By Tim Prudente and Ben Weathers
The Capital
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A holiday on the water was cut short after a boat exploded Monday afternoon in Edgewater.
Two children remained hospitalized Tuesday with serious burn injuries after a 32-foot boat they were riding in burst into flames on the South River, according to Anne Arundel County Fire Department spokesman Lt. Jack Beall. Nine people, including six children, were on board the Wellcraft when its engine exploded around noon near the Oak Grove Marina, Beall said.
The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police. A preliminary investigation indicates that the explosion occurred when gas fumes ignited.
The boat was being operated by Robert Berra, 49, of Burtonsville, NRP spokesman Sgt. Brian Albert said.
Berra told investigators the engines stalled as he drove away from the marina’s fueling dock. He attempted to restart the engines when the gas vapors ignited, NRP said.
A 9-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl suffered serious injuries and were transported to the burn unit at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, according to National Resources Police spokesman Sgt. Brian Albert.
A 34-year-old woman and 13-year-old girl were taken to the Johns Hopkins Hospital emergency room in Baltimore, Albert said.
A 12-year-old girl, 13-year-old girl, 9-year-old boy and a woman of unknown age were transported to Anne Arundel Medical Center.
None of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries, Albert said.
Albert was unable to provide an update on their conditions Tuesday morning.
It was part of a busy Memorial Day for county firefighters.
Hours later, firefighters responded to a large debris fire at a Brooklyn Park recycling center and sand and gravel pit. Firefighters were called to the 6900-block of Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard around 6:15 p.m. where they found a large pile of wooden pallets involved with fire, fire department spokesman Division Chief Keith Swindle said.
It took firefighters more than three hours to bring the one-alarm fire under control, Swindle said.
No one was injured.
County and Annapolis police also had a busy holiday weekend.
Shortly before 12:30 a.m. on Monday, county police responded to the 7600-block of Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard in Glen Burnie where a 15-year-old male reported that he was robbed by two people, one of whom was armed with a gun, police spokesman Justin Mulcahy said.
The teen told police he was approached by two unknown males in the area of W. Furnace Branch Road and the Interstate 97 overpass. One of the males displayed a handgun while the other male took personal items from the teen, including his cellphone, Mulcahy said.
The males fled. Police were unable to find the suspects.
One male is 5-feet-11-inches tall and weighing 180 pounds, wearing a gray hoodie and dark pants. The other is around 5-feet-8-inches tall with a skinny build, wearing a dark hoodie and camouflage shorts.
In was the second armed robbery of a citizen that police responded to in little less than 24 hours in Severn.
Police responded to the area of Pioneer Drive and Richfield Road around 3:50 a.m. on Sunday.
Police spoke with two victims, ages 19 and 20, who said they were robbed at gunpoint. The victims told police that a man approached them, displayed a handgun and demanded money, Mulcahy said.
After the victims complied, the man fled on foot on Pioneer Drive toward Reece Road. Police searched the area but were unable to locate the suspect.
He is a black male in his early 20s, around 5 feet 9 inches and weighing 180 pounds with short hair and clean shaven, wearing a gray jacket and blue jeans.
Anyone with information of either incident is encouraged to call the 24-hour Metro Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-866-7LOCKUP.
And in Annapolis, a 43-year-old man was arrested on Saturday after he was caught stealing some $800 worth of scrap metal from an auto body shop.
Samuel Benjamin Joyce, of Obery Street, has been charged with multiple offenses including second and fourth degree burglary, theft, second degree assault and reckless endangerment. Joyce was arrested and taken to the Jennifer Road Detention Center in Parole where he was being held on a $150,000 bond, police said.
Joyce was caught taking scrap metal from a storage cage at the Chesapeake Auto Body shop, in the 1800 block of Margaret Avenue around 2:40 p.m. on Saturday. When the owner and a friend confronted Joyce he punched the owner and ran to escape, police said.
Officers apprehended Joyce a short time later at a footpath on South Cherry Grove Avenue, police said.
A possible accomplice left the area in a gold Nissan Frontier pickup prior to officers’ arrival, police said.
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