|
Top Stories
Ex-county executive charged with assaultPublished 10/27/09
The wife of former county executive Joseph W. Alton Jr. charged her husband with assault over the weekend, claiming the 90-year-old man tried to strangle her while they argued in their home outside Annapolis. Alton — who served as Anne Arundel's first county executive from 1965 until 1974 and later served time in federal prison for conspiracy to commit extortion — was not arrested and said he did not know Tuesday he was charged with any crime. Police have not investigated what happened Oct. 11 on Claibourne Road on the Annapolis Neck Peninsula. Brenda Alton, 45, who moved to Crownsville after the incident, filed the charges Saturday Brenda Alton, who currently works for county government, could not be reached for comment. 'I have never done anything to justify a charge like that,' he said Monday during a short, often-halting phone interview. 'She was pressured into charging me with that.' It is unclear, however, who he believes pressured his wife of the past seven years. Alton added Tuesday that his wife — who he described as a 'good person' — mischaracterized what happened. He said she was on the bed and he was trying to get her off of it and out of his house. 'I was trying to support her head. I knew she had trouble with her neck,' he said. 'He's a very gentle person; a gentleman,' said Joseph Alton II, the former county executive's son. 'I thought I was going to die. I screamed, ‘Stop, you are hurting me.' He leaned over top of me and all his upper body weight pressed on my throat,' Brenda Alton wrote in charging documents. Joseph Alton eventually stopped strangling her and let her leave the home, she said. Brenda Alton sought a protective order against her husband Oct. 14. District Court Judge Shaem C. P. Spencer issued a final order Oct. 21, telling Joseph Alton that for the next year he is not allowed near his wife's new residence in Crownsville or her place of work, the Arundel Center in Annapolis. According to court documents, Joseph Alton kept two loaded guns in the house — one under a 'red window cushion in the living room' and one someplace else. As a condition of the protective order, he must surrender the weapons. Shortly after leaving office in 1974, he pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to commit extortion as part of a scheme to take kickbacks during the 1960s from contractors. He served seven months of an 18-month sentence at the Allenwood Federal Prison Camp in Pennsylvania. |
| #1 - Alleged drunken driver crashes into 5 cars (23 comments) |
| #2 - Security tightened for NAACP banquet (22 comments) |
| #3 - Arundel Mills officials dive into slots fray (11 comments) |
| #4 - Property tax hike may be lone option, panel says (10 comments) |
| #5 - Lobbyist with 7 DUIs sentenced to probation (6 comments) |
STEVENSVILLE 
Davidsonville |
• Business
• Columnists
• Environment
• Government
• Local
• Naval Academy
• Obituaries
• Opinion
• Police
• Public Record
• Region
• Story index
• Weather
• Get news alerts
• Send news tip
• Traffic cameras
• Annapolis
• Broadneck
• Crofton
• Crownsville
• Edgewater
• Kent Island
• Millersville
• Odenton
• Pasadena
• Severna Park
• Severn
• South County
• West County
• Calendar
• Schools
• Glen Burnie
• Bowie
• Calendar
• Child's Play
• Movie Showtimes
• Dining Review
• Tour Annapolis
• Live Music
• Contests
• Archive
• Blogs
• Calendar
• Comments
• Contact us
• Cookbook
• Slideshows
• Video
• AP Video
SUBMIT INFO:
• Anniversary
• Band info
• Birth
• Calendar event
• Engagement
• Letter
• Obituary
• Wedding
• Advertise Classified
• Advertise Online
• Advertise Print
• Contact Us
• Contact Capital
• Contact Online
• Capital history
• Carrier supplies
• Deal of the Day!
• Forms
• Internships
• Legal ads
• Send news tip
• Stop delivery
• Subscribe
CONTACT:
• Bowie
• Crofton
• Maryland Gazette
• West County
• Classifieds
• Coupons
• Find a newspaper
• Hotels/Lodging
• Homes
• Jobs
• Local Directory
• News Archives
• Photo reprints
• Restaurants
• Subscribe
If you encounter other problems, please email ewiffin@capitalgazette.com and include your name, username, and any errors or messages that are displayed. The more information you can provide, the better able we will be to assist you.
In order to post or vote on a comment, you must be signed in with a hometownannapolis account.
Take a look at a summary of Commenting Guidelines.
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +4
PLEEEEEZE!!!! - 2009-10-29 20:10:23
He was my former neighbor. I lived on the same street for 15 years and never even knew he had a wife and I could physically see his house from mine. Maybe he was fed up and had enough. Being fed up has happened to many younger than he. I find it hard to believe that he tried to injure his wife sounds more like a bit of animosity and gold digging to me.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Pat Campbell - Ocean City, Md - Karma: Neutral
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +12
Franklin - 2009-10-29 12:41:25
First of all, anyone who uses their real name on one of these comment sites is an idiot.
Using YOUR definition of news - do you know what happened in the Alton household based on this story? Absolutely not. Again, a he said/she said. No proof of anything other than one party accusing another in a statement signed at District Court.
Based on this story do you feel safer knowing Joe Alton has been accused of a crime? If so, haven't you convicted him without giving him the benefit of proving his innocence? If your answer is he'll have his day in court, then what difference does it make knowing he was accused of something?
If Watergate is your best example then why did Woodward and Bernstein wait so long to report the WH was involved? Heck, they should have reported that hunch at the very beginning and we all would have been better off "knowing". No problem if they were wrong.
"Knowing what is happening now" translates to living on speculation and accusations. IF this story turns out to be totally bogus, who will restore this man's reputation?
