Police Beat for Sept. 1

The collision, involving a Toyota Rav4 and a Volvo, happened just before 6 a.m. on northbound Ritchie Highway at McKinsey Road in Severna Park, said Justin Mulcahy, a county police spokesman.

The man was taken by ambulance to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, said Lt. Keith Hamilton, a county Fire Department spokesman. A second person suffered minor injuries and was taken by ambulance to Anne Arundel Medical Center in Parole, he said.

ANNAPOLIS AREA

Student cuffed

A out-of-control student at Annapolis Elementary School was handcuffed and taken home Friday by city police, police said.

Principal Sue Myers, who called police to the Green Street school at 3:49 p.m., told officers the student was acting up all day, disturbing classes, running in the halls, jumping on top of lockers and refusing to listen, police said. The child was not presenting any danger to the other students.

At one point though, a school staffer was hit on the arm.

An officer was able to calm the student and was walking the child out of the building to go home when the student ran off. Police said that when another officer found the child in the school's basement, the student began hitting the policeman.

The officer decided to handcuff the child, as much for the child's protection as his own, police said.

The student was taken home and the mother was told about the incident and the handcuffing.

School spokesman Bob Mosier said the student was counseled several times during the day by administrators and teachers, and Myers planned to ride on the bus home with the child as a precaution, Mosier said.

"But by dismissal time the situation escalated and the principal determined calling police was the best course of action," Mosier said.

Appropriate disciplinary action was taken and Mosier said Myers and the child's mother "are working together in the best interest of the child."

Cash copped

An Annapolis woman told police someone stole $620 from her purse while she moved from one part of the city to another last week.

She suspects one of the moving crew, city police said.

The victim moved Aug. 24 from Southgate Avenue to Riding Ridge Road. She told police she left her purse unattended in a bedroom while movers were moving furniture from that residence.

She led the movers to the new address. When she returned to her old home, she found that the money was missing from her purse.

She did not report the theft until Thursday.

An investigation continues.

TVs, games taken

An Annapolis woman who had been away from her home since early July returned yesterday to find four televisions and other items stolen from her Copeland Street residence, city police said.

The victim reported a plasma TV and three older TVs were taken from her living room and bedrooms. Also missing were a Playstation 3 unit and about 10 games. Total loss was about $1,549.

Police found parts of her back door lock broken and on the kitchen floor.

The victim's sister, a Washington, D.C., resident, was checking on the place and had last been by about two weeks ago.

Community security discovered the break-in on Friday and had the maintenance crew secure the premises, police said.

An investigation continues.

Fingertip bitten

Police responding to a 911 phone call hangup around 2:57 a.m. Monday at a Madison Place apartment found a man bleeding from the hand, police said.

A woman who answered the door initially said everything was all right but officers saw the man sitting in a chair, bleeding.

The officer saw that the tip of the man's left pinky finger was missing. The victim was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

The man told police his brother, visiting from New York, and he had gotten into a fight after drinking, and his brother bit his finger.

The victim, a 31-year-old cook, told police he did not want to pursue charges.

Credit card taken

A man walked into an unoccupied classroom at St. Mary's High School on Friday and stole a credit card from a teacher's purse, police said.

A man was seen coming out of the classroom shortly after 8 a.m. The teacher later reported a credit card missing from her purse, which was kept in her desk drawer.

Police said the school was conducting an investigation among its employees to see who might match the description of the man seen leaving the classroom.

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Mark - 2010-09-03 16:15:42

I agree that the system has gone soft. This child is young enough that the parents, in this case, should be looking into why this child is acting out in school. I'm certain if he does it there, he does it at home.
If the school system simply suspends or expells him, they are doing him a great disservice, educationally. I agree with the person who said that the parents, the school board and the teachers need to work together to find out what is going on in this childs life. He is too young for this to be "acting out". There's something more there, and for his educations sake, I hope they uncover it soon so he can go on to be a good student.

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

Ronda Gray - Edgewater, MD - Karma: Excellent

Discipline - 2010-09-02 15:03:20

Who knows why the school was unable to initially reach the mother, but it does sound like the child's behavior quickly escalated beyond anyone's authority at the school to subdue him for his own and others' well-being.

I wish there were a happy medium whereby everyone magically knew how much corporal punishment, if any, would suffice to discipline and control a disruptive child. I wish they also had the expertise on staff to know when kids had deeper problems than garden-variety youthful misbehavior. Since they don't, children could easily be abused rather than disciplined, and the problems exacerbated.

Mark's examples are extreme. I regret to say I'm much older, and I personally remember things like getting swatted across the bottom with a yardstick hard enough to make me wet my pants for the crime of not getting my arithmetic problems at the chalkboard, and another time having a handful of my hair yanked out for talking in line when I was expected to hush. Long paddling sessions in the teacher's break room were popular. Much worse could and did regularly happen to other students at the hands of my 1950s and 60s nuns. And likewise, the parents generally seemed to support them.

I think it's the lesser of two evils that teachers aren't allowed to lay hands on our children anymore. Which I realize does not address a lack of active parenting at home.

This child sounds like he has more needs for professional support than a "therapeutic" spanking could fix, and I'll join in the hope he gets the appropriate help to control his behavior.

Raejean French - Severn, MD - Karma: Excellent

Student - 2010-09-02 06:26:39

I'm wondering why the parent(s) weren't called before the police??

Claudia R - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

Student - 2010-09-01 19:08:49

I don't know if this happens alot in Elementary school, but for some reason this child lost control. I hope the board, principle, and parents work together to see why this happened.

Anthony Forrest - crownsville, MD - Karma: Excellent

Give teachers the power to discipli - 2010-09-01 15:34:19

Heres a great example of why teachers need to be given more power to discipline students. These thug kids run around school causing disruption because our society has gone soft. Too bad some parents today are too quick to assume their ill-behaved kids are angels and threaten schools with lawsuits. Not that long ago (mid-80s), when I was in school (walked up hill both ways barefoot) I was a bit of a smart-aleck. One day, one of the older nuns had enough of my bad behaviour and actually threw a desk at me set me straight. Guess what, my parents didnt sue; in fact they said I probably deserved it. Another time, my uncle was dragged out of the classroom by his ear by a nun, splitting his ear lobe. Again, my grandmother basically told my uncle he likely deserved it.

(Side note, good god, this rant makes me sound old! LOL)

Mark George - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral