Thursday, May 3, 2012

One bro guilty, one off the hook

The younger, incrementally more awkward brother who helped Tricia Bishop is off the hook, but older brother Eliyahu should have stayed in his Miata instead of trying to "relieve" the freaked-out teenager of the plank he grabbed to defend himself after they followed and confronted him, said Judge White. Makes sense. Eliyahu faces 10 years at sentencing in June. The boy's family has dropped their $6 million lawsuit against the brothers.

No Werdesheim verdict yet?

Judge White was scheduled to deliver a verdict on the Werdesheim brothers at 3, it's 3:35 and no word yet yet, which makes me think no consequences for the boys and the courthouse is bracing itself. ...

Speaking of rioting, 20 years ago today the California riots (aka Rodney King Riots, L.A. riots, 4/29) had been going on for five days -- 13,500 Federal troops had arrived in cities the day before, says el Wikipedia. The rioting started in L.A. and Bakersfield but there was also rioting and looting in Oakland, Berkeley, the Tenderloin of San Francisco and Las Vegas. Van Halen and Michael Bolton shows were cancelled. "Federal troops did not stand down until May 9; the state guard remained until May 14; and some soldiers remained as late as May 27."
City police commissioner Fred Bealefeld III, made a surprising announcement today, stating that he will be retiring this August.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Gun Time Does Not Equal Fun Time

The two boys who killed 13-year-old Monae Turnage in what is described as a gun accident have plead guilty to their roles in the shooting and attempted coverup. According to prosecutors, Monae was still breathing when she was dragged into an alley and hidden under garbage.*

A Towson family is jubilant after a state court ruled that all pit-bulls, regardless of prior violence,  should be considered dangerous, and that their owners can be held responsible for any terror they cause. I'll leave my personal opinions well out of this, but what do you, great readers, think of the ruling?

Ronald Johnson was sentenced to 30 years for murdering Sgt. Chase Love outside the "Hookah Lounge" back in July 2010. 

Two suspicious deaths from this weekend have been announced, including that of Tenneseean Karen Huskey, found dead after raving it up.  It seems the number of announced suspicious deaths have been severely reduced hes past couple years, at least based on the number of ones I add to the homicide tally.

That... is not going to help the prosecution. At the Werdesheim trial a woman passed out suddenly, and who was the first person to jump up and help? Avi Werdesheim. 

It seems we can't go a week in Baltimore without a viral video sparking controversy. This time it's a video of the police's handling of a group of activists that's caused more then a few people to be up in arms. 

A gleeful, shirtless man jumped the field at the Orioles game Friday, before eventually getting tackle by the home plate ump. I went to the game Friday, and sat almost next to, and cheered with, the very, very drunk and enthusiastic man. While I can't recommend that sort of behavior, his actions were the only interesting point in that dud of a game...

A fella in Essex got popped in "A Line Barbers" on South Marlyn Ave.

Four people will be spending a long time behind bars for kidnapping and attempting to murder a woman. 27-year-old Torrence White was sentenced to 40 years, 24-year-old Morris James got 30 years, 23-year-old Keonay Hill got 30 years, and 29-year-old Adesha Richardson is awaiting sentencing.

The firing of Salvatore "Don't Call Me Dude" Rivieri has been upheld by a MD court.

Students are doing all they can to keep pedo John Merzbacher in a prison cell for the rest of his life.

Two out of three of the corrections officers accused of violently beating a woman at Central Booking have been convicted. Larry Morris and Shannon Rivies face serious time when sentenced. Terrance Taylor was acquitted of all charges.

A new robocall trial for former Ehrlich aid Julius Henson has begun. Henson is accused of concocting a scheme to dupe hundreds of thousands of democrats into not voting during the 2010 Gubernatorial election.

The City police department was recently audited, and shockingly enough, the results weren't so great. 

County residents aren't looking very open minded this past week. In the first incident, County resident Billy Ray Pratt, 24, plead guilty to hanging a raccoon on the porch of a home belonging to a family of African immigrants. In the second incident, a rock found it's way through the window of a Muslim community center. 

That's... really gross. Folks at CCBC Essex are on the lookout for a creeper who put his head under several active use stalls in the woman's restroom. 

A few crimes of note in and around Towson, including the robbery of a couple in the Towson Mall parking garage. 

Police are ISO the Dundalk driver who hit and nearly killed a 15-year-old riding his bicycle. 

18th Street gang member Joel Ventura "Clon" Quintanilla was sentenced to Life in the Federal pen  for murdering a 15-year-old and a 24-year-old in separate incidents. Quintanilla was an El Salvadorean immigrant already serving Life in state prison due to his gang shenanigans. He was arrested for the murders thanks to the fact that he had his own nickname tattooed on his stomach. 

Recent Victims ID'd

Updates and ID's on a Whole Bunch of Recent Homicides:

56. Somchanh Sipayboun, a woman with no criminal record was murdered in what police describe as a domestic dispute. No arrest has been made, although Ms. Sipayboun had a prior peace order filed against someone before. It will be interesting to see if that man has anything to do with the murder...

57. Willie Battle, a 19-year-old with an active warrant for drug dealing, was shot dead in the 2700 block of Boarman Ave.

58. Mark Day, 43, was shot in the 1500 W. North Ave. back in August of 2010, before dying this year in March.

59. Floyd Dorsey, a 59-year-old man who doesn't appear to have any local criminal record was shot and killed in the normally quiet 4100 block of Norfolk Ave.

60. Michael Williams, 45, was identified by Murder Ink as the man shot  in the 2500 block of Harlem Ave. Wednesday.

61. Phylicia Barnes, 16, who for some reason was not on the 2011 homicide list, despite her death having been declared a homicide back in May of 2011, has now been officially added to the homicide tally.

62. Cortez Lemon, 23, was stabbed to death near Lexington Market. 21-year-old Troy Harrison has been arrested for the crime.

63. Rayner Veney, 51, died nearly a year after being shot while on a scooter in the 3400 block of Ravenwood Ave.