Initiative.

Slowly they trickled out of sheriff's cars — a grandmother grimacing from back pain, a band of young women trying to hide their faces, a bewildered-looking middle-age man with a scraggly beard — each with their hands cuffed. There were 40 in all — suspects arrested in an early-morning warrant sweep Sunday conducted by the Anne Arundel County Sheriff's Office. The sweep was conducted in honor of Christopher Jones, a 14-year-old who was fatally beaten by gang members in May 2009 while riding his bicycle.

City police executing a search warrant in a high-crime area of East Baltimore found five illegal handguns and arrested four people, including one who had been charged with illegal handgun possession in January. Acting on a tip obtained by a patrol officer, police raided a home in the 1700 block of E. 25 t h St. at about 1 p.m. Tuesday, where they found the guns along with crack cocaine and $500 cash, a spokesman said. The area, near the border of the Eastern and Northeast police districts, has seen nearly a dozen shootings in recent months, and police said they hope the guns will be linked to some of those cases.

A bill being considered by the state legislature would prevent Anne Arundel County residents wanted on outstanding warrants from receiving a state tax refund. Supporters of the proposal, who include the state comptroller's office as well as law enforcement officials, hope to later extend the idea to the rest of the state. "The idea is to use this as an enticement," Anne Arundel County Sheriff Ronald S. Bateman said in a Friday morning news briefing before the county's delegation began its weekly meeting.

It was just past 10 a.m., well before many season-ticket holders had even matriculated to the front of the line and entered the main doors at FanFest, when Orioles manager Buck Showalter walked across the main stage at the Baltimore Convention Center to a standing ovation. "It's been tough on [the fans], whatever they need to embrace," said Showalter, alluding to the organization's 13 consecutive losing seasons and three straight last-place finishes in the American League East. "I'm hoping that when the season starts, that's going to be all funneled to our players and the job that they're doing on the field.

Annapolis police have issued an arrest warrant for Jesse James Elder, 36, in connection with the robbery last month of a gas station employee who was about to take money from the business to a bank. Elder faces armed robbery, theft, assault and handgun charges, and police suspect he is in West Baltimore. Shortly before 3 p.m. Dec. 23, an employee of a Shell station in the 2200 block of Bay Ridge Ave. was walking from his car toward the Capital One Bank in the 500 block of S. Cherry Grove Ave. when two men in dark clothes got out of a vehicle and demanded his money bag, police said.