gaithersblog.net

I just noticed that the Police have posted a press release on this event:

11/22/2007

Commercial Armed Robbery/Shooting in Gaithersburg

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Major Crimes Division – Robbery Section are investigating a commercial armed robbery and shooting that occurred in Gaithersburg.

At approximately 5:15 AM on November 22, 6th District officers responded to the Airpark Exxon located at 7983 Muncaster Mill Road, for the report of an armed robbery with a shooting that had just occurred. The preliminary investigation revealed that two black male suspects entered the store. Suspect One display a handgun, and demanded money from the employee. The clerk complied, but for unknown reasons the armed suspect shot the clerk. The suspects obtained cash, and fled on foot, possibly to a vehicle waiting nearby. The clerk received a gunshot wound to his upper body and is being treated at an area hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

Suspect One is a black male armed with an unknown handgun, 20 – 30 years of age, 5’7” to 5’9” tall, weighing 160 to 180 pounds, wearing a surgical mask, black ball cap, black jacket, black pants, and white shoes. Suspect Two is a black male, 20 – 30 years of age, 5’7” to 5’9” tall, weighing 160 to 180 pounds wearing a black knit cap, a gray jacket, gray sweatpants, and black shoes.

A cash reward will be made to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of either of the two suspects. Anyone who has information about this robbery and/or suspects may remain anonymous and is asked to call the Robbery Section at 240-773-5100.

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I suspect that this arrest is in conjunction with the fire on Crestwood, but the article doesn’t say this explicitly.

Channel 7 reports:

Montgomery County authorities arrest and charge a Prince George’s County woman with attempted murder and an assortment of other arson related charges for her involvement in a Thanksgiving Day fire. Krystal Wilcox, 22, of Clinton, Maryland is accused of starting a fire in an occupied Gaithersburg apartment building.

Updated: Nelson Hernandez notes in Sunday’s Washington Post that the same woman may have been involved in a previous attack on the same man:

Krystal Wilcox, 22, of Clinton was arrested Friday for allegedly throwing an incendiary device through a former boyfriend’s apartment window on Crestwood Drive at 4:40 a.m. Thursday, said fire and rescue service spokesman Pete Piringer. The previous day, Wilcox allegedly entered through the same window and attacked him with a box cutter, Piringer said.

• Melissa A. Chadwick writes, Special gang unit to target violence:
  

  In the wake of gang-related violence around commuter hubs, the county police chief and county executive last week created a special emergency response team for the Gaithersburg, Germantown and Rockville communities.

• Kristina Gawrgy and Sebastian Montes write, Police putting thieves and car owners on notice:
  

  County police officers have begun recording license plate numbers of vehicles that have valuables sitting in plain sight and mailing notices to the owners letting them know they should be more aware of how vulnerable their items are to thieves.

• Janel Davis writes, Leggett signs transgender discrimination ban into law:
  

  Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett has signed into law the county’s controversial legislation aimed at preventing discrimination against transgender people.

• Agnes Jasinski writes, Board calls for new talks on concert hall:
  

  Residents who say the process in selecting a concert venue operator in Silver Spring was rushed and secretive got a boost last week when a board that advises the county executive on community concerns voted to recommend that the county reopen negotiations.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, New digital TV deal could be available by spring:
  

  Cavalier Telephone Co. is pursuing franchise talks that could result in a new digital television option for 15 municipalities and parts of the county, including Germantown, Bethesda and Silver Spring.

  Gaithersburg, which has its own franchising authority, has already received a draft proposal from Cavalier, said Tony Tomasello, an assistant city manager.

  He has been in negotiations with the company for the last month and once comfortable, the city will evaluate whether the company is legally, technically and financially qualified to build a system in Gaithersburg, he said. Service in Gaithersburg by March is possible.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, Aquatic and youth centers have “green” elements:
  

  Two Gaithersburg recreation facilities will have “green building” elements, such as “green” roofs, that will help with stormwater management and heating and cooling.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, Meetings planned for those seeking loans:
  

  The city continues to reach out to residents soon to be displaced by redevelopment of three apartment complexes. Residents of Deer Park, Ty-Gwinn and Diamond Court apartments have until Aug. 29, 2008 to start the application process for the city’s homeowner assistance program, which offers up to $20,000 at zero percent interest to eligible homebuyers for down payment and closing costs. Funds will be available to displaced tenants of these apartment complexes through Nov. 30, 2010, said Louise Kauffmann, a city grants administrator.

