Showing posts with label speed cameras. Show all posts
Showing posts with label speed cameras. Show all posts

Friday, December 7, 2012

Sausage parties, gay trollies and football



Four people were shot night-before-last*

Sheila Dixon will be in court today for a probation-violation hearing*






The poop-storm of robberies continues in the SE, this week's Baltimore Guide collection includes the mugger who said "thank you," an escort forced to drive her her home by two suspects who then robbed her, a woman robbed after she refused to buy food for a guy lurking around a carryout.

Marc Steiner had a sausage party last night to talk homicides (which I guess is cool, given most perps and victims are also male), guests included Fenton and Guglielmi, here's a link to the podcast.


In other sausage party news, The Daily Beast has yet more deets on the Kevin Clash case. (Wonder if they'll phase Elmo out, the whole scandal rather tarnishes the brand, no?) Here's a Jezebel/Gawker summary if you don't want to read all them words.


Down in Greenbelt, the 4th is hearing the case of Anthony McIntosh, a prison guard accused of failing to get medical help for inmate Ronnie White.



More bad speed cameras-- imagine that, a profit-driven corporation cutting corners to maximize profit. Now the one on University Parkway has been demonstrated to have given out a ticket to a car that the camera tracked at 45 mph but was actually going 7.* Yes, 7. Meanwhile last Saturday Xerox/ACS closed down three lanes of Cold Spring to test the camera there and found no problems. Hrm. Last month a state audit found that Xerox/ACS didn't test the cameras before installing them using the standards they were supposed to, and didn't perform calibration checks once they were installed.

A prisoner, Brian Dargan, is being charged with attempted murder after shooting an officer in the leg at St. Joseph's hospital.


Two CV appliance-booglars, Chambers Agurs and Derrick Moffatt, were in court yesterday; both agreed to the statement of facts but pleaded not guilty and both got time served, were ordered to pay restitution and got two years of supervised probation (which Steve G. notes costs the supervisee $75 a month), though now Moffatt (caught red-handed toting a refrigerator door) wants to appeal.


Can we quit acting like it's an isolated incident when people who get beat about the head for a living turn out to be a touch mental? Anyway, happy purple Friday, some Raven got his guns taken away after being accused of domestic violence by his babies' mom.


Also in North Baltimore, five stolen government cell phones, a stolen 1988 Oldsmobile, a burgled yoga studio (how many yoga studios are there in Hampden these days?), a stolen marriage certificate.


The owner of an Annapolis trolley company says he'll shut down rather than be forced to trolley same-sex newlyweds. Note that discrimination against sexual orientation has been against the law in MD since 2002-- guess this Matt Grubbs guy was cool with same-sex hand-holding tourists so long as they were still second-class citizens when it came to marriage. Speaking of marriage, the coverage of the issuing of licenses here has been notably blase, compared to the excited tone of coverage in WA. .. I called down to the courthouse, where a guy named John told me six marriage licenses were issued for Baltimore city yesterday, and that the reaction around the state was similarly underwhelming. (In contrast, Seattle issued about 400 licenses yesterday.) But this is sweet: curmudgeonly traditionalist Frank Conaway Sr. told Pat Warren, "
I’m going to see that if the court wants to open on New Year’s Eve, I’ll be here at 12:01. If they want to get married, I’ll be happy to do it." Aww! 

Down at Ft. Meade, the commander who made Bradley Manning stand at attention while naked will take the stand


Eenteresting Tweet from Fenton: Oakland has now been put in receivership, which will put it under the purview of a federal judge, a compliance director, and technically also the plaintiffs of its 12-year-old lawsuit if the plan is approved next Wednesday. It looks like it's the first police department ever to be in such a situation, and as the KQED story notes, none in this troika of bosses is actually responsible for running the department.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

No bail for the Spectator

No bail for the Spectator after "lively" hearing*; AF James MacArthur told a Fox reporter the sawed-off shotgun found in his house was planted. Meanwhile the CEO of Spreaker is puzzled that police didn't try to shut down MacArthur's feed and that it's still on his site. IMO it's much to the BPD's credit that they didn't.
(Jason Yerg's negotiations reminded me so much of -- don't flame me now-- the counterintuitive points about leadership in Malcolm Gladwell's "What the Dog Saw." Leading with a calm and abiding presence, patiently waiting out a subject's tantrum. "Breathing even and deeply—rather than holding your breath—can mean the difference between defusing a tense situation and igniting it. ... Certain people, we say, 'command our attention,' but the verb is all wrong. There is no commanding, only soliciting.... of course, it never hurts to have a giant battering ram as backup.)

Speaking of, why are state Democrats trying to appoint someone convicted of gun charges to Tiffany Alson's seat?

Tavon Barnett
Police are ISO Tavon "Twin" Barnett, 19, right, wanted for the murder of Terrance Seale. Police say he's got got teeth, is 6'3" and has been known to hang out at the Cockeysville WalMart.

Well, there's a puzzler-- yesterday that "schmuck" got 35 years for murdering a witness; now one Anthony Hooks has gotten 55 years for pointing a gun at a civilian and a police officer.

A double stabbing on E Baltimore St shut down The Block*

A man was mugged for $300 in Remington

Police broke up a mob of teens hanging around outside Mondawmin Mall yesterday evening

Broadwater: city officials knew of ferkakta speed cameras four months ago, chose to ignore issues, and Walter Ave. speed cameras also miscalibrated*


Police say County double-murder suspect Bryant Walls posted comments re. his marital strife on Facebook (Walls' page has now been taken down).

In Hoco, "The trial of a man charged with murdering his wife and then burying her remains under a shed in the back yard has been postponed"

OMG-- in Glen Burnie a woman was raped, stabbed, and forced to shop at Food Lion-- she was able to alert employees, who called 911

Monday, November 19, 2012

Two more murders

A man was shot to death on Elgin Ave. in Walbrook on Friday night

Richard Erdeck, 33, from Essex was shot to death in Forest Park yesterday* in the 3900 block of Woodhaven Ave, police say it was a drug deal gone wrong

Kevin Rector Tweets that exactly two-thirds of the shootings so far this year have been nonfatal: Two-to-one ratio, in fact. 320 nf vs. 160 fatal

Luke Broadwater and Scott Calvert investigated the living beejebus out of 'our' speed camera program,* apparently the largest speed-and-red-light camera program in all of North America. They found a whole lot of errors, including mis-calibrated cameras, cameras that are supposed to be near schools but aren't and tickets issued to the wrong person, says Scott Calvert: "One city camera gave out bad speed readings over 7 months -- and the city knew it was off" Councilman Brandon Scott wants a hearing.*

A 20-year-old man, Danzel Carter, was charged with stabbing a 60-year-old woman* in the gut while robbing her near Patterson Park on S. Curley Street. The guy has no criminal record and the victim picked him out of a photo array.

Eleven years for heroin dealer Quinnard Shuler

From JHU security:
UPDATE- ARREST- Commercial Armed Robbery Subway Restaurant, 3233 St. Paul St. – The Baltimore Police have arrested and charged an individual for the November 9th armed robbery of the Subway restaurant. The individual is currently incarcerated.
Attempt Unarmed Robbery of Non-Affiliate 2700 Blk. N. Charles St. (east side) - On Nov. 17th at approximately 1:49 AM, a non-affiliate was walking northbound when a suspect pushed the non-affiliate to the ground from behind and attempted to pull a backpack off the non-affiliate's back. The non-affiliate started yelling at which time the suspect fled the area. The non-affiliate received minor injuries due to the fall. The area was canvassed for the suspect by BPD and Campus Security with negative results. Suspect Description: Male, black, light complexion, 20-25 years of age, medium build, 5’-10”, wearing light blue hooded sweatshirt, and blue jeans.
Theft from Auto3400 Blk. Guilford Ave. – On Nov. 15th at 11:00 PM, a JHU graduate student parked her vehicle at this location and left it unlocked. The graduate student returned on Nov. 16th at 9:50 AM and noticed her sunglasses and loose change had been taken from on top of the center console. Investigation continuing. 

