LEONARDTOWN, Md. (Sept. 18, 2008) - The St. Mary's County Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) today released the following incident and arrest reports. BCI is an investigative team comprised of detectives from the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office and the Maryland State Police, Leonardtown Barrack. The unit was established on July 1, 2003 and is based in Leonardtown, Maryland.
EXTRADITION FOR CAR THEFT: On Sept. 16, BCI detectives traveled to the Potomac Highlands Regional Jail in Romney, West Virginia, where Kevin X. Spalding, 31, of Waldorf, was being held after authorities in that jurisdiction determined he was wanted in St. Mary's County. Detectives served Spalding with an arrest warrant for theft of a motor vehicle and incarcerated him in the St. Mary's County Detention Center. The arrest was a result of an investigation into the December 2007 theft of a 1996 Chrysler Sebring, which was recovered in Prince George's County in January of 2008.
ARMED ROBBERY: On Sept. 17 at approximately 11 p.m., a 20 year-old Lexington Park man was walking in the area of the Bon Buffet Restaurant in Lexington Park when he was approached by four black males and two white males, with approximate ages ranging from 14 to 30. The suspects displayed knives and a handgun and demanded the victim's money. The victim complied. Once the suspects obtained an undisclosed amount of money from the victim, he was struck on the head with the handgun and knocked to the ground. The suspects then fled on foot. The victim was able to get to a nearby payphone and call police. The victim was flown to Prince George's Shock Trauma by Trooper 7. St. Mary's County BCI detectives are asking anyone with information on this crime call them at (240) 538-8347 or Crime Solvers at (301) 475-3333.
SEX OFFENDER ARREST: Robert Eugene Darrah, 43, a convicted child sex offender, was arrested on Sept. 17 for failing to register. He was originally convicted of third degree sex offense in St. Mary's County in 2000. He is a lifetime registrant. He resides in Park Hall.
SEX OFFENDER ARREST: Bobby Tracy Bailey, 42, a convicted sex offender, was arrested on Sept. 15 for failing to register. He was originally convicted of sexual assault and 2nd degree sexual conduct in South Carolina in 1987. He is a lifetime registrant and resides in Lexington Park.
SEXUAL ASSAULT OF MINOR: On Sept. 15 BCI detectives conducted an investigation into allegations of an assault by Clifton Bobbitt Somerville, 81, of Lexington Park. The investigation revealed that Somerville, a registered child sex offender, operating a red Ford Minivan bearing Virginia license plates, picked up a 14 year-old girl and offered her a ride home in Lexington Park. Instead of taking the victim home, the defendant took her to his residence. Once inside the home Somerville physically assaulted the victim, and made sexual advances toward her. BCI detectives also learned that Somerville, who was convicted in 2002 for a third degree sex offense, had moved from his home of record within the last two weeks and did not comply with the requirement to notify the Sheriff's Office within five days of moving to a new home. He was arrested and charged with second degree assault and failing to report a change of address within five days.
Police are advising parents to remind their children not to accept rides from strangers, and to contact police in the case of suspicious vehicles or people.