Crime

martinsburg@herald-mail.com TRI-STATE - 'Tis the season for reindeer and robberies, Santa and shoplifting, egg nog and drunken drivers, mistletoe and misdemeanors. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, with police throughout the Tri-State area saying that this time of year, crime usually increases. Robberies, thefts, domestic violence and drunken driving incidents tend to increase, police said. Suicides rise, too, they said. Franklin County, Pa., Sheriff Robert Wollyung said he notices a slight increase in the number of assaults during the holidays.

erinc@herald-mail.com When temperatures dropped recently, people reached for winter coats and bulky sweaters. While they were bracing for the season's chilliest week, area police anticipated a change in criminal activity that usually accompanies cold weather. Hagerstown Police Department Sgt. Paul Kifer said it seems that snow, rain, low temperatures and inclement weather often reduce the number of incidents to which officers respond. Hagerstown Police do not keep statistics about weather's affect on crime, and Kifer based his statements on personal observation.

pepperb@herald-mail.com No stranger to victims, Lisa Enderlin, the newest victim witness assistant coordinator in the Washington County State's Attorney's Office, said she hopes to keep victims from being strangers to the options available to them through the court system. Enderlin, who worked for about five years as a legal advocate at Citizens Assisting and Sheltering the Abused Inc. - or CASA - dealt with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Now, Enderlin said, she deals with victims of all types of crimes in cases that go through Washington County District Court.

By JULIE E. GREENE Staff Writer One day after ousting 12-year incumbent Steven T. Sager, Mayor-elect Robert E. Bruchey II said he would put crime and economic development at the top of his agenda for the city. Tuesday night's shooting at a motel outside town was another indication that the city needs to crack down on crime soon, Bruchey said at his Woodland Way home. "We have to get tough," said Bruchey, adding that city officials can't wait until a new crime impact team starts hitting the streets in October.

A movie that loosely references true crime on the Appalachian Trail will debut Saturday at the Capitol Theatre in Chambersburg. “It's definitely not a slasher movie, but it does revolve around murder and crime,” said Libby McDermott, the movie's director. “Dead Woman's Hollow” will play on the South Main Street theater's screen Saturday at 8 p.m. The story written by Indiana resident John Taylor follows an investigation into the murder of two girls who were hiking. “It's cool to have a film that was shot in Franklin County play in Franklin County,” said Matt Stahley, director of photography.

SHARPSBURG -Sharpsburg residents told the Town Council Monday that crime continues to be a problem in the town. Residents said they've had gas stolen from their vehicles and other items stolen from their properties. One man said drug dealing is taking place near residences on Chapline Street. The residents said they know who is responsible for the crimes but the Washington County Sheriff's Department hasn't been helpful. Last month, residents said windows were being shot out, rocks were being thrown through windows and that teenagers were damaging property.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- Assault on April 22. Theft on March 29. Both are crimes committed on West King Street in Chambersburg and both appear on www.CrimeReports.com for basic research. Chambersburg and Hagerstown police utilize the Web site designed to keep residents and businesspeople abreast of police calls in their neighborhoods. It "will prove particularly valuable to those in the community who want to stay informed about what is going on in their neighborhoods," Chambersburg Police Chief David J. Arnold said.

The Republican trying to unseat Del. D. Bruce Poole accused the lawmaker of being soft on crime Friday. "I am concerned that Washington County has become a drug market and I think it's time we send a message that we're not going to tolerate it," Maryland House of Delegates candidate Chris Shank said. Poole defended his record on crime, saying he, not Shank, has received endorsements from law enforcement groups. Poole also said he has helped to write and pass laws that toughened the penalties for domestic violence, drunken drivers and violent offenders.

A private company is preparing to open a methadone clinic in Berkeley County, W.Va., and law enforcement officials say they are concerned that the clinic may lead to additional crime to the area. Others say it will address a health issue. The Martinsburg Institute outpatient clinic in Berkeley Plaza on U.S. 11 will treat people with heroin and other opiate addictions through the use of methadone, according to Ellen Valli, program director and part owner of the clinic. The company, Martinsburg Institute Inc., had not opened the methadone clinic to new clients as of Thursday, but is in the process of transferring local clients from a methadone clinic in Frederick, Md., clinic officials said.

