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From The Baltimore Sun:

Qiagen N.V. will acquire Gaithersburg-based Digene Corp., one of a handful of profitable biotech businesses, in a $1.6 billion cash and stock deal, the companies announced this morning.

The merger will create a molecular diagnostic company with more than $350 million in revenue, expected to more than double to $800 million by next year, the businesses said.

This follows the order-of-magnitude-larger sale of Medimmune to AstraZeneca about six weeks ago.

From the County’s website:

• An armed robbery occurred at the Exxon, 448 N. Frederick Avenue on Friday, 5/23 at 2323 hours. The suspect entered and brought a bag of chips to the counter. When the employee opened the register the suspect displayed a silver revolver and reached in the register. He obtained $300 and fled on foot towards Gaithersburg Square shopping center.

  Suspect: B/M, 18-30 yrs. old, 6’2”-6’3”/175-200 lbs., blue or grey and black baseball cap, dirty white T-shirt over a blue long-sleeved shirt

• A strong-armed robbery occurred in the stairwell of an apartment in the 100 block Duvall Lane on Thursday 5/24 at 1300 hours. The victim has previously seen the suspect several times in the area of the Duvall 7-11. The victim was walking up the stairs when the suspect approached and asked for money for food. The victim opened his wallet and the suspect snatched it (along with $2000 inside) and fled on foot. The victim called the police.

  Suspect: H/M, 28-30 yrs. old, 6’/170-180 lbs., multi-colored T-shirt, grey jeans

  Duvall Lane is behind Summit Hall Farm Park, East of I-270.

• An aggravated assault occurred at the bus stop on Lost Knife Road on Sunday 5/27 at 2025 hours. When the victim and his friends had gotten on the bus, the suspect was already on board. The victim asked the suspect twice for a cigarette. The suspect became angry and told the victim he was “in my space”. The suspect then stabbed the victim with a pocket knife and fled on foot. He was arrested nearby and said he stabbed the victim in selfdefense after he was jumped.

  Defendant: Juvenile, W/M, 17 yrs. old, 5’3”/120 lbs,. tattoo of a small cross on his right arm, of Walnut Hill Road

• An aggravated assault occurred on Sterncroft Court on Tuesday 5/29 at 1733 hours. Officers responded for disorderly B/M’s shooting pellet/BB guns. A second call was received on Chadburn for a woman screaming. At least one arrest was made.

  Sterncroft Court is a cul-de-sac near where Montgomery Village Ave ends at Wightman Rd.; Chadburn Place is nearby.

• An aggravated assault occurred outside of the beer & wine store, 531 Girard Street on Tuesday 5/29 at 1137 hours. The victim was arguing with the suspect when the suspect displayed a black & silver handgun from his waistband, and threatened to shoot the victim. The suspect fled on foot before officers arrived. The victim positively identified the suspect and a search warrant was done at his residence later that day. The gun turned out to be a BB gun that looked like a 9mm. Defendant: Lynnard Slaughter, AKA ‘LJ’, B/M, 23 yrs. old, 5’7”/150 lbs., has priors for aggravated assault, theft, arson, resisting arrest, concealed weapon & CDS, of 16 Grantchester Place

• A peeping tom occurred in the 10000 block of Stedwick Road on Friday 5/25 at 0745 hours. The adult female victim saw the suspect looking into her window and he fled when he realized he was seen.

  Suspect: B/M, 22-27 yrs. old, NFD

• A possible robbery occurred in the 18400 block of Woodfield Road on Friday 5/25 at 1119 hours. The suspect is an acquaintance of the victim and they drove to the Wendy’s in the victim’s vehicle. The suspect attempted to take the victim’s vehicle keys and then took loose property from the vehicle and fled on foot. There are some inconsistencies in the victim’s recounting and the incident is under investigation.

• An attempted burglary occurred at 1 Maryland Avenue, at Stix N Phrases. The suspect(s) used a dumpster to climb over a fence and then cut a lock on an inside gate. Two window screens were removed and a window to the storeroom was broken. There was an alarm here at 0528 hours. Gaithersburg City officers responded but were unable to gain access due to the locked exterior gate. No entry was made.

• The door lock of a Honda Civic was pried at the Rio Garage, 9811 Washingtonian Boulevard, on Monday 5/28 between 1330 and 1600 hours. Two purses, sunglasses and a cell phone were taken.

