Crofton man dies when his Uber catches fire in crash
A Crofton man died Thursday afternoon when the Uber he was riding in collided with another vehicle on Route 3 in Gambrills, then caught fire after the crash. Raymond Quartuci, 27, was unable to get out of the Toyota Corolla after it was struck by another vehicle and caught fire, said Lt. Ryan Frashure, Anne Arundel County police spokesman. Police said Heather Ferns Boyer, 44, of Bowie, was driving a Chevrolet Equinox southbound on Route 3 at about 1 p.m. when her car struck a Toyota eastbound on Route 175. Uber driver Mohamed Elsdeg Ahmed, 40, of Odenton, was seriously injured in the fire but was able to get out of his car. He was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore where he was listed in serious condition.
E. Baltimore center removes Bill Cosby’s name
An East Baltimore community center is removing the names of Bill and Camille Cosby after the comedian was found guilty in a sexual assault trial on Thursday. The Cosbys’ names have graced the community center run by St. Frances Academy in East Baltimore since 2012. But after the guilty verdict Thursday, St. Frances principal Curtis Turner said “we removed the name from the building immediately.” The couple donated $2 million to the center in 2012, and it was rechristened the Drs. Camille and Bill Cosby Community Center. Turner said school leadership was unaware of the accusations against Cosby when they decided to honor him and his wife in 2012. St. Frances considered removing the name after allegations against Bill Cosby surfaced, but decided against it in 2015. Cosby was convicted Thursday by a Pennsylvania jury of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home 14 years ago.
Pharmacy owner charged with fake prescriptions
The owner of a Baltimore pharmacy has been charged with more than 300 counts of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance for allegedly filling fake prescriptions, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced Friday. Susan Iwunze Nwoga, 47, operates the independent Poplar Grove Pharmacy in Southwest Baltimore’s Franklintown Road neighborhood. Since 2013, Nwoga filled “patently fraudulent” customer prescriptions for drugs such as the opioid Oxycodone, the anxiety medications alprazolam and clonazepam, and promethazine, according to the indictment. Nwoga allegedly knew the prescriptions were fake, and would sometimes take as much as $350 from customers in return for filling their prescriptions. She would submit claims for payment and reimbursement to Medicaid and other benefit programs, according to the attorney general’s office. Darnella Carter, 48, was also charged with defrauding a state health plan and obtaining a benefit by fraud. Carter would allegedly present fake prescriptions to Nwoga, and then sell the drugs to others, according to the attorney general’s office. Online court records do not list an attorney for either Nwoga or Carter.
Police charge two in second carjacking of a teacher
Baltimore County police on Friday identified two more teens charged in another set of carjackings, including a robbery of a second teacher outside of an elementary school. Police said this is the second such attack outside a county school in the past week, after a pregnant teacher at Villa Cresta Elementary in Parkville was carjacked last Friday. Police previously announced that they had arrested and charged all four teen girls in the carjacking. A spokesman said on Thursday that investigators do not believe the incidents are related. “We do not think that this is any type of ring or they have any type of connection to” earlier carjackings, Baltimore County Police spokesman Shawn Vinson said. The latest incident took place at Campfield Elementary School in Gwynn Oak on Thursday. Police identified the suspects in that carjacking as Terrell Maleek Jett, 16, of the 1400 block of Mountmor Court and William Jhem Cunningham, 16, of the 800 block of Brooks Lane, both in the city’s Santown-Winchester neighborhood. Neither had attorneys listed in online court records. Family for the teens could not be reached for comment Friday.
Andrés Alonso withdraws from L.A. consideration
Former Baltimore City schools superintendent Andrés Alonso, believed to be one of three remaining finalists to lead the Los Angeles school system, has withdrawn from consideration. The remaining known candidates in the confidential search are former investment banker Austin Beutner and interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian. Alonso, 60, announced his decision on Twitter on Thursday night, saying he had notified the L.A. Unified School District on Monday. Alonso, who currently teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, resigned as Baltimore schools’ head in May 2013.
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