CRIME & JUSTICE

THE DISTRICT

Guilty Plea in Crash A Southeast Washington woman pleaded guilty yesterday to ramming a car full of children into a parked firetruck, injuring several of the youngsters, including a 2-year-old who sustained a fractured skull.

Tandra T. Vaughn, 31, of the 4300 block of Wheeler Road SE pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court to first-degree child cruelty in the April 3 wreck in the 1300 block of Congress Street SE.

Vaughn, who was taking 10 children to a birthday party, admitted to authorities that she had been drinking and smoking PCP shortly before setting out, according to the U.S. attorney's office. She squeezed the children, ages 2 to 12, into a Nissan Altima, a sedan designed to seat five passengers, prosecutors said. Only one child was wearing a seat belt, and none of the smaller children was in a car seat. Vaughn will be sentenced June 15.

Embezzlement Plea A former George Washington University professor pleaded guilty yesterday to embezzling $900,000 from a federally funded program while running a national traffic safety research center affiliated with the school.

Nabih E. Bedewi, 40, of Reston admitted in U.S. District Court in Washington that from 2000 to 2004 he made up phony invoices for labor, equipment and consulting services that the federal government and university paid to companies that he secretly controlled. Bedewi also acknowledged that he made false representations to establish unauthorized graduate student stipends and a tuition scholarship for spouses of GWU employees.

Under a plea agreement, Bedewi faces 37 to 46 months in prison when he is sentenced June 29. Bedewi was a tenured engineering professor on GWU's faculty from 1990 until he resigned last June. He ran the National Crash Analysis Center, a cooperative venture among the university, the Federal Highway Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

MARYLAND

Campus Shooting Two students were grazed in a shooting at Bowie State University in Prince George's County on Monday afternoon, said Deborrah Banks, a spokeswoman for the university.

A man drove up in a car and began firing at 5:55 p.m. in front of the Bowie Place residence hall at Bowie Place and Crawford Drive. The students were not injured seriously, Banks said. Police said they did not know if the victims were targeted intentionally.

Police have not made an arrest and are investigating the incident, Banks said.

Baby Taken Prince George's County police are looking for a 1-month-old boy who was last seen in March with his father, Jamaar Andre Taylor, 24.

The baby's mother, who reported him missing Monday, said she last saw her son March 31 in the 6300 block of Foote Street in Capitol Heights. Taylor left with the baby and did not return, police said.

Taylor, who lives in the 7500 block of Val Lane in District Heights, has a tattoo of a scorpion on his right arm and "Andre" tattooed on his left arm. Taylor is charged in a warrant with abduction. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 301-772-4911.