Showing posts with label Maryland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maryland. Show all posts

Friday, August 14, 2015

Walter Reed Ex-Employee Admitted Stealing Drugs

Local man involved in stealing drugs from Walter Reed Hospital
Charles County
By Press Release, U.S. Attorney for Maryland
08/13/2015
During the period that Malone was involved in the conspiracy, the government contends that he and his co-conspirators stole over $2 million worth of Somatropin from the Walter Reed pharmacy. Gurdon admitted that the total loss to the United States over the course of the entire conspiracy was at least $4,467,000.

Greenbelt, Maryland – Lamelle Marquez Malone, age 35, of Las Vegas, Nevada, formerly of Columbia, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to steal prescription drugs from a military hospital and to interstate transportation of stolen property.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Robert Craig of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid‑Atlantic Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Antoinette V. Henry of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations.

Malone admitted that from April 8, 2011 through August 2012, he conspired with Roger Gurdon, and others to steal Somatropin, a form of human growth hormone, from the pharmacy located at the former Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Malone and his co-conspirators re-sold the stolen pharmaceuticals for profit.

Gurdon was a pharmacy technician at Walter Reed. Between January 2008 and the fall of 2011, Gurdon stole Somatropin from Walter Reed and sold it to a co-conspirator. When Gurdon traveled out of the country in April 2011, he arranged for the co-conspirator to obtain Somatropin from Malone, who was an enlisted member of the Army and worked as a pharmacy specialist at Walter Reed.
read more here

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

‘National Anthem Girl’ Sings Anthem 24 Times in 24 Hours

‘National Anthem Girl’ Sings Anthem 24 Times in 24 Hours to Raise Funds for Wounded Vets
Daily Signal
Leah Jessen
August 03, 2015
The charity, which was founded by a group of Maryland high school students in 2012, has raised close to one million dollars since its inception. This weekend the group brought in $23,975.
Performer Janine Stange has made history for a second time.
Stange, also known as the “National Anthem Girl,” first made headlines in August 2014 when she became the first person to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in all 50 states.

This past weekend, the Los Angeles resident sang the national anthem 24 times in 24 hours.

The performances were held in conjunction with a tournament hosted by Shootout for Soldiers, an organization that hosts 24-hour-long lacrosse events to raise money for wounded American military members. Throughout those 24 hours, 24 lacrosse teams from the region played hourly games. Stange kicked off each game with a rendition of the anthem.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Missing Vietnam Veteran Found After 7 Days Stuck Under Tree

Missing Vietnam veteran, 66, is found alive under a fallen tree - SEVEN DAYS after he vanished during woodland walk 
Daily Mail
Kiri Blakeley
July 27, 2015
Army vet Larry Merton Shaddy, who reportedly has cancer and dementia, disappeared during a late-night walk near his care home
He fell down a steep embankment and got wedged under a broken tree
A passerby spotted him on Monday and phoned police
Shaddy, from Springdale, Maryland, is dehydrated and has leg injuries but is otherwise said to be in good spirits
A Vietnam veteran who has been missing for seven days has been found alive - wedged under a fallen tree in thick woodland.

Larry Merton Shaddy, of Springdale, Maryland, was conscious, lucid, and able to give his name to his rescuers, they said. He is now being treated for dehydration and leg injuries in hospital.

The 66-year-old, who is said to have cancer and dementia, was reported missing by his care home at 1am on July 20 after he failed to return from a late-evening walk.

He was spotted under a large tree limb by a passerby in Prince George's County on Monday, according to NBC 4 Washington.

He was just 0.3 miles from his care home.

The passerby, who was walking down the 9000 block of Ardwick-Ardmore Road, flagged down a passing motorist, who radioed for help.

