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From the County’s website:

P1 Beat:

• A carjacking arrest was made in the incident that occurred outside of the 15700 block of Mahogany Circle in Gaithersburg on Tuesday, 2/19. The defendants described below have been charged in this incident, two similar incidents in 5D, and a homicide in 4D.

  Defendant: M, 6’0”, 140, age 20, no fixed address
  Defendant: M, 6’1”, 170, age 21, no fixed address

• Commercial Burglary: The Majestic Deli, 15200 Shady Grove Road in Rockville between Monday, 2/25 at 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday, 2/26 at 6:45 a.m. Forced entry and cash taken.

P2 Beat:

• Two thefts (purse snatches) occurred on consecutive mornings on Granite Place and Quince Orchard Boulevard in Gaithersburg on Thursday, 2/21 and Friday, 2/22. Both incidents occurred between 9:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
• Ten thefts from vehicles occurred overnight between Tuesday, 2/19 and Wednesday, 2/20 on Long Meadow Drive and Chestertown Street in Gaithersburg. The vehicles were all unlocked. On Thursday, 2/21, arrests were made which will close many of these cases.

  Defendant: M, 5’11”, 180, 18 years old, from Gaithersburg
  Defendant: F 6’0”, 170, 18 years old, from North Potomac

R1 Beat:

• A home invasion robbery occurred Friday, 2/22 at 5:00 a.m. in the 9600 block of Horizon Run Road in Gaithersburg. Two suspects, armed with handguns, appeared at the victim’s bedroom door and demanded money. The male resident was hit before the suspects obtained two wallets.

  Suspect: B/M 6’0’ to 6’3”, 240-250, blue hoody, blue bandana as a mask, handgun
  Suspect: B/M 5’10” to 5’11”, dark hoody, blue bandana as a mask, handgun

• The Phoenix Nail Salon at 9625 Lost Knife Road, in Gaithersburg was burglarized on Monday 2/25 around 12:40 a.m. The Flat screen TV was removed from the wall and suspects fled. Investigation is continuing.

R2 Beat:

• Thefts from vehicles, all involving forced entry, occurred in the Watkins Mill and Travis Lane areas of Gaithersburg over the weekend from Friday, 2/22 till Monday, 2/25. GPS systems, loose change and bookbags were taken from six vehicles.
• Nine auto thefts occurred after midnight on Saturday, 2/23 through Sunday, 2/24. Five of the events involved Honda Accords. These events occurred in the areas of Chadburn Place, Ravenglass Way, Wheelright Drive, Mill Choice Road, Clublake Road, Travis Lane and Brookridge Court all in Montgomery Village.

S1 Beat:

• A strong arm robbery occurred on Saturday, 2/23 at 9:30 p.m. after exiting her car at 220 East Diamond Avenue in Gaithersburg. One suspect grabbed her and demanded her purse. The victim was struck in the face before both suspects fled on foot towards Park Avenue.

  Suspects were described as H/Ms, 5’4”, one in a white hoody, the other in white pants

• An aggravated assault occurred from a dispute at St Martin’s Church, 201 South Frederick Avenue in Gaithersburg, on Thursday 2/21 around 4:30 p.m. One suspect pulled a knife on the victim, after a verbal argument but retreated before attacking the victim.

  Suspect: H/M 30 to 35, 5’6”-5’8”, 150-170, black watch cap, black leather jacket, knife

• An aggravated assault occurred on Cedar Spring Street in Gaithersburg on Saturday, 2/23 and involved a CDS deal. One participant was stabbed. All three have been or will be arrested.

  Defendant: M, DOB/3-10-80, of Damascus Road in Damascus
  Defendant: M DOB/5-7-87, of Native Dancer Ct in Darnestown
  Suspect: M DOB/3-22-85, of Odendhal Avenue in Gaithersburg

S2 Beat:

• A residential burglary occurred at 18500 block of Cape Jasmine Way in Gaithersburg between Tuesday, 2/19 at 2300 and Wednesday, 2/20 at 2:00 hours. An unlocked glass slider was the point of entry. Wallets, cash, and credit cards were stolen.
• A residential burglary occurred at 7500 block of Oyster Bay Way in Gaithersburg on Tuesday, 2/26. A rear window was forced and a total of five firearms, along with other smaller items (wallets, credit cards, etc…) were stolen.
• Although in different neighborhoods on different evenings, five thefts from vehicles occurred in the beat where a GPS unit was stolen from each vehicle. Two occurred on the evening of Tuesday, 2/19 on Kilcreggan Drive and Terrace in Gaithersburg.
• Three GPS systems were stolen in thefts from vehicles overnight between Monday, 2/25 and Tuesday, 2/26. These were on Coriander, Crabapple, and Honeylocust. Lanes in Gaithersburg.

Ernesto Londoño has a long, 1600-word piece today on the front page of the Post’s Metro Section. Long-time Gaithersblog Readers will recognize the story of the death of Sgt. Michael A. McQueen II. Sgt. McQueen’s father, Michael McQueen, is a frequent commenter on this blog.

The death of Mike McQueen over a year ago was a tragedy, and I think all of us share his dad’s interest in finally learning the truth about what happened. I, too, hope that this case will finally go to trial next February as scheduled.

U.S. Army Ranger Michael McQueen had served three tours with special forces in Afghanistan, only to die in the living room of his Gaithersburg apartment after watching football, a .38-caliber bullet piercing his right temple.

Outside the apartment building, police later found his roommate, former sergeant Gary Smith, crying inconsolably, smeared with McQueen’s blood and with gunpowder residue on his hands. Smith told police that before calling 911, he drove to nearby Lake Needwood, gun in hand, and dumped it in the water.

A Montgomery County jury is expected to decide in February whether Smith, 25, killed McQueen, 22, on the night of Aug. 25, 2006, or simply tried to cover up a suicide. Smith is charged with first-degree murder.

Ernesto Londoño writes:

A 7-year-old girl said she had been raped and repeatedly molested over the course of a year. Police in Montgomery County, acting on information from a relative, soon arrested a Liberian immigrant living in Gaithersburg. They marshaled witnesses and DNA evidence to prepare for trial.

What was missing — for much of the nearly three years that followed — was an interpreter fluent in the suspect’s native language. A judge recently dropped the charges, not because she found that Mahamu Kanneh had been wrongly accused but because repeated delays in the case had, in her view, violated his right to a speedy trial.

The trial date was extended repeatedly as the state and the defense argued over whether Kanneh needed an interpreter and whether he understood the legal proceedings. The state noted that Kanneh attended high school and community college in Montgomery and spoke to detectives in English. The defense insisted that he needed an interpreter to fully understand the proceedings.