• Titus Ledbetter III writes, November brings birds, visitors to Black Hill:
  

  A black and white woodpecker furiously hammered away at a tree near the visitor center at Black Hill Regional Park in Boyds on Nov. 11 as a small group of residents watched through their binoculars.

• Erin Donaghue writes, Former North Potomac hub may find new use:
  

  Neighbors and community members are looking into new uses for an Izaak Walton League property that was once a social hub in North Potomac.

Update: There has been an arrest in conjunction with one of the fires, and the County Police have issued a press release on the robbery/shooting.

I hope that at least most of you are having a good Thanksgiving.

From the City’s website:

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Significant Events

On 11/22/07, at approximately 4:35 a.m., police responded to the unit block of Crestwood Drive to assist the Fire Department with a box alarm. Indications are that the fire was set intentionally, and a suspect has been identified. Investigation is continuing.

On 11/22/07, at approximately 5:20 a.m., police responded to the 300 block of North Summit Avenue to assist the Fire Department with a box alarm. Smoke was seen coming from a residence, and a fire was located in the kitchen. An unconscious resident was found on the kitchen floor. The injured person was transported to an area hospital for treatment, and the fire appears to be accidental in nature at this time. Investigation is continuing.

In addition, Fox 5 reports that there was an armed robbery and shooting this morning at Muncaster Mill & Woodfield:

Police are on the hunt for two men behind an early Thanksgiving Day morning shooting and robbery in Montgomery County.

The victim is an Exxon gas station employee who had only been working there about two weeks.

According to the report, the victim is expected to recover.

Channel 4 also reports on the fires:

Man Killed In One Of Two Gaithersburg Fires

A 50-year-old man died in an apartment fire at 390 N.Summitt Ave.

Firefighters arrived around 5:30 a.m. and found heavy fire in the basement of the building with smoke extending to the upper floors.

Firefighters also received a report of a fire in a three-story garden apartment building at 14 Crestwood Drive.

Responding units found a fire in a second-story apartment, which they said apparently started when a flammable material was thrown into the apartment through a window.

From the City’s website.

The City of Gaithersburg’s Winter Lights Festival returns for a twelfth season of magical delight, with a sneak preview on Friday and Saturday, November 23 and 24. During the two-day sneak preview the festival will be open from 6 to 10 p.m. Admission is $12 per car. The festival will then be open for the holiday season nightly from November 30 through December 30.

Driving through the enchanted forest setting of Seneca Creek State Park, visitors will enjoy more than 380 illuminated displays and 60 animated vignettes that light up the night. Themed areas along the 3.5 mile drive include Winter Woods, Teddy Bear Land, Victorian Village, the North Pole and much more.

Thousands of people in the D.C. area have made this an annual holiday tradition. Return visitors will be thrilled to find new displays and arrangements that keep the festival fresh and new. Several contests will take place during this year’s event, including a drawing contest for children, a trivia contest for all ages, and a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree at Lakeforest Shopping Center. Complete contest details will be available in the official Winter Lights Festival program book distributed to all visitors.

Winter Lights is open Sunday through Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m. The Festival is closed on December 25. Cash-only admission is $10 per car Sunday through Thursday and $12 per car Friday and Saturday. Two dollar discount coupons valid Monday through Thursday only are available at nearby Lakeforest Shopping Center.

Back by popular demand this year are open trolley rides through the festival, a great way to see the lights from a whole new perspective. Rides are available on Monday, December 3 and December 10 at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. The cash-only fee is $5 per person. Seating is limited, and is available on a first come, first served basis.

In the spirit of the holidays, proceeds from the 2007 festival will benefit local charities, including Gaithersburg Help, the Friends of Seneca Creek State Park, Friends of Wells/Robertson House, Inc., Gaithersburg Community Volunteer Soup Kitchen, and the Shady Grove Adventist Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

This year’s festival is sponsored in part by Comcast, The Gazette, Lakeforest, MIX 107.3 FM, OBA Bank, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, The Beacon Newspaper, Giant Food, Hughes Network System, Insight Magazine, MedImmune, Sandy Spring Bank, and Washington Parent.

Seneca Creek State Park is located at 11950 Clopper Road, a few miles west of the intersection with I-270. For more information and group admission rates please call 301-258-6350 or visit the City’s Winter Lights webpage.

