Repairs to gas, water lines days from completion
Repairs to an underground gas line and a nearby water main that have closed a busy downtown intersection near the University of Maryland Medical Center might not be completed until the weekend, a spokesman for the city Department of Public Works said.
Traffic remains detoured from the work sites, said Kurt L. Kocher, the spokesman.
The intersection - Lombard and Greene streets - was shut early Friday when a 30-inch water main broke, he said. That was fixed last weekend, but workers continued to fix other broken utilities.
Kocher said a gas line broke yesterday morning at the same intersection and that Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. crews had been working on that break while work on the water main break was halted.
"The area of the breaks is stable, but any time you have a 30-inch water main break, there's going to be damage to other utilities," Kocher said.
Kocher said construction projects also are under way at the medical center, but it was not known whether that contributed to the water main and gas line breaks. "The whole thing is being investigated," he said.
Several weeks ago, the pavement at that intersection buckled after another water main break damaged the vault - the area under the manhole cover - and forced the intersection to close for several days.
Baltimore
: Federal court
Officer pleads guilty to insurance fraud
A police officer for the Maryland Transit Administration pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to mail fraud in a scheme to burn three vehicles owned by transit employees for the insurance money, the U.S. attorney's office for Maryland said.
According to his plea agreement, James Walthall, 41, of Randallstown falsely reported in February 2003 that his 1997 Ford Expedition had been stolen and filed a fraudulent insurance claim. In April 2003, Walthall burned or had someone else burn the vehicle in an attempt to conceal his insurance fraud, prosecutors wrote in court documents.
In December 2003, Walthall helped an MTA bus driver destroy her 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe for a few hundred dollars because she couldn't make the monthly payments, according to court documents. On Jan. 1, 2004, Walthall helped another MTA police officer get rid of his Audi Quattro TT in return for money, the documents say.
Walthall faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. Sentencing has been set for April 28. Walthall has agreed to a mandatory five years in prison as a result of his plea. The 18-year veteran resigned yesterday, a spokeswoman said.
The other MTA employees involved in the scheme pleaded guilty to related crimes but have not been sentenced, prosecutors said. MTA officials said the bus driver continues to work for the MTA but that the other police officer resigned.
Matthew Dolan
Baltimore
: Northwest
Apartment resident is injured in fire
A single-alarm fire late last night at a Northwest Baltimore apartment building injured one resident and caused the residents of one floor to temporarily leave their apartments, a city Fire Department official said.
Reported about 11:30 p.m., the fire broke out in a third-floor dwelling at Oxford House Apartments in the 6800 block of Park Heights Ave., between Fallstaff and Labyrinth roads, bringing several pieces of fire apparatus to the scene, the official said.
One resident was taken by ambulance to Maryland Shock Trauma Center's hyperbaric chamber for treatment of smoke inhalation. The patient's condition was not available.
Residents of the third floor were ordered to leave their apartments, while the residents of the remaining floors stayed in their apartments as firefighters brought the blaze under control.
The cause of the fire was being investigated.
Richard Irwin
Anne Arundel
: Davidsonville
Body of man found in woods near road
The body of a man was found on the roadside yesterday in rural Anne Arundel County, and police are investigating his death as suspicious.
A driver on Brick Church Road in Davidsonville called police shortly after 8 a.m. after seeing what appeared to be a body in a wooded area.
The body had suffered noticeable trauma, so homicide detectives were called to the scene, police said. The victim has not been identified.
Baltimore County
: Randallstown
Probation officer faces drug charges
Federal prosecutors charged a 42-year-old juvenile probation officer yesterday with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana.
Charles Eugene Tucker of Randallstown is accused of distributing drugs three times over a two-month period beginning in November.
Tucker could be sentenced to a maximum of 40 years followed by five years of supervised release on the conspiracy charges, and a maximum of 20 years followed by five years of supervised release on each of the three counts of cocaine distribution.
Tammy Brown, a spokeswoman for the Department of Juvenile Services, said Tucker had worked for the department for 11 years. She would not say whether he had been fired.
Juvenile Services Secretary Donald W. DeVore released a statement through Brown saying, "Upon immediate notification of the indictment, the department acted quickly to make sure that all measures of accountability were met for this case."
Tucker, who is being detained, is scheduled for a detention hearing in U.S. District Court tomorrow.
Brent Jones