N.Y. man charged in shooting arrested in Cumberland

January 20, 1999

A New York man, charged in connection with an April 1998 shooting in Hagerstown's West End, has been arrested in Cumberland, Md., on drug charges.

Ronnie Walker, 25, was being held at the Allegany County Detention Center on Wednesday, according to Lt. Gary Spielman of Hagerstown City Police.

Spielman said Walker gave Cumberland police an alias but they determined Tuesday he was Walker and they notified Hagerstown police.

A man was shot in the leg in the 4:27 p.m. shooting on April 13 in the 900 block of Lanvale Street. The man was taken to Washington County Hospital, where he stayed overnight.

Walker, who goes by the street name of "Bishop," was picked up by Brooklyn City Police on Hagerstown's warrants shortly after the shooting, Spielman said.

But while Walker was being held at the Brooklyn Central Booking office awaiting an extradition hearing for his return to Hagerstown, he was mistakenly released, police said.

Since then, authorities did not know Walker's whereabouts, police said.

Four days after the shooting, Hagerstown City Police took into custody a second man, who called himself Lawrence Jeffries, 19, of Brooklyn, N.Y.

A subsequent fingerprint check revealed that man was actually William Vasquez, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., police said.

A check at the Washington County Detention Center Wednesday revealed Vasquez, alias Jeffries, was in custody Wednesday.

Both Walker and Vasquez are charged with attempted first- and attempted second-degree murder, reckless endangerment and first- and second-degree assault, and handgun violations, police said.

- Marlo Barnhart

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