Thanks to science, the hand of Hedgepocket Way was determined to have belonged to city resident Darnell William Butler, 24, of the 3800 block of Ferndale Avenue in Gwynn Oak. Butler had prior convictions for theft, and in November of 2009 was sentenced to three years in prison. In June of 2010 his sentence was "reconsidered." In February of 2011 he was pulled over for driving with expired tags, and in May of 2011 he was arrested for driving without a license. In June of this year he was charged with "fraudulently falsifying validation tabs" (whatever that means) and resisting arrest, and in July he was charged with violating his probation. Notably, he didn't have any charges/convictions for violent offenses, guns or drugs. ..update, the Medical Examiner's office has ruled Bulter's death a suicide.

A man was beaten and robbed of $2 in the 200 block of E. 25th

A Baltimore bootlegger pleaded guilty to infringing more than 1,000 software copyrights

"Police break up homelessness sleep-out, but 'nicely' this year"

A police car responding to a call got into an accident with a car full of teens out driving around at 3 a.m. (Apparently city curfew laws are for kids up to and including age 16, though if the driver was on a provisional license he could be in trouble for driving without someone over the age of 18 in the car).

Well, that's nice! The missing girl from Reisterstown, Sasha Samlal, has been found. (Wonder if she'da been found sooner if the bulletin went out less than two months after she was missing?) As with most of the missing-teen-girl cases, no word on where she was or what she was doing.

Out in Towson, the Recher theatre was found blameless by the liquor board* for the melee last September

Sheeit, another attempted carjacking with kids in the car, this one in White Marsh outside the Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Fortunately this time the mom hollered and scared the guy off.

Friday, November 9, 2012

No fool like an old fool

The best revenge, as they say, is getting over it. The worst revenge might be Randall Martin Jr.,'s -- pouring gasoline on your ex- girlfriend's door, setting her house on fire, then fleeing to the home you share with your wife, forcing her to barricade with you for hours. Fortunately, everyone but the ex's pet survived.

Antonio Johnson, 52, left, was arrested for stabbing his neighbor Deb Simon to death in Pigtown.

A toddler was found wandering alone on Belair Road
Police are ISO one Lucresha Mints, right, for attempted murder, call 911 if you see her. Also, it's 2012 and Band-Aids for grownups still only come in pink, what's up with that?

It's a mystery as to why the city school police union voted 'no confidence' in their chief

Police and friends are searching for Kevin Donnelly, 77, a sculptor who suffers from dementia.

The city has awarded a new speed camera contract* - Xerox is out and Brekford is in. At least those million$ are going to a MD company, right?

So Jesse Jackson was here yesterday, protesting the youth jail.* Yes, we should be spending money on education, but at the moment these kid perps are sleeping in poo and getting the tar and teeth beaten out of them in the grownup prison-- what would Jesse Jackson and anti-youth-jail people have us do with them, I wonder? "I said 'hell no' to the jail and 'hell yes' to opportunity for our youth," Young said. So you want we should send a 16-year-old murderer to come to your house to fold your damn underpants* then? If funding education is important to Jack Young, why has he had nothing to say about the outrageous waste and fraud* uncovered in the school system in the recent audit (and the audit before that)? Bitchin is easy, fixin is hard... 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Profits and Losses

No charges for officer John A. Ward, who helped Monae Turnages's teenage killers try to cover up her accidental shooting by putting the weapon in his personal vehicle. One of the teen's mom's DNA was found on Turnage's body*, probably from the trash bags the teens appropriated to use to try to conceal her body. The Sun has a photo gallery of Turnage's neighbors and memorial service.*

Dimitri Staten
Randy Owens
Anna Ditkoff, back in full effect after a mere two weeks of maternity leave, recounts last week's four murders of Sean Melton Sr., Dimitri Staten Sr., Randy Owens, and an "adult female," Ahjee Harrod, 16, and notes Kentrell Brown, 18, was arrested for the murder of Queren Thomas. The City Paper also has Audit Failures by The Numbers.

