The University of Maryland Police Department is partnering with the Prince George’s County Police Department, the University of Maryland Athletics Dept., and the U. S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation for the 5th year to collect and distribute toys to children in Prince George’s County, Maryland. UMDPS will have a toy drop-off location in the lobby of the police station located at the corner of Rossborough Lane and Route 1. We will be collecting unwrapped toys until December 19, 2012. Additionally, toys will be collected at MD Terrapins Basketball games between now and December 19th at Comcast Arena. The distribution of toys will take place December 22, 2012 at the Prince George's County Police Headquarters located at 7600 Barlowe Road, Landover, Maryland 20785.

The University of Maryland Division of Student Affairs organized a Veterans Day program to honor University students, faculty and staff who who served in the Armed Forces. Several police officers and civilian employees of the University of Maryland Department of Public Safety were recognized. Captain Robert Mueck, former Army and Coast Guard Reserve, and current Deputy Commander of the UMDPS Support Services Bureau spoke at the event. The event took place November 9, 2012, at the University of Maryland Memorial Chapel. "The parallels drawn between military and law enforcement service are vast and the line between them is often blurred. Both are fighting a war—with our military fighting overseas and our law enforcement often fighting the war on crime domestically. Both professions require courage and bravery—and breed American heroes." - Craig Floyd, Chairman and CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. We are forever indebted to our officers and employees, and all veterans who served this great nation in military service.

On November 11, 2012 at approximately 3:15 a.m. the Prince George's County Police provided UMPD dispatchers with a description of suspects involved in a strong-arm robbery that had occured off campus on Knox Road in College Park. At 4:15 a.m., a University of Maryland officer observed a vehicle in Lot K matching the description of the suspect vehicle. The officer stopped the vehicle and noticed that the occupants matched the description given earlier by PGPD. The student made a positive identification and the occupants were arrested and turned over the the PGPD detectives for further processing and investigation. Additional information about the incident may be obtained from the Prince George's County Police, Media Relations Division.

On November 1, 2012 at approximately 2:20 a.m., University of Maryland Police issued an alert for a possible strong-arm robbery occurring in the College Park Shopping Center (7300 block Baltimore Avenue). The investigation conducted by the Prince George's County Police revealed that a robbery did not occur, but was more likely a simple assault. PGPD is still investigating whether or not a crime was actually committed. Obtaining information from the victim at the scene was extremely difficult due to his level of intoxication. Detectives will be re-interviewing the victim in an attempt to determine what had transpired. University of Maryland Police sent out an alert to the campus community because it was thought at the time that a suspect was still at-large in the area. We feel that it is better to alert the community in order to build awareness so that people can make the best decisions with regard to their safety. While people should always be aware of their surroundings, when we believe that there is a danger to the public at the time, we always err on the side of caution when alerting the campus community.

On October 28, 2012 at approximately 2:40 a.m. a male student reported to police that he was walking in a private alley behind the establishments at the 8400 block of Knox Road when he was assaulted by three males who took his cell phone and wallet. The male walked to College Avenue and Yale Avenue where he flagged down a University of Maryland police officer to report the offense. The Prince Georges County Police were notified. A short while later, University of Maryland police officers located suspects fitting the description in the College Park Parking Garage. The victim identified the suspects as the individuals who committed the offense. University Police arrested one adult male, Darell Summers, 19, of Odenton, and two juvenile males, ages 15 and 16, for the crime. No weapons were used in the commission of the crime. The victim was uninjured.

Dear University of Maryland Community, Hurricane Sandy is expected to begin affecting UMD College Park on Monday. The campus administration is working together to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff and to mitigate the impact of the storm. Please view Provost Rankin's message to the University Community at http://www.umd.edu/hot-topics.cfm?topic=19041. Please consider the following tips and precautions:

On October 19, 2012 at 8:30 p.m. a 34 year old male non-student was approached by two males on Lehigh Road near Sterling Place. One of the males placed his hand on the victim's shoulder and demanded property. The victim fled and flagged down a Student Police Aide who was on Knox Road near Sterling Place. University of Maryland Police officers responded and located the suspects near Montgomery Hall. One of the suspects fled and was apprehended after a short foot pursuit to Hartwick Road. The other was released without charges. Arrested and charged with 2nd degree assault, and obstructing/hindering was James Holloman Jr., 19, of Waldorf. The victim was not injured and no weapons were used at any time during the incident. For additional information contact our Media Relations Office at 301-405-9960. ###

Arrest Update - October 17, 2012: As a result of their investigation, University Police detectives identified an address in Hyattsville as the possible location of the phone taken from a UMD student in this afternoon's phone snatching incident in Lot 1D. Their continued investigation at the Hyattsville address led to the arrest of a 15 year old juvenile male for the crime. Several items were recovered linking the juvenile to the crime The juvenile was later released into the custody of his mother. Additional information, when available, will be posted here. INCIDENT: Robbery by Force (Snatching) OCCURRED: October 17, 2012 1:45 p.m. REPORTED: October 17, 2012 1:52 p.m. LOCATION: Parking Lot 1D UMDPS CASE #: 2012-55933 BRIEF DETAILS:

Update - 10/14/12 The Prince George's County Police District 1 Robbery Suppression Team has made an arrest in these cases. Investigators have arrested and charged a juvenile male for the offense. A black bb gun was recovered along with the victim's cell phone. For further information, please view http://pgpolice.blogspot.com/2012/10/pgpd-arrests-suspect-in-college-park.html. Update - 10/11/12 An attempted armed robbery, also occuring to the rear of the University View, was reported to PGPD. This occurred at approximately 10:30 p.m., just prior to the below incident. PGPD is investigating. On October 10, 2012, the University of Maryland Police Department was notified of an incident that that occurred near the UM campus. The Prince George’s County Police responded to investigate. Below is a brief synopsis of the incident.

CRIMINAL CHARGES FILED IN SEPTEMBER THEFT College Park, MD – On October 3, 2012 University of Maryland Police investigators applied for and received criminal charges against Michael Charles Manley Jr., 25, of Gambrills, Maryland for his involvement in a theft at the University of Maryland book store in the Adele H. Stamp Student Union on September 12 and September 17, 2012. Manley is charged with theft: $1,000 to under $10,000 and theft: less than $1000. Manley stole and attempted to steal multiple textbooks from the University Book Store.