Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Krystal McClain was last seen on May 13 on Nicholson Street.
Update - May 15, 2013, 8:30 a.m. - The Hyattsville City Police Department, in a brief statement issued this morning, said that McClain has been found. Original article - May 14 The Hyattsville City Police Department is asking for the public's help in locating a missing teen girl. According to police, the missing girl is Krystal McClain, age 15. McClain is African-American. She stands roughly five feet seven inches tall, weighs about 120 pounds, has brown eyes and black hair. McClain was last seen on May 13 in the 3100 block of Nicholson Street in Hyattsville at about 9:20 p.m. At the time she was wearing a neutral colored jacket and beige pants. A notice sent out by the HCPD says that McClain is bi-polar and manic depressive. Anyone …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Examining the possible outcomes of Hyattsville restaurant's pursuit of a new entertainment permit.
Do you want a Mi Patio which can host musical entertainment three nights a week but cannot card or search patrons at the door? Or do you want a Mi Patio which can card and search patrons at the door but could also host musical entertainment seven nights a week? Those are essentially the two outcomes possible in the debate over Mi Patio's special entertainment permit application before the Prince George's County Board of License Commissioners, also known as the liquor control board. Those who are opposed to Mi Patio's application would effectively be lobbying for the situation at the restaurant to stay as it is now, at least on paper. Per the restaurant's pre-existing exemption to the special entertainment permit, live and deejayed music …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Overall crime trending down in West Hyattsville, citywide, according to latest annual numbers.
Did news of this weekend's shooting in West Hyattsville make you think twice about living here? While other news stations were content to keep their coverage of Sunday's drive-by shooting on Hamilton Street to brief items, WTTG Fox 5 dug deep into their bag of metaphors and produced this breathless piece of journalism on the shooting which left two people injured. The anchor introduces the shooting, which saw 19 shots fired, as something which resembled the "wild west". Reporter Karen Gray Houston went on to say it was like something out of a movie. A bit hyperbolic? To be sure. One wonders if cinematic metaphors are appropriate to describe attempted murder. Close readers might also note that I have, in the past, referred to West …
Emergency legislation needed to bring city speed cam law up to snuff, plus provide room for growth, according to Police Chief Doug Holland.
The Hyattsville City Council will consider emergency legislation tonight which would, on paper, double the number of speed cameras the city police department could operate. The last minute change would, if adopted by the city council tonight, go into effect only hours before March 19, the date when Hyattsville's new network of five speed cameras are set to begin issuing fines to speeding drivers following a monthlong period where the cameras issued only warnings. The emergency legislation is needed because of recent interpretations of the laws governing speed cameras in Maryland have emphasized that each individual speed camera needs to be authorized by legislation, according to Hyattsville Chief of Police Doug Holland. Essentially, the …
Sunday, March 17, 2013
19 shots fired in early morning incident in Hyattsville.
Two people have been injured during an overnight drive-by shooting near the intersection of Queens Chapel Road and Hamilton Street in Hyattsville. The incident began around 2:55 a.m. at the nearby Shell Gas station. According to Sgt. Chris Purvis, public information officer for the Hyattsville City Police Department, two groups of friends in two cars were at the gas station when a small, dark colored four-door compact vehicle turned from Hamilton Street into the Shell parking lot. Then suddenly, shots rang out from, police believe, within the dark compact car before it sped off. Purvis said the most amazing aspect of the shooting was the fact that the shooter had to have driven past a nearby police officer on patrol. "Our guy was set up…
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Money would fund programs for traffic, impaired driving enforcement efforts in the city.
The Hyattsville City Council will consider a motion to support state highway safety initiatives carried out by the Hyattsville City Police Department. For the last 15 years, the city police have received funds from the Maryland Highway Safety Office to conduct traffic safety programs related to vehicular, pedestrian, and impaired driving enforcement eforrts. "This agreement will futher enhance the ability for the officers of the Hyattsville City Police Department to make the streets of Hyattsville even safer for the residents and visitors of the city," reads the measure, sponsored by Mayor Marc Tartaro. According to Holland, Hyattsville's police chief, the police department could receive around $7,000 for overtime expenses to pay for …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
The Hyattsville City Council unanimously approved a grant that will help the city buy 12 new bulletproof vests.
The Hyattsville City Council unanimously approved the proposed Justice Assistance Bulletproof Vest Partnership grant last Tuesday night, helping the police department buy 12 bulletproof vests. The grant comes in an award of $5,140 and will be appropriated into the FY13 Special Revenue Fund, thus replacing the body armor. According to the Office of Justice Programs website, the bulletproof vest partnership (BVP), created by the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 1998, is a U.S. Department of Justice initiative designed to provide a critical resource to state and local law enforcement. According to the 2011 annual Hyattsville crime report, five commercial robberies were committed with firearms, compared to six in 2010. There were six …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Henry Sanders faces 55 years in prison for three 2011 robberies in Prince George's County. He awaits trial for Montgomery County kidnappings.
A Landover man faces up to 55 years in prison after pleading guilty in Prince George's County Circuit Court this past Friday to a series of Hyattsville-area robberies which took place during an alleged robbery spree which spanned Prince George's and Montgomery counties in November 2011. Henry Sanders, 51, of the 3500 block of Brightseat Road in Landover, was arrested by Montgomery County Police in late November 2011 on charges related to three seperate carjackings which occurred near the Westfield Shopping Center in Wheaton. Relying on security camera images and victim identifications, Prince George's County and Hyattsville city police investigators were then able to link Sanders to a series of robberies in the Hyattsville and Mount …
Monday, February 18, 2013
Watchful neighbor helps police catch suspected burglars red-handed.
The Hyattsville City Police Department is again crediting an alert neighbor with helping to catch two burglars red-handed over the weekend. "The West Hyattsville Neighborhood Watch strikes again," reads an email from Hyattsville police detective Cpl. Zach Nemser sent to city employees and shared with the West Hyattsville neighborhood listserv. The incident began on Saturday, Feb. 16, just before 1:30 p.m., when police responded to the 5600 block of 30th Avenue for a report of a burglary in progress. The burglary had been reported by a neighbor who watched two men enter a nearby residence through a side window. Once on the scene, police surrounded the house. Shortly afterward, one of the suspects, Gaithersburg resident Mark Anthony …
Motorists speeding through Hyattsville could end up with a $40 fine if caught by automated camera system.
Hyattsville's new new automated speed camera program goes live today. For the first 30 days, speeding motorists caught by the cameras driving more than 12 miles-per-hour above the speed limit will receive a written warning in the mail. After that, speeding motorists risk a $40 fine for speeding. The citations will not be reported to insurance companies, nor will they result in new points on your drivers license. The city is starting the program with five portable camera units, all of which are expected to be up and running by March. The cameras will be located at the following locations, each of which is within one half of a mile from a school: These cameras are in addition to three red light cameras located at the intersection of …
Scot Brown
3:44 pm on Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Has this poor child been found? I hope so. Her parents must be beside themselves. more ›