Wednesday, August 9, 2006

August 9

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Antoine Oliver, 22, for first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. Court documents allege witnesses saw Kemoni Sterrette and Antoine Oliver moments before a shooting incident at the Unity Hair Salon in the 2200 block of Garrison Boulevard on May 13 in which the victim, Justice Georgie, was shot and killed while trying to stop the robbery. The Baltimore Grand Jury indicted Sterrette July 17 for first-degree murder. Sterrette is held on $250,000 bail at the Baltimore Detention Center. Oliver is held on $750,000 bail.

Six murders this week, plus new information on Gary Shipman. Also, William Gibson's 1983 death on E. Pratt St. has been added to this year's homicide count (#168), and Dennis James Wallace of Highlandtown was arrested for the crime.

Dewayne Blanche Jones Jr., the man who was shot to death in Middle River yesterday morning, was a well-liked middle-school teacher.

A very strange shooting on Liberty Rd. this morning.

Fox 45 reports on a racial attack at the exclusive St. Paul's School in Baltimore County last spring. The two white students who chased a black student with a noose, put it around his neck, and attempted to pull him into the air claimed they were just joking. (Unfortunately, there's not a useable link on Fox's site yet, but for now try this link.)

Interviews with jurors from the Canela/Espinoza trial.

Now is a bad time to be a prison guard.

Donald Gladden was arrested for 19 recent armed robberies.

You mean "full service" means sex???

A man was charged with raping his 67-year-old neighbor nine years ago.

Former school teacher/principal Daniel Harner was convicted for being a perv.

Applications for search warrants are apparently immune from libel.

A former Hagerstown cop admitted to "terrorizing the city he once served."

An Elkton teen was arrested for setting fire to cars in a movie theater parking lot.

Lots of people are helping find Oxter.

ABC2 apparently needs a new proofreader: "Viral Video’s; feature films of the online world"

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like Fox needs a new proofreader, too.

"The St. Paul school pride's itself on it's virtues and values."

Maurice Bradbury said...

Infuckingcredible.
How can someone get a job in media without knowing basic grammar?!?! Typos happen and mistakes get made, sure, but those aren't typos! Those are the errors of people who should not have passed fifth-grade English!



arrrrrrrrrrrrrgghhhh!

taotechuck said...

You'd think that someone who like's apostrophe's so damned much would get the name of the St. Paul's School correct, wouldn't you?

Anonymous said...

English? Oh, I'm sorry, cybes, the Baltimore City Public School System doesn't offer that foreign language.

Now, if you wanted Inner-city gibberish, lotsa teachers speak that all day long to the students.

Anonymous said...

Consider the following: Donald Gladden committed 20 robberies in a smallish geographic area in N-NE Balto., of which 4 were in the same strip shopping center with the same m.o.

Now, being realistic about how readily one can respond to the very first incident,... when did it become ok to take 19 encore performances for the department to git 'em?

Reason,... because you have too few frickin' cops, alright?


So you got, let's say, four times as many incidents as you should have. Only because you insist on retaining inadequate police manpower.

Think about that... the level of crime here is NOT some inexplicable accident of fate. It's a choice your leaders have made for you.

Think of it this way. Suppose you walked into a house in February and were freezing. The host says, "I'm so sorry, but you have to understand, it's the weather. I have no control of the temperature." Ahem,... the thermostat? "Oh, but that would cost money." Yeah, for everyone else, too.

Same thing with crime. If you don't want to be one of the worst cities in America, you're going to have to double the current level of cops.

Or, you can just continue on as the second-worst city in the country. Your choice, but don't be surprised when people move out of here.

Anonymous said...

Guys, calm down. They're TV reporters. They're supposed to be pretty, not smart.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes galt you are a leaky faucet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


. . . . . . ....

taotechuck said...

Yeah, anon, but I'm pretty and smart... (cough, cough)

Anonymous said...

Yep, I'm a broken record. It's just that... it's never going to get any better until they bite this bullet.

It NEVER going to any get better if left to the politicians.

They must be compelled.

Anonymous said...

rodya, so tell me, how many days of the week do you have to do police-related tasks? I'd say I have this crap two out of every three days, some major, some minor. These hoodlums need constant oversight and I'm tired of being the one to do it.

I'm guessing you probably don't have to live with the same burden.

Anonymous said...

So that you understand why I drone on so, imagine the city's sewer backed up into your basement, rising every minute. (This is not quite hypothetical, happeneed to me in January.)

If they do not assist you after many requests, can you ever foresee just accepting it? Would you ever just resign yourself to sewerage in silence?