The tree was removed by the Prince George's County Fire Department, using hydraulic power tools. Mr Shaddy was then placed in a large basket and pulled up the steep embankment to a waiting ambulance.
read more here

Saturday, June 13, 2015

News Reporters Help Disabled Veteran Get Full Benefits

7 On Your Side I-Team helps wounded veteran get full VA disability benefits 
ABC 7 News
Joce Sterman
 June 12, 2015
“The most important thing is making sure people coming back in the future don't have to go through this, that it’s that much easier for them,” Hunter said.
Kenna Hunter and Sgt. Eric Hunter, right. (WJLA)

BETHESDA, Md. (WJLA) - He put his life on the line, losing a leg in Afghanistan while serving his country. But an Army soldier being treated at Walter Reed is now fighting for benefits his family believes he should get. And now they've got 7 On Your Side.

When Sergeant Eric Hunter risked his life for his country the second time, he came home with more hardware than just the Purple Heart medal. He’s got a prosthetic device on his right leg and chunks of metal holding together his left.

“He stepped on the bomb the day before our one-year wedding anniversary,” says Kenna Hunter, Sergeant Hunter’s wife.

The incident happened in 2012. It was the day one step set Hunter back a thousand more. Kenna Hunter explains, “I've been at his bedside every single day. I've watched the blood, the sweat, the tears and all the pain he's been through.”

Hunter, now 27, had 60 surgeries. He experienced the loss of his right leg and countless hours of physical therapy to hold onto his left. It’s become normal for his family to watch him fight. Just not like this.

“It is kind of like a slap in the face,” Sgt. Hunter said.
read more here

Friday, May 1, 2015

Soldier in Uniform Not Protesting But in Wrong Place at Wrong Time

Soldier in uniform mistaken for protester, Army says 
USA Today
USAToday.com
April 29, 2015
A soldier who was shown wearing his uniform at a protest in Baltimore, Maryland, last week was "not actively participating" but a victim of "bad timing," officials said. (Photo: (Photo: 15th Sustainment Brigade Facebook photo))
(USA Today) A soldier who was shown wearing his uniform at a protest in Baltimore, Maryland, last week was "not actively participating" but a victim of "bad timing," officials said.

"The soldier is part of the Maryland National Guard. He was not actively participating in the protest, but his image was captured as he walked home from work near the location where some of the recent anti-police, "Black Lives Matter", Freddie Gray protests have taken place," according to a statement posted on the 15th Sustainment Brigade Facebook page.

The soldier in the photo was wearing the brigade's patch on his right sleeve, and the brigade received numerous messages on its Facebook page after the photo was posted on several military or veterans Facebook sites. read more here

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Army Sgt Fights For Right To Bury Marine Dad At Arlington

Soldier fights for right to bury her father 
Military Times
By Karen Jowers, Staff writer
February 28, 2015

"I want him to be closer to me," said James, who plans to retire in Maryland. "And to me, Arlington is the ultimate cemetery. My dad was so proud of his service. That's all he talked about. He did four years, and you'd think he did 30. He loved the Marines."
A few years ago during a visit with her father, a Marine Corps veteran, in St. Louis, Army Sgt. 1st Class Yvette James asked about his burial wishes when that time came. "I said, 'I'm your only child.

What do you want me to do?' " she recalled. "He went to his room, got a folder, pulled out a copy of his DD 214, and said, 'All I want is to be buried with military honors.' " But James, who is stationed hundreds of miles away at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, found herself plunged into an intense month-long family battle when her father, Clinton Brownlee, died Jan. 25.

James contends she was wrongly excluded from the burial planning largely due to her military service, even though under Missouri law she has the right to make those decisions as Brownlee's primary next of kin and only child.

A funeral home had allowed James' cousin to make arrangements for the service and burial — even after James had faxed the home a letter expressly denying permission for her cousin to do so.
read more here

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Maryland VA official forged documents, obtained $1.4 million in benefits

U.S. Attorney: Former Maryland VA official forged documents, obtained $1.4 million in benefits
ABC 2 News
Amy Aubert
Dec 26, 2014

BALTIMORE - A 68-year-old U.S. Army veteran and former Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs official was charged with collecting $1.4 million in benefits fraudulently, according to the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland.

"I think it was a situation where he recognized that he had this authority that nobody is looking over his shoulder," said U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein.

