The case against notorious drug kingpin Stephen Blackwell has come to a somewhat anti-climactic ending when Blackwell (Pictured right in the first picture I've ever seen of him) pled guilty to heroin conspiracy charges as well as a variety of other non-violent crimes. While Blackwell was never charged with any of the violence that threw him into the spotlight, he was believed to have been at the head of an organization that engaged in a violent war, resulting in the shootings of 27 people. All of the violence started with the April 2008 abduction of brothers Stephon and Sterling Blackwell. Interestingly enough, young Stephon is already following in his older brothers footsteps, with an early 2012 trial for drug dealing and a conviction for prescription drug fraud already on his record.
This abduction set off a war between the Stephen Blackwell organization and the Terrell Allen group. Allen, 38, is also serving a federal prison sentence for possession of ammunition. No end-all prison fight between the two drug leaders will likely occur due to Terrell Allen likely being released in January.
Throughout this long ordeal there were many shootings and several notable homicides including: Omar Spriggs; one of the men responsible for the abduction of the Blackwell brothers, Tony Allen; who was Terrell Allen's dad and was shot alongside his son and Spriggs, as well as Quinton Hogan and Donell Rogers. Also killed were Troy Wilson and Demarco Brown Jr; the two men believed to be responsible for the Hogan & Rogers murder, Anthony Izzard, and kidnapping/murder victim Eric Pendergrass Jr.
Thanks to Justin Fenton and the Baltimore Sun as well as City Paper for all the information found here.
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The news keeps coming in the Adam Meister-Frank Conaway yard scuffle case. Now an outside prosecutor is going to be handling the case. This is a pretty good move, since an unbiased prosecution is nearly impossible to get with this case.
A city police officer fatally shot an man armed with two knives at the 3300 block of Edmonson Ave.
50 Years in prison for Michael Hunter, 20, for shooting 72-year-old security guard Charles Bowman in the often-dangerous Yau Brothers Chinese take-out restaurant.
A Windsor Mill teen is in serious condition after being shot by two unknown males while walking to a 7-11.
Occupy Baltimore protestors are giving it another shot to obtain a park permit.
54-year-old Russia teacher Yulia Pogrebenko, who was found dead in the Chesapeake Bay after having gone missing during a trip to Maryland has been officially deemed a homicide victim. No charges have been filed as of yet.
Baltimore County police are citing pedestrian error for the death of 74-year-old William Norton, Jr.
Finally, a Dundalk couple are in the hospital after both somehow getting doused in flammable liquid before catching on fire.
6 comments:
Now, what do you mean by 'often dangerous'?
Is the food poisoned?
Do you walk a bed of hot coals entering the doorway?
No.
But at any given moment, it is true, a couple of known violent criminals from one of Baltimore's more criminal 'hoods might walk in wearing hoodies and masks and shoot you during a robbery.
But you don't fix that by closing a store unless it's done something very wrong.
So, uh, why is it that when Hopkins affiliate Stephen Pitcairn was murdered in front of Margaret Brent Middle School in Charles Village (where by the way there was another stabbing just weeks ago), no one called for the closing of that institution? Isn't it therefore a deathtrap? A public nuisance?
No. No one would ever try to smooth over a murder of a white guy in a white neighborhood by blaming it on an inanimate object. In that event the politicians promise retribution against the 'vicious predators who attack our neighbors'. They swear crime will not be tolerated there. No politician would ever tell Stephen's grieving mother that they view treating his death with a 'public health approach' to underlying socioeconomic conditions. They promise to make the bastard pay.
But in Waverly, they don't seem to want to blame it on the behavior of criminals, possibly because one in three males in Waverly is one. (And their mommas vote.)
So instead the local politicians rail against some poor Chinese storekeeper for something he had nothing to do with, other than being open for business at the obscenely late hour of 7:oo p.m. So the criminal conduct by individuals is very definitely tolerated and the deadly effects are blamed on scapegoats.
God forbid anyone should call for the density of criminals per capita in Waverly to be reduced to a level comparable to that in North Charles Village through intensive policing and incarceration.
Criminality is what causes crime, not lousy moo goo gai pan.
Oh, and I suppose lawmakers eschewing the concept of personal responsibility for one's criminal actions contributes as well.
I can't disagree with your points there, it's absolutely the neighborhood and the citizens that make the restaurant dangerous as opposed to anything the restaurant itself has done. That being said, every store in that area isn't averaging 1.3 murders a year in the last 3 years, so be it coincidence or not, it's still an exceptionally dangerous place.
What I really don't understand is how this place could possibly still be in business. No matter how desensitized you are to the violence around you, there's no reason to risk life and limb going to the Yau Brothers when there are other places to eat in the vicinity. But for all I know maybe they just have really delicious Chinese food. Being the reasonable person I am, I ought to stop by one evening and try for myself before I truly write this place off.
Um,... may I save you the trip?
I generally don't eat there and I am far from a gourmand.
And here is part of my point:
Yau Bros. is located quite close to the Waverly Homes and a few feet from Harwood, out of which community leader Edna McAbier was firebombed by its resident hoodlums.
If it were to be padlocked (by two politicians with an axe to grind about carryouts) those guys in the hoodies and masks would just walk up the street to the next nighttime chinese carryout, Shun Lee, which has received its share of bullet marks.
How's this for an idea? When a group of young hoodlum males pulls hoodies over their heads and skulks around the commercial district carrying firearms, maybe the police should shoo them out of the district once they've expeditiously completed any legitimate patronage.
Question: You know Alonso's on Cold Spring Lane?
If the guys on the video were casing Alonso's, how long do you think it would be before the police offered an escort back out of the district? I'd give it about five minutes.
Oh, and on the subject of padlocking nuisances, how about this one? Or this one ?
Because, you know, every educational establishment isn't averaging 1.3 whatever, whatever ...
How about we lay it on the line:
Baltimore City CHOOSES to act as a haven for a huge, huge criminal population, provided they don't go after the pretty people (Roland Park, Canton, Guilford, Homeland, etc) And Baltimore's answer to the criminality is to shut down more or less law-abiding restaurants, carryouts, bars, and corner stores, rather than imposing on the liberties of those hoodlums as civilized towns do.
Thought experiment: Airlift a random sample of young Baltimore males on the streets after dark to Main Street somewhere in Middle America. How long before they receive a WHOLE LOT of attention from the local constabulary?
Baltimore has chosen to be a post-apocalyptic hellhole,... just not around the white folk.
I wasn't quite aware that you could lawfully accommodate criminality, but Baltimore as a municipality exists primarily for two purposes:
1) aiding, and
2) abetting.
- Galt
Oh, you'd better padlock this one too 'cuz it happened again.
I'd give Yau Brothers a try, but I don't like Chinese food. If they sold lake trout I'd try it in a heartbeat. I know all the good lake trout places.
It`s terible, more one shoot in year.... Shame
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