Local Digest: Former Maryland bishop who fatally hit bicyclist is released

MARYLAND

Ex-bishop who hit bicyclist is released

A former Episcopal bishop who fatally struck a bicyclist while drunk and texting behind the wheel more than four years ago has been released from a Maryland lockup.

Heather Cook was the second-highest-ranking Episcopal leader in the Mid-Atlantic state when the fatal Baltimore crash occurred two days after Christmas 2014. Her lawyer says she was released on Tuesday from the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women.

Cook served just over half of the seven-year sentence she received for the death of Thomas Palermo, a married father of two. She had earned good behavior credits, and correctional officials have described her as a “model inmate.”

Cook pleaded guilty to manslaughter, drunken driving and leaving the scene, and she resigned from the church in May 2015.

— Associated Press

Eight accused of being part of fentanyl ring

A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment charging eight Baltimore residents with participating in a fentanyl and heroin ring.

If convicted, the defendants each face a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life. Prosecutors say one of the accused also faces gun charges. All the defendants except one have been arrested and are in federal or state custody. 

In a Monday statement, U.S. Attorney Robert Hur in Baltimore says his office is trying to do “everything possible to reduce overdose deaths from fentanyl and from all opioids.”

Late last year, he announced that officials in Maryland’s biggest city would prosecute more fentanyl cases in federal court. The effort is designed to help combat an alarming increase of fatalities caused by the synthetic opioid.

— Associated Press

VIRGINIA

Tires are slashed
in about 22 vehicles

Tires were found slashed Saturday on almost two dozen vehicles in an Arlington, Va., neighborhood, the Arlington police said.

They said officers were sent about 7:30 a.m. to the area around the 4500 and 4600 blocks of S. Four Mile drive and the 1100 block of S. Thomas Street.

Officers determined that between Friday night and Saturday morning, tires were slashed on about 22 vehicles parked in that area, police said.

They said they had no description of any suspect. The area is a largely residential neighborhood with many two-story brick apartment houses, south of Columbia Pike and east of Four Mile Run.

— Martin Weil