Law Enforcement

Preliminary Testing Confirms Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Anne Arundel County Backyard Flock

Preliminary Testing Confirms Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Anne Arundel County Backyard Flock

State laboratory testing has detected a case of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI) in an Anne Arundel County backyard flock. Department of Agriculture officials have quarantined all affected premises, and birds on the properties are being or have been depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from the affected flock will not enter...
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Detectives Continue to Investigate Missing Person Case: Robert “Bubba” Norris

Detectives Continue to Investigate Missing Person Case: Robert “Bubba” Norris

Charles County Sheriff’s detectives are continuing to investigate a missing person case. On March 1, Robert “Bubba” Norris, age 61, of White Plains, MD, left his residence to go to a friend’s house in Prince George’s County. He was driving his white Ford F-150 pickup truck and stopped at two other homes in Prince...
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Police Continue to Investigate and Seek Leads Into 2008 Cold Case Murder of Austin Brown

Police Continue to Investigate and Seek Leads Into 2008 Cold Case Murder of Austin Brown

Seventeen years ago, on March 11, 2008 at approximately 6:00 a.m., officers with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office responded to Austin Brown’s residence at 4450 Livingston Road for a death investigation. They located the victim inside and determined that he had been shot several hours prior to being discovered. His case remains unsolved. Your...
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Firefighters Throughout Southern Maryland Responding to Large Woods Fire in Calvert County

Firefighters Throughout Southern Maryland Responding to Large Woods Fire in Calvert County

On Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at approximately 4:53 p.m., firefighters responded to the area of 1715 Weems Road in Port Republic, for the reported brush fire. While responding to the scene firefighters reported a very large column of smoke showing and requested a Brush Fire Task Force to be dispatched. The same time, dispatchers...
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Maryland State Police To Increase Patrols Over St. Patrick’s Day Weekend, 2025

Maryland State Police To Increase Patrols Over St. Patrick’s Day Weekend, 2025

Maryland State Police are urging motorists to avoid aggressive, distracted and impaired driving throughout St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Maryland State Troopers from all 23 barracks, including the State Police Impaired Driving Reduction Effort (SPIDRE) team, will focus on aggressive, distracted and impaired driving while conducting increased saturation patrols along roadways where impaired driving related...
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Semi-Truck Running Red Light Causes Serious Rollover Collision in Leonardtown, Sending One to Hospital

Semi-Truck Running Red Light Causes Serious Rollover Collision in Leonardtown, Sending One to Hospital

On Thursday, March 6, 2025, at approximately 11:45 a.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the intersection of Point Lookout Road and Fairgrounds Road in Leonardtown, for the serious motor vehicle collision with rollover and entrapment. Crews arrived on the scene to find a two-vehicle T-bone style collision involving an SUV and...
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Tree Cutter Fatally Electrocuted After Accidentally Striking Power Line in Waldorf

Tree Cutter Fatally Electrocuted After Accidentally Striking Power Line in Waldorf

On Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at approximately 11:32 a.m., police, firefighters, emergency medical services and SMECO responded to the area of 11954 Motley Place in Waldorf, for the reported electrocution and fire involving powerlines. 911 callers reported a tree cutter was cutting a tree when the victim accidentally struck a powerline, causing the victim...
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Charlotte Hall Man Arrested with Loaded Handgun During Traffic Stop

Charlotte Hall Man Arrested with Loaded Handgun During Traffic Stop

Pernell Maddox, 20, of Charlotte Hall, remains in custody after being arrested on multiple firearm-related charges following a traffic stop in St. Mary’s County, according to court documents. Deputies from the Criminal Intelligence Unit of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office arrested Maddox, on March 10, 2025, after allegedly discovering a loaded handgun in...
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Police Investigating Reported Shooting in Waldorf, Victim Transported with Non-Life-Threatening Injuries

Police Investigating Reported Shooting in Waldorf, Victim Transported with Non-Life-Threatening Injuries

On Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at approximately 10:14 p.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the 300 block of Thompkins Lane in Waldorf, for the reported gunshot victim. Dispatchers advised that the 911 callers were Spanish speaking only, with an interpreter being used to give the information. The caller reported one victim...
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Leonardtown Man Accused of Bribing Victim/Witness to Avoid Stabbing Conviction

Leonardtown Man Accused of Bribing Victim/Witness to Avoid Stabbing Conviction

A local man facing trial for a 2024 stabbing incident is now accused of attempting to bribe a witness into altering testimony, according to court documents. Lucas Graham Hockaday, 23, of Leonardtown, has been charged with felony jury intimidation, misdemeanor jury intimidation, and obstruction of justice after allegedly conspiring to prevent a key witness...
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73-Year-Old Port Tobacco Man Charged with Theft of Government Property, Passport Fraud and False Statements

73-Year-Old Port Tobacco Man Charged with Theft of Government Property, Passport Fraud and False Statements

A federal grand jury has indicted Jorge Echeverri, 73, of Port Tobacco, Maryland, charging him with theft of government property, false statements, passport fraud, social security misuse, and false statement of citizenship. Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the indictment with Michael S. McCarthy, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland...
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Leadership Southern Maryland Accepting Applications for Executive Program

Leadership Southern Maryland Accepting Applications for Executive Program

Leadership Southern Maryland (LSM) is accepting applications for its Executive Program Class of 2026, which will run from September 2025 through May 2026. The program is open to mid- and upper-level executives living or working in Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties, who have demonstrated commitment to community engagement. The LSM Executive Program is...
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John Thomas Hess Sentenced to 50 Years in Major Fentanyl Trafficking Case

