You’re on a walkway in a park. You can see trees, a road, a marsh and a coastline against a vibrant blue sky all around you. Then, you hear the toll of a bell. The marsh expands, the water edges up the grass. Another bell and the water creeps up to the base of...
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The Prince George’s County Police family is mourning the loss of Police Officer First Class Alex Belcher #4204. He passed away on October 8, 2025, after a hard-fought medical battle. POFC Belcher was a seven-year veteran of the agency. He spent his entire career serving as a patrol officer in District I – Hyattsville...
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On Sunday, October 12, 2025, at approximately 9:20 p.m., firefighters from Mechanicsville, Hollywood, Leonardtown, Seventh District, Hughesville, and Waldorf responded to the 38000 block of New Market Turner Road in Mechanicsville, for the structure on fire. 911 callers reported a garage was fully engulfed and threatening other structures. Crews quickly arrived on the scene...
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On Sunday, October 12, 2025, at approximately 6:25 p.m., firefighters from Bryans Road and surrounding fire departments responded to the 2600 block of Cannon Court in Bryans Road, for the reported garage on fire. 911 callers reported a fire started in the garage with the house being evacuated. Crews arrived on the scene to...
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UPDATE 10/10/2025: Maryland State Trooper Kelsey was driving in the area of the Elmer Brown Freedom Park, located at 21725 Tulagi Place, Lexington Park, MD when he observed an unconscious male laying in the street. The victim was found to have sustained an injury to the back of the head. Investigation revealed that De’aune...
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UPDATE 10/11/2025: Nearly a year after a young man was shot during a gathering in Hollywood, no one has been charged with firing the weapon. The case remains unresolved, and law enforcement has released no recent updates, even as gun violence continues to impact communities across St. Mary’s County. The shooting occurred on November...
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On Friday, October 10, 2025, at approximately 11:00 a.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the Myrtle Grove Gun Range in La Plata, for the reported shooting. 911 callers reported an adult male had shot himself in the hand, with Range workers providing First Aid to control the bleeding. Crews arrived on...
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Deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office recovered a card skimming device found attached to a point-of-sale terminal at the Family Dollar Store on Merchants Lane in Leonardtown on Thursday, October 9th, 2025. This overlay skimmer was placed on top of a legitimate card reader and is designed to look identical to the...
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Tre Mathew Fear, 25, of Lexington Park, is facing multiple criminal charges in St. Mary’s County after being accused of animal cruelty earlier this year and later arrested in a separate drug-related incident during a traffic stop this week, according to court documents and the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office. Fear was initially charged...
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Patrol deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office recovered a loaded handgun following a traffic stop in Lexington Park on Wednesday night. At approximately 10:30 p.m. on October 8, deputies conducting proactive patrols along Great Mills Road observed a vehicle traveling with a passenger-side headlight out and attempted to initiate a traffic stop...
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De’aune Nathan Clybourne, 31, of Callaway, has been charged in two separate criminal cases stemming from incidents that occurred on October 2, 2025, according to court documents filed in the District Court for St. Mary’s County. In the first case, Clybourne is facing one count of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault...
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The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Gun Crimes Unit charged an armed private security guard in connection with an incident on Wednesday. The suspect is 29-year-old John Mause II of Middle River, MD. On October 8, 2025, at approximately 4:15 p.m., patrol officers responded to a parking lot in the 3300 block of Walters...
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On Thursday, October 9, 2025, at approximately 2:40 p.m., police, firefighters, and emergency medical services responded to Piney Point Road and Lady Lane in Callaway for a reported motor vehicle collision with injuries. According to 911 callers, a woman on a lawnmower had been struck by a vehicle. First responders arrived to find a...
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Deana Monise Waldrep, 39, of Lexington Park, has been charged with two misdemeanor drug offenses following an early morning traffic stop in Great Mills, according to court documents filed in the District Court for St. Mary’s County. Waldrep is facing charges of CDS: Possession – Not Cannabis and CDS: Possession of Paraphernalia, both stemming...
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10/9/2025: On Wednesday, October 8, 2025, at approximately 4:55 pm, patrol units from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a motor vehicle collision with entrapment in the area of Sugar Hole Road and Old Trappe Lane in Bushwood. Due to the seriousness of the crash, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office...
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On Tuesday, September 30, 2025, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Alcohol Enforcement Unit conducted a series of alcohol and/or tobacco compliance checks at businesses across the county. The operation involved the use of a 20-year-old Confidential Informant (CI) from the Sheriff’s Office. The CI, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, was instructed to...
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The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office has released its Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Report, outlining achievements in public safety, enforcement, and community outreach over the past year. Sheriff Steve Hall said the report reflects “a year of real progress toward our mission of keeping St. Mary’s County safe and connected.” Public Safety and Enforcement...
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Last week, Maryland Department of Natural Resources staff joined representatives from other jurisdictions in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed to recommend proposed changes to the revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement based on the public feedback we received this year. The updates to this important agreement took place at the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Management Board retreat in Harrisburg,...
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A secret to restoring the Chesapeake Bay is just waiting to be unearthed. In the maritime state of Maryland, dredging is done routinely to keep waterways navigable by removing shoals and making sure channels are deep enough for boats to pass. But the materials removed from the waterways — sediment, sand, mud — have...
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UPDATE 10/8/2025: Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson announced that Michael Collins age 17, has been indicted on charges including theft, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, unauthorized removal of a motor vehicle, rogue and vagabond, and conspiracy to commit unauthorized removal of a motor vehicle, in connection to the fatal accident that...
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UPDATE 10/7/2025: Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson announced today that Hugo Hernandez-Mendez has been indicted on charges, including common law murder, tampering with physical evidence, and burying/disposing of a body in an unauthorized place, in the death of 19-year-old DaCara Thompson. “Today’s indictment marks a critical step in the criminal justice process,”...
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The Bay District Volunteer Fire Department kicked off Fire Prevention Week™ 2025 this week with a clear message for the community: “Charge into Fire Safety™.” This year’s national campaign, which runs through October 11, centers on the safe use of lithium-ion batteries – the powerful energy sources commonly found in smartphones, laptops, e-bikes, power...
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A major homeland security drill brought together more than 375 federal, state, and local officials, along with medical professionals, for a full-scale mass casualty exercise known as Operation Harbor Shield. The event was designed to test emergency preparedness, coordination, and response plans under the pressure of high-risk, multi-agency scenarios. The exercise, coordinated by U.S....
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Tyler Decarlo Edwards, 40, of Leonardtown, was charged with trespassing on private property after an incident at the Wawa convenience store on Market Square Drive in Prince Frederick, according to court documents filed in the District Court for Calvert County. The case was initiated on September 22, 2025, following what authorities described as an...
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Gary Scott Arbaugh, 43, of Lusby, is facing multiple criminal charges in two related cases filed on September 23, 2025, following a string of incidents that occurred both at his residence and the Calvert County Detention Center. According to court documents, Arbaugh was charged in two separate but connected cases. The first incident led...
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