• Two Honda’s were targets for theft by punched ignition between Tuesday 5/22 and Wednesday 5/23:

  • 1230-0700 hrs. Muddy Branch Road Unknown method of entry to a ’94 Honda Accord. The vehicle was found abandoned at the Rec Center, 8600 E. Village Avenue, on 5/23.
  • 1830-0720 hrs. Palmtree Drive Unknown entry, attempted to punch the ignition of a ’97 Honda Accord. A digital camera was in plain view on the front seat and was untouched.

  Palmtree Drive is off Muddy Branch, south of West Side Drive.

• The window was broken on a ’99 Honda Accord at Lockheed Martin, 700 N. Frederick Avenue, on Thursday 5/24 between 1045 and 1430 hours. A GPS unit was taken.

• Two of the thefts from vehicles were from Honda products.

  • 5/24 THU 0940-1700 hrs. 700 block of N. Frederick Ave Pried the window, took a stereo from a ’96 Honda Accord
  • 5/28-5/29 MON-TUE 2215-1000 hrs. 400 block of Russell Avenue Broke the window of a ’99 Honda Accord and took both airbags. A Ray-O-Vac flashlight was left behind and was picked up by the police.

• An attempted theft of a ’03 Suzuki motorcycle occurred on Boysenberry Drive on Thursday 5/24 at 1820 hours. The suspect had cut a canvas security strap that secured the victim’s motorcycle. A neighbor had come home and saw the suspect sitting on the victim’s motorcycle. When the neighbor approached, the suspect fell off of the motorcycle and fled on foot towards Watkins Mill Road. The neighbor did NOT call the police at the time.

  Suspect: Unknown race M, black baseball cap, blue bandana over his face

  Boysenberry Drive is off Christopher, near the intersection of Montgomery Village & Mid-County Highway.

• A light blue ’94 Honda Accord 4D, MD/tags, was taken from Rothbury Lane sometime between Saturday 5/26 and Tuesday 5/29.

  I can’t find a Rotherbury Lane, but there is a Rothbury Drive that runs west of Goshen, just south of Snouffer’s School.

• An employee saw suspects writing graffiti on a city hall shed at 31 S. Summit Avenue on Tuesday 5/23 at 1540 hours. Black spray paint was used to write “Joe”. The suspects fled on bikes and on foot.

  Suspect: B/M, red & black shirt, NFD

  Suspect: B/M, light blue short-sleeved shirt, NFD

  Suspect: H/M, NFD

• A citizen found a .177 pellet gun in the dumpster at 9204 Gaither Road on Saturday 5/26. The gun was turned over to police.

  Gaither Road is in the triangle formed by Shady Grove, I-270 and I-370. The results of a Google search suggest that the business at that address is Creative Playthings.

From the City Police Crime Summary Page:

Saturday, June 02, 2007
Burglary
On 06/02/07, at 116 a.m., police responded to the unit block of N. Summit Ave. for a burglary in progress. A witness stated that the suspect broke the front glass to a business, reached in and took an item, then left on foot.

Suspect - Hispanic male wearing a dark polo shirt, jeans, and white tennis shoes.

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Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Strong Arm Robbery
On 05/30/07, at approximately 1:53 p.m., an officer was on patrol in the area of Girard Street and Victory Farm Drive. He was alerted by a public works employee that an armed robbery had just occurred near Kelly park. The officer stopped two suspects. A lookout was placed for two additional suspects. A perimeter was set-up and the second two suspects were located at the pool at the Villa Ridge complex. The victim’s property, a pair of shoes, was recovered. Investigation revealed that a juvenile male struck the 16 year old male victim and took the his shoes while the suspect’s three friends watched. All four subjects then attempted to flee. The 16 year old juvenile male suspect was charged with Strong Arm robbery.

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Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Aggravated Assault
On 05/29/07, at approximately 11:37 a.m., police responded to the intersection of Goshen Road and Odendhal Avenue for a possible carjacking. Investigation revealed that it was not a carjacking but an aggravated assault. The victim stated the suspect had a gun which he believed was a BB gun. At about 11:44 a.m., a parent reported a man with a gun outside of Forest Oak Middle School. The description given matched that of the suspect in the assault. The suspect was not located but police believed they knew the identity of the suspect. At about 4:52 p.m. the suspect was arrested in the unit block of Grantchester Place.