January 5

Galt wrote in the comments that someone was fatally shot on Thursday the 4th in the 3500 block of Howard Park Dr., but this hasn't been reported anywhere that I've seen.

The head of Dimensions Healthcare System says no more non-emergency prisoner patients until the state can get its act together. And when Dimensions calls you a screwup, you know it's bad.

New charges were brought against the bus beaters.

Ronald Lee Moore, the accused sex offender who was captured in Louisiana after being accidentally released from the Baltimore City Correctional Center, tried to kill himself. No word on whether he used a cattle prod in his suicide attempt.

A 19-year-old was arrested and charged with arson after allegedly setting five fires in a Pikesville apartment complex. (WBAL has a charming headline for their video: "Man Arrested In Complex Arson." Would he have been let go if it had been a simple arson?)

"There are no 'bad' kids in Baltimore." Go Gregory.

Two trials that are scheduled to start on Monday: The first-degree murder trial of Earl Bazemore and Victor Miller, who are accused of killing Andrew Levi Jackson on September 25 2006, and the second-degree assault trial against Rodney Corban, who is accused of beating a Muslim doctor who was washing his hands and feet in a bathroom at UMMS.

The Wegman's that is slated to replace the Wire soundstage in Columbia is meeting some opposition.

Juan Hernandez indicted

From the State's Attorney's Office:

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Juan Hernandez, 19, of the 1000 block of Foxchase Lane in Essex on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Court documents allege that Juan Hernandez is responsible for a shooting incident on March 30, 2007 in the 6300 block of Toone Street. Allegedly Hernandez entered the 6200 block of Toone Street in a dark colored vehicle, parked, exited his vehicle, walked toward the rear of the block and began firing at Estefany Gonzales,16, striking her in the shoulder. Hernandez allegedly fled the scene in the vehicle. Gonzales died later at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

An arraignment is scheduled for January 28, 2008 before Judge John P. Miller, Room 428 Mitchell Courthouse.

January 4

Kelvin Poke was being guarded by one correctional officer when he escaped. The second guard was on break.

Habitual drug dealer Michael A. Weathers was the man who was killed on Dec. 20 on the corner of Atlantic Ave. and S. Paca St.

If I were apologizing for a family member who killed five people because he was driving the wrong way down a freeway, I probably wouldn't use the words, "turn around unexpectedly."

HarCo businessman William Harrison has been charged with 218 counts of child sex abuse.

Convicted coke dealer DJ Nelly Nell is going away for 11+ years.

Corey Lehnhoff, the alleged instigator of the Mount Hebron HS fight that left one teenager dead, will be tried as a juvenile.

A federal cop's stolen gun is still missing.

Police are searching for an armed robber with a penchant for dresses who hit the Boscov's in White Marsh Mall on Wednesday night.

Also at White Marsh, a man with a star under his eye stole a leather coat from the Mens' Wearhouse. Could this be the man?

A current Raven and a former Raven are going at it in court.

January 3

The man killed at a New Year's party in Cherry Hill was 28-year-old Linwood Colvin.

The man killed in Edgewood on Sunday was ID'd as 23-year-old Tyree Eugene Brown.

Kerri King is one classy lady.

Kelvin Poke could've taught Samuel L. Jackson a thing or two about being a bad motherfucker.

Better to be distraught than dead, jackass.

A teenager was stabbed on Seagull Ave. in Cherry Hill last night, but was able to run to the Southern police station.

Assault charges against bus beating victim Sarah Kreager have been dismissed.

Anthony Showell's family swears that the cops have got the wrong guy.

If you see a 6' white dude walking around Highlandtown, call the police. (If there's no post here tomorrow, then you called the cops on the wrong 6' white dude.)

Brian Keith Scott is in jail after robbing a Westminster Subway shop.

Steven Vernarelli's lawyers are preparing a $100M lawsuit against the BPD after claiming that three officers sexually sodomized him near Hopkins Hospital.

Judge Richard D. Bennett told Ponzi schemer and repeat offender David McDowell Robinson that "a lengthy prison term is clearly going to be imposed by me."

Convicted murderer James Kulbicki won't get a new trial, no matter how many college degrees Joseph Kopera lied about.

Rodricks reaches out to future murderers and murder victims.

Jews rule.

The Philly City Paper pays respect to David Simon and takes a shot at those of us who prefer low-hanging fruit to the sweet nectar of truth.

January 2

A bit more about the circumstances that surround 2008's first murder, and some additional info about the investigation into whether Kerri King killed Courtney Brooks with her SUV.

Speaking of alleged asshole drunks, a 24-year-old construction worker from Ohio is being arraigned today on five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. He received minor injuries in the crash that killed a mother and four kids from Parkville.

Luke Broadwater's long-awaited recap of Baltimore City's 2007 homicides has been published, along with a list of December's murder victims.

Three victims are listed in today's Murder Ink.

Salisbury had their first homicide of 2007 in mid-December.