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Floyd daBarber - Mayberry, NC - Karma: Neutral
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +2
Floyd - 2009-10-29 00:17:37
While I find it amusing that someone using an obviously fake name is chiding a newspaper about only printing "facts" (which I guess means convictions) do you understand what that would mean?
We would never have found out out about Watergate. We would never have known about Clinton's illicit activities with Monica. And we still would not know about Sheila Dixon up in Baltimore.
And to jump into the realm of hypotheticals... I guess you wouldn't mind living next to a man charged with molesting children but never convicted. Or hiring a man to handle your books while awaiting trial for theft.
Heck, what even counts as a fact to you? If a kid reports he was almost abducted to police, does the newspaper have to wait for detectives to make an arrest before the public can learn about it? As you said, that would be just an "accusation."
My point is: Maybe you are willing to live in a country where the press waits until the last possible moment to report something, but I would rather know what is happening now.
And since you apparently were interested enough in finding out which former County Executive was charged with assault to read this article, I guess you actually agree.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
franklin martin - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +20
As I said... - 2009-10-28 22:22:54
prior... I do not agree with it that's just the way it is. You are correct it has been a long time since he was in office... in fact it was the year i was born (ha ha) however, his life being "newsworthy" is kind of par for the course. Also, I never said that they public expected his actions be printed in the newspaper.; I said unfortunatelly it will be. After all, anything that is public record is subject to that...
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Ann S. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +10
Ann Keep your Two Cents - 2009-10-28 20:26:44
First, he's not a public official. He hasn't been a public official since 1974. The public has no right to expect all of his actions - good or bad - be printed in the newspaper.
Second, its a he said - she said. Just like the Capital doesn't print the names of assault victims it shouldn't print the names of people who have been accused but not convicted. This is a very unfortunate situation. The public would be better served if "news organizations" like the Capital stuck to reporting facts and not accusations.
If Mr. Alton did do what is alleged, they'll still be plenty of paper and ink for the Capital to spread the news.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Floyd daBarber - Mayberry, NC - Karma: Neutral
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. -6
PUBLIC official - 2009-10-28 19:55:49
I'm sure I will end up with a negative rating for this one but... unfortunatelly when you are a public official, whether currently in office or not, your life also becomes made aware to the public (also it is public record). I know it sounds terrible and while I dont agree with the fact that his life is being written about when there are plenty of people dealing with these types of thing every day and no one ever knows about it, unfortunatelly that's the way it is. Much like celebreties and how every aspect of their lives are plastered everywhere for anyones enjoyment about every day. Just my "two cents".
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Ann S. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 0
Please Take Protocol Lessons - 2009-10-28 16:28:44
Can someone please tell me what an "Ex-County Executive" is? Former County Executive, as used in the body of the article, is correct. And since he was elected to that office, he is entitled to use that title for as long as he lives (or unless he disowns it).
Other than for the tantalizing factor that a former elected official is involved, this is not newsworthy. I wonder if the Capital has researched how many times a day someone goes to District Court to file charges against another person... and then dug a little deeper to find out how many of those charging documents actually resulted in some criminal finding. Maybe that would help put this incident in its proper perspective.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Floyd daBarber - Mayberry, NC - Karma: Neutral
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. -34
Joe The Man Alton - 2009-10-28 10:08:36
Men, you know Joe Alton has something that that woman wants--and its not necessarily money ; ) . I have no doubt we would all like to trade in our wives when they approach alton's age for a new, improved, better handling model. I believe Brenda Alton will soon snap out of it and drop all charges against the great man. People, please be nice.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Fred Shubbie - , - Karma: Terrible
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 0
Comment removed by HometownAnnapolis staff. - 2009-10-28 09:48:56
Staff message: Why is this comment hidden?
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
- Karma: Bad
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +24
??? - 2009-10-27 19:38:23
After reading this article I find it very hard to believe a 90 year old man could physically do such things. I question the thought process of an individual who chooses to marry a person 45 years their senior. Choices such as that would make me question their character and true intentions.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
J Stanford - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +24
amazing - 2009-10-27 19:02:20
Something definitely wrong with this picture. 45 and 90, c'mon! She's got to be the same age as the grandkids.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Kim Miller - Edgewater, MD - Karma: Neutral
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +32
You Know - 2009-10-27 15:57:37
If you read the above story in a plot for possible TV show. You would say, heck no, its too far fetch to have happen in real life.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Rick M - Laurel, Md - Karma: Excellent
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +24
I'm sorry - 2009-10-27 15:29:23
but I'm with you guys. It's hard to take this seriously.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Mary Ann Donnell - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +28
Funny - 2009-10-27 15:13:30
I needed this laugh. I agreee with Gimme a break! and I aint sayin' she's a gold digger..
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
Pam D - Glen Burnie, MD - Karma: Neutral
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +36
I aint sayin' she's a gold digger.. - 2009-10-27 15:04:22
But wow. 45 and 90? She was probably in diapers when he was runing for county executive.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
franklin martin - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. +24
Gimme a break! - 2009-10-27 13:40:11
I sure hope I have that kind of energy when I'm 90. I'm sure Joe is happy with her protective order. After all, he said he wanted her out of his house. Can't think of a better way to keep her out! Too many questions here and no answers.
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
M. Praschak - Chester, MD - Karma: Neutral
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 0
Comment removed by HometownAnnapolis staff. - 2009-10-27 13:08:48
Staff message: Why is this comment hidden?
unhide Comment hidden due to low ranking. Why is this comment hidden?
- Karma: Neutral
If you encounter other problems, please email ewiffin@capitalgazette.com and include your name, username, and any errors or messages that are displayed. The more information you can provide, the better able we will be to assist you.