Westminster Police

Westminster police officials outlined a plan last night to enlist homeowners associations in revitalizing a neighborhood crime watch program.The police effort, which also is expected to include four additional officers and increased emphasis on "cop on the beat" community policing, comes in the wake of a Jan. 28 homicide on Center Street. Gregory L. Howard, 22, of Westminster, was slain in what police described as a drug-relating shooting."We do still see neighbors looking out for neighbors," said Cpl. Rick May, the department's crime prevention officer.

THE cost of justice is extremely high," lamented State's Attorney Jerry F. Barnes, who faces the likely prospect of as many as 100 pending drug cases being tossed out of court. He has dismissed a half-dozen pending cases last week. They are among the cases under investigation by the state attorney general because a Westminster police detective is accused of planting drugs on suspects. The officer's alleged actions have tainted any number of drug charges made by Westminster police over the past year or so. Even charges that might be proven without the officer's direct involvement are in jeopardy.

Westminster Police Department will give up to 10 people inside access to local law enforcement starting tonight, when it offers its first Citizen Police Academy. For the next nine Tuesday nights, local businesspeople and others in the class will get a primer on the department's history and structure and law enforcement techniques such as conducting arrests and self-defense. In the three-hour sessions, they will try on the accessories officers wear: bulletproof vests, gun belts and handcuffs.

Westminster Police Chief Samuel R. Leppo was killed yesterday in Frederick County when the pickup truck he was driving was struck by two vehicles, state police said.Leppo, 53, of Union Bridge was off duty. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident in Walkersville, police said.Police said Leppo was driving a 1995 Mazda pickup south on Route 194 about 2: 45 p.m. when a 1988 Dodge Aries pulled onto Route 194 from eastbound Fountain Rock Road and struck the passenger side of Leppo's truck.

Westminster police say a 46-year-old football coach who was charged with child sexual abuse in September may have molested many other teen-age boys over the past decade, and they want anyone who may have been victimized to come forward.Richard T. Mercer of Daniel Drive was arrested Sept. 19 after police charged him with child abuse, battery and fourth-degree sexual abuse.A 15-year-old boy told police that he was fondled by Mr. Mercer and forced to perform sex acts Sept. 18.Mr. Mercer, who operates a trash-hauling business, could not be reached yesterday.

Westminster police will increase foot patrols in the downtown shopping district, Cranberry Mall and at city shopping centers to combat shoplifting, theft and robbery during the holidays.Retailers say crime -- especially shoplifting, purse snatchings, auto break-ins and thefts -- typically rise 5 percent to 10 percent during the season between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, but the value of the items stolen usually is much greater during the holidays, Lt. Dean Brewer, a police spokesman, said Friday.

Jodi Ann Daroja was acquitted last week of two drug charges from a November arrest in Westminster.She and a friend, Denise Michelle Sojka, were interrogated, detained and searched by Westminster police Nov. 11 in what the arresting officers described as a possible drug deal involving the two 18-year-olds.Ms. Daroja of Westminster was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.Ms. Sojka was charged in a different way. She was forced to pay the officers $487 -- the amount of cash she had in her purse -- in order to keep her car.The police officers told Ms. Sojka, who was visiting from upstate New York, that because they found a marijuana pipe in her friend's purse they could seize the car and her cash, according to court records and people close to the case.

When McDaniel College's annual homecoming parade roars through the streets of Westminster, Rebecca Orenstein, class of '74 and a former city councilwoman, can usually be found cheering for the floats and hugging old friends. This year's celebration was pretty much like those of years past. Except that she ended up facing a criminal charge of assaulting a police officer - with confetti. On Oct. 19, Orenstein threw "metallic foil style confetti towards and into my face, assaulting me and causing most of it to cover myself and some throughout the inside of the patrol car," a Westminster police officer wrote in charging documents.

A supplemental retirement plan for Westminster's Police Department unveiled at last week's Common Council meeting was supposed to satisfy dual goals of attracting and keeping city officers, but they don't like it. "This is not what they promised. This is not acceptable," said Daniel W. Besseck, International Union of Police Associations representative, who attended Thursday night's emergency meeting of the Westminster Police Association. Eight of 38 association members were in attendance.

Two people were found stabbed to death in a Westminster apartment Monday night, authorities said yesterday.One of the victims was a brother-in-law of Carroll State's Attorney Thomas E. Hickman.Westminster police said the bodies of Cathryn B. Farrar, 39, who was unemployed, and George W. Wahl, 35, a crew member at the Westminster McDonald's, were found about 9:30 p.m.They were in separate rooms of Ms. Farrar's apartment in the Bishop's Garth apartment complex on Charles Street and were found after neighbors noticed a foul odor, police said.