There is actually quite a bit of interesting stuff in the agenda for this Monday’s Mayor and Council meeting. The things that jump out at me include:

• A first look at specific proposals for the redevelopment of the Wye Site and the Fishman building in Olde Towne.
• Progress on restarting the Maryland Carpet & Tile project on North Summit.
• A site plan for redevelopment the old Giant Food shopping center on the hill overlooking the intersection of Girard St and North Summit Ave.
• A proposal to conduct a police training exercise at the soon-to-be-vacant Broadstone apartments.

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Olde Towne Projects

The Wye Site is called that because it was the historic location of a railroad turning wye, where, in the days when locomotives could only go in one direction, a train could be turned around to go back in the other direction. The Gaithersburg Wye was located just south of the tracks and just east of what is now MD 355. This land now belongs to the City, and much of it is currently covered over by asphalt; I think that there is still a buffer stop (or bumper) at what had been the cusp of the wye, near what is now the intersection of Fulks Corner Ave and MD 355.

The Fishman Building is located at 315 E. Diamond Ave, east of the train station parking lot and west of the Granary Row building, and immediately across the street from the proposed Archstone apartment building. This property also belongs to the City, which purchased it in 1998 — in part, as I understand the story, to relieve a a parking problem in Olde Towne. For this project, the City has put the Fishman property together with the bulk of the parking lot in front of the train station. Thus, the replacement building will be able to be significantly larger than the current structure.

Last year, the City hired the Staubach Company to help market these two properties. City staff has now reviewed the proposals that were obtained through that process, and has selected two (one for each site) that they believe would be the best to pursue. What is before the City Council on Monday is a request for authorization for staff to proceed with negotiations on deals to develop the two properties. If such deals could be reached, the projects would then need to go through the standard planning process. However, this request for authorization gives us the first public look at what the developers might have in mind for the two locations.

For the Fishman Building site, staff has selected a proposal from Douglas Development Corporation of Washington, DC. Douglas, it turns out, was also the developer of the Granary Row project right next door, and it seems pretty clear from the drawings they have submitted that they intend to integrate the two projects:

Looking at this drawing, I can’t help but be a bit excited. The proposed building has retail frontage not just along the Diamond Avenue side, but along the railroad track side as well:

It appears that the boardwalk that now extends from behind the Granary Row building up to the rolling stock display would be realigned and extend all the way to connect to the boardwalk in front of the train station, and a new pedestrian space would extend all the way from the lower-level restaurant in Granary Row, past the rolling stock and merging into the clock tower plaza that the City currently plans to build, and about which I expressed some concern a few weeks back. At the end of the building facing the new clock tower plaza, the developers propose that there would be a seating area for restaurant/cafe tenets:

There would be a total of about 25,000 sq ft of retail space on the ground floor, with largish spaces at either end that could be used for restaurants or possibly a bookstore, and smaller bays in the middle that could have such uses as a coffee shop, or financial services storefronts. There would likely be two upper stories that would have about 50,000 sq foot of office space. The facility would have an underground parking ramp. Together with a new apartment complex across the street, this seems as if it would make a very positive change in Olde Towne.

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As for the Wye Site, the proposal is potentially as exciting, although I don’t feel like it is as fully fleshed out in this document. The proposed developer is Arlington, VA-based Clark Realty Capital, LLC.

While this project would also have retail on the lower level, it would have residential units on the upper floors:

Proposes development of two four story, retail/residential buildings linked by a common Atrium lobby. Buildings would accommodate approximately 212 multifamily residential units and provide approximately 17,600 sq. ft. of first first-floor retail.

There would be a new parking ramp with 252 spaces, built as an extension of the existing City-owned garage, but for the exclusive use of the residents.

This use seems very much in keeping with the Magruder Company’s Cedar Court Apartments, which are next door, built between the City’s garage and Olde Towne Avenue. Cedar Court also has retail on the street level. One question mark has to do with a possible pedestrian bridge over the CSX railroad tracks. In the Olde Towne Charette, the planners made much of an idea for a plaza with what they called “spanish steps”, or a “grand staircase” on the south side of the tracks, leading up to a bridge connecting the pedestrian environments on the two sides. The proposal at hand, however, pretty much rejects this idea. While it does show the possibility of a pedestrian bridge (which isn’t included in the proposal, and likely couldn’t be as the property and/or easements necessary to do this don’t seem to be included in the offering from the City), any chance of having a continuous public space connecting the two sides would appear to be closed off by the construction of a private atrium at the south end of the bridge. Annotations on one of the drawings state that the Fire Museum would provide a “destination across [the] tracks”, as if they (a) do not expect their residents to have any other reason to cross the tracks, and (b) the retail on the ground floor of their own building would not be viewed as a destination for pedestrians coming from the north side of the tracks. None of this gives me any optimism that the bridge would ever be built, or that the pedestrian spaces on the two sides would ever be connected except at Summit. If this is the way it turns out, I think this would count as a missed opportunity.

