Liquor Store

Hagerstown Police were investigating a robbery Wednesday night at a liquor store, according to a news release. The robbery at Roxy Liquors, 761 E. Wilson Blvd., was reported at 11:15 p.m., police said. Police were told that a male wearing a black puffy jacket, a black knit hat and a white shirt covering his face entered the store and announced a robbery, the release said. The clerk handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and the robber fled the store on foot, police said.

A person was forced to the floor and about $500 was stolen during an armed robbery at Clear Spring Liquors at 126 Cumberland St. in Clear Spring on Saturday afternoon, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. The robbery, which was reported at 4:20 p.m., occurred when a male and female with masks over their faces entered the business through a front door, police said. The male displayed a handgun, forced a person to the floor and gained access to a cash register, police said.

Washington County liquor officials denied the application for a proposed liquor store in the West End of Hagerstown, taking into account the testimony of seven people who said during a Wednesday hearing they believed the area already had an adequate number of alcohol retailers. The Board of License Commissioners for Washington County, known as the liquor board, voted 3-0 to deny an application submitted by Siddharth Patel to open the liquor store at 17624 Garland Groh Blvd. The Patel family argued that a new liquor store would not saturate the area because close to 1,000 houses were in the process of being built near the proposed business.

HAGERSTOWN -- Washington County liquor officials will decide within 30 days whether to grant a liquor license to a proposed liquor store at 11205 John F. Kennedy Drive near Hagerstown Community College. About 20 people attended a hearing Wednesday before the Board of License Commissioners for Washington County, known as the liquor board, to discuss the proposal. Five Washington County liquor store owners told the liquor board that they opposed the new store, saying the city already had enough liquor stores.

andrear@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - The fast action of a Hagerstown resident and three police officers early Thursday led to the apprehension of two men who were subsequently charged with burglarizing a Hagerstown liquor store, said Lt. Rick Johnson of Hagerstown City Police. Roy Edward Jenkins III, 24, of 628 N. Mulberry St., and Eric Justin Black, 22, of Savannah, Ga., were charged with first-, second-, third- and fourth-degree burglary, theft and malicious destruction of property, Johnson said.

HAGERSTOWN -- The owner of a Hagerstown liquor store on Wednesday apologized to Washington County liquor officials for several incidents last year in which former employees were alleged to have used the business as a front to sell marijuana and cocaine. Sovann Najoe Chum, owner of Universal Liquors at 33 E. Franklin St., told the Board of License Commissioners for Washington County, known as the liquor board, that he was unaware of any drug activity. He apologized to the liquor board, saying that the employees accused of selling the drugs no longer work there.

A Washington County District Court judge on Tuesday set bond for two men who have been charged with attacking another man Monday night in front of a Hagerstown liquor store. Judge Mark D. Thomas set bond for Omar Aviles-Rojas, 24, of 29 W. Bethel St. in Hagerstown, at $75,000 during a bond review hearing that was broadcast live on a closed-circuit television feed between District Court and the Washington County Detention Center. Thomas set bond for 19-year-old Daymein Malik Brown, a second man charged in the crime, at $150,000.

Hagerstown Police are investigating an armed robbery that took place Thursday night at Potomac Wine and Spirits at 725 Potomac Ave. The store is near the intersection of Potomac Avenue and Fairgrounds Avenue in Hagerstown. A man entered the liquor store at around 9 p.m., displayed a knife and demanded money, police said. No one was hurt. It was undetermined how much was taken. The man was seen fleeing the area south after leaving the store. He was described as a black male, well-dressed and well-groomed, with a yellow shirt.

A liquor store in downtown Hagerstown temporarily lost its liquor license Thursday after two employees were charged with using the store as a front to sell cocaine, according to a press release from the Washington County Task Force. Task Force agents and members of the Hagerstown Police Department, armed with a search warrant, went Thursday to Universal Liquors at 33 E. Franklin St., after two employees were accused of selling more than an ounce of cocaine to a confidential informant and an undercover narcotics agent earlier this month, the release said.

An armed robbery was reported at Universal Spirits at 33 E. Franklin St., Thursday night, according to a Washington County 911 spokesman. The robbery was reported at 10:36 p.m. and Hagerstown Police Department officers were investigating the incident, the spokesman said.