John Thomas Hess Sentenced to 50 Years in Major Fentanyl Trafficking Case

John Thomas Hess, 33, of St. Inigoes, has been sentenced to 85 years in prison, with 50 years of active incarceration, for his role in a large-scale fentanyl trafficking operation. State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling announced that Hess orchestrated an extensive drug distribution network that funneled fentanyl throughout St. Mary’s County. During the investigation, law...
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One Flown to Trauma Center with Serious Injuries After Vehicle Strikes Tree in Charlotte Hall

One Flown to Trauma Center with Serious Injuries After Vehicle Strikes Tree in Charlotte Hall

On Sunday, March 9, 2025, at approximately 7:00 p.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the area of Trinity Church Road and Ryceville Road in Charlotte Hall, for the reported motor vehicle collision with one unconscious. Crews arrived on the scene to find a single vehicle off the roadway with two patients...
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8-Year-Old Transported to Children’s Center After ATV Crash in Bryans Road

8-Year-Old Transported to Children’s Center After ATV Crash in Bryans Road

On Sunday, March 9, 2025, at approximately 6:48 p.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the 5400 block of Sir Douglas Drive in Bryans Road, for the reported motor vehicle collision involving a motorcycle. Shortly after dispatch, responding units were advised the 911 caller reported a child had serious bleeding with a...
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Maryland’s Fishing Season Springs Into Action

Maryland’s Fishing Season Springs Into Action

The Farmer’s Almanac calls the March full moon the “Worm Moon,” a name that originated among Native American tribes. The name marks the changing of the seasons, as the coming warm weather will prompt earthworms to stir from their winter dormancy. Among other important signs of spring, it means it’s time for fishing! In...
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Fire at St. Charles Mall Under Investigation, One Victim Transported to Burn Center

Fire at St. Charles Mall Under Investigation, One Victim Transported to Burn Center

On Friday, March 7, 2025, at approximately 12:25 p.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the Macy’s Department Store located in the St. Charles Mall in Waldorf, for the reported structure fire. Fire and emergency response units from multiple stations, including Waldorf Fire Stations 3 and 12, La Plata, Hughesville, Bryans Road,...
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Firefighters Respond to Large Brush Fire in St. Mary’s County

Firefighters Respond to Large Brush Fire in St. Mary’s County

On Sunday, March 9, 2025, at approximately 3:05 p.m., firefighters from Leonardtown and Second District responded to the 23000 block of Point Lookout Road in Leonardtown, for the reported large brush fire. Dispatchers advised the 911 caller was calling from the provided address and stated their was an elderly male yelling to call 911,...
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Deputies in Calvert County Recover PCP, Heroin, Crack Cocaine After High-Speed Chase

Deputies in Calvert County Recover PCP, Heroin, Crack Cocaine After High-Speed Chase

A high-speed chase in Calvert County resulted in the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of multiple controlled dangerous substances (CDS), according to law enforcement officials. On March 2, 2025, at approximately 12:49 a.m., Sgt. Mark Robshaw of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office was stationed in the median of Maryland Route 4 near...
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Two Teens Charged After Armed Home Invasion in Waldorf

Two Teens Charged After Armed Home Invasion in Waldorf

On March 3, 2025, patrol officers responded to the 11400 block of Leland Place in Waldorf for the report of a burglary in progress. Two juveniles who were in an upstairs room called 9-1-1 to report that someone had shattered the rear glass door and entered the house. Patrol officers arrived on the scene,...
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Waldorf Man who Killed 17-Year-Old Westlake High School Student Found Guilty of Murder

Waldorf Man who Killed 17-Year-Old Westlake High School Student Found Guilty of Murder

UPDATE 3/7/2025: Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Friday, March 7, 2025, a Charles County jury, after a 5-day trial, convicted Elijah Bernard Barnes, 20, of the Second-Degree Murder of Rajon Lateef Jackson, III, as well as related charges. On January 13, 2023, officers responded to Harvest Fish Place in...
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Minor Injuries Reported After Single Vehicle Strikes Trees in Callaway

Minor Injuries Reported After Single Vehicle Strikes Trees in Callaway

On Friday, March 7, 2025, at 5:22 a.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the area of Point Lookout Road and Walk This Way Court in Callaway, for the serious motor vehicle collision with entrapment. 911 callers reported a single vehicle was overturned with one possibly trapped. Crews arrived on the scene...
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Despite Severe Fall Fire Weather, Maryland Wildfire Damage Less Extensive During 2024 Than Previous Year

Despite Severe Fall Fire Weather, Maryland Wildfire Damage Less Extensive During 2024 Than Previous Year

The number of wildfires in Maryland during 2024 was much higher than the ten-year average, but acreage burned was significantly lower, according to the Maryland Forest Service’s Annual Wildland Fire Report. The report, which was released this month, March 2025, covers data related to wildfires on 3.2 million acres of land overseen by the Maryland...
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Lexington Park Woman Arrested for Impaired Driving After Single Vehicle Crash Involving NAS Patuxent River Security Fence

Lexington Park Woman Arrested for Impaired Driving After Single Vehicle Crash Involving NAS Patuxent River Security Fence

On Thursday, March 6, 2025, at approximately 3:25 p.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the area of Three Notch Road and Southampton Drive in Lexington Park, for the reported single vehicle collision involving the NAS Patuxent River Security Fence. Crews arrived on the scene to confirm a single vehicle off the...
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Charles County Sheriff’s Office Receives CALEA’s Highest Honor: Accreditation with Excellence

Charles County Sheriff’s Office Receives CALEA’s Highest Honor: Accreditation with Excellence

Charles County Sheriff Troy D. Berry is pleased to announce that the Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) has been awarded the prestigious Accreditation with Excellence designation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA®). This honor was presented to Sheriff Berry and CCSO’s Planning and Accreditation team members during a recent CALEA...
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