MARYLAND
Heroin sentence: A South Florida man was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison, more than a year after he was caught on Interstate 95 with $500,000 worth of heroin hidden in the dashboard of his car.
Alberto Puente of Hialeah, Fla., pleaded guilty in Howard County Circuit Court to one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin. Police caught him in June 2003 driving 77 mph in a 65 mph zone near Route 100 in Howard.
Puente, 49, allowed police to search his car, and they found a pound and a half of heroin taped into a compartment behind the car's radio.
THE DISTRICT
Sex assault case: A man charged with sexually assaulting a woman and abducting her and her children in Southeast Washington last week was ordered to undergo an immediate psychiatric evaluation.
Melvin T. Watts, 36, said in D.C. Superior Court last night that he had "lost [his] mind" and needed to see a psychiatrist. Magistrate Judge Ronald A. Goodbread ordered Watts to be screened and to be brought back to court today to determine how the case should proceed. Watt, of the 5100 block of H Street SE, has a substantial criminal record and was on probation, according to court documents.
Prosecutors allege that Watts accosted a woman Wednesday in the 5100 block of Southern Avenue SE after she had loaded her children, ages 4 and 7, into her car. Later, he tried twice to rape her and then beat her on the head with a tire iron, according to charging documents.
VIRGINIA
Employee arrested: An employee at a Michaels crafts store in the Fairfax area has been arrested after ordering a customer into a back room and holding her at knifepoint, Fairfax County police said yesterday.
The incident allegedly occurred about 6:50 p.m. Sunday at the Michaels in the Pan Am Shopping Center on Nutley Street. Police said a 23-year-old woman was grabbed and escorted to the back of the store. Once there, the employee pulled a knife and ordered the woman to take off her clothes, police said. The woman was able to reason with the employee and escaped unharmed.
Police obtained a charge of abduction with intent to defile against Michael A. Thomas, 19, of the 3100 block of Babashaw Court in the Fairfax area. Police said he was being held yesterday in the Fairfax jail.
Compiled from reports by staff writers.
