Break Ins

The Hagerstown Police Department said there has been a recent series of attempted break-ins near Municipal Stadium and warned citizens to be careful about home security. City police said Thursday that there have been reports of two young males attempting to break into homes near the stadium, a news release said. After knocking on doors and receiving no response, the males reportedly walk around and attempt to enter the homes, police said. Occasionally the males have found someone at home, police said.

Five area storage buildings have been broken into last month, resulting in one arrest and prompting Boonsboro Police Chief Jeff Hewett to meet with the owners of targeted town buildings to help prevent future break-ins. Three buildings were broken into in Boonsboro, and mostly tools were stolen, Hewett said. In one case, about $1,000 worth of tools were stolen, he said. In some cases, locks were cut off buildings; in others, hasps were pried off, he said. Hewett said he met with property owners whose buildings were broken into and offered them advice about how to prevent future break-ins, such as adding motion-detecting lighting around the buildings.

The Maugansville Ruritan Club Building, at 18007 Maugans Ave., has been broken into twice in the past 10 days. The heavy door lock by the bathrooms has been broken and both the kitchen and office doors were kicked in.  The Ruritans have made the needed repairs, but are asking the Maugansville neighborhood to keep watch to deter or prevent further break-ins.  The Ruritans support and give in so many ways to our community. This is an opportunity to do something to support them. For more information, call 301-739-6742 or 301-739-9822.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Four businesses in Martinsburg were targeted in a series of breaking-and-entering crimes in a matter of hours early Tuesday, according to a news release from the Martinsburg Police Department. A cash register and a small amount of money were taken from Giovanni's New York Pizza at 134 Eagle School Road about 1:20 a.m. Police said a surveillance system recorded a slender white male wearing a head garment inside the business at the time. One hour and 25 minutes later, police discovered a cash register had been taken from the Old Berkeley Pub at 329 Winchester Ave., after someone broke a window to get inside the business, police said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Break-ins at three churches and a house Friday in Berkeley County are believed to be related, police said. Audio equipment was stolen during a break-in at the Church of the Bible Covenant at 706 Sheridan Ave., the Martinsburg Police Department said in a news release. Anyone with information about the break-in can call city police at 304-264-2100 or Berkeley County Crime Solvers at 304-267-4999. Also on Friday, stereo speakers were stolen when two churches on Tuscarora Pike in Berkeley County were broken into, said West Virginia State Police.

Two teens have been charged with breaking into stores at Foxshire Plaza on Dual Highway in Hagerstown early Thursday and stealing cash and items, the Washington County Sheriff's Department reported. Robert Charles Rabideau, 19, of 140 E. Franklin St. Hagerstown, and an unidentified 16-year-old from Frederick, Md., were each charged with two counts of second-degree breaking and entering, two counts of theft and two counts of destruction of property, police said. Rabideau was being held Friday night at the Washington County Detention Center on $30,000 bond.

11 charged in Waynesboro break-ins By RICHARD F. BELISLE / Staff Writer, Waynesboro WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Eleven people, including five juveniles, have been charged in a series of burglaries into a single home over a two-day period that netted more than $13,000 worth of jewelry, savings bonds and electronic entertainment equipment, Chief Barry Keller of the Washington Township Police Department said Wednesday. The owners of the home in the 300 block of Strickler Avenue were away when the break-ins occurred, Keller said.

Juvenile sent to Noyes after break-ins A Washington County Circuit judge sent a teenager charged with four Maugansville burglaries to a Rockville, Md., juvenile detention center Monday, in part for the youth's own safety. The 16-year-old Maugansville boy, who was on probation for a burglary conviction, was in court Monday for a detention hearing. A Department of Juvenile Justice representative asked that the teenager be remanded to the Alfred D. Noyes Center pending his adjudication because of the continuing burglaries and the growing anxiety of the community.

Two adults and a 17-year-old have been arrested in connection with a string of thefts from vehicles that occurred last November in the Robinwood Drive area, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Department. Lauron Zacharie Hoyle, 22, of Walkersville, Md., and a 17-year-old girl from Gaithersburg, Md., both face dozens of charges in connection with the thefts, which occurred Nov. 19 and Nov. 26. In addition, Tonya Ann Hinnant, 25, of Frederick, Md., was charged with theft scheme and malicious destruction of property in the thefts.

