From the City’s website:
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Strong Arm Robbery
On 07/08/07, at 12:30 a.m., there was a strong arm robbery in the 1200 block of Knoll Mist Lane. The victim was approached by a white male and a black male and was hit in the head and had property taken from him. There is no further description of the suspects.
Knoll Mist Lane is near Watkins Mill Road & Travis Ave.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Burglary
On 07/07/07, between 9:00 a.m. and 2:40 p.m., there was a residential burglary in the 700 block of Quince Orchard Boulevard. Property was taken and there are no suspects at this time.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Burglary
On 07/03/07, at 11:47 p. m., police responded to unit block of Mirrasou Lane for a report of a burglary. Investigation revealed that between the hours of 8:00 a. m. and 10:10 p. m. on 07/03/07, unknown suspect(s) broke a rear window, and entered the home through the rear door. Nothing was taken.
Mirrasou Lane is near Quince Orchard Rd, east of Firstfield Rd.
Burglary Arrest
On 07/04/07, at 1:01 a. m., police responded to the unit block of Maryland Avenue for a report of an individual trying to gain entry into a home. The homeowner stated that the suspect was trying to open the front door, and also peeked into a side window. The homeowner told the suspect that he was calling the police, and he left. The homeowner provided police with a description, and the suspect was located and taken into custody.
Arrested: Thomas Taylor, white male, 43 yoa, with a Gaithersburg address.
Maryland Ave is in Olde Towne, between MD355 and Russell Ave.
According to what I understand from the court records, it appears that Mr. Taylor has the proverbial “record as long as your arm”. The first entry for a Thomas Taylor (with a date of birth matching the record from Wednesday’s arrest) is in 1982, when he would have been eighteen. There are at least 74 entries since that time. By and large (I admit I haven’t read every one of them) they are for things like theft, breaking & entering, trespassing, etc. On November 18, 2002, he was picked up for a string of burglaries and thefts earlier in that month. He pleaded guilty in March of 2003 to theft of less than $500. He received a sentence from Judge Durke G. Thompson (*) of ten years, all but eighteen months suspended, and five years of supervised probation. The sentence was to begin when he had been put in jail the previous November 20. He applied for a reduction of this sentence, and on September 30, 2003, Judge Thompson increased the suspended time to all but ten and a half months, thus allowing him to be released. What follows in that case is a long series of probation violations, warrants, short stints in jail, motions for reconsideration, orders for mental health evaluations, etc. The record in that case ends in January 2006, when he is handed over to the Sheriff to serve the remainder of a 90-day sentence for probation violation. Over the same time, there is a record of repeated arrests for various petty crimes — 4th degree burglary, theft, alcohol violations, trespassing, etc. Generally he got short, one-month stays in jail or the State’s Attorney declined to prosecute.
On May 13, 2006, he was arrested for 2nd degree burglary, 4th degree burglary and malicious destruction of property. This one went to circuit court, where he pleaded guilty to the 4th degree burglary, and on September 18, 2006 was sentenced by Judge Paul H. Weinstein to one year in jail; Mr. Taylor waived credit for time served. Nominally, that sentence would have ended about two months from now, but clearly he was let out early, as he was arrested again last Wednesday.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Aggravated Assault
On 07/03/07 at approximately 10:50 pm officers responded to the area of West Diamond Avenue and Bureau Drive to check the welfare of an intoxicated subject. Upon arrival the subject assaulted the officers with a knife. He was arrested and charged accordingly.
(*) Judge Durke G. Thompson is somewhat notorious. For example, he was the judge who infamously said that “it takes two to tango” after giving an 18-month sentence to a 23-year-old man who sexually molested an 11-year-old girl he met in an Internet chat room. In another case, Judge Thompson also sent home, after fourteen months, a man who had sexually molested his stepdaughter when she was 9 and 10 years old; the man eventually impregnated the girl and was sentenced (by a different Judge) to ten years in prison. Last year Colbert King wrote a column mentioning him, entitled Who’s the Incompetent One Here?. Seriously, Google Judge Durke Thompson for a while.
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