The one other thing I note about this plan is that, while the Master Plan suggests the possibility of a 9-story “signature tower” at the far west end of this site, the drawings shown do not include such a feature. They do not, however, show the proposed structures extending into the land where this tower could be built. Perhaps this means that this option is being kept open for the future.

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Maryland Carpet and Tile

It has been three years now since the City issued a stop work order for the Maryland Carpet and Tile building at 305 N. Frederick Ave. If I’ve done this link correctly (and your browser supports the live.com “birds eye view”), you should see in the middle of the picture a gaping hole in the ground and a partially-completed foundation. What happened back in 2004 was that someone wasn’t paying attention, and that foundation you see was built ten feet too close to MD 355, in the public utility easement. It probably isn’t too surprising that it took several years to straighten out who was at fault (it appears to have been a result of conflicting boundary surveys) and what needed to be done to correct the problem. But apparently the lawsuit has now been settled, and the property owner has approached the City with a plan to chop off part of the foundation and save the rest, while redesigning the building to deal with some other siting issues. Hopefully the details can be worked out and that project can move forward again, and we can have a functioning building there instead of an apparently-abandoned construction site.

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North Summit & Girard

Speaking of eyesores, the old Giant Food shopping center at North Summit Ave and Girard Street has stood mostly vacant for several years, with just a couple of small stores hanging on. However, a developer has now brought forward a plan to develop a new residential project on that site.

Quoting the background materials:

Barbara Sears of Linowes and Blocher, LLP, representing the applicant, Hearthstone Communities, L.C., has submitted an application, Z-307, requesting a change from the C-2 (General Commercial) Zone to the Mixed Use Development (MXD) Zone. Although the original application and notices stated that sketch plan would have a range of 360 to 405 multiple-family dwelling units, up to 20,000 square feet of commercial/retail space and structured parking on approximately 6.58 acres of land, the sketch plan has been revised and now includes 349 multiple-family dwelling units (including 53 Moderately Priced Dwelling Units), up to 15,000 square feet of commercial/retail space and structured parking. The subject property is located north of Girard Street, east of Goshen Road, south of Odend’hal Avenue, and west of Cedar Spring Street, Hidden Creek (Land Bay III), Gaithersburg, Maryland. It is currently known as the Summit Shopping Center.

Background: The property was annexed in 1971 as part of the Casey-Goshen Tract (X-096) and zoned R-20 (Medium Density Residential.) In 1981, the property was rezoned to the C-2 (General Commercial) Zone. The shopping center was constructed in 1981-1982. In 1997, the property was designated as Commercial-Office-Residential Land Use in the Neighborhood One Master Plan. This land use was retained in the 2003 Master Plan. The property owner submitted a rezoning request (Z-296) to the MXD Zone in 2004 for 240 condo “active adult” multiple- family complex of 4-5 story buildings w/ structured parking. This application was withdrawn in December of 2005.

There is a fair amount of documentation on this project available on the City’s website, although at this point most of it is traffic and noise studies; the architectural information is just at the sketch plan stage.

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Police Training Opportunity

Chief John King of the Gaithersburg Police has been thinking about the fact that the Broadstone apartments are about to be torn down, and he thinks that the existing buildings, once fully vacated, would be a great place to conduct a training exercise:

There are times when the police are placed at a distinct disadvantage when facing certain life threatening situations. Situations, like hostage rescue, criminals barricading themselves in rooms, and hard targets that would require an unrealistic amount of time by police to enter by conventional means are very good examples of where explosive breaching is needed. When properly trained, specially trained police can utilize explosives to overcome or circumvent these barriers. Having the option of defeating the barricades placed on the entry points, or creating access to a room or structure where the criminal doesn’t expect it, such as through a wall, is the reason that law enforcement must train and be ready to utilize explosive breaching.

Cool. I say, go for it.

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From the City’s website:

Agenda - Mayor and City Council Meeting, 11/19/2007
Posted 11/16/2007

City of Gaithersburg
AGENDA FOR A REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2007, 7:30 P.M.