Two people kicked in the door at a home near Penn State Mont Alto on Monday morning and stole $5,000 from a woman, Pennsylvania State Police said in a news release. One of the male suspects held a gun to the 24-year-old victim's head during the 8:30 a.m. robbery in the 7300 block of Slabtown Road, police said. The college campus issued a warning that individuals stay inside and lock their doors. That warning was later lifted, and classes were to be held as regularly scheduled, according to Penn State Mont Alto's website.

A 35-year-old man is accused of attacking a sleeping man early Monday after the victim's residence was broken into through a basement window, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. Daniel Barry Shipley was arraigned Monday by Magistrate Sandra L. Miller on charges of burglary, battery, carrying a deadly weapon and obstructing an officer, according to court documents. Shipley had no fixed address, according to court documents. Martinsburg Police Department Patrol Officer E.C. Neely responded to a reported fight in progress in the 100 block of Gussie Avenue in Martinsburg at 2:12 a.m. and found that the victim's face was bloodied, according to court documents.

The Maugansville Ruritan Club Building, at 18007 Maugans Ave., has been broken into twice in the past 10 days. The heavy door lock by the bathrooms has been broken and both the kitchen and office doors were kicked in.  The Ruritans have made the needed repairs, but are asking the Maugansville neighborhood to keep watch to deter or prevent further break-ins.  The Ruritans support and give in so many ways to our community. This is an opportunity to do something to support them. For more information, call 301-739-6742 or 301-739-9822.

A homeowner on Clayton Avenue might have thwarted a burglary early Monday, according to a Waynesboro police news release. Police said they were dispatched at 2:31 a.m. for a burglary in progress. Someone entered the home while the homeowner was sleeping, but the intruder was scared off when the homeowner turned on a light. Nothing appeared to have been taken, police said. The area was searched and no one was found, the news release stated. Later that day, a vehicle's door was found hanging open and items in the center console were in disarray.

Despite facing $30 million in new costs in fiscal year 2012, Meritus Health was able to break even during the first full year of operation for Meritus Medical Center, the health system's vice president of finance said Thursday. “That's pretty good” for the hospital's first year, Dale Bushey said following the Meritus Healthcare Foundation's annual meeting at the Robinwood Professional Center. Meritus Healthcare Foundation is the fundraising arm of the hospital, said Nicki Brinegar, the foundation's development manager.

A Frederick, Md., man has been charged with breaking into his former girlfriend's Hagerstown home on Tuesday and pulling a knife on her, police said. Libni Hernandez, 18, of 1467 Key Parkway in Frederick, was charged with one count each of first-degree burglary, third-degree burglary, fourth-degree burglary, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, fourth-degree sex offense, malicious destruction of property and reckless endangerment, according to a Hagerstown Police Department news release.

Police are investigating the theft of several items, including a safe, from the Bedington Crossroads store early Monday by two suspects who were wearing ski masks, the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department announced.  An audit was being performed and there was no estimate as to how much was taken from the store, but Deputy Lt. Gary Harmison said lottery tickets, money orders and cash were among the items stolen after the business was forcibly entered.  Dressed in black clothing, the two white male suspects were described to be 5 feet 10 inches tall and between 180 and 200 pounds, and 6 feet tall and between 200 and 220 pounds, the sheriff's office said in a news release.

Five area storage buildings have been broken into last month, resulting in one arrest and prompting Boonsboro Police Chief Jeff Hewett to meet with the owners of targeted town buildings to help prevent future break-ins. Three buildings were broken into in Boonsboro, and mostly tools were stolen, Hewett said. In one case, about $1,000 worth of tools were stolen, he said. In some cases, locks were cut off buildings; in others, hasps were pried off, he said. Hewett said he met with property owners whose buildings were broken into and offered them advice about how to prevent future break-ins, such as adding motion-detecting lighting around the buildings.

A former Hagerstown man recently sentenced to state prison for a series of Washington County burglaries received another prison term this week for a Frederick County break-in. Christopher Lee Hays, 28, was sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court in June to two concurrent terms of 15 years in prison with 10 years suspended, according to court records. Hayshad pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree burglary in exchange for more than a dozen charges being dismissed, the records said.

Three Kearneysville, W.Va., men have been charged with breaking in to a home Wednesday on Runnymeade Road in Berkeley County, the Berkeley County (W.Va.) Sheriff's Office said. Andrew M. Moore, 20, of 405 Egypt Road; and Justin M. Light, 19, and Dustin D. Cluster, 19, both of 3521 Charlestown Road, were charged with one count each of burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary, according to a sheriff's office news release. Deputies said they were called to a house at 121 Runnymeade Road for a report of a burglar alarm.