Hostage

o Hostage drill held at hospital

A Hedgesville man surrendered to a special-response team member Sunday after he retreated into his house with one of his children during a domestic incident on Pacific Boulevard, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department. Chad Corbin, 31, was charged with second-offense domestic battery and hostage holding, the sheriff’s department said in a news release. Corbin was being held without bond Sunday night at the Eastern Regional Jail. Sheriff’s deputies said they responded to Pacific Boulevard for the domestic incident shortly after 9 a.m., and found Chad and Carrie Corbin arguing in their driveway.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) -- A man who railed against the Discovery Channel's environmental programming for years burst into the company's headquarters with at least one explosive device strapped to his body Wednesday and took three people hostage at gunpoint before police shot him to death, officials said. The hostages -- two Discovery Communications employees and a security guard -- were unhurt after the four-hour standoff. Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said tactical officers moved in after officers monitoring Lee on building security cameras saw him pull out a handgun and point it at a hostage.

by Kevin G. Gilbert / staff photographer Smithsburg hostage crisis ends By MARLO BARNHART and STEVEN T. DENNIS Staff Writers SMITHSBURG - A Cavetown man freed his estranged wife after holding her at gunpoint for six hours and surrendered two hours later, ending a standoff with police in downtown Smithsburg Tuesday. The siege at Hadley Farms bakery ended peacefully at about 12:20 p.m. after David William Trumpower said he wanted to see his sister and his two children, Washington County Sheriff Charles Mades said.

HANCOCK - The pregnant woman holed up for two days in a Hancock motel with a man who made threats was not a hostage, police said Saturday. Maryland State Police said in a press release that Rene Reynolds, 21, was "complicit" with her boyfriend, James A. Prevatt III, 26, and depicted herself as a hostage. Police said both are from Moncks Corners, S.C., but Prevatt has lived in Hagerstown. Prevatt and Reynolds have been charged with crimes in connection with a 45-hour standoff at Americas Best Value Inn that ended Friday night.

HAGERSTOWN - A single mother and her child were held hostage in their apartment for about six hours last week by a pair of armed men who had just robbed a bank, Hagerstown Police said Monday afternoon. Two masked men robbed the M&T Bank branch at 930 Dual Highway on Oct. 22, shot at a Washington County Sheriff's Department cruiser and took a deputy's service weapon before getting away, according to police. The robbers held the mother and child in an apartment in the Manor Drive area, police said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Berkeley County Prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely said she expects later today to receive a report from an autopsy conducted on the body of Katherine Nicole Sharp, who was found dead in her Martinsburg-area home after her former boyfriend ended a 26-hour standoff with police. Games-Neely said she expects the autopsy being performed in Morgantown, W.Va., to determine the cause of death of the 35-year-old Martinsburg mother of two. Donald Berkeley Surber, 37, of Winchester, Va., was arraigned on kidnapping charges Monday afternoon shortly after his arrest.

Virginia man charged with kidnapping Neighbors, friends react to death of woman Prosecutor awaiting autopsy results on W.Va. hostage Inmate testifies at ex-RCI officer's trial Aleshire at home as a coach

HAGERSTOWN -- The woman police say posed as a hostage in a standoff at a Hancock hotel in August 2008 pleaded guilty Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court to conspiring to threaten arson. Rene Reynolds, 21, of Moncks Corner, S.C., faced additional charges, including theft of more than $500, that were dropped as part of the plea agreement. Her boyfriend, James A. Prevatt, is charged with threatening arson by use of an explosive device and other crimes in connection with the 45-hour standoff with police at a Hancock motel, during which he told officers he would kill a hostage.

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) - A Hagerstown man who kidnapped his teen-aged girlfriend and held her hostage during a chase and standoff with police was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison. David M. Norment, 38, was also sentenced by U.S. District Marvin J. Garbis to five years supervised release, said U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Beth Gesner. Norment faced a maximum penalty of life in prison. Norment had pleaded guilty in September to kidnapping and firearm charges. He was arrested north of Martinsburg, W.Va.

