David Biser, a retired Cumberland police officer, has been voicing his concern to city officials in recent weeks about the issue of homelessness and vagrancy- but he says it’s the growing drug problem that is most alarming. He says while police efforts to address drug trafficking have been commendable-  it is really a community problem that has to be dealt with on a much larger scale and much wider scope…

(ACCIDENT, MD) – Maryland State Police are investigating a fatal three-vehicle crash that occurred Sunday afternoon in Garrett County. At about 12:20 p.m., troopers from the Maryland State Police McHenry Barrack responded to a three-vehicle crash that occurred on US Route 219 at Pine Ridge Road in Accident, Maryland. According to a preliminary investigation, a 2017 GMC Sierra, driven by Harry Franklin France, 93, of Friendsville, Maryland, was traveling north on Route 219 when his vehicle crossed into the southbound lanes and side-swiped a 2016 Chevy Trax. The GMC then crash head-on into a 2021 Ford F350 pickup. France was…

(PIKESVILLE, MD) – Maryland State Police are investigating a fatal pedestrian crash that occurred Saturday evening in Baltimore County.   At about 9:45 p.m., troopers from the Maryland State Police Golden Ring Barrack responded to the inner loop of I-695 near I-70 for a report of a crash. According to a preliminary investigation, Juan Rivera, 34, of Texas, was driving a 2005 Dodge Dakota when his vehicle suffered unknown mechanical issues that forced him to the right shoulder of the road.   Rivera was outside of his vehicle on the shoulder of the road when Jose Moto Chapol, who was…

  BENCH WARRANT SERVED/CDS ARREST   On Saturday, June 11, 2022, an officer of the Cumberland Police Department located Kelsie Riggleman in the area of Bedford Street and Linden Street. Riggleman was arrested on an active bench warrant issued by the District Court of Allegany County for failing to appear in court for a CDS related offense. A search incident to arrest revealed that Riggleman was in possession of a quantity of controlled dangerous substance, CDS controlled paraphernalia, and CDS paraphernalia. Riggleman was transported to Central Booking. She was later seen by a District Court Commissioner and released on her…

Allegany County Emergency Management reports law enforcement officers were called to a Bedford Street resident for a report of a man barricaded in the home and making threats. The man was eventually taken into custody without incident and taken for an evaluation. 

On Friday, the Cumberland Police Department served a criminal summons on Braydien McKenzie.  The summons was issued in connection with an assault investigation that began on May 12, 2022.  Officers of the Cumberland Police Department responded to a residence in the 400 block of Bond Street for an assault.  Police contacted the resident who reported that McKenzie entered her home uninvited.  An argument ensued between McKenize and another occupant of the residence.  Another occupant of the residence attempted to intervene and McKenzie struck him in the face.  The officer filed for charges at District Court and a summons was issued. …

On Thursday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced COVIDReady Maryland, the state’s long-term preparedness plan to maximize the tools and treatments available in the fight against COVID-19.    “Our state public health response has now fully transitioned from an emergency into an ongoing operation of state government,” said Governor Hogan. “As the next phase of our nation-leading response and recovery, we are announcing our COVIDReady Maryland plan to maximize all of the available tools and treatments for preventing severe illness and keeping people from being hospitalized, and to maintain an ongoing state of readiness over the long term so that we…

A West Virginia man accused of fatally shooting three co-workers at a western Maryland machine shop remained under police guard at a hospital Friday, but authorities said a Maryland state trooper injured in a shootout with the suspect was treated and released.  The 25-year veteran of the Maryland State Police was shot when police said the fleeing suspect fired multiple rounds at troopers who tracked him down in western Maryland. At least one trooper returned fire, striking the suspect, state police said. The injured trooper and suspect were both taken to a hospital. The trooper has been released, but the…

The MD|DC Credit Union Association has presented Chessie Federal Credit Union Board Chairman Ray Beall with the 2022 Volunteer of the Year award. The honor was announced at the Association’s annual meeting and convention in Ocean City, Md.   “Ray deserves to be recognized with this honor for his decades-long commitment to volunteer service,” said Scott Kline, President and CEO, Chessie FCU. “He is the type of chairman who is very involved with the credit union and the community. He is always looking to the future and finding ways to better serve our members.”   Ray was elected to the…

This week, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin (both D-Md.) joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, in hosting a ceremony dedicating two rooms in the U.S. Capitol in honor of former Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine). Out of more than 540 rooms in the Capitol, these two rooms are the first to be named after women senators.  The resolution which Senators Van Hollen and Cardin co-sponsored and which passed the Senate unanimously in December 2020, names these rooms after the two trailblazing female senators. S-115 will be named the “U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski…