Violent Crime

Washington County and Hagerstown officials are hopeful they will receive a Hot Spot grant from the state to help combat crime in the Jonathan Street neighborhood. Charles Messmer, the director of the Jail Substance Abuse Program, is coordinating efforts to get the funding and briefed the Washington County Commissioners on the program Tuesday. "It stuck out like a sore thumb that the Jonathan Street area was the area where violent crime was concentrated," he said. The county has asked for $280,000 in funding, including money for additional community police officers.

HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown Police Sgt. Paul Kifer described criminal activity in Hagerstown as "different" in 2008. While he did not have all the numbers compiled as of Dec. 29, Kifer said it seemed robberies and violent street activity decreased in the past year. Even at that, city police investigated three homicides in 2008, one of which remains unsolved, Kifer said. Three homicides also were reported in 2007, with an additional case classified as a manslaughter, Kifer said.

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.

For the first time in nine years, the number of Maryland juveniles arrested for violent crime has fallen, with sharp drops in the number arrested for murder, car theft and rape. Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening's administration is claiming credit, but before we agree, we have some questions. The first is whether it's possible juvenile arrests are declining because the number of juveniles has temporarily declined. Anyone who's every had to deal with school redistricting issues knows the number of youths in the state is not constant.

State and federal agents took a Hagerstown man they described as an original member of a violent motorcycle club into custody Wednesday morning when they went to search his home for illegal weapons and explosives, officials said. Jay Carl Wagner, 66, surrendered peacefully at his 604 Antietam Drive home Wednesday morning after about 50 law enforcement officials arrived. Wagner was charged later with possession of a regulated firearm after conviction of a violent crime, according to the Washington County District Court Commissioner's office.

A judge found probable cause Thursday to proceed with charges against a man accused of robbing an acquaintance in an alley Dec. 22, Washington County District Court records show. Ellis Reginald Fennell, 19, of 919 Rosehill Ave. in Hagerstown, was charged Jan. 3 with second-degree assault, theft of less than $100, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and using a handgun in the commission of a violent crime, court records show. Police say Fennell asked acquaintances Kenneth Platt and Toni Boward for a ride, then directed Platt to turn into an alley, where another man in the car displayed a handgun and he and Fennell demanded money, Hagers-town Police Detective Tammy Jurado wrote in charging documents.

A 74-year-old man charged with bank robbery last week remained at the Washington County Detention Center Wednesday on two sets of charges, a detention center spokeswoman said. Washington County District Judge Ralph H. France II set bond Wednesday for Wayne E. Drake, 74, of 7 E. Washington St., Apt. 704, at $250,000 for each set of charges stemming from armed robberies on Jan. 7 and Dec. 11, 2004, according to court records. The Hagerstown Police Department alleges Drake robbed both businesses with a gold, antique-looking handgun.

Sales of handguns in Washington County have dropped by about 35 percent since a law restricting gun purchases went into effect, but the impact on violent crime has been harder to determine. --cont from front page-- The law, a centerpiece of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's election campaign four years ago, imposes a limit of one handgun purchase per month. In Washington County, handgun sales declined from 1,032 in 1996 to 664 last year, according to the Maryland State Police Licensing Division.

shappell@herald-mail.com A joint investigation involving the Hagerstown Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation led to the arrest of a Hagerstown man wanted in two robberies at ginpoint in the last month. Wayne E. Drake, 74, of 7 E. Washington St., Apt. 704, was charged Tuesday with armed robberies on Jan. 7 and on Dec. 11, 2004, the Hagerstown Police Department said. Drake was tracked to a motel in Annapolis, where he was taken into custody by members of the FBI and the Annapolis Police Department, city police said.

shappell@herald-mail.com Although Maryland ranked in the top three in categories of robbery, murder and violent crime per 100,000 people in the FBI's Uniform Crime Report for 2002, Hagerstown's serious crime rate compares favorably to cities in the state and beyond. And while the crime rate in the eastern portion of the state appears to be on the rise, the serious crime rate in Hagerstown decreased. There were 1,764 Part 1 crimes reported in Hagerstown, which had a listed population of 37,807 residents for 2002.

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.

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.

Concealed-carry permits could lead to less gun crime To the editor: Thomas Sowell, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, correctly notes that the gun-control controversy is debated almost solely in terms of fixed preconceptions, with little or no examination of the facts. Let's correct that deficiency today by looking at the facts. Criminologists Don B. Kates and Gary Mauser write in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Vol. 30, that the U.S. National Academy of Sciences could not identify any gun control anywhere in the world that had successfully reduced violent crime, suicide or gun accidents.

Sharing information is crucial for law enforcement agencies that work together to protect their communities from criminals, especially repeat offenders, according to Capt. Mark Holtzman, acting chief of the Hagerstown Police Department. “It's been said that no police department can do it alone, and working on these collaborative efforts really helps bridge the gap,” Holtzman said. As a way to combine efforts and share information, HPD recently became a member of an interagency program in Hagerstown and Washington County called the Safe Streets Coalition.

A 54-year-old Hagerstown man was sentenced Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court for the 2011 murder of his roommate, whose decomposing body was found days later in the West Franklin Street apartment they shared. Darrell Hicks was given the maximum 30-year sentence for second-degree murder by Circuit Judge Daniel P. Dwyer, who gave Hicks another three years in prison for carrying a deadly weapon. Hicks will have to serve at least half of the 30-year sentence for the stabbing death of Darrin Pressman before he is eligible for parole, Assistant State's Attorney Brett Wilson said after the sentencing.

City Council discusses reimbursing county for land acquired for library project The Hagerstown City Council discussed reimbursing Washington County for land acquired for the expansion of Washington County Free Library. The city committed $1.5 million toward land acquisition and demolition, Finance Director Alfred Martin told the council at Tuesday's worksession. Washington County requested reimbursement of $1.4 million used to acquire land for the project. Because this was part of the city's original commitment to the project, Martin said he and City Engineer Rodney Tissue recommended the city approve the reimbursement.

HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown Police Sgt. Paul Kifer described criminal activity in Hagerstown as "different" in 2008. While he did not have all the numbers compiled as of Dec. 29, Kifer said it seemed robberies and violent street activity decreased in the past year. Even at that, city police investigated three homicides in 2008, one of which remains unsolved, Kifer said. Three homicides also were reported in 2007, with an additional case classified as a manslaughter, Kifer said.

A Hagerstown man was being held Friday night at the Washington County Detention Center after he was charged Thursday with first-degree burglary and other crimes. Police allege in charging documents that Wilvon Eric Raleigh, 22, of 241 N. Locust St., on Wednesday forced his way into the rear basement of a home in the 400 block of East Washington Street. Three armed men broke into the home, police said. Police alleged that Raleigh, also known as FB, held a semiautomatic handgun to the temple of the victim in this case.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Crime in Washington County the first six months of this year was down 7 percent compared to the same period last year, according to data released Oct. 31. That statistic is based on numbers reported by law enforcement agencies for seven types of crimes tracked by the Maryland Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Those crimes are murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, breaking and entering, larceny theft and motor vehicle theft. Violent crime was down 18 percent in Washington County, while property crime was down 5 percent.