Rosenstein says 68-year-old David Clark drafted fake letters and documents that made certain veterans appear to be eligible for a federal V.A. settlement program. Rosenstein said the V.A. started the program as an effort to settle claims of veterans suffering from diabetes. To be eligible for the up to $20,000 per year compensation, applicants have to be a veteran who served in Vietnam and presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange, which may have caused diabetes.

"He was the person responsible for certifying that these were authentic documents. So, he would certify the documents, then pass them on to the federal V.A., which would approve them based on Mr. Clark's certifications," Rosenstein said.
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Monday, August 18, 2014

Law Students helping veterans fight for legal rights

Veterans’ next battle: Legal rights
Associated Press
By LAUREN KIRKWOOD
August 17, 2014
To increase the number of attorneys serving veterans, the Pro Bono Resource Center, in partnership with a few other groups, offers several free training sessions each year for attorneys who make a commitment to use their training pro bono.

BALTIMORE (AP) - In a year when the Department of Veterans Affairs has repeatedly come under fire for problems ranging from deadly delays in medical appointments to its hefty backlog of benefit claims, the need for legal assistance for veterans has often taken a lower priority.

But that’s about to change.

Recent efforts to help veterans obtain benefits or gain access to other resources are underway at law schools, bar associations, community groups and even the VA itself.

“I think the sheer number of claims, and the resources that are available to process them, necessitate more lawyering in this area,” said Hugh McClean, director of the new Bob Parsons Veterans Advocacy Clinic at the University of Baltimore School of Law. “There’s just a tremendous need for veterans’ assistance right now.”

Four law students supervised by McClean, a veteran of the Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps and a former Air Force law professor, will work about 20 hours each week handling cases while also learning through a weekly seminar and reading assignments, he said. In the spring, the number of students in the clinic will likely increase to six.

There are only about 30 such veterans clinics at law schools across the country, McClean said. Pushing for more, the American Bar Association voted at its annual meeting Aug. 11 to urge law schools to create veterans’ clinics or, if that’s not possible, to serve veterans’ needs through an existing clinic.
read more here

Friday, May 23, 2014

Blue Angels Missing Man Formation Remembers 1st Lt. Travis Manion

Veterans turn out to see Blue Angels at Annapolis
The Capital
By Tim Pratt
Annapolis, Md
Published: May 22, 2014

The U.S. Navy's Blue Angels perform a missing man formation at the U.S. Naval Academy as an aerial salute to honor the memory of 1st Lt. Travis Manion, who was killed in action in Iraq on April 29, 2007.
KATHRYN E. MACDONALD/U.S. NAVY

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Standing near the end of the Naval Academy Bridge on Wednesday afternoon, 71-year-old Bill Sykes peered intently at the sky as the Blue Angels roared above Annapolis.

A Navy veteran who worked on planes years ago in Pensacola, Fla., Sykes said he has seen the high-performance flight group 30 or 40 times.

With the Blue Angels’ return to Annapolis, he and his family spent the afternoon watching the jets fly up and down the Severn River, crossing over surrounding neighborhoods and soaring high into the clouds.

“I just like them seeing them fly,” Sykes said, a USS Constellation hat atop his head and dark sunglasses covering his eyes.

Sykes was one of a number of veterans drawn to the area around the Naval Academy Bridge and World War II Memorial on Route 450 for the Blue Angels performance.

Some sat in chairs and relaxed, their children and grandchildren snapping photos and covering their ears. Others talked with family members and made friends with fellow onlookers.

Among the veterans at the war memorial was Francis Horner, who served with the Army in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. While Horner spent much of the last 40 years living in Glen Burnie, he recently moved to Annapolis and decided to take in the Blue Angels show for the first time.

“I’ve been waiting to see this for years,” Horner said.
read more here

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Politician doesn't think Iraq Vet had real job?

‘Reckless and Irresponsible’: Dem Maryland Gov. Candidate’s Attack on His Iraq War Vet Opponent Backfires
The Blaze
Jason Howerton
Apr. 22, 2014

Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, a Democratic candidate for governor of Maryland, has a public relations problem on his hands after he suggested his opponent, an Iraq war veteran, isn’t qualified for a “real job.”