About two years ago, our sister publication, the South Bend Tribune, of South Bend, Indiana, did an interesting feature about how crime changes its victims. A year later, the victims of a shooting, a burglary and an embezzlement talked about the lasting marks that crime leaves, on your spirit if not your body. A couple months ago, the Baltimore Sun did the same thing, rekindling my interest in a local project. And so, using our electronic database, I looked up a series of crime reports from 1997 and contacted the victims.

A Washington County Circuit Court judge Tuesday granted a continuance for a Myersville, Md., man who was shot several times by police last year during an incident at a park-and-ride lot near Boonsboro. James Jacob Jardina, 46, was charged with two counts each of first- and second-degree assault, use of a handgun in a crime of violence, possession of a stolen handgun and other offenses in the June 10, 2012, confrontation with police at the lot on Mapleville Road off Interstate 70. Jardina, wearing gray pants with no belt and a blue button-downed shirt, entered the courtroom Tuesday with the assistance of a walker.

A Berkeley Springs man serving a 321-year prison sentence following a 1993 crime rampage that included the rapes of two West Virginia women has confessed to strangling a Berkeley Springs woman in 1982 and putting her body in the Potomac River near Berkeley Springs, officials with the Morgan County Sheriff's Office said Thursday. Randy McBee confessed to the strangulation of Ginger Holly Gregg, who was 20 years old at the time, during an interview Tuesday with Lt. Tim Stapleton of the sheriff's office at the Mount Olive Correctional Complex, according to a sheriff's office news release.

There was drama outside the courthouse Wednesday when plainclothes Hagerstown City Police in unmarked vehicles surrounded a Ford Escape outside the District Court building on West Antietam Street. About 10 minutes before noon police pulled over the Escape and - with guns drawn - took three men and a woman away to police headquarters. Lt. Tom Langston said the incident was related to an investigation into “a recent crime of violence” in the city, but he declined to be more specific.

A bill introduced by two local legislators that could become law would make it a crime to interfere with the reporting of suspected child abuse or neglect. Current Maryland law requires teachers, counselors, social workers, caseworkers, and parole or probation officers to notify appropriate agencies if they suspect child abuse. The bill seeks to punish anyone who tries to interfere with such reporting. The legislation was introduced in the House of Delegates by Del. Michael J. Hough, R-Frederick/Washington, and in the Senate by state Sen. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington.

A Washington County man who fired multiple shots at his estranged wife and mother-in-law last July was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison during a hearing Thursday at Washington County Circuit Court. Before Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. passed sentence, Jamie Hiler Wainwright, 37, of 10106 Saint George Circle in Saint James Village North, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and using a firearm to commit a violent crime. “This is a very dangerous situation that occurred, Mr. Wainwright,” Long said.

Hagerstown Police Chief Mark Holtzman talked to the Washington County Board of Education this week about the police presence and crime in downtown Hagerstown. At least one school board member, Jacqueline Fischer, earlier had expressed concerns about safety downtown during a joint meeting between the school board and Hagerstown elected officials two weeks ago as the city made a pitch for the school board to relocate its administrative offices downtown. On Tuesday, Holtzman presented the school board with a fact sheet about the department's downtown safety plan and shared information about the police presence in that area.

A small group of people took the first steps Wednesday to explore starting a crime watch program in the Borough of Waynesboro. Eight people attended an informational meeting hosted by the Waynesboro Police Department and Pennsylvania State Police. Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Ed Asbury said he has done presentations for start-up crime watch programs in both urban and rural areas. Most are reactive efforts after a rash of criminal activity, not proactive ones like in Waynesboro, he said.

Saying that the mass casualties at Sandy Hook Elementary School are “just the beginning,” an authority on violent crimes told police and school officials Monday that they need to act with urgency. “Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country,” said Dave Grossman, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel. The Franklin County (Pa.) District Attorney's office hosted Grossman for a seminar about violence in schools. Held in the Waynesboro Area Senior High School auditorium, the event drew a couple hundred police officers, sheriff's deputies, school board members, principals, superintendents and fire officials.

The Joker, Lex Luthor and the Green Goblin didn't have the nerve to menace Hagerstown Community College on Saturday as dozens of tiny crime fighters gathered there to take part in the 2013 Super Hero Party. Marsha Moats, program coordinator for the Washington County Recreation Department, said the event has been held for the past five years to give children a chance to dress up like their favorite super hero and play indoors during the winter. “It's cold. There's not much for kids to do,” she said.