Top prosecutor asks to be removed from confetti case
Carroll County's top prosecutor said yesterday that he will ask that another office be assigned to handle the case in which a former Westminster city councilwoman is charged with assaulting a police officer with confetti.
State's Attorney Jerry F. Barnes said he is making the request because he advised city police last week not to file criminal charges and because he has worked with the former official, Rebecca Orenstein, on past projects. He said he would ask Carroll's District Court administrative judge to assign the case to a prosecutor's office from outside the county to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
Orenstein, 60, was served a District Court summons Saturday charging her with malicious destruction of property and second-degree assault on a Westminster city police officer Oct. 19 during McDaniel College's annual homecoming parade.
She is accused of throwing metal foil confetti into the face of an officer who was driving a patrol car west on Main Street at the rear of the parade, according to charging documents. Orenstein said she was not wearing her glasses and thought the officer was a friend when she threw confetti that had collected on her clothes into the car.
"I initially reviewed the facts of the case prior to charges being issued," Barnes said. "My opinion was that it should not be pursued in a criminal forum for a multitude of reasons, which I don't really want to get into in a pending case."
Barnes and Orenstein, with Westminster's police chief, were members of a committee that met during the summer to explore ways to improve Westminster's Pennsylvania Avenue community. Orenstein served on the Westminster Common Council from 1991 to 1995, when she lost a re-election bid.
Man, 38, dies when truck runs off road, hits tree
A 38-year-old man died when his truck went out of control on a curve and hit a tree in the Carrollton area between Westminster and Finksburg, police said yesterday.
Michael Scott Hilbourn of the 100 block of Dutrow Road was pronounced dead at the scene at Dutrow Road north of Carrollton Road. Police and paramedics answering a call about an accident found Hilbourn's 1987 Ford truck off the road about 1 p.m. Wednesday, state police said. Police said the truck apparently was traveling south on Dutrow Road, heading downhill and into a curve. Hilbourn was not wearing a seatbelt. The accident is under investigation, police said.
8 marijuana plants seized; husband, wife arrested
A Westminster couple was arrested after police seized eight 4-foot-tall marijuana plants from their apartment yesterday, city police said. A tip led authorities to obtain a search warrant for an apartment in the first block of E. Main St., said Westminster police. Police also seized growing lights, drying pans, electronic scales, pipes and packaging material.
Russell Thomas Eckard, 26, and Deena Danielle Eckard, 20, were awaiting an appearance before a District Court commissioner on charges including manufacturing a controlled dangerous substance, possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute it, and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, police said.
Police seek male suspect in Mount Airy robbery
A man robbed a Mount Airy bank yesterday afternoon, took an undisclosed amount of money and escaped on foot, according to Maryland State Police at the Westminster barracks.
The robbery occurred at 1:42 p.m. yesterday at Westminster Union Bank in the 400 block of E. Ridgeville Blvd., police said. The man gave the teller a note implying that he was armed and demanding money. But no weapon was displayed, and no one was injured.
The police were seeking a heavy-set white man in his 40s.