Arundel Digest

Man faces assault, drug charges

ANNAPOLIS - A 50-year-old Prince George's County man was arrested yesterday after he tried to run over an officer at the Annapolis Harbour Center, city police said.

Police were initially called to Eastport Liquors at 4:40 p.m. for the report of someone stealing two bottles of alcohol. The alleged thief left, and officers later found the car he drove away in. It was traveling on Route 665, police said.

A police officer activated his lights and sirens. The driver didn't stop, but turned into the Annapolis Harbour Center. The officer got out of his vehicle and told the man to stop the car, but he refused, so the officer reached into the man's vehicle in an attempt to put it in park. But the man drove at the officer, jerking the officer's arm out of his car, police said.

The driver hit a tree, narrowly missing the T.G.I. Friday's restaurant nearby, police said.

Officers found a knife with a blade 6- to 8-inches long, the liquor bottles, marijuana, cocaine and a crack pipe, inside the car, police said. The vehicle had been reported stolen from Washington, D.C.

Rodney Pitt of Palmer Park was charged with two counts of drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and assault, police said.

He was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center for injuries he got in the crash, but was treated and released. The officer was also taken to the hospital, and was treated and released.

Swafford opts to stay on the job

ANNAPOLIS - Three weeks after Rene Swafford filed sexual and racial discrimination complaints against Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp., she said this morning she plans to take an offered demotion and continue working there.

"My counsel advised me to do so," she said.

As deputy director, Ms. Swafford was the highest-ranking African-American in the work force development group, a quasi-governmental agency that helps job seekers and employers. A lawyer and former Republican candidate for County Council, Ms. Swafford was hired about a year ago after a top aide to County Executive John R. Leopold lobbied to put her in the job.

On June 24, she filed state and federal complaints alleging she was mistreated and marginalized because of her race and gender. She also said her job was eliminated and she was offered a lower-level management position with a $25,000 pay cut.

Ms. Swafford said she does not have a job description yet, and added that "I have suffered a lot of disparate treatment over the past year, and I'm trying to get them to address it and make me whole."

Sportscaster's record to be cleared

Annapolis - A county judge yesterday modified the 2006 conviction of local sportscaster Keith Mills, granting him a probation before judgment in connection with the burglary of his neighbor's home and clearing the way for him to clear his record.

Mills, formerly of WMAR Channel 2 and now of WBAL radio, was arrested Jan. 25, 2006, when police caught him breaking into the Linthicum home of Ladye Parsons and stealing her prescription pain medication. Assistant State's Attorney Anne Leitess argued against the probation before judgment on the grounds Mills received two in 2005 - one for uttering a false prescription and one for obtaining drugs by fraud.

But Circuit Court Judge William C. Mulford II still struck the first-degree burglary conviction, noting Circuit Court Judge Joseph P. Manck said he would do it if Mills stayed out of trouble.

Judge Manck sentenced Mills to five years in prison in May 2006, but he suspended all but nine months to be served on house arrest. He also placed Mills on five years supervised probation.