UPDATE 4/8/2025: State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling announced today that Anthony Cleaver Mason, 65, of Leonardtown, Maryland, was convicted of assault, arson, and reckless endangerment in connection with a fire that displaced several motel guests and caused extensive damage to a California, Maryland motel. On June 3, 2024, deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office...
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The community is invited to join the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County, the Department of Aging & Human Services (DAHS), and the Triad/SALT Council to celebrate this year’s Law Enforcement Officers of the Year and to remember the men and women who gave their lives in service to their community. Law Enforcement Appreciation Day...
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Annette I. Williams, 38, of Lexington Park, is facing assault charges following an incident last week in which she allegedly attempted to run over a neighbor during a heated argument, according to court records filed in St. Mary’s County District Court. Williams was arrested on April 3, 2025, and charged with first-degree assault, a...
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Paul D. Bennett, 71, of Hollywood, is facing criminal charges after a domestic assault that occurred earlier this month at his residence, according to documents filed in the District Court for St. Mary’s County. Bennett was arrested on April 4, 2025, and charged with second-degree assault, a misdemeanor offense. The charge carries a potential...
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On Sunday, residents of the Hawthorne Green community in La Plata reported an injured juvenile waterfowl—believed to be a Horned Grebe—wandering in the roadway near Camden Circle and Nicola Lane. Despite attempts by community members to help, the bird continued to evade capture. La Plata Police Department’s Corporal B. Smith (#643) responded to the...
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Motor Vehicle Theft: 25-25612 – On March 30, 2025, Sgt. Robshaw responded to the 11700 block of Rivershore Drive in Dunkirk, for a reported motor vehicle theft. The complainant stated that her vehicle had been left unlocked with the keys inside and was stolen from the driveway of her residence sometime between 10:00 p.m....
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Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West sentenced Adam Marks, 37, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, to 5 years in prison for four counts of Soliciting Child Porn. Marks will also have to register as a Tier II Sex Offender....
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UPDATE 4/7/2025: State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling announced today that Daisaun Altay Eric Culpepper, 31, of Lexington Park, Maryland, was sentenced to 27 years in prison, with 15.5 years of active incarceration for the possession of a large amount of fentanyl, destruction of evidence, and a probation violation. On October 16, 2024, detectives from the...
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Deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office arrested Donell Davonne Rothwell, 54, of no fixed address, on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in connection with a series of motor vehicle break-ins in the California and Lexington Park areas. Following reports of thefts from unattended vehicles, deputies canvassed local businesses and residential neighborhoods. During the...
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U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby sentenced Michael Cooley, Jr., aka “Micheal Cooley Jr.,” “5Micmusik,” and “Michael White,” 26, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, to 87 months in federal prison. In January 2025, Cooley pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, in connection with a conspiracy and scheme to defraud...
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Maryland has just celebrated its own Arbor Day, well ahead of the national celebration on the last Friday of the month. This year, I’m glad to say we are catching up on an important initiative that will impact our future. Maryland made an ambitious commitment with the 5 Million Trees Initiative in 2021, and last...
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On Sunday, April 6, 2025, at approximately 9:50 a.m., Lexington Park VRS Ambulance 397 located a unconscious subject in a ditch near 21401 Great Mills Road and requested a medic and an engine company. As firefighters from Bay District responded to the scene, medical personnel obtained additional information on the scene and reported the...
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Gail Lynne Hawkins, 67, of Port Republic, is facing multiple criminal charges following a domestic dispute that allegedly escalated to gunfire, a string of protective order violations, and a recently uncovered effort to influence a witness in an ongoing criminal case. According to court documents filed by the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office and the...
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On Friday, April 4, 2025, at approximately 2:55 p.m., police, firefighters and emergency medical services responded to the area of Point Lookout Road and Fairgrounds Road in Leonardtown, for a motor vehicle collision with unknown injuries. Before crews arrived on the scene, 911 callers then reported three vehicles with one trapped and a infant...
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Mervyn Fombe Abiko, 35, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, pled guilty to federal charges in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $1 million in unemployment benefits. Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the plea with Postal Inspector in Charge Damon Wood, U.S. Postal Inspection Service –...
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Daniel Michael Harris, Sr., 45, of Waldorf, Maryland, pleaded guilty to committing an armed robbery while using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the plea with Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the...
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Julia Nicole Gallodoro, 29, of Lusby, is facing criminal charges across Calvert and St. Mary’s counties following a high-speed pursuit on March 18, 2025, and multiple prior arrests earlier this year for assault-related incidents. According to the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office, Gallodoro was arrested after leading deputies on a high-speed chase through the Solomons...
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On Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at approximately 7:00 p.m., police responded to Nicolet Park located at 21871 FDR Boulevard in Lexington Park, for the reported assault in progress. 911 callers reported a fight involving 8 subjects with multiple attempting to pull a subject out of an SUV. A short time later, 911 callers then...
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On March 27, 2025, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Alcohol Enforcement Unit conducted a series of tobacco compliance checks across the county. The covert operation utilized a 19-year-old confidential informant (CI) from the Sheriff’s Office to assess businesses’ adherence to tobacco sales laws. The CI, dressed in athletic attire, attempted to purchase tobacco...
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UPDATE 4/02/2025: State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Thursday, March 27, 2025, Charles County Circuit Court Judge West sentenced Renee Daytona Roberts, age 45, to 15 years in prison for First-Degree Child Abuse: Severe Injury. Roberts will be on supervised probation for five years upon release. On March 13, 2025, Roberts pled...
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Amber Michelle Hardesty, 41, of Mechanicsville, has been sentenced following her conviction for embezzlement and financial misconduct involving a vulnerable adult, according to court documents filed in the St. Mary’s County Circuit Court. Hardesty, was convicted on two misdemeanor counts of embezzlement. The offenses occurred in January 2023 and involved her misuse of funds...
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Detectives from the Charles County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division (CID) arrested John Alan Lynch, 28, of Indian Head, after a Charles County Grand Jury indicted him in connection with charges of sexual abuse of a minor, sexual solicitation of a minor, and solicitation for prostitution. An arrest warrant was issued and Lynch was...
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Wendell Giovanni Estes, 49, of Waldorf, is facing a wide array of criminal and traffic charges following an early morning incident on March 28, 2025, that began at a hotel in La Plata and ended in a high-speed pursuit spanning multiple jurisdictions. According to court documents, officers with the La Plata Police Department were...
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On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at 2:55 a.m., police responded to the Cyreene Pharmacy located at 25805 Point Lookout Road in Leonardtown, for the reported burglary in progress. Deputies arrived at the business at approximately 3 a.m. and discovered that the power to the building had been switched off at a breaker box. Upon...
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State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling announced that Marvin Orlando Johnson, 39, of Mechanicville, was sentenced to Life, plus an additional 20 years in prison, for the premeditated murder of his stepfather on May 24, 2023 Following a four-day jury trial in July 2024, a St. Mary’s County jury found Johnson guilty of first-degree murder and...
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