All Crime, All The Time – News and Commentary on the Criminal Class
Maryland State Police said charges are pending against a 43-year-old Berlin man who led a trooper on a chase from Route 50 in the Whaleyville area down Route 610 almost to the Route 113 intersection.
On July 11 at about 2:45 p.m., Trooper Andrew Broadwater was working a stationary laser assignment near the westbound lanes of Route 50… at Hall Road when he saw that a Lexus was driving 80 miles per hour in a 55 miles-per-hour speed limit area, according to a state police news release.
According to police reports 07-13-2014 at approximately 2235 hours, officers of the Frederick Police Department responded to a business in the 1000 block of W. Patrick St. for a report of a Robbery in Progress. While en route, officers learned that the victims and suspects had left the scene and were now in the area of Danberry Drive.
You can’t fix stupid
PRINCE FREDERICK, MD. — One driver who should have been arrested when first stopped by a trooper was instead given a break and allowed to call someone to drive his vehicle, due to his driver’s license being suspended.
Maryland State Police report that on 7/7/14 at 4:56 pm, Trooper First Class Lewis stopped a vehicle on Rt. 231 and Thoroughbred Dr. for traffic violations. Avon D. Cochran, 23 of Waldorf, was driving on a suspended license. He was advised he could not continue to drive and he agreed to make arrangements for his own disposition. Approximately 5 minutes later, after resuming traffic enforcement, TFC Lewis located Cochran driving on Church St. in Prince Frederick. He was arrested for failing to obey a lawful order. He was incarcerated at the Calvert County Detention Center.
The monthly print edition of THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY can now be found on newsstands all over Maryland. Reaching far beyond the Southern Maryland region, look for THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY in major stores in Prince Georges County, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Queen Anne County, Talbot County, Worcester and Wicomico on Maryland’s Eastern Shore as well as in Delaware. The print edition will soon be distributed in Northern Neck Virginia as well. Advertisers may reach Larry Jarboe at 240-298-5253 or Ken Rossignol at 301-535-8624.
A key figure in this group of co-conspirators—Donnie Anderson—recently pled guilty in the case. In addition, nine others involved have pled guilty thus far.
In his plea agreement, Anderson admitted to organizing and holding dog fights—mostly in the Auburn, Alabama area—from 2009 to 2013, as well as charging spectators an entrance fee of between $100 to $150 (although owners of dogs fighting at that particular event got in for free). He also said that dog owners and spectators were betting on the outcome of the fights, putting up a total of anywhere between $20,000 and $200,000 per fight. And, Anderson admitted to not only hosting the fights but—along with his co-conspirators—buying, selling, transporting, housing, and training the dogs used in the fights.
Dogs involved in these matches are treated very poorly—they are neglected and abused, living primarily in cages or in chains without adequate food and water. During training, they’re taught to attack live bait (often times stolen pets like cats, rabbits, and small dogs). After a fight, the losing dog is often killed.
When officers asked the driver, later identified as Weldon C. Lucas III, 38, to step out of the vehicle, Lucas fled from the scene on foot and began running westbound across Philadelphia Avenue until officers lost sight of him. Additional officers responded to the area and were unable to locate Lucas. During the investigation, officers determined that Lucas had a suspended driver’s license and also had multiple warrants out for his arrest from the Philadelphia Police Department.
Multiple members of the OCPD, including detectives from the Major Crimes Division and Special Enforcement Unit, as well as patrol officers, continued to actively search for Lucas. At approximately 8:30 p.m. police located and arrested Lucas in the area of 82nd Street and the beach.
Strong Armed Robbery – On July 10th at 11:44AM, officers responded to Potomac Mills Mall located at 2700 Potomac Mills Cir in Woodbridge (22192) to investigate a robbery. The victim, a 28 year old woman of Alexandria, reported to police that she was confronted by an unknown man while inside the mall. The man eventually walked away from the victim but confronted her again in the parking lot. During the encounter, the victim reached for her cell phone to call police. At that point, the man forcibly grabbed the victim’s cell phone and fled the area. Officers located a man that matched the description provided by the victim. Following the investigation, the man, identified as the accused, was determined to be the suspect involved in the prior incident and was arrested. During a search, the victim’s cell phone was recovered in the suspect’s possession.
LEONARDTOWN, MD.– It’s been a hot time in the old Hotel St. Mary’s with another round of fights between inmates. On July 2, 2014, Deputy Manns responded to the St. Mary’s County Detention Center for a fight between inmates. The investigation revealed inmates Patrick James Hutching, 31, of Leonardtown, and Tyler Allen Messick, 22, of Leonardtown, engaged in several mutual fights during an extended period of time. Hutching and Messick were both charged with 2nd Degree Assault on fellow inmates.
“This investigation is a perfect example of the effectiveness of partnerships. From the original complaints received from the community to intelligence gathered by patrol deputies and the guidance provided from the State’s Attorney’s Office in conjunction with a thorough and detailed investigation. It was a very good day for all of us to be able to expose Wells and his illegal scheme and give this money to the rightful owner. This should send a clear message to anyone who thinks they will use a charitable organization as a front for illegal activity,” — Captain Dan Alioto.
“This case was never about card games as much as it was about the defendant raising donations on behalf of a simple charity and then putting all the money into his pocket. We are proud to have helped the Sheriff’s team return these funds to their rightful owner – decent hardworking people at TPR,” — ASA Daniel White.
As St. Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron is a state official, indeed a constitutional officer of the state, his staff of clerks and cops are considered county employees and the agency is required by law to be funded by the county commissioners. Therefore, compliance with the state law requiring disclosure of public information to the public could be considered to have to adhere to Executive Orders of the Governor.
Of course, had St. Mary’s County’s Finance Director, Elaine Kramer or County Attorney George Sparling felt compelled to verify the data provided in the Public Information Request, they might have spotted the illegal distribution of employee Social Security numbers to the public. An electronic distribution, as requested for fiscal year 2011, was simple and but four columns, without intricate records of sick leave, annual leave, contributions to pension and FOP dues, worker’s compensation, Medicare contributions and so on.
St. Mary’s County is not the only government entity that makes illegal dumps of social security numbers. The Internal Revenue Service, indeed the very agency caught up in the scandal over illegally auditing conservative groups, the Office of Tax Exempt Organizations, reportedly did an electronic dump of over 100,000 social security numbers in a public information request to PublicResource.org. as reported in Human Events in 2013