Friday, February 29, 2008

February 29

A man robbing a grocery store was shot to death by an unnamed officer last night.

File under stupidity, astounding: Baltimore City worker Charles Payne allegedly robbed a pedestrian of $296, then fled the scene in his Public Works pickup truck "emblazoned with the Baltimore City emblem."

Armed robberies, thefts and burglaries in the Blotter.

Wow-- a witness alleges that the murder of corrections officer David McGuinn was a "hit" ordered by crooked guards running a contraband-smuggling ring.

6 comments:

ppatin said...

From the Examiner

"Facing staunch opposition from the Catholic Church, Del. Eric Bromwell withdrew a bill this week that would have suspended time limits for sex-abuse victims to file lawsuits against their alleged molesters.

Under existing law, civil suits for child sex-abuse claims must be filed by the victim’s 25th birthday. Bromwell’s bill — which was co-sponsored by five other lawmakers — would have opened 2009 to lawsuits, regardless of the victim’s age. After 2009, the statute of limitations would extend until the victim’s 50th birthday."

Hmm, I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand I dislike both perverts and the Catholic Church. On the other hand innocent people do get got up in sex offender hysteria, and even in a civil case it's kind of hard to get a fair trial decades after an alleged incident occured.

badfish said...

I'm assuming that Charles Payne is somehow related to Mayor Dixon...

graham said...

He may not be related to Mayor Shoe, but he is the same asshole who should have been fired back in '99. Nice to see he's now a Superintendent.

From the Sun story:

"In 1999, Payne was suspended from the department after allegations that he took kickbacks from a group of workers in exchange for approving up to $60,000 for each employee in unearned overtime. State prosecutors raided Payne's office in 1999 and said they were still investigating the case in 2000. Payne denied any wrongdoing, and no charges were filed against him, according to court records."

Anonymous said...

For what it's worth:

The crime lab tech who worked the officer-related shooting was the same person who was at my house last night.

If I'd called ten minutes later I would have wound up waiting about ten hours for her to arrive.

buzoncrime said...

I just wish that Calvert Hall, and other Catholic institutions, would do more to accept responsibility for what they have done to mess kids up--instead of insisting on some artificial barrier to further legal action. Let the accuser come forward, and if he/she has a strong case, the church should settle.

Of course, as ppatin says, the Church has such a bad reputation with jurors that just that accusation might gain traction. I will say, though, that most jurors, most of the time, try to do the right thing--despite the newsworthy exceptions we all read about.

buzoncrime said...

As far as Charles Payne goes: he's again the exception of city employees committing crimes on duty. However, it goes to show the arrogance of Baltimore's criminals: they really aren't scared of us.

Also, Buz guesses that Mr. Payne thought that he and his bunky were robbing a druggie, and the victim was not going to report it. I believe that is one of the reasons there is a drop in robberies: many victims involved in the game don't report when they get stuck up/mugged/robbed. Mr. Payne saw no reason to fear using his city vehicle. Of course, the consultant wonders why no one missed him from his arduous city duties. Betcha: (3-1) he's done this kind of stuff before. Betcha (4-1) he wouldn't pass a drug test.

By the way, it's no accident that this incident occurred in one of the crime-ridden parts of East Baltimore: the police department's Viet Nam. Lots of police resources are poured into keeping the lid on East and West Baltimore, while the taxpayers get an even 160 officers assigned to each district, no matter how large or small or busy it is. (Northeast does not see huge numbers of Tactical, Traffic, or Organized crime officers assigned to assist its beleagured staff.)