Crippen Indicted On Ten Criminal Counts

SNOW HILL -- A Pocomoke City man accused of murder tried to kill two men one night in May, not just the one he's charged with shooting to death, a new indictment alleges.

A Worcester County grand jury has indicted Alexander Crippen on 10 criminal counts, including the murder of Reginald Jerome Handy Jr., and the attempted murder of Torrance Davis.

The day after the May 27 shooting, police found Crippen, 36, in a room at the Travelers Motel in Delmar, Md. He was arrested and charged with Handy's death, but neither court documents nor statements from law enforcement officials at the time indicated that there was another victim.

According to the indictment Crippen "did feloniously, willfully and of deliberate premeditated malice aforethought attempt to kill and murder Torrance Davis."

What's more, the indictment goes on to say, Crippen "shot at him with a gun, that created a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury."

In court records for minor criminal charges, Davis, 27, lists both a Horntown, Va., P.O. box and a Pocomoke City address.

Crippen has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, concealing and transporting a handgun, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. Bond has been set at $1 million and a jury will determine his guilt or innocence during a two-day trial in September.

According to documents filed in Worcester County District Court, a verbal altercation broke out late in the evening of May 27 between Crippen and Handy. Witnesses told police that Crippen approached an individual sitting on the steps of a house in the 500 block of Laurel Avenue in Pocomoke when Handy came up to him and the two began to argue. Crippen then pulled out a handgun, fired several shots aimed at the victim. and fled the scene. A bullet hit Handy in the back and the 22-year-old Greenbush man was pronounced dead before paramedics could get him to the hospital.

Police later said that the attack was targeted and that Crippen and Handy had a history of not getting long. Davis's relationship to Crippen is not explained in the indictment.

According to Maryland court records, Davis has a history of minor brushes with the law. A 2002 second-degree assault conviction came with a $100 fine, and a similar arrest two years later cost him 90 days in jail. Davis also spent a month incarcerated for making a false statement to an officer in 2004 and another 10 days in 2006 for disorderly conduct. He is currently on probation for failing to pay child support.

www.delmarvanow.com

Publics Help In Murder Case Closure

POCOMOKE CITY, Md. - Crime solvers are asking the public to help close a murder case. Reginald Handy Jr. was gunned down in Pocomoke May 26th. Subsequent investigation by members of the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation determined that 36 year-old Alexander Crippen of Pocomoke City, MD was responsible for shooting Handy.

Crippen was subsequently located and charged with 1st Degree Murder in the death of Reginald Handy, however the location of the firearms involved in this crime have not been located.

A reward of up to $1,000.00 is being offered for anyone who can provide information that leads to the successful recovery of the firearms in this case. Contact Crime Solvers or your local law enforcement agency immediately.

www.wmdt.com

Off-Duty Maryland State Trooper Fatally Shot While Working Security

Trooper Wesley Brown FORESTVILLE, Md. - Police have released photos of a man after launching a massive manhunt Friday for the gunman who fatally shot an off-duty Maryland State Police trooper working security at a restaurant in Forestville.

Trooper First Class Wesley Brown, 24, was working security at the Applebee's on Donnell Drive overnight after finishing his shift.

As Brown stepped out the front door to make a phone call, a gunman lurking in the shadows near a bus stop on Donnell Drive opened fire.

Law enforcement sources say the gunman fired seven times, hitting Brown with all seven rounds from a distance of about 70 feet. One of the bullets struck Brown's side, which was not protected by his body armor, the sources said; that bullet struck his heart.

"The trooper, it doesn't appear to us, even had a chance to draw his weapon or fire," said Maj. Andy Ellis, a Prince George's County police spokesman. "It appears he was ambushed."

Trooper Wesley Brown Brown stumbled into the restaurant where he collapsed. He was taken to Prince George's Hospital Center where he was later pronounced dead.

The investigation quickly focused on a man Brown had thrown out of Applebee's a half-hour before the shooting. He was described as a black male, 25 - 30 years old, 5'7" tall, weighing 130 pounds, with a dark complexion, short hair, and slight facial hair.

He may wear glasses and was last seen wearing a baby blue Hugo Boss short sleeve shirt with a midway zipper and blue jeans. (See surveillance photos to the left.)

After the shooting, the same man was seen running from the scene toward an apartment building on Donnell Drive.

All day, heavily armed officers combed the neighborhood but they did not find the man.

But investigators aren't certain the man who was ejected from the bar was the gunman, sources say. Police are urging the man to come forward.
"We've never had an unsolved police killing," Maj. Ellis said. "We're going to solve this case. It's better for him to turn himself in right now, contact an attorney and arrange to surrender, rather than have us knock on the door at 3 o'clock in the morning."

Maryland State Police Superintendent Terrance Sheridan says the gunman needs to know the consequence of his actions.

"What he has done is devastate his family, and all of those people he's protecting, day in, day out," Col. Sheridan said. "When this happens it goes against our society that we all stand for."

Family members were notified of Brown's death about 4 a.m.

His sister, Patrice Faison, focused on Brown's work as a mentor to children in his community, "using his own money, to provide education, trips for the young boys," she said. "For a lot of them, Wesley was their father."

Anyone with information about the man in the surveillance video's identity is asked to call the Prince George's County Police Department's Homicide Unit at (301) 772-4925.

Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411 TIPS (8477) or text "PGPD plus your message" to CRIMES (274637).

You can also go to the Prince George's County website and submit a tip online.

There is a total of $50,000 in rewards being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case.

Trooper Brown was the 42nd Maryland State Police trooper to die in the line of duty.

www.wjla.com