Law Enforcement

Hughesville Woman Accused of Impaired Driving with Minor Charged with Child Neglect

Hughesville Woman Accused of Impaired Driving with Minor Charged with Child Neglect

Haley Dantonio, 33, of Hughesville, has been charged in connection with a traffic stop on May 29, 2025, that resulted in allegations of driving while impaired with a minor in the vehicle, according to court documents filed in St. Mary’s County District Court. Dantonio is charged with seven offenses including one count of neglect...
Read More »

Unlicensed Lexington Park Man Arrested on Drug and Traffic Charges Following Collision with Sheriff’s Vehicle

Unlicensed Lexington Park Man Arrested on Drug and Traffic Charges Following Collision with Sheriff’s Vehicle

William Samuel Parks Jr., 34, of Lexington Park, was arrested on June 2, 2025, and now faces multiple drug and traffic charges after allegedly striking a St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office vehicle and being found in possession of suspected cocaine and related paraphernalia. According to court documents, Deputy Senatore of the St. Mary’s County...
Read More »

Former St. Mary’s County EMS Chief Convicted of Fentanyl Possession in Calvert County

Former St. Mary’s County EMS Chief Convicted of Fentanyl Possession in Calvert County

On June 2, 2025, Thomas Patrick Raley, 40, of Leonardtown, was convicted of possession of fentanyl and theft under $100 in Calvert County District Court. Raley received a sentence of 1 year incarceration, suspended down to 90 days, followed by 3 years of supervised probation. The conviction stemmed from an incident that occurred on...
Read More »

Minor Injuries Reported After Accident Involving Tractor in Leonardtown

Minor Injuries Reported After Accident Involving Tractor in Leonardtown

On Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at 11:49 a.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the area of Hollywood Road and St. Johns Road in Leonardtown, for the reported motor vehicle collision involving a tractor. Crews arrived on the scene to find a single tractor off the roadway with the operator being conscious alert...
Read More »

Lusby Woman Charged with Theft, Trespassing, False Identification, and Drug Possession in Calvert County

Lusby Woman Charged with Theft, Trespassing, False Identification, and Drug Possession in Calvert County

Gina Patricia Kennedy, 36, of Lusby, has been formally charged with five misdemeanor offenses following her arrest on May 20, 2025, by the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office. According to court records and a statement of probable cause filed in District Court for Calvert County, Kennedy is accused of committing two separate thefts from local...
Read More »

UPDATE: Maryland Office of Attorney General Announces No Charges After Suspect Killed in Crash After Running from Police in Calvert County

UPDATE: Maryland Office of Attorney General Announces No Charges After Suspect Killed in Crash After Running from Police in Calvert County

UPDATE 6/4/2025: Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced his decision not to seek charges in the November 2024 fatal police-involved collision in Chesapeake Beach, Calvert County, Maryland. Investigation and the OCME toxicology testing detected Mr. Foreman’s blood alcohol content was .20 percent based on a vitreous measurement. Additionally, it was noted that the seat...
Read More »

Young Adult Transported to Hospital After Deputy Talks Them Off Thomas Johnson Bridge

Young Adult Transported to Hospital After Deputy Talks Them Off Thomas Johnson Bridge

On Monday, June 2, 2025, at 5:32 p.m., police from Calvert and St. Mary’s County responded to the Thomas Johnson Bridge for the reported subject sitting on the barrier. Additional police, fire and rescue personnel were dispatched to stage in the area. A Calvert County Sheriff’s Deputy quickly arrived in under 2 minutes from...
Read More »

Two Arrested After Police Recover Large Amounts of Fentanyl and Cocaine After Traffic Stop in Lexington Park

Two Arrested After Police Recover Large Amounts of Fentanyl and Cocaine After Traffic Stop in Lexington Park

On Sunday, June 1, 2025, at approximately 7:40 a.m., patrol deputies conducted a traffic stop on a Hyundai Sonata near the intersection of Three Notch Road and Lei Drive for an equipment violation. The driver, identified as James Perry Bond, 34, of Lexington Park, was known to deputies as an unlicensed individual. During the...
Read More »

Waldorf Woman Faces Felony Drug Charges After Admitting to Selling Fentanyl in Calvert County

Waldorf Woman Faces Felony Drug Charges After Admitting to Selling Fentanyl in Calvert County

Amy Lynn Letcher, 43, of Waldorf, is facing multiple felony and misdemeanor drug charges after a late-night encounter with the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office led to her arrest and the discovery of fentanyl, suspected fake drugs, and various items of drug paraphernalia. The incident occurred on May 1, 2025, in the parking lot of...
Read More »

Two Teens Flown to Trauma Center After Being Ejected from ATV in St. Mary’s County

Two Teens Flown to Trauma Center After Being Ejected from ATV in St. Mary’s County

On Sunday, June 1, 2025, at approximately 12:41 a.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the area of Three Notch Road and Trapp Road in Dameron, for the reported motor vehicle collision involving an ATV. Crews arrived on the scene to find a single four-wheeler had flipped and ejected both occupants, with...
Read More »

Maryland State Police Arrest Prince George’s County Man on Child Pornography Charges

Maryland State Police Arrest Prince George’s County Man on Child Pornography Charges

Maryland State Police arrested a Prince George’s County man on Thursday on charges related to the production, possession and viewing of child pornography. Edwin Antonio Valdez Olivar, 41, of Beltsville, Maryland is charged with seven counts of possession of child pornography, seven counts of accessing and viewing child pornography, and seven felony counts of...
Read More »

Maryland Department of Natural Resources Reports Sustainable Population in 2025 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey

Maryland Department of Natural Resources Reports Sustainable Population in 2025 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey

The Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey, a cooperative effort between the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, estimates 238 million blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay in 2025, a decrease from last year’s 317 million crabs. The results showed decreases in the abundance of adult male and...
Read More »

Leonardtown Man Sentenced to 30 Days in Jail for Series of Copper Thefts from Lowe’s

Leonardtown Man Sentenced to 30 Days in Jail for Series of Copper Thefts from Lowe’s

Zachary Lee Pratz, 29, of Leonardtown, was sentenced on May 29, 2025, in the District Court for St. Mary’s County after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor theft scheme involving repeated shoplifting of copper plumbing fittings from the Lowe’s Home Improvement store located on Worth Avenue in California, Maryland. According to court records and the...
Read More »

California Man Convicted of Animal Cruelty of Neglected Dog in St. Mary’s County Sentenced to 5 Days in Jail

California Man Convicted of Animal Cruelty of Neglected Dog in St. Mary’s County Sentenced to 5 Days in Jail

Javonte Marcel Bonds, 33, of California, was convicted of animal cruelty in St. Mary’s County District Court after authorities discovered a severely neglected dog linked to his residence. Bonds pleaded guilty to one count of animal cruelty and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 85 days suspended, and ordered to serve 5...
Read More »

Marylanders Hiring Tree Service Contractors Should Always Verify Credentials

Marylanders Hiring Tree Service Contractors Should Always Verify Credentials

As Maryland homeowners freshen up their properties and landscape for the summer season, they should know the proper steps to take when hiring tree removal companies to clear damaged and downed trees, limbs, and branches. In addition to the damage that can be caused by storms, the aftermath of storms can also bring responses...
Read More »

Four Transported to Trauma Centers After Serious Crash in La Plata

Four Transported to Trauma Centers After Serious Crash in La Plata

On Saturday, May 31, 2025, at approximately 2:36 p.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the area of Port Tobacco Road and Chestnut Hill Place in La Plata, for the motor vehicle collision reported serious with entrapment. Multiple 911 callers reported a two vehicle collision with one trapped. Firefighters arrived on the...
Read More »

