Police Beat for Nov. 20

Drug arrests

Two men were charged with drug possession in Churchton early yesterday morning after county police said they found cocaine and marijuana in their car during a traffic stop.

Officers stopped a Ford Taurus in the Franklin Manor community about 1:30 a.m., said Justin Mulcahy, a police spokesman. Officers obtained consent to search the vehicle, and found 37.10 grams of crack cocaine, 6.4 grams of marijuana, two digital scales and $964 in cash.

Samuel Edward Sharps III, 21, of 1210 Sterling Circle in Annapolis, and Gabriel Ryan Lee Snowden, 21, of 1107 Gwynne Ave. in Churchton, were each charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of cocaine, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.

West county

Taco Bell robbed

A masked man with a handgun robbed two employees outside a Taco Bell restaurant in Crofton yesterday and then forced the men inside the business to empty the registers, county police said.

The two employees were walking to their vehicles outside the Taco Bell at 1088 Route 3 N. about 2:40 a.m. when the man confronted them. The man ordered the employees to empty their pockets.

After taking their cash the man forced the employees into the restaurant and took money from the cash register, police said. The man then ran out with money in hand.

Neither employee was injured.

Officers searched the area with the assistance of K-9 units, but could not find the robber.

He is described as black, in his mid-20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and 180 pounds. He was wearing a camouflage jacket, black pants, a mask covering the bottom of his face, and a hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head.

CROWNSVILLE

Mattress fire

A tractor-trailer ran over a mattress on Interstate 97 in Crownsville Tuesday evening, causing the mattress to catch fire, county Fire Department officials said.

Firefighters were called to I-97 at Defense Highway about 6:22 p.m. for a possible tractor-trailer fire, said Lt. Stuart Peters, a county Fire Department spokesman.

When crews arrived, they learned the vehicle was not on fire, but a mattress was. Peters said the truck had driven over a mattress on the interstate and the friction caused the mattress to spark into flames.

Firefighters quickly put out the small blaze. Crews cleared the scene within 30 minutes, he said.

NORTH COUNTY

Robbery arrest

A Glen Burnie man was arrested Nov. 13 after the man he robbed fought him and eventually identified him to police, county police said.

At 6:36 p.m., a 22-year-old man was at the Cromwell Light Rail Station in Glen Burnie when a man later identified as 22-year-old Cordell Lee Hall called him over, police said.

Hall allegedly demanded money and when the victim refused, he took his wallet and ran toward the Cromwell Field Shopping center, in the 7300 block of Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard.

The victim followed him into McDonald's and they fought until Hall ran away, police said. While talking to police, the victim later saw Hall walking back toward the light rail station, where he was arrested.

Hall, of the 7600 block of Spencer Road, was charged with robbery, assault and theft.

Officers advise that it is best not to resist during a robbery and to put personal safety first.

Purse snatching

An unidentified man snatched a 64-year-old woman's purse Nov. 13 as she approached her car on Ritchie Highway, county police said.

At 6:34 p.m., the woman was headed to her car when a man ran up behind her and took her purse, before running off on Ritchie Highway, police said. A witness saw the incident and later saw the man drop the purse. The purse was recovered and nothing was missing, police said.

Numerous officers searched the area, but were unable to locate the suspect.

The woman was not injured.

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Police Are Highly Valued - 2009-11-21 17:40:05

Personally I am very grateful some of my neighbors have decided to become Annapolis Police officers. It is not always a pleasant job, very few people actually choose to go into police work and without law enforcement there would be, anarchy. I have had the unpleasant experience of living where there is anarchy for extended periods; Port au Prince, Haiti during 2 violent revolutions and during a massive period of unrest in rural India. I much prefer to live where there are hard-working and very responsible law enforcement officers on the job: Annapolis, Maryland.

unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?

TH Williams - Virginia Beach, VA - Karma: Excellent

never waive your rights - 2009-11-20 16:30:47

Stupid to let a cop search your car, you have a right to refuse and he can not intimidate you, Of course he will get a K-9 and if the k-9 hits there is probable cause but there are a lot of lazy cops and who knows maybe the K-9 called in sick that day or was otherwise occupied. It's always best to decline the kind police's offer to search your car.

Fred Shubbie - annapolis , md - Karma: Terrible

Search - 2009-11-20 15:01:43

They would have searched the car anyway and said they had the right because they detected the smell of marujuana. If the police want to search they will one way or another.

Jo Maize - Edgewater, md - Karma: Excellent