Two firsts bookend Clarence Beall?s nearly two-decade career: Prosecuting Carroll?s first crack cocaine case 17 years ago, and, more recently, busting drug-peddling gangs.
“Look how far we?ve come,” said Carroll County Deputy State?s Attorney Beall on Thursday, his last day on the job. “Carroll County has changed exponentially to the point where we now have a half a dozen deaths a year from heroin.”
The first crack dealer who was caught was charged with possession, but he was a distributor whose arrest only foreshadowed a drug market that expanded during Beall?s 18 years as a prosecutor, he said.
Known as “Buddy,” Beall appeared ready for retirement Thursday, wearing a fishing hat and vest as he sat in his near-empty office on the first floor of the Carroll County Circuit Court Annex in Westminster.
“He?ll definitely be missed,” said his colleague, fellow Deputy State?s Attorney David Daggett.
Jennifer Darby, another state prosecutor, described Beall as a knowledgeable mentor.
“Personally, I?m happy for him, but professionally, it?s going to be sad for us,” said Darby, who helped Beall spearhead efforts in recent years to combat Carroll?s emerging gangs.
Beall pushed for and received a federal grant to fund a gang-prevention coordinator at the Carroll County Sheriff?s Office who would oversee a database tracking gang members. The coordinator is slated to be hired by March.
A former Vietnam fighter pilot, Beall is known for a persistence that has led to many convictions.
He prosecuted the last death-penalty-eligible case in Carroll in the early 1990s. Investigators had combed the crime scene but couldn?t find the murder weapon.
Beall pushed police to search farther, and a rusty shotgun was discovered 15 feet beyond where they had stopped looking. As a result, Michael Bryson, of Westminster, is now serving life in prison for killing a Lineboro store owner during a robbery.
Beall said he would spend more time with his family and renovate his home.