A Hedgesville man surrendered to a special-response team member Sunday after he retreated into his house with one of his children during a domestic incident on Pacific Boulevard, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department. Chad Corbin, 31, was charged with second-offense domestic battery and hostage holding, the sheriff’s department said in a news release. Corbin was being held without bond Sunday night at the Eastern Regional Jail. Sheriff’s deputies said they responded to Pacific Boulevard for the domestic incident shortly after 9 a.m., and found Chad and Carrie Corbin arguing in their driveway.

Gov. Manchin tours new Morgan County Courthouse 5 Eastern Panhandle residents inducted into Order of the 35th Star BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. -- A hazardous-duty robot worth about $150,000 was donated Tuesday to the West Virginia State Police by Berkeley Springs Instruments (BSI) for use in the Eastern Panhandle. The owner of the robot, Berkeley Springs Instruments, was one of 10 businesses in Morgan County that received recognition Tuesday from West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III. A ceremony was held on the front steps of Citizens National Bank, but a robot demonstration for Manchin had to be canceled because of a mechanical problem with the robot's arms.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- A former soldier accused of demanding mental treatment as he took hostages at gunpoint at a Georgia Army hospital later told investigators he planned to kill President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton, federal prosecutors said in court documents filed Tuesday. Federal charges filed in U.S. District Court in Savannah identified the accused gunman as 29-year-old Robert Anthony Quinones. The Army says he took three hospital workers hostage early Monday in a two-hour standoff at Winn Army Community Hospital at Fort Stewart, 40 miles southwest of Savannah.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) -- As the three hostages at Discovery Channel's headquarters appeared ready to make a run for it, police said Thursday that a SWAT team officer quickly shot and killed the increasingly agitated gunman who had explosives strapped to himself, ending the four-hour standoff. After several hours of negotiations, the tactical officers moved in. Authorities saw the hostages begin to move on building security cameras and heard a "pop" they believed to be a gunshot or an explosive device, Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) -- A man who railed against the Discovery Channel's environmental programming for years burst into the company's headquarters with at least one explosive device strapped to his body Wednesday and took three people hostage at gunpoint before police shot him to death, officials said. The hostages -- two Discovery Communications employees and a security guard -- were unhurt after the four-hour standoff. Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said tactical officers moved in after officers monitoring Lee on building security cameras saw him pull out a handgun and point it at a hostage.

o Hostage Drill - University System Two people portraying "gunmen" entered the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown building on West Washington Street as a part of a drill Thursday morning to test the university's emergency preparedness plan. The Board of Regents requires USMH to test its emergency plan every year, said C. David Warner III, USMH executive director. A scenario such as the one portrayed Thursday "is to help us be as prepared as we can be for a real emergency and to discover where we have our weaknesses," Warner said.

Virginia man charged with kidnapping Neighbors, friends react to death of woman Prosecutor awaiting autopsy results on W.Va. hostage Inmate testifies at ex-RCI officer's trial Aleshire at home as a coach

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Berkeley County Prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely said she expects later today to receive a report from an autopsy conducted on the body of Katherine Nicole Sharp, who was found dead in her Martinsburg-area home after her former boyfriend ended a 26-hour standoff with police. Games-Neely said she expects the autopsy being performed in Morgantown, W.Va., to determine the cause of death of the 35-year-old Martinsburg mother of two. Donald Berkeley Surber, 37, of Winchester, Va., was arraigned on kidnapping charges Monday afternoon shortly after his arrest.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- The pain and grief were palpable as West Virginia State Police informed friends and family members that Katherine Nicole Sharp, 35, was found dead in her house on Raider Lane near Martinsburg at the end of a 26-hour standoff between her ex-boyfriend and police. Sharpe's ex-boyfriend, Donald Berkeley Surber, 37, of Winchester, Va., was taken into custody at about 2:02 p.m. by members of the West Virginia State Police Special Response Team, West Virginia State Police Capt.

o Hostage drill held at hospital