THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, April 9, 2014 p
Page A-3
AROUND THE COUNTY
Parents, sons charged in drinking party due in court Cellphone records are being examined
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BY
TIFFANY ARNOLD STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Customers Scott Velasquez and Heather Henderson, both of Germantown, have a laugh as they sample their ice cream on free cone day at the Ben and Jerry’s shop in the Rockville Center on Tuesday afternoon.
Getting the scoop on Sjogren’s n
Rockville Ben and Jerry’s offers free ice cream, information about autoimmune syndrome BY KRISTA BRICK STAFF WRITER
An ice cream giveaway at Ben and Jerry’s Tuesday had customers donating to the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation, a cause that has hit home for the Rockville store owners. Bonnie and Marc Sosin own the Ben and Jerry’s at 199F E. Montgomery Ave. and are using the tasty treat to raise awareness and money for the foundation. Their daughter, Paula Sosin, was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease at 19. Sjogren’s syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disease in which a person’s white blood cells attack their moisture-producing glands. Immunosuppressants can be used to alleviate its symptoms. Today, as many as 4 million
(From left) Customers Mario Gonzalez of Brunswick, Theresa Anderson of Baltimore and Ellen Josephson of Germantown — all of whom work in Rockville — sample their free sccops Tuesday afternoon at the Ben and Jerry’s store in Rockville Center. The shop encouraged donations from ice cream eaters to benefit the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation. Americans are living with this disease, according to the foundation’s website.
“Ever since Paula was diagnosed and after we went to our first national patient conference in
2009, we knew we wanted to make a difference,” Bonnie Sosin wrote in an email to The Gazette. For the past four years, the Sosins have hosted free cone day at Ben and Jerry’s, with customers’ donations going to the foundation that is based in Bethesda. The cone day brings in about $1,200 each year and about 4,000 customers, according to Marc Sosin. On Tuesday, ice cream lovers flooded the store around lunch time and more were expected later in the evening until 8 p.m. The most popular flavor of the day was chocolate chip cookie dough, Marc Sosin said. “More important than even raising money is raising awareness of the disease,” he said. Steve Taylor, CEO of the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation, helped greet customers at the event Tuesday. “This is a very tricky disease to diagnose. The challenge for us is we are the most common unknown disease,” he said.
A mother, a father and a son charged with attacking police and providing alcohol to teens during their son’s 21st birthday celebration are scheduled to appear in Montgomery County District Court on Thursday. The parents — George Magas, 54, and Cathy Magas, 46, and their sons, Nicholas Magas, 21, and Eric Magas, 18 — were charged with 21 counts of furnishing alcohol to minors, in addition to obstruction and hindering, according to online court records. The charges stem from what police allege happened when officers responded to a complaint about a party at the family’s house in the 9400 block of Damascus Road on Jan. 4, just prior to midnight. Police described seeing teens drinking in the yard and said there was a keg outside a stairwell of a basement, where 35 underage partiers were allegedly drinking. Police said residents wouldn’t let officers inside the home. A struggle ensued when officers tried to obtain the keg outside and saw someone coming out of a basement door trying to grab several cases of beer, police alleged. Police said attendees tried to slam the front door on the officer’s arms and a second officer who tried to help also was assaulted. Meanwhile, partygoers inside were banging on windows, yelling profanities and making video recordings of the scuffle. Police alleged that homeowner George Magas, the dad, had to be subdued by a stun gun because he reached for an officer’s holster. Magas additionally was charged with attempting to disarm a law officer, attempting to incite a riot and three counts of second-degree assault. The Magas brothers also were charged with attempting to incite a riot. Eric Magas and mom Cathy Magas additionally were charged with second-degree assault. Montgomery County police spokeswoman Angela Cruz said police were still considering whether to press charges against other partygoers. Prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a joint motion for a continuance, which means Thursday’s court date could be postponed. As of Tuesday afternoon, a District Court judge had not made a determination. Rene Sandler, a private defense attorney representing the family, said she was still in the process of examining a large number of cellphone records obtained from the party attendees.
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