UPDATE: Victim Fatally Struck by Vehicle Identified as 44-Year-Old Waldorf Man

UPDATE: Victim Fatally Struck by Vehicle Identified as 44-Year-Old Waldorf Man

UPDATE 5/30/2025: On Friday, May 30, 2025, at approximately 1:58 hours, Troopers from Maryland State Police La Plata Barrack along with Charles County Sheriff Deputies responded to United States Route 301 north of Smallwood Drive for a report of a serious motor vehicle collision. Due to the circumstances, the Maryland State Police CRASH Team...
Read More »

Southern Maryland Placed Under Tornado Watch and Flood Watch As Severe Thunderstorms Head Our Way

Southern Maryland Placed Under Tornado Watch and Flood Watch As Severe Thunderstorms Head Our Way

TODAY, Friday, May 30th, 2025. The National Weather Service has placed St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles, Anne Arundel, Prince George’s Counties under a Tornado Watch is in effect for the entire region until midnight. A couple tornadoes are possible during this time, while also bringing a threat for damaging wind gusts and large hail. A...
Read More »

Three Children Transported to Hospital After Dog Attack in Lexington Park

Three Children Transported to Hospital After Dog Attack in Lexington Park

On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, at approximately 8:10 p.m., police and emergency medical services responded to the 20800 block of Freedom Run Drive in Lexington Park, for the reported animal bite. Multiple 911 callers reported a dog got out of the crate and bit at least five people. Police arrived on the scene to find 6...
Read More »

Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department Regrets to Announce Passing of Active Member, Joscelynne Pannone age 21

Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department Regrets to Announce Passing of Active Member, Joscelynne Pannone age 21

The Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department is saddened to announce the sudden passing of active member, Joscelynne Pannone, of Fire Division 3. Joscelynne joined the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department in September 2021. First as a member of EMS 3, and later transferring to Fire 3. Prior to her time at Waldorf, Joscelynne was a member...
Read More »

Testing of Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant Sirens on June 2nd, 2025

Testing of Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant Sirens on June 2nd, 2025

There will be a full-cycle test of the alert and notification sirens throughout St. Mary’s, Calvert, and Dorchester counties on Monday, June 2, 2025, at noon. This includes a three-minute activation of all sirens within the 10-mile area around Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. All citizens should be aware of this scheduled testing and...
Read More »

Maryland Oyster Stock Assessment Records Long-Term Increase In Oyster Abundance

Maryland Oyster Stock Assessment Records Long-Term Increase In Oyster Abundance

The population of Maryland’s oysters has grown significantly in the past 20 years, according to the results of the latest benchmark stock assessment for the species. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science released the summary results of the stock assessment on Monday. “Good news for...
Read More »

Virginia Man Arrested After Alleged I-95 Road-Rage Shooting on Memorial Day in Prince George’s County

Virginia Man Arrested After Alleged I-95 Road-Rage Shooting on Memorial Day in Prince George’s County

A Virginia man is facing attempted murder charges following a Memorial Day road-rage shooting on Interstate 95 in Prince George’s County. The accused is identified as Fredy Gonzalez-Esquivel, 22, of Leesburg, Virginia. Gonzalez-Esquivel is charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder, felony assault, using a firearm during a felony crime, malicious destruction of...
Read More »

Brandywine Man Sentenced for Federal Identity Theft and Bank, Wire, and Passport Fraud Charges

Brandywine Man Sentenced for Federal Identity Theft and Bank, Wire, and Passport Fraud Charges

United States District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Llyod Linwood Comer, 63, of Brandywine, Maryland, to 41 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release — with the first seven months on home detention — for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, passport fraud, identity theft, and possession of a...
Read More »

Police Investigating Hit-and-Run Involving Stolen Hyundai with 5 Juveniles

Police Investigating Hit-and-Run Involving Stolen Hyundai with 5 Juveniles

Deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported motor vehicle collision with a possible disturbance on Sunday, May 18, 2025, at approximately 4:38 p.m. around MacArthur Boulevard and South Poteat Court in California, MD. While enroute, a deputy observed a group of five juveniles walking away from the vicinity of...
Read More »