I. CALL TO ORDER

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

III. INVOCATION

Nazaneen Dorost, Baha’i Faith

IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

• Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Mayor and City Council Held October 1, 2007
  Background Material (pdf format)

• Minutes of a Special Meeting of the Mayor and City Council Held October 15, 2007
  Background Material (pdf format)

• Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Mayor and City Council Held October 15, 2007
  Background Material (pdf format)

• Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Mayor and City Council Held November 7, 2007
  TBA - Background Material

V. CONSENT ITEMS
(resolutions for approval by the City Council that do not need discussion)

1. Resolution of the Mayor and City Council Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into a Contract to Purchase One (1) 2008 Bucket Truck ($68,430)
   Background Material (pdf format)

2. Resolution of the Mayor and City Council Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into a Contract to Purchase a Portable Asphalt Grinding Machine ($97,142)
   Background Material (pdf format)

VI. ELECTION OF CITY COUNCIL VICE PRESIDENT

VII. APPOINTMENTS

Resolution of the City Council Confirming Appointments by the Mayor to the Historic District Commission
Background Material (pdf format)

VIII. PRESENTATIONS

1. Proclamation of the Mayor and City Council Designating November, 2007, as “National American Indian Heritage Month” in the City of Gaithersburg
2. Readings of the Winning Essays from the City’s National CHARACTER COUNTS! Week Adult Heroes in OUR Community Writing Contest

3. Gaithersburg Cable Television Upgrade
   Background Material (pdf format)
   
   
4. Status Report on the City Gateway Entry Signs Art in Public Places Project
   Background Material (pdf format)
   

IX. COURTESY REVIEW

SDP-07-003 - Proposal to Amend a Schematic Development Plan (SDP), Known as Maryland Carpet and Tile, Located at 305 South Frederick Avenue, Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Amendment Proposes Two Story Mixed Use Building Consisting of 5343 Square Feet. The Property is in the Corridor Development (CD) Zone
Background Material (pdf format)

X. PUBLIC APPEARANCES
(public is invited to speak on any subject that is not a public hearing topic on tonight’s agenda – each speaker three minutes)

XI. FROM THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL/ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Board/Commission/Committee Vacancy Update
• Upcoming City Events

XII. FROM THE CITY MANAGER

XIII. PUBLIC HEARING

JOINT - Z-307 - Application Requests Rezoning of a 6.58-Acre Parcel, Known as the Summit Shopping Center (Parcel N182), Located in the Northeast Quadrant of Goshen Road and Girard Street at 559 Girard Street, in Gaithersburg, Maryland, From the Existing C-2 (General Commercial) Zone to the MXD (Mixed Use Development) Zone, in Accordance with § 24-196 of the City Code (Map Amendments). The Property is Adjacent to the Hidden Creek Land Bay III. The Sketch Plan Proposes Seven 4- to 5-Story Residential Structures Containing a Range of 360 to 405 Multiple-Family Dwelling Units, up to 20,000 Square Feet of Commercial/Retail Space and Structured Parking
Background Material I (pdf format)
Background Material II

XIV. RECESS MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING

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HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION

1. Call to Order

2. Approval of Minutes

Minutes of a Historic District Commission Meeting Held October 15, 2007
Background Material (pdf format)

3. Certificate of Approval

HAWP-29F - Applicant: Beverly Stalker. 11 Brookes Avenue, Tree Removal Request
Background Material (pdf format)

4. Adjournment

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XV. RECONVENE MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING

XVI. ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS, AND REGULATIONS
(ordinances, resolutions, and regulations to be introduced or adopted following appropriate procedures required by the City Code, or resolutions that may require discussion by the Mayor and Council prior to approval)

1. Resolution of the Mayor and City Council Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into a Contract for The Wells/Robertson House Roof Replacement Project ($110,730)
   Background Material (pdf format)

2. Resolution of Mayor and City Council Authorizing the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute Agreements Relating to the Development of Two City-Owned Parcels of Land in Olde Towne Gaithersburg
   Background Material (pdf format)

3. Resolution of the Mayor and City Council Authorizing the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute a Contract With Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver, LLC for Legal Services Associated With the City’s 2008 State Legislative Agenda ($32,500)
   Background Material (pdf format)

XVII. FROM THE ASSISTANT CITY MANAGERS, CITY ATTORNEY AND OTHER STAFF

Guidance on a Memorandum Dated November 15, 2007 Concerning a Police Training Opportunity at Broadstone Apartments
Background Material (pdf format)