Restaurant fined for serving alcohol to underage agent A popular restaurant in downtown Hagerstown has been fined $500 for serving alcohol to an underage police agent. The Board of License Commissioners for Washington County, known as the liquor board, imposed the fine against Schmankerl Stube Bavarian Restaurant during a Wednesday hearing. Hagerstown Police Officer T. Niebauer said the incident occurred Feb. 22, when a bartender served a beer to an underage police agent.

Hagerstown Police were investigating a robbery Wednesday night at a liquor store, according to a news release. The robbery at Roxy Liquors, 761 E. Wilson Blvd., was reported at 11:15 p.m., police said. Police were told that a male wearing a black puffy jacket, a black knit hat and a white shirt covering his face entered the store and announced a robbery, the release said. The clerk handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and the robber fled the store on foot, police said.

Store owners thank firefighters, others for efforts To the editor: On Monday, Feb. 4, a five-alarm fire occurred in the building in which our business, L & J Liquors, is housed. The fire was fought by at least 20 engine companies and five ladder companies from Maryland and West Virginia. They were able to stop the spread of the fire before it reached our liquor store. As a result, instead of us dealing with a total loss of business, we are dealing mostly with smoke and water damage.

For the past quarter of a century, Dolly Gray lived in a second-floor apartment in a historic building on Williamsport's Town Square. That changed Monday morning when a five-alarm fire ripped through the Civil War-era building. Gray, 89, said she was sleeping when she was roused by the smell of smoke at about 7:30 a.m. She grabbed her coat, purse and medication and fled. Later, she watched through the window of a neighbor's home as the rest of her belongings were consumed by flames.

A Hagerstown man has come forward to claim his lottery winnings, but the winner of the $575,000 Multi-Match top-tier prize wants to remain anonymous, Maryland Lottery officials said Friday. The ticket holder had all six numbers in the Jan. 21 Multi-Match drawing. The disabled Army veteran bought his winning ticket at Roxy Liquors at 761 E. Wilson Blvd. in Hagerstown, lottery officials said in a news release. The winning numbers were 1, 2, 13, 22, 37 and 43. Before he discovered he won, the man joked about possibly being the winner of the Multi-Match jackpot that he knew had been sold by a Hagerstown retailer, according to the release.

A man charged with robbing a liquor store last fall was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbery this week in Washington County Circuit Court, court records said. Reginald Tyrone Scott, 50, formerly of Hayfield Court, Hagerstown, entered the plea agreement before Judge John H. McDowell on Monday. In exchange for the plea, charges of armed robbery, second-degree assault, theft and reckless endangerment were dismissed court records said. None of the sentence - the maximum for robbery - was suspended, Assistant State's Attorney Leon Debes said.

Kerleen Virginia (Poffenberger) Waugh, 86, of Hagerstown, Md., went to join her husband Cotton on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2012, the sixth anniversary of his passing in 2006. Kerleen passed away at Coffman Nursing Home, her home for the past three years, surrounded by family and friends. Kerleen was born on June 26, 1926, to the late Kerlin L. and Alice Odell (Itnyre) Poffenberger of Boonsboro, Md. She is survived by her daughter, Kathy Harple and her husband Tom; her son, Gerald E. “Eddie” Waugh and his wife Connie; a granddaughter, Dayna Gregory and her husband Bill; and a granddaughter Michelle Watson and her husband Ty; her sister, Jean L. Price; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

A Washington County District Court judge on Tuesday set bond for two men who have been charged with attacking another man Monday night in front of a Hagerstown liquor store. Judge Mark D. Thomas set bond for Omar Aviles-Rojas, 24, of 29 W. Bethel St. in Hagerstown, at $75,000 during a bond review hearing that was broadcast live on a closed-circuit television feed between District Court and the Washington County Detention Center. Thomas set bond for 19-year-old Daymein Malik Brown, a second man charged in the crime, at $150,000.

A co-owner of the Woodpoint Bar & Grill in Hagerstown told Washington County liquor officials earlier this week that he intends to reopen the popular restaurant by the end of October. Jeff South, who owns the business with his brothers, Doug and Keith, said during a hearing Wednesday before the Board of License Commissioners for Washington County that the building at 1437 Salem Ave. still needs work done to the ceiling and other places before they can reopen. “We'd like to (open)