A curious comment in article about Edgewood citizens who are tired of local violence: "Without the ability or authority to discipline their children, parents end up ceding that responsibility to police." Ummmmm... so why exactly don't parents have the ability or authority to discipline their children?

A 31-year-old genius refused to drop the gun he was firing into the air to celebrate the New Year, and was rewarded with a police bullet to the gut.

We've come to expect stabbings and armed robberies, but for the love of God, leave our vodka alone!

The investigation into Anthony McCarthy's rather mysterious "inappropriate behavior" has been completed.

A bunch of cars in Canton were vandalized.

Sheila D. will be attending a screening of The Wire at the Senator on Saturday. David Simon is going after the fine folks at the Sun this season.

January 1, evening

We made it almost 60 minutes into the new year without a murder.

Police arrested 40-year-old Elkton resident Kerri King, the owner of the green SUV being sought in the hit-and-run death of MdTA officer Courtney Brooks. King was being held on charges related to a September DUI arrest. Her Ford Explorer had heavy damage to the front end.

Francisco Pascual, the Gwynn Oak man charged with smuggling and raping an underage girl from El Salvador, had his bail doubled to $2M. I don't know anything about Milford (CT) State's Attorney Kevin Lawlor, but he just might be my new hero.

New Year's Eve hit and run

Officer Courtney G. Brooks was hit and killed while he worked a traffic detail last night at the intersection of 95 & 395. He was a 13-year police veteran. Police are looking for a green Ford Explorer with temporary Delaware tags XB719820.

(I almost feel bad for my snide comment about WJZ in the previous post. Almost.)

January 1

Lewis Lee Cochran was arrested in the Edgewood home invasion on Sunday that left one man dead.

A Maryland Transportation Authority officer was the victim of a hit and run last night near 95 and 395. WJZ says he was killed, but WJZ says a lot of things.

The man killed outside the Stop, Shop & Save on N. Caroline St. last Friday has been ID'd as 25-year-old Todd Dargan.

Also in the Blotter (above link), the carjacker who desperately needed a '91 Blazer got arrested, the guy who got shot finally remembered where it happened, and teenagers in the metro area just aren't being very nice to each other.

Bringin' in the new year at juvie.

Looks like at least a few of the teens charged with beating Sarah Kreager on the MTA's No. 27 bus tried to claim that Kreager started the fight.

William A. Hendry IV allegedly taped he and his ex-wife having sex without her consent.

A 43-year-old man in Annapolis was stabbed after four men accused him of an earlier robbery.

Today's tip for stupid criminals: Don't ask a cop to move his car when (a) you're carrying around nearly 9 grams of wacky tabaccy, and (b) you're the reason the police were called in the first place.

The Examiner has a bunch of pretty neat year-end recaps that include updates on some major stories. Here's the one for Baltimore City.

Vandals in HoCo painted hateful messages on cars, houses, and driveways in well-to-do Clarksville.

December 31

Five members of a Parkville family were killed by a drunk driver in Ohio.

A Gwynn Oak man got his ass kicked -- both physically and legally -- after allegedly raping an underage Salvadoran girl who he smuggled into the country.

Josh Mitchell takes a look at differences in the motives that drive suburban and urban homicide.

Two men in Edgewood were shot by Crips yesterday.

Police have the victim and the bullet wound, but nobody knows where it happened. (Also in the Blotter, a grocery store owner was stabbed and robbed, a man was carjacked of his nearly 20-year-old Chevy, and a blonde woman in the Southeastern is armed with a bad sense of fashion.)

A Bel Air man is attributing a Molotov cocktail attack on his house to "a rash of vandalism in his neighborhood."

Be on the lookout for a 5'9" black man with a graying goatee who is wearing blue jeans and robbing banks. Wait a second... I think there's three of him working in my office as we speak!

MTA Police Chief David Franklin says the buses are safe; one of the nine kids who attacked Sarah Kreager doesn't agree.

If the slackers at the Dunkin Donuts in Berlin, MD kept their stupid store open 24 hours like every other DD on the face of the planet, these morons wouldn't have stood a chance.

Rodney Bethea just wants to talk, man!

Pat Jessamy's staff is looking into bogus parking tickets in the city.

December 30

The Sun does their year-end homicide wrap-up without any sensationalist headlines. Depressing QOTD from Julie B.: "The increase, though slight, underscores a troubling trend in homicides that leaves Baltimore standing virtually alone among major American cities."

A look at the strategies of some of those other American cities.

HarCo reduced their homicide rate by nearly 50%.

More details on the delivery driver from China Spring who was robbed and shot in Glen Burnie last week.

I missed an interesting article from yesterday's Sun about dealing with violence in the city's schools. (On an unrelated note, did you know that we have a Homeland Security Academy in West Baltimore? Does that seem creepy to anyone but me?)

I don't entirely understand the details, but protective orders in Maryland are being standardized to offer more consistent protection to victims of abuse. Or something like that.