XVIII. ADJOURNMENT

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MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
ARE TELEVISED LIVE ON
CABLE CHANNEL 13 AND ON THE
INTERNET AT www.gaithersburgmd.gov/tv

Replays are televised at Noon on Tuesdays
following meetings and are repeated at
7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily

THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING OF THE
MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL WILL BE HELD
DECEMBER 3, 2007, 7:30 P.M.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 31 SOUTH SUMMIT AVENUE

TO CONFIRM ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS,
PLEASE CONTACT DORIS STOKES AT
CITY HALL, 31-258-6310

From the City’s website:

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Sex Assault

On 11/17/07, at 3:46 a. m., police responded to the 1000 block of Travis Lane for a report of a sex offense. Upon arrival, officers were advised by the complainant that her 14 year old daughter was fondled by a 26 year old male who resides in the home. The victim stated that when she confronted him, he fled and was last seen heading to the rear of the house.

Suspect: Andres Seppaia, Hispanic male, 5′8 - 5′9, wearing a blue and white shirt with “PUMA” on it, and jeans.

Travis Lane is on the north side of Watkins Mill, near MD 355.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Burglary

On 11/16/2007 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., an unknown person entered a residence in the 200 block of Bookham Lane through an unlocked rear kitchen window and took property. The suspect is totally unknown at this time and an investigation is ongoing.

Bookham Lane is south of the intersection of Saybrooke Oaks Blvd & Midcounty Hwy.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Burglary

Sometime between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on 11/12/07, a residence in the 900 block of Clopper Road was burglarized. The victim returned home and found the bedroom window opened. There was no sign of forced entry. Property was taken.

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Saturday, November 10, 2007

Burglary

On 11/10/07, at approximately 6:05 p.m., police responded to the 200 block of Perry Parkway for the report of a burglary. The victim returned to her room and found property had been taken. There were no signs of forced entry.

Sometime between 12:00 p.m. on 11/09/07 and 8:00 p.m. on 11/10/07, a residence in the 11500 block of Sullnick Way was burglarized. A back window was broken out and property was taken.

Sullnick Way is off Clopper Road, near Longdraft.

Candace Rondeaux writes, Police Step Up Patrols to Combat Gangs:

The first of the stabbings occurred Nov. 5 about 3:30 p.m. in the Wendy’s restaurant in the Off-Price Shopping Center on Lost Knife Road in Gaithersburg. A 19-year-old Germantown man was stabbed in the hand, police said.

Michael A. Walker, 18, was charged with first-degree assault. Walker, who police said has no fixed address, was being held yesterday in the county jail on $75,000 bond.

About three hours later, in an attack that police said was related, Robert T. Jackson, 21, of Germantown was fatally stabbed as he stood at a bus station in the 9600 block of Lost Knife Road.
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Police said Ronald Antoine, 16, of the 400 block of North Summit Avenue in Gaithersburg, was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the stabbing. Antoine, who was charged as an adult, was being held without bond yesterday at the Montgomery Detention Center.

Michael Tunison writes, Two Arrested in Montgomery Metro Stop Shooting

Montgomery County police said today that two teenagers have been arrested in a shooting Monday night near the Shady Grove Metro bus stop, one of several recent episodes of what police say is gang-related violence.

John Hollis Reynolds, 18, of the 14900 block of Coles Chance Road in Gaithersburg, and Phillip Kang, 17, were each charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and other crimes. They were being held without bond at the Montgomery County Detention Center.

Melissa A. Chadwick writes in the Gazette, New arrests, more gang-related violence near bus stops:

Police say the victims and suspects in a spate of violent attacks at or near county transit centers, including one fatal stabbing, are involved with local factions of the Bloods and Crips gangs.

NBC4 reports, Officials Link Stabbings, Metro Stop Shooting To Gangs:

“It is difficult to attribute this recent gang violence to a single factor,” said Assistant Chief Wayne Jerman, director of the Investigative Services Bureau. “These recent incidents appear to be based on personal disagreements between gang members.”

The NBC4 story also has a video report, from Cheryl Butler.

Channel 7 reports, Gangs Blamed for Recent Montgomery Co. Violence

Montgomery County police are stepping-up patrols in the Gaithersburg and Rockville areas because of escalating violence attributed to the Crips and Bloods - two nationally known and feared criminal gangs.

Channel 7 also has a video report, from Suzanne Kennedy.