Incidents in North Laurel spur community meeting

Three incidents in North Laurel earlier this month, in which a group of young men accosted a driver, a school bus and an off-duty police officer, have prompted the North Laurel Civic Association to call for a community meeting with county police.

Association member Steve Hunt said the meeting, scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at the North Laurel Community Center, 9411 Whiskey Bottom Road, would be a first step in making sure "whatever's going on can be stopped quickly.

"My hope is that the police will engage the community and the community will engage the police," Hunt said. "I would hope we put awareness out there so people will know something's going on and to be on the lookout and to notify police if they see suspicious activity."

The Howard County Police Department received two reports of disorderly conduct Nov. 3, police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said. In the first, a woman was driving on Old Lantern Way when a group of 20 to 25 young men surrounded the vehicle and banged their fists on the hood and yelled. The woman was able to drive away safely and call police at 4:52 p.m. When officers responded to the location, the group of juveniles was gone, Llewellyn said.

The second incident occurred only minutes later and involved a county school bus transporting 10 to 12 students home from an after-school program at Laurel Woods Elementary, schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan said.

The group of young men, believed to be between the ages of 16 and 23, surrounded the school bus after it turned onto Covered Wagon Drive from All Saints Road and began yelling and banging on the sides of the vehicle, Caplan said. One man put his head in the driver's window and another tried to open the bus door, Caplan said. The group did not gain access to the bus, Llewellyn said.

The bus driver was able to pull away safely and the driver called police at 5:05 p.m. Officers arrived promptly on the scene, Llewellyn said, but as in the first incident, the group was gone.

The final incident occurred at 5:30 p.m, Llewellyn said, when the group grabbed the shoulder of a security guard, who was also an off-duty police officer from another jurisdiction, at an apartment on Barrel House Road. When a neighbor approached, the group dispersed.

When police arrived, they checked the area and arrested a 17-year-old male who has been charged with second-degree assault on the security guard.

Llewellyn said the security guard described the group as "combative."

She said police believe the same group of youths was involved in all three incidents. She added that the investigation into the incidents was continuing and the police department has had both uniformed and plainclothes officers in the community on a regular basis since Nov. 3.