Well, that's where I'm at with the pervasive crime and general misconduct here.

Anonymous said...

Galt, with all due respect, and I'm not trying to be a smart a@# but I don't HAVE to do police related tasks. You're right. I won't lie. I know, Galt, I know. You've got me there. I can afford a meager existence which meets my comfortability level right where I am though. Sure I could move in cheaper and have more nice things to buy but what good are nice things if you can't enjoy them? i.e. worry to death about them (I'm including my personal safety in "nice things" to have). I'm really not a possessions guy anyways. At any rate, you're right. I am one of the few? people who've chosen to live my life in relative safety with low war-zone factor for now.

My brother lives in another town in a bad area with his wife and newborn and over New Years someone was shot on his front lawn. Then there was an entire family murdered in the neighboring nice neighborhood a few blocks away a few days prior.

Someone could mug me tonight walking down the street, I'm only a block away (it seems like that could be anywhere in this town). And sometimes when I visit him I'm jealous because he seems like he has such a bond sometimes with the people in his neighborhood. The dealers hang on his corner and he's always chasing them off. He doesn't like his neighborhood but, maybe you can answer, it seems like getting out and doing your patrols connects you to it that much more?

I can't let the fear or anger of it get in the way of my life. I went and played a number of games of tennis today. A couple weeks ago I went to Druid Hill to throw the discs around with a friend. I walked around Park Heights last weekend because I have never walked around Park Heights (both sides). A couple weeks ago I met some people on the dock at the park on the other side of Hanover bridge. They were fishing. Then I drove through Sandtown that night because I'd never been.

There's some serious sh#t that goes down in this town. I'm not confused about where we stand in regards to violent crime or about the issues, believe you me. And I laugh maybe just as hard as you at "Get In On It". And I admire your passion for your message, don't get me wrong. I'm tired and I just think this response:

"English? Oh, I'm sorry, cybes, the Baltimore City Public School System doesn't offer that foreign language.

Now, if you wanted Inner-city gibberish, lotsa teachers speak that all day long to the students."

sort of just pushed me over the edge, you know?

But no you're right, I don't live in your neighborhood. No, I agree, this town is backwards as all get out.

Anonymous said...

You're gonna kill me for this one.
What about the schools crack set you off? It's really like that in many of the classrooms. The lack of standard english on the part of teaching staff is... embarrassing and infuriating.

Oh, they're capable of it. When they were interviewed, I'm sure they spoke the King's English. But on a daily basis with the kids, it's very, very 'street'. I will acknowledge that I've only rarely heard a teacher use the four-letter stuff on kids here.

Anyhow, part of the problem is just how different the safety regimes can be across neighborhoods here.

Thee murder rate shouldn't increase by an order of magnitude just by walking across the street. If everyone had exposure to this crap more equally, I'm confident there would be more shrill voices raised against the administration on this subject.

Anonymous said...

Galt, I'm very confused... what is the burden you are living with? Having to post to a blog with a limited readership 2-3 times a day? Or do you have some sort of job where you really have to deal with crime every day? No offense, I love this blog, but I don't see posting on the internet as any real action. I may be wrong. I am probably confused.

Anonymous said...

When I refer to burden, I mean routine patrols, tipping-off police to criminal conduct, testifying in court, apprehending burglars in my neighbors' yards while they're at work, requesting that late-night juveniles be chased into their homes. People in my neighborhood upon being released from jail walk up and down the main street selling stuff stolen from my neighbors' houses or yards. Someone's gotta snitch on 'em. I also pressure the courts and the p.o.'s to issue warrants and, hopefully, to come fetch these people when they violate their parole. You wouldn't believe how uphill that is in this city.

I had a hood who had broken into a house, a prior breakin of which had placed him on probation with instructions to stay away from the house. I had him written up for the B&E. Because the charge was written improperly by the officer, it was null prossed, pending correct charging docs. The charging officer dodged for a month. I contacted the office of the p.o., who said they couldn't find his case without my providing his social security number. He later violated a stay away condition with another neighbor, and the responding officer couldn't verify the violation without his birth date. I had to fax the judge the incident report to get him to agree to issue a warrant. It never got out. I had to call him two additional times to find out where the paperwork disappeared to. He finally issued the warrant and the hoodlum has been in custodial drug and behavioral treatment now for six months. None of which would ever happen if I weren't doing all the city's work for them. No civilian should have to figure out where the court's paperwork is to be found. No civilian should have to know the p.o.'s by name.