Speaking at an event organized by the Tech Council of Maryland on Monday, Gansler took aim at Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, his opponent for the Democratic nomination, when asked about Maryland’s state-run health insurance exchange.

He touted his leadership skills and experience working with budgets when explaining why he is the better candidate to tackle the state’s issues.
read more here when you are done screaming.

Here's the video
7:45

"That's all fine an good but this is a real job."

Monday, March 31, 2014

VA Maryland to hold annual welcome home for returning veterans

VA Maryland to hold annual welcome home for returning veterans
The Star Democrat

BALTIMORE — For Aliyah Hunter, 32, an Army veteran who was deployed to Iraq, returning home proved to be less smooth than she anticipated. In fact, she was home for two years before she opted to try Veteran’s Affairs health care to address the residual impacts of the war. “The VA was the first to help me understand that something was a little different — that a change had occurred and that I was suffering from some post-traumatic symptoms from the war,” Hunter said.

After separating from the military, and with help from the VA Maryland Health Care System, she began to embrace the transition of being home more openly.

Hunter is joining an estimated 200 other newly returning veterans for the VA Maryland Health Care System’s 2014 Welcome Home Information and Job Fair, which is being held Saturday, April 5, on the Essex Campus of the Community College of Baltimore County in the Community Center Building, 7201 Rossville Blvd., Baltimore.
read more here

Monday, March 24, 2014

Navy Football player in coma after injury

Navy slotback Will McKamey in coma after collapse at practice
McKamey, a rising sophomore from Knoxville, Tenn., sustained a brain injury Saturday
The Baltimore Sun
By Don Markus
March 23, 2014
Will McKamey (U.S. Naval Academy Photo / March 23, 2014)

Navy football player Will McKamey remained in critical condition late Sunday at Maryland Shock Trauma, one day after he sustained a brain injury during a spring practice in Annapolis, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Kara McKamey posted on Facebook Saturday that her son was in a coma, and on Sunday, the family — through the Naval Academy — released a statement saying it has received "only small responses" from the 19-year-old.

McKamey, a 5-9, 170-pound rising sophomore slotback from Knoxville, Tenn. underwent surgery Saturday to reduce the bleeding and swelling on his brain. It is the third brain injury McKamey had sustained playing football in the past 18 months.

As a senior at Grace Christian Academy, where his father, Randy, is the head football coach, McKamey was injured during a playoff game in October of 2012 and was transported to a hospital in Chattanooga, where he remained in intensive care for several days.
read more here

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Marine shot at after armored truck heist, chasing robbers

Former Marine gives chase to armed bandits, nearly hit in gunfire
Brian Cotts bravely chased after the armed bandits after they held up an armored truck outside a Checkers restaurant in Maryland on Thursday. The suspects opened fire, hitting Cotts' truck, but the good Samaritan suffered only minor injuries during the wild ordeal. Cops soon joined the pursuit and cuffed the suspects.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY JOE KEMP
FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2014
NBC4 WASHINGTON
Cotts was not hit by any bullets, but was cut from the shattered glass in his windshield.

A former Marine was nearly killed when a pack of bandits opened fire on him during a wild chase after an armored truck heist in Maryland.

But Brian Cotts claimed it was the only way he knew to help.

“I’m still in a daze,” Brian Cotts told NBC News. “I’m really, really proud of myself because I saved a life.”

Cotts said that he was sitting in his red pickup truck with a passenger when he saw four men hold up a Garda truck outside a Checkers restaurant in Suitland about 11 a.m. on Thursday.
read more here

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Vietnam Veteran receives Silver Star after 44 year wait

44 years after risking life for comrades, helicopter pilot gets his Silver Star
Downed over Mekong Delta and wounded by ground fire, George Carlton Bloodworth led others to safety
The Baltimore Sun
By Matthew Hay Brown
January 2, 2014
Photograph of ceremony in Chris Van Hollen's Rockville office.
(Kenneth K. Lam, Baltimore Sun / January 2, 2014)
It was the kind of mission that Warrant Officer George Carlton Bloodworth flew daily in Vietnam. But on Sept. 20, 1969, it went badly wrong.

