Top 5 Stories: Suspicious Death, 'No Confidence,' Man Up

Last week may have been the craziest in a long while. We began the week by formally announcing the merger of Odenton and Severn Patch. Then it just got more intense.

If you want to get caught up on the news you missed, click on the links. Have a great week!

On April 12, Patrick Raphael Toney was charged with domestic child abuse. After he was freed on bail the next day, police encountered him on the side of the road near Piney Orchard Parkway and Odenton Road.

Police said he was acting irrationally, and asked someone to shoot him. He reportedly spit on police and kicked them as they tried to take him to a local hospital for evaluation. Then on the way to the hospital, he stopped breathing. at Baltimore Washington Medical Center. The cause of his death and circumstances of the case are under investigation.

Some parents have voiced concerns about a program at Arundel Middle School designed to help close the achievement gap among African-American boys, calling it too racially exclusive. The story has generated a lively debate in the Patch comments.

Law enforcement officials said Mamady Kaba was involved in buying stolen cars in Philadelphia and preparing them to be shipped overseas to West Africa. He was caught in a sting that netted 26 men and recovered $1.6 million in luxury cars.

Parents got a scare on Wednesday morning when they heard reports of an accident involving a school bus, with at least one person hurt badly. Patch quickly learned that the bus had no children on it at the time, but a man was rushed to Shock Trauma with serious injuries.

The Anne Arundel County Council voted 4-3 in a measure expressing its concern that James Teare can no longer effectively lead the county’s police department. In explaining his vote, new District 1 Council member Peter Smith referred to his service in U.S. Marines and compared the local police circumstances to an occasion when a military commander could be relieved of his duties if he can no longer inspire confidence.