gaithersblog.net

Earlier, I mentioned the collision that closed down MD 355 for several hours yesterday. After checking the Maryland Court records (thanks to mocoprogressive for a tip on this), I note that the driver of one of the vehicles, 26-year-old Mouloukou Toure, (assuming it is the same 26-year-old Mouloukou Toure, and that I am reading the records correctly) has a bit of a record, including several traffic charges, as well as a charge for uttering forged currency (trial scheduled for next April), a charge for first-degree attempted murder and possession of a handgun, (forwarded to Circuit Court in March of 2005; MC & PG Circuit Court records aren’t searchable), and possession of marijuana (nolle prosequi, he seems to have spent a couple of months in jail), possession of drug paraphernalia (pled guilty, suspended $500 fine). The County’s description of the incident makes clear that they have not yet decided which of the two drivers is likely to have been at fault.

12/19/2006

Serious Personal Injury Collision - Gaithersburg

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Collision Reconstruction Unit (CRU) are investigating a serious personal injury collision that occurred this afternoon in Gaithersburg.

Sixth District officers and Gaithersburg City Police officers responded to the intersection of Route 355 and N. Westland Drive at approximately 3:30 today for the report of a serious personal injury collision.

The preliminary investigation reveals that a 2000 blue Chevrolet Malibu driven by John Cator, age 79, of the 15000 block of Maple Ridge Court in Rockville, was turning left from southbound 355 onto N. Westland Drive. The Malibu collided with a 2004 black Mitsubishi Lancer, driven by Mouloukou Toure, age 26, of the 2300 block of Jones Lane in Silver Spring, which was traveling northbound on route 355.

Mr. Toure was transported to Shady Grove Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. Mr. Cator was transported to Suburban Hospital with life-threatening injuries. He remains in critical condition.

Anyone who witnessed this collision is asked to call CRU detectives at 301-840-2435. Anyone who wishes to remain anonymous should call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). No charges have been filed and the investigation is continuing.

• Medical examiner rules toddler’s death a homicide, by Jaime Ciavarra.
  I mentioned this incident at the time.

  The determination answers questions in the case of Jacob Matthew Dunn, a 23-month-old who was found unresponsive in his father’s bed on Oct. 8 with no apparent physical trauma or sign of struggle, according to police.

  His father — Gerald Robert Wells, 39, of the 18300 block of Streamside Drive — had shot and killed himself, police said. Jacob was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

• Serious crash stalls rush hour in Gaithersburg, by Chris Robinson.

  I was lucky in that I didn’t have to travel on MD355 yesterday, but I did get the Alert Gaithersburg notice on my cell phone at 4:08 p.m. The notice that the road had been reopened didn’t come until 10:00 p.m. — it must have been a mess.

  A two-vehicle wreck halted rush-hour traffic on northbound Route 355 in the Walnut Hill area of Gaithersburg Tuesday as police investigated the serious collision.

  One driver involved in the collision at North Westland Drive, John Cator, 79, of Rockville, sustained life-threatening injuries, according to county police. He remains in critical condition at Suburban Hospital, they said.

• Traffic concerns jam Crown Farm Village discussion, by Chris Robinson.

  Representatives from these neighborhoods have been at the last two Council meetings. Fearing the foot traffic between the new Crown Farm development and Rio, these residents appear to want either the City or the Crown Farm developers to, in effect, pay to turn their neighborhoods into gated communities. They want fences built so that no one who doesn’t live there can use their private streets to walk through their community, and they want the CIty to promise that it will never take their property to build a footpath. In fact, as their neighborhoods are not in the City, it is difficult to imagine how the City would go about doing this; the decision to grant the easement is pretty much up to Avalon Bay, the owner of Winners Drive.

  They also seem to want the CCT station moved, since it will be right across the street from their homes. Apparently it never occured to them that there might be some people in their neighborhoods who would want to use the CCT, that the close proximity to mass transit would cause their property values to go up, or that shutting down foot traffic from Crown Farm to Rio is going to cause vehicular traffic to get worse. In any event, at this point, I think that the only thing that would keep that station from being built across from their homes would be if the CCT didn’t get built at all.

  Rosalind MacLennan, a representative of the Courtyards at Rio, told Gaithersburg leaders about the community’s concerns at a meeting last week.

  She said the community was even hit with vandalism last weekend, where criminals cracked several flower pots and overturned a fountain. Neighbors handled the cleanup effort, she said, and reiterated that ‘‘good fences make good neighbors.”

  There is concern that the incident could be related to development at Crown Farm, she said.

  During a joint work session Dec. 11 with the City Council and Planning Commission, Courtyards at Rio homeowners called for erecting a fence around their community and shifting the entrance to the proposed CCT station from Fields Road to Rio Boulevard.

• Arrest made in Olde Towne rape, robbery, by Chris Robinson.

  This is, of course, the subject of my previous post.

  Flores-Montalban, of the unit block of North Summit Drive, was charged with one count of first-degree rape, first-degree sexual assault and robbery. He is currently being held without bond at the Montgomery County Detention Center.

  Gaithersburg Police spokesman Cpl. Rudy Wagner said this sort of crime is generally uncommon, especially in Olde Towne.

  ‘‘When you’re going to your car, always have your keys ready. Be aware of your surroundings,” Wagner said. ‘‘Park in well-lit areas and walk with confidence. Go as quickly as you can from wherever you are leaving to your car.”

• U-Haul stops renting truck used to shelter laborers, by Sebastian Montes.

  The “Internet Blog” the Gazette refers to but declines to identify is MoCo Progressive.

  For one week earlier this month, day laborers in Gaithersburg used a U-Haul moving truck rented by area churches as shelter from winter weather as they waited for work.

  Now it is gone.

  A neighbor of the parking lot at 17 North Frederick Ave. where laborers gather took a photograph of the truck in use that ended up on an Internet blog site, and complaints reached U-Haul’s corporate office.

  The company has decided to stop renting the truck, citing safety and scheduling issues, a company official said.

• 9⁄11 argument ends in probation for teacher, by Sebastian Montes.

  I’d mentioned this incident following the initial reports, here’s a follow-up:

  Judge Stephen P. Johnson entered a ruling of probation before judgment and suspended a $1,000 fine for resisting arrest and ordered McVey to complete 50 hours of community service.

  The charges carried a maximum of 47 months in jail and $8,500 in fines.

  McVey is no longer on for Montgomery County Public Schools’ list of substitute teachers, according to spokeswoman Kate Harrison.

  McVey’s lawyer Robin Ficker said she was previously a full-time English teacher in the county school system. McVey could not be reached for comment, but Ficker said the case resolved as he expected.