Bloodworth was piloting the second of two scout helicopters on a reconnaissance mission over the Mekong Delta in South Vietnam, speeding 100 feet off the ground, when the lead helicopter was shot down. As he circled back to search for its two-man crew, his own helicopter was shot down, and he was hit by ground fire.

Still, he found the downed crew and helped lead the wounded pilot, the pilot's crew chief and his own crew chief through withering fire to safety.

For his actions that day, Bloodworth was awarded the Silver Star, the military's third-highest decoration for valor. But he never received the medal. Until Thursday.

Surrounded by family — two sons, a daughter and their families — Bloodworth, now 75, finally got his Silver Star. It was pinned onto his blazer by Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Clark, commander of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, during a brief ceremony at the Rockville office of Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat.
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Friday, January 3, 2014

Accident at VA Cemetery Causes Outrage?

I read this article several times and tried to put myself into the families shoes. Oh, wait. I am already in them. My Dad and uncles are buried in civilian cemeteries but friends are buried in VA graves. I would be upset if it happened to their graves but I would not blame the workers for getting stuck in saturated mud they had to get out of.

Graves at Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery damaged by heavy equipment
MyFOX DC
By Sherri Ly
Posted: Dec 31, 2013

CHELTENHAM, Md.

"It wasn't on purpose or intentional,” said Keith Lincoln. “It wasn't like somebody broke through the building and did all this on purpose. It was just an accident." He says his father's headstone has been damaged before and the cemetery quickly replaced it.

A bulldozer mistakenly damaged dozens of graves at a Maryland veterans cemetery. Now the state's Secretary of Veterans Affairs is apologizing.

Pictures of the damage to Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery went viral over social media. The damage was accidental, but angered many families who had loved ones buried there.

"It's just disgraceful," said Carol Milliken.

Her husband, a major in the U.S. Air Force, was buried there last year. She comes to visit almost every day. Looking at the rows of unearthed headstones and muddy tire tracks inches from her husband's grave almost brought her to tears. Like all those here, he served the nation honorably, only to be dishonored like this.

"It's very sad. I was very upset," she said showing the tire tracks left by the bulldozer backhoe.

"They've gone up the side here, you can see the tracks. His stone is right here."

During the last burial Monday, a tractor sunk into the saturated ground, leaving deep trenches across part of the cemetery, buckling the ground and dislodging headstones.
read more here

Friday, December 13, 2013

Navy Captain wants you to live enough to talk about his own suicide attempts

If you think for one second you don't matter then you need to watch this video. This Navy Captain went on video with his wife to talk about trying to kill himself several times. Think about that for a second. Any clue why he would open himself up by sharing that level of pain he could have hid easily? Because he wants you to live. He wants you to know you do matter. He wants you to know there is hope that tomorrow can be a hell of a lot better than today is.

Military Stigma: Battling Mental Illness in the Military
Nov 15, 2013

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. (Dec. 12, 2013) -- U.S. Navy Capt. Todd Kruder and his wife, Sharon, had a joyous 2012: The couple marked 25 years of marriage, their oldest son was married, and their second son was commissioned into the Marine Corps. But Kruder almost didn’t get the chance to celebrate that year with his family because on three different occasions, he attempted suicide.

"First time I tried, I thought about suicide, I chickened,” Kruder said. “The second time, my son interrupted. So I had to come up with a different way."

The different way, he explained, was to over-exercise himself to death.

"It was the perfect solution to the problem I had, which was I didn't want the stigma of suicide," Kruder said.

Kruder’s over-exercising, together with his 17 hour-a-day job as an executive assistant to a three-star admiral, were taking its toll. It was all part of what Kruder, 47, called his "master plan."

But what he didn't expect was his family and friends becoming concerned about his 60-pound weight loss as well as his personality changes.

