Troopers Increase Efforts To Reduce Crashes This Weekend

(PIKESVILLE, MD) – As part of a national effort to reduce an increase in traffic fatalities, Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, has directed troopers to increase their efforts to reduce traffic crashes through enforcement this weekend.

Each of the 22 Maryland State Police barracks will deploy special patrols this weekend to reduce crashes in their areas of responsibility. Nationally, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic fatalities are up 13.5 percent for the first quarter of 2012. In Maryland, there was an increase of 6 percent. From January 1, 2011 to July 23, 2011, there were 239 fatalities on Maryland roads. During the same period this year, there were 251 fatalities. Additional crash reduction enforcement initiatives will be conducted throughout 2012.

Aggressive drivers, speed violators, distracted drivers, impaired drivers and seatbelt violators will be the focus for Maryland state troopers, particularly in high crash areas throughout the state. State Police crash data reveals the following highways as key roads for the crash reduction efforts: Interstate 695 and Interstate 83 in Baltimore County, Interstate 495 in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, Interstate 70 in Baltimore, Howard, and Frederick counties and U.S. Route 301 in Prince George’s County. Barracks serving other parts of the state will be conducting enforcement efforts in key areas identified locally as having a high number of crashes.

“This is a statewide public safety concern and we believe focusing our attention on those areas prone to motor vehicle crashes will lead to safer travel for all motorists,” Colonel Marcus L. Brown said. “This enforcement initiative is an effective means of preventing a raise of motor vehicle crashes in Maryland. Our troopers will be out in force specifically targeting aggressive and distracted drivers, speed violators, impaired drivers, and those not wearing their seatbelts.”

The crash reduction enforcement initiative is part of the Maryland Strategic Highway Safety Plan. The Strategic Highway Safety Plan, or SHSP, is a statewide, comprehensive safety plan designed to reduce crashes and the resulting fatalities and injuries by sharing resources and targeting efforts to the areas of greatest need. Partners in the SHSP include the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Motor Vehicle Administration and the Maryland Highway Safety Office. The Maryland State Police, in cooperation with local law enforcement, is supporting the enforcement component of the plan.

The goal of the SHSP is to reduce motor vehicle fatalities and crashes in Maryland. Troopers plan to achieve this goal by deterring motorists from speeding and engaging in poor driving practices with aggressive enforcement and zero tolerance for traffic violations.

The Maryland State Police remind motorists to avoid aggressive driving behavior, to obey the speed limit, to be attentive drivers, avoid driving while impaired, and to make sure all occupants are wearing seatbelts or are in child safety seats in the vehicle. A driver’s effort may save their life or the life of another.

Somerset County Arrests

REVOKED LICENSE. David Alan Widdowson, 48, of Pocomoke City was issued a citation for driving on a revoked and suspended license on Oct. 5 by Somerset deputies. Deputies rersponded to the area of Whitehaven Ferry road regarding a car in the ditch, and found Widdowson to be the driver. Widowson was released after signing citations.

FAILURE TO APPEAR. Richard Nathaniel Armstrong, 42, of Salisbury was taken into police custody on Oct. 5 by Somerset deputies on a warrant for failure to appear in court. Armstrong was later held on a $500.00 bond.

FAILURE TO APPEAR. Ernest Wells, 40, of Princess Anne was taken into police custody on Oct. 6 by Somerset deputies on a warrant for failure to appear in court. Wells was held on a $500.00 bond.

DRUGS. Robert William Handy, 48, of Crisfield was taken into police custody on a Circuit Court indictment for drug possession - not marijuana and narcotics possession with intent to distribute on Oct. 11 by Somerset deputies. Handy was later held on a $75,000 bond.

DRUGS. Clifton Ricardo Fields, 34, of Crisfield was taken into custody on a Circuit Court indictment for drug possession - not marijuana and narcotics possession with intent to distribute on Oct. 11 by Somerset deputies. Fields was later held on a $75,000 bond.

FAILURE TO APPEAR. Quinton Jerome Bailey, 27, of Princess Anne was taken into police custody on Oct. 12 by Somerset deputies on a warrant for failure to appear in court. Bailey was later released on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

PROBATION VIOLATION. Gregory Davis Sterling Jr., 28, was taken into custody by Somerset deputies on Oct. 12 on a bench warrant for violation of probation. Sterling was later held without bond.

FAILURE TO APPEAR. Kenneth Martin Stachowski Jr., 45, of Princess Anne was taken into police custody on Oct. 13 by Somerset deputies on a warrant for failure to appear in court. Stachowski was later released after posting a $500.00 bond.

SUSPENDED LICENSE. Larry Kefford Linton, 40, of Pocomoke City was issued a citation for driving on a suspended out of state drivers license on Oct. 13 by Somerset deputies. Linton was later released after signing citations pending trial.

SUSPENDED LICENSE. Stacey Paulette Holden of Withams Virginia was issued a citation for driving on a suspended out of state license on Oct. 13 by Somerset deputies. Holden was later released after signing citations pending trial.

SUSPENDED REGISTRATION. Elizabeth Anne Cullen, 31, of Marion was issued a citation for driving on a suspended registration on Oct. 13 by Somerset deputies. The Maryland Motor Vehicle placed a police pick up order on the tags for insurance violations. Cullen was later released after signing citations pending trial.

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Anne Arundel "Deputy Dog" Makes 5th Arrest

80-lb. enforcer persuades man to surrender

Faced with a big, barking enforcer pushing toward him under a bed, a Shady Side man with open warrants surrendered to police.

That was the fifth apprehension by Grim, one of two "deputy dogs" of the Anne Arundel County sheriff's office, said his handler, Deputy Jason Jett.

The team was leaving work after 9 p.m. June 30 when Jett heard on his police radio that officers were trying to arrest a man whose history included fleeing from police and violence against officers, and police could not get a response from inside the house, Jett said. He offered to swing by with Grim, his Belgian Malinois partner of a year. Among the 80-pound dog's skills is tracking and apprehending people.

A shout of "Come out or we will release the dog" — Grim's cue to start barking — inspired a relative of the wanted man to emerge from the house in the 1100 block of Oak Avenue and tell officers that Michael James Jackson II was hiding inside, Jett said. Ordered to search the home, Grim ran to a bedroom, where he barked at an empty bed, he said.

"I told him to come out or I would release the dog and he would be bitten," Jett said. But no one came out.

"He will bite and hold; he will try to drag you out," Jett said. "He's not going to go in there as a sissy."

Ordered to apprehend his target, the 3-year-old dog began to squeeze under the bed. "He was laying down flat, he got his head and shoulders under the bed," Jett recalled. As Jett tried to lift the heavy wood-frame bed, the dog pushed up, as if to lift the bed to get to the man in hiding, he said.

From beneath the bed came screams of "I give up," Jett said, as the man asked for the dog to be called off. "He got a face full of dog, probably," Jett said. The man complied with orders to show his hands, allowing county police to arrest him, according to the sheriff's office.

For five minutes of good work, Grim got no dog treats.

"If he does a good job, he gets his Kong," Jett said, referring to a hard rubber toy. "He loves that Kong. He carries it around like it's his pacifier."

Jackson, 30, was jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail on a charge of second-degree assault and traffic charges. District Court judges had issued warrants for failure to appear in court for those cases.

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