Metro Briefs

MARYLAND

FINKSBURG

Two teens killed when van hits tree

Two teenagers died Saturday night when the van they were in crashed into a tree.

State police identified the victims as Emily Burke, 15, of Sykesville, and Rudolfo Calderon, 14, of Finksburg. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the two were passengers in a van being driven by Emily’s brother, Paul Burke, 17. He was driving his sister, Rudolfo and Alison Hird, 15, to their homes when he lost control of the van on Louisville Road and hit a tree.

Paul and Alison were taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Police said that it is possible the driver fell asleep at the wheel, and that there was no immediate indication of alcohol or drug use.

CAPITOL HEIGHTS

Two bodies found in hotel bathtub

The bodies of a man and a woman were found yesterday afternoon in a hotel bathtub.

Police said a hotel worker found the bodies at the Country Inn and Suites in a tub filled with water.

Investigators said there were no signs of a break-in or trauma from a struggle. It was not clear how long the bodies had been in the room.

VIRGINIA

RICHMOND

Man walking on I-64 dies in custody

A man died after he was pepper-sprayed by a state trooper and “tasered” by a New Kent County deputy.

State police encountered Yvelt Occean of Silver Spring walking along westbound Interstate 64 at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday. A trooper tried to tell Mr. Occean to get out of the right lane, then pepper-sprayed him after he resisted attempts to place him in custody, state police said.

New Kent County sheriff’s deputies and a rescue squad responded to the scene, and Mr. Occean declined further medical treatment, state police said. When he resisted efforts to put him in the deputy’s car and ignored several warnings, the deputy used a Taser electroshock device on him, state police said. Mr. Occean was taken to the New Kent County Sheriff’s Office, where he was arraigned on charges of obstruction of justice, resisting arrest and for being a pedestrian on the highway.

State police said Mr. Occean, 31, collapsed just before 10 p.m. in his holding cell. An ambulance took him to a Richmond hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

STANLEY

Landmarks added to historic list

Two Page County landmarks have been named to Virginia’s list of historic landmarks.

The Graves Chapel and Cemetery in Stanley and a bridge along U.S. 340 were placed on the Virginia Landmarks Register recently.

State officials say Graves Chapel “is representative of the simple houses of worship erected in the area during the middle decades of the 19th century.” It was built in 1856.

The adjacent cemetery was established in 1860 and features decoratively carved tombstones. A parsonage on the grounds was built in the early 1890s.

The bridge crosses Overall Run on U.S. 340. It was built in 1938 by the Virginia Department of Transportation using a specialized engineering form to span a deep ravine in steeply rolling terrain. It’s one of two Pratt deck arch truss bridges remaining in the state. The other is slated to be demolished soon.

Between 80 and 100 sites are added to the state register each year.

RICHMOND

Suspect in shooting found in Texas hotel

A Southwest Virginia man accused of shooting a Virginia state trooper was arrested yesterday in northeastern Texas.

Virginia State Police officials said Steven Dale Branscome was arrested at about 1:40 a.m. after a brief standoff at a hotel in New Boston, Texas. He is being held in the Bowie County jail pending extradition proceedings.

State police said Texas officers also recovered a van stolen from a Statesville, N.C., church on Wednesday in the parking lot of the hotel.

Mr. Branscome, 32, faces several charges in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina, including grand larceny for at least four vehicle thefts.

He is charged with malicious wounding and wanton endangerment in the March 28 shooting of Virginia Trooper Richard Hughes in West Virginia just across from the Giles County, Va., line. Trooper Hughes wasn’t seriously injured.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Police arrest teen after MySpace threat

Virginia Beach police arrested a 15-year-old boy accused of posting online threats about bringing a gun to his high school.

Police arrested the Kempsville High School student Friday morning. He is charged with threatening to kill or injure people on school property.

According to a police report, the student posted a threat Thursday in the school’s unofficial forum on the MySpace social networking site. A parent reported the threat to police about three hours later.

Police arrested the teen, who was processed at a juvenile facility and released to his parents.

From wire dispatches and staff reports