Then, one morning in 2011, Kruder hit rock bottom.

"We were probably days, hours maybe, away from breaking the marriage up," Kruder said.
read more here

PRINCE FREDERICK - A Navy Captain sheds light on how he almost committed suicide because of the stigma of mental illness in the military.
Video from CNS

Friday, November 8, 2013

Maryland getting Veterans' Court

State’s first veterans’ court may launch in Prince George’s
Officials hope to help former service members suffering from combat-related mental illnesses
Maryland Community News
By Sophie Petit Staff Writer
November 8, 2013

With the state’s largest population of veterans, Prince George’s County is being eyed as the future site for Maryland’s first veterans’ court, state officials said.

“I was in combat, and it’s very difficult coming back and going through the regular daily routine,” said state Sen. Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Dist. 23) of Bowie, who served during Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s and is chairman of the special veterans task force that recommended the court. “A lot of these young people have post-traumatic stress disorder, which is basically combat stress.”

Veterans suffering from PTSD and other combat-related mental illnesses are more likely to commit crimes, Peters said, but instead of time behind bars, they need rehabilitation and mentoring services to get their lives back on track.

With the support of Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown (D), also a veteran, Peters said officials hope to open the court by 2015 and want to start the program in Prince George’s.

“Our veterans deserve our full support as they work to transition back into civilian life,” Brown said in a Nov. 8 statement.

Maryland is home to 443,076 veterans, with 62,744 living in Prince George’s — the most in the state, according to U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs data.

The task force released its final report recommending the court on Nov. 7. The next step is getting approval from the Office of Problem-Solving Courts in Annapolis, which oversees the county’s drug court, a similar system to veterans’ court.
read more here

Monday, September 2, 2013

Marine, OEF OIF veteran left to die after hit and run

Man found dead on Maryland road was former Marine who served in Afghanistan
Washington Post
Matin Weil
September 1, 2013

The man who was killed Saturday in Prince George’s County by an apparent hit-and-run driver was a former Marine who had served in Afghanistan, his mother said.

Eric D. Bridgett, 27, of Clinton was found early Saturday at Kirby Road and Marwood Drive in the Clinton area, police said. They said preliminary investigation suggested that he was struck while trying to cross Kirby. The vehicle that hit him did not stop, police said.

His mother, Claudia Bridgett, said he was headed to his in-laws’ home, where his wife, Brandi, and their three children were staying while the couple looked for a home of their own. She said he had finished work at a restaurant and then stopped by his mother’s home in Clinton before heading to his in-laws’ house about 1 a.m.
read more here

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Donley Steps Down as Secretary of Air Force

Donley Steps Down as Secretary of Air Force
Air Force News
by Desiree N. Palacios
Jun 23, 2013

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md.-- Five years to the day from when he entered the position, the longest-serving secretary of the Air Force stepped down during a farewell ceremony here June 21.

Donley was confirmed as the 22nd secretary of the Air Force Oct. 2, 2008. He served as the acting secretary since June 21 of that year, as well as for seven months in 1993, making him the longest-serving secretary in the Air Force's history.

"America is stronger because Mike Donley chose to serve. You leave us now focused on the continued delivery of airpower for America," Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III said. "The Air Force remains ready to provide Global Vigilance, Global Reach, and Global Power for America because of your leadership and your clear, consistent commitment to our core values of integrity, service and excellence. We've all been privileged to know you, and honored to follow you."
read more here

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Freight train derails in Maryland; half-mile area evacuated

Freight train derails in Maryland; half-mile area evacuated
By CNN Staff
May 28, 2013

One person is thought to be trapped after a freight train derailment Tuesday near Baltimore, fire officials say.

(CNN) -- A freight train derailed Tuesday in Rosedale, Maryland, and one person is reported to be trapped, Baltimore County firefighter Jonathan Meehan said. A truck was involved in the incident, and a resulting hazardous-materials situation is prompting the evacuation of a half-mile area, according to a Baltimore County police official who declined to be named, citing department policy.
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