PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. (March 4, 2014)—The Criminal Enforcement Division, Central South Region, of the Maryland State Police (MSP) released the following incident and arrest reports.
Theft of Jewelry
On February 7, investigators were contacted by the Southern Maryland Information Center (SMIC) regarding a suspicious pawn shop transaction involving jewelry at Max Point Gold Buyers in Waldorf.
A criminal investigation conducted by Troopers assigned to the Criminal Enforcement Division confirmed that the suspicious pawn transaction was related to a theft involving multiple jurisdictions. Troopers used information from the jewelry to track down the owner. Troopers contacted the owner and inquired about the jewelry. The owner checked and discovered that, unbeknownst to him, the jewelry had been stolen from his home in Lothian, Anne Arundel County.
Through investigation, Troopers revealed that jewelry was stolen from the home and sold at Max Point Gold Buyers in Waldorf. Zachary Wayne Burch, 21, of Mechanicsville, was identified as a suspect in this crime. Troopers learned that Burch was at the victim's residence in Lothian approximately 2 weeks prior, during which he stole the jewelry without the victim realizing it was missing.
On Thursday, February 27 Burch was located and charged with theft under $1000.00 in Anne Arundel County.
Child Abuse
On Wednesday, February 26 at approximately 10:43pm, a 911 call was broadcasted for a domestic disturbance in St. Leonard. Troopers from the Prince Frederick Barrack "U" arrived on the scene. Their investigation revealed that a 6-month-old male infant and a 2-year-old female were injured by their mother, who was intoxicated. The injuries occurred as a result of a dispute with the father of the children. During the altercation, the mother attempted to pull the children away from the father, subsequently causing injuries to the children. A 3-year-old was also involved but was uninjured.
EMS was requested to the scene and the baby was flown to Children's National Medical Center located in Washington DC by Trooper 2 for treatment. The 2-year-old female that had noticeable injuries and a 3-year-old female with no obvious injuries were transported to Calvert Memorial Hospital for treatment and evaluation. The juveniles were later released to a family member at the direction of the Calvert County Child Protective Services. During the investigation, the mother made suicidal statements to the Troopers and was transported to MedStar St. Mary's Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
Maryland State Police Criminal Enforcement Division, Central South Region investigators were contacted and responded to assume the investigation. With the assistance from the Calvert County Sheriff's Office Crime Lab, a search and seizure warrant was executed on the St. Leonard residence.
The mother was released from MedStar St. Mary's Hospital and was charged with Child Abuse: 2nd Degree, 2 counts of Assault: 2nd Degree and 2 counts of Alcoholic Beverage Intoxicated: Endangerment. She was later incarcerated at the Calvert County Detention Center pending hearing with District Court Commissioner.
This investigation was conducted in collaboration with the Calvert County Sheriff's Office, Calvert County States Attorney's Office and the Calvert County Child Protective Services.
Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: http://somd.me/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at http://somd.me/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at http://somd.me/expungeme .