Another guy who had broken into several stores (we caught him in possesion of stolen goods from a commercial B&E) then broke into a house, where I had him locked up. He was released the next day and I caught him breaking into another house that p.m. The police were unsurprised. Happens all the time. He appeared at trial, saw that I was testiying, and requested a postponement to secure counsel. Postponement was granted and he FTA'd at the rescheduled trial date.

This guy has several different felony cases pending, and now we've got warrants outstanding. I obtain the copies of his mugshot and supply the local officers along with his warrant data. If we get him, it'll probably be because I see him myself.

All this should happen without my intervention. It doesn't, because active parole/probation cases here outnumber cops 50 to 1. What that means, being pragmatic, is that cops here don't have a second to think or engage proactively. They just run from one emergency to the next, without stop at night.

A hoodlum breakin' into houses ranks way below assaults in progress. They'll just never get to it, in the ordinary course of business, unless someone does all the legwork for them. In another city, that person is called the 'other cops on the post'. We don't have an 'other cop', so breaking and entering is allowed here. Not lawful, just allowed. So is vandalism and petty larceny.

I've been the source of proactive patrol here for many years. I'm tired. In a decent place, police do this, not me.

The Commissioner told my District that he'd like to have 1,000 more officers. I asked what we needed to do to get them. He just intended to sit on his hands and see what comes along. I don't think that way. That's what's been going on for over ten years.

This crap is why those officers need to be hired, over the complacent foot-dragging of the administration. This sh!t has got to end.

Anonymous said...

My neighbors usually call me before calling the cops, because I'll arrive about 15-20 min. earlier.

It's insane.

Anonymous said...

Now, in all candor, we have had more manpower on the street here lately because of all the high-profile holdups. But that's hardly a good thing, right? Nor is it one which lasts after the arrest.

Anonymous said...

Not that I'm one to say I told you so, but...



I toldja so!

(on the correct use of 'Broken Windows', from the author.)

Anonymous said...

Hey Galt what section of the city do you live in? I'm almost afraid to search for a home there, I'd be afraid for my wife and kid. But I do admit you've got the gusto defending your neighborhood, I bet a lot of folks would have sold and moved.

Anonymous said...

I'm dead smack in the center of the City, between Charles Village and Waverly. A lot of folks have sold and fled. Most of the good ones. Frankly, I wish I had been one of them.

The fact is, contrary to what the frickin' politicians will tell you, no matter how much of the work you do, this lousy City won't lift a finger to help do it's job.

That's why every time they've tried to sell people on a Baltimore renaissance over the last 25 years, it's always collapsed as optimistic new arrivals gradually figure out that Baltimore just wants to suck the life outta you.

The President of City Council, when last she addressed our community assoc., laid it on the line: a fortune 500 company was looking to build a facility here and she recommended that we hold up its process to extract a cash contribution from the developer. That's the public character of Baltimore City for you. Oh, and she wants to be your new Mayor.

Maurice Bradbury said...

it's = contraction of "it is"
its = posessive of "it"

Correct: The city won't lift a finger to do its job, and it's a fucking shame, because it's a nice city unless you meet some basehead trying to get its fix.

Anonymous said...

Prospective Homebuyer...

Galt is just one voice in one neighborhood. He is an admitted angry man, and has a propensity, as you can tell, for getting into deep trouble with very bad people.

Do your research, find the right neighborhood and the right house, and you will have a nice place to live and a good investment.

Anonymous said...

Ahem. AHEM!

What the hell, pray tell, is a right neighborhood?

The only thing wrong with my neighborhood is that the City of Baltimore encourages those who engage in outrageous conduct to do so here, rather than in the premier (read: white, affluent) neighborhoods.

The desirability of property in those areas is dependent upon having a place like my area to which to export the incredible criminality of this city. If all areas had to share that burden equitably, but few of you would be willing to live in Baltimore.

Whenever we talk about distributing the low-income public housing equitably over neighborhoods, the 'desirable' neighborhoods have kittens.

If the crime's good enough for me to have to live with, it's good enough for you, too. Bet you'll change your tune quickly then, Anon.

I AM an angry man, admittedly. But I'm not wrong. When you say I get into trouble opposing bad people, yes, and so do people called police officers in any decent city. I shouldn't even be able to find so many thoroughly criminal people, if the cops were doing their job and locking them up, where they belong.

Do you realize that fully 50% of Baltimore's young, black males are either in prison, jail, or parole/porobation? So, you run a 50% chance every time you encounter one, which strongly indicates living in a white enclave, which makes us the only city in the U.S. which is segregated by its municipal government. Whatta great town.


Ok, now, where's my Valium ?