Saturday, April 30, 2005

MARYLAND
Man Charged in Sex Assaults at Park

A man grabbed a teenage girl and unzipped her pants in a Gaithersburg park Thursday, and a boy was attacked later in the same park, Montgomery County police said. They said a 24-year-old man was arrested and charged in the incidents.

The girl, who is 14, was grabbed, then kissed and forced to the ground about 3:30 p.m. in Bohrer Park, police said. Someone came to the girl's aid, and the attacker fled, police said. Shortly afterward, the boy, who is 12, was grabbed and kissed, police said. Again someone intervened, and the attacker ran off.

Police said Ismael Ulisis-Padilla of West Deer Park Court in Gaithersburg was arrested shortly afterward on West Deer Park Road and charged with attempted second-degree rape and two counts of second-degree assault.

Twelve children and two adults on a field trip from the Eastern Shore were taken to a hospital yesterday after an accident in Annapolis involving two buses and a flatbed truck, authorities said.

Four of the children from Westside Intermediate School in Hebron and the adults complained of neck or back pain after the 10:30 a.m. accident on Rowe Boulevard, said an Annapolis Fire Department spokesman. The other eight students had minor injuries.

The injured were taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center. A Wicomico County schools spokeswoman said one of the students remained at a hospital with an injury that was not life-threatening.

Maryland officials said yesterday that they have finished pouring concrete to repair a lane on the westbound span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, ensuring that it will open before Memorial Day.

Officials said that good weather allowed them to finish the concrete work Thursday night and that workers have started removing Jersey barriers and temporary lane striping. The concrete needs about a week to cure, and then workers will paint permanent lines and attend to other details before the lane can reopen.

The center lane of the westbound span has been closed since Jan. 3 as the state repaired more than 7,000 feet of concrete that was botched.

A former Montgomery County police detective has pleaded guilty to assaulting his half sister's boyfriend.

Prosecutors say Gutherie Quill, 35, handcuffed the victim and stuck a gun in his mouth. The assault came after Quill's half sister told him that her boyfriend had hit her.

Frederick County prosecutors dropped charges of kidnapping and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony in return for the plea of guilty of first-degree assault.

Under terms of a plea bargain, Quill was given a 10-year suspended prison term and placed on three years' probation. He also was ordered to complete a course on anger management. Quill resigned Tuesday from the police force, ending an 11-year career.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture conducted another unannounced inspection of some exhibits at the National Zoo this month and found that the zoo was in compliance with Animal Welfare Act regulations.

An April 6 inspection of the hoofed stock, kangaroos, maned wolves and cheetahs, as well as animals housed in the Elephant House, including elephants, giraffes and capybaras, found no animal care deficiencies. The USDA also noted that the zoo has resolved earlier concerns from an inspection late last year and said the zoo's current rodent control measures are effective.

Fire caused heavy damage to the garage of a rowhouse near the D.C. Convention Center in downtown Washington last night, a fire department spokesman said.

The fire, in the 1100 block of Sixth Street NW, broke out shortly after 10 p.m. and caused minor damage to the house. The cause was under investigation. No injuries were reported, said D.C. fire and emergency services spokesman Alan Etter.

The District government has sent letters to property owners at the site of a proposed new baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals, notifying them that the city intends to make offers to buy the land as early as July.

The two-page letter from the Office of Property Management states that property owners will have the right to counter offer if they are not satisfied. The city is assessing the land in preparation to make the bids on 63 plots in the 14 acres along the Anacostia waterfront in Southeast Washington.

Six protesters were convicted of breaking into a District homeless shelter last year to protest the city government's decision to close it, prosecutors said yesterday.

A jury convicted the protesters Thursday of unlawfully entering the Randall School facility in the first block of I Street SW on Nov. 26. Judge Stephen Milliken ordered each defendant to pay a $100 fine and $50 to a victims fund.

The protesters were identified by prosecutors as Jill Blankespoor, 28, of Reston; Marcella Largess, 19, of Mount Ranier; Jamie Loughner, 20, of Arlington; Adrian Madsen, 22, of Manassas; James Moorby, 19, of Northwest Washington; and Emily Rudicell, 19, of Pensacola, Fla.

An elderly woman was struck and killed yesterday afternoon as she crossed the 4500 block of Taney Avenue near North Jordan Street in Alexandria, police said.

Police said Jung Hee Yoon, 87, of Alexandria was struck shortly after noon by a box truck. Yoon was not in a crosswalk, police said.

She was taken to Inova Alexandria Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police said the driver of the truck, identified only as a 46-year-old man from Burke, remained at the scene. It was the second pedestrian fatality in one week in the city. No charges were filed yesterday. The investigation continues, police said.

"There is a larger, compelling calling here. This is our generation's war -- it's not going away."

-- Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, on the effects of Sept. 11 on course offerings. -- A1

Compiled from reports by staff writers Del Quentin Wilber, Karlyn Barker, David Nakamura, Jamie Stockwell, Martin Weil and Steven Ginsberg and the Associated Press.

"There is a larger, compelling calling here. This is our generation's war -- it's not going away."

-- Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, on the effects of Sept. 11 on course offerings. -- A1

Compiled from reports by staff writers Del Quentin Wilber, Karlyn Barker, David Nakamura, Jamie Stockwell, Martin Weil and Steven Ginsberg and the Associated Press.