Speaking of $ fails, SRB and co is reportedly considering bids from two other speed camera companies* to operate and profit from speed camera ticketing duties on behalf of the state when Xerox's contract is up: camera manufacturer Redflex Traffic Systems of Melbourne, Australia, (perhaps best known in the U.S. for Chicago's cameras and getting kicked out of Los Angles and a slew of other CA cities following citizen outrage with $175 tickets and "kangaroo courts"), Brekford Corporation of Hanover, MD (which currently "upfits" not-to-be-named government law enforcement vehicles with laptops and cameras and such). All three companies are publicly traded (XRX on NASDAQ, RDF on the Aussie Securities Exchange,  BFDI on the U.S.). The mayor claims the city won't add any more cameras and expects revenues to go down: "$11.4 million from speed cameras next year, $7.5 million in 2014 and $6.9 million in 2015." which doesn't sound like it would incentivize these companies to give the city the best possible deal, but whatever.

A guilty plea for misconduct from PGC's  Tiffany Alson, the delegate perhaps best previously known for stalling same-sex marriage in the House. Alston copped to using campaign funds to help pay for her opposite-gender traditional wedding

Twitters:
 Foxtrot over Federal Hill, loudspeaker saying something like, “if you know whereabouts of Anthony Brooks, please dial 911”

 chase stolen car through Canton:*

After two years of no online reports, new director pledges a more transparent CitiStat. *


UPDATE w clarity on "missing" situation: Principal [of Baltimore Community High School] says Ahjee was "dealing with things that were overpowering her" *
One of those stories that develops throughout the day: Ahjee Harrod's principal said she was NOT missing and had been attending school

Klaus Philipsen takes on West side redevelopment in the Brew

Friday, September 28, 2012

166

Fenton Twitterations:  "Three women shot in past 24 hours RT  Shooting reported in Southwest District. 300 blk S Augusta. Adult female reported shot" ... "[Charles Richardson] 28-yr-old Columbia man serving life for killing 7-11 clerk there, found dead from head trauma in his cell at North Branch ... Cell mate was found outside cell holding bloody clothes" ... "‎25 murders this month; 45 this Aug/Sept compared w 32 last Aug/Sept. Hate to say it but zero chance city's annual downward trend continues"

... the woman shot on the 300 block of Augusta has died.* She was 19, sitting in a car. Police don't know if she was targeted or if it was a random act.

A 35-year-old female sedan service driver was shot in the arm and torso at Reedbird and Potee* Sts, she is alive. Before she died she told police she was shot by an unknown passenger.*

Charles David "Face" Richardson IV, the slain inmate, was serving a life sentence for two first-degree murder convictions, the Sun's Kevin Rector says he was "one of the most violent criminals in recent Howard County memory*"

S.T.F.U!! In spite of being caught driving a stolen, LoJacked car, in spite of his photo being picked out of a pile of photos by the victim, a jury acquitted accused carjacker Sidney Brewer of all charges yesterday.

Matt McDermott, a former teacher who made an appearance in HBO's "Hard Times at Douglass High" (and now working in advertising at idfive) notes that murder victim Audie Mickens* was a "key subject" in the 2008 depressyoumentary

Anthony Anderson
Batts met with the family of Anthony Anderson* who died during an arrest in E. Baltimore. There's a public viewing today for Anderson at the March funeral home at 1101 E. North Ave. from 1 - 7:30 p.m.

The Jizz is shocked, shocked I tell you, that video of last weekend's Towson beatdowns were posted online. So thoroughly offended and repelled that they posted the video online themselves, too, so that you may also clutch your pearls in horror. Meanwhile some Towson businesspeople,* including owners of the Sorry-ass saloon across the street, are coming to the Recher family's defense.

Also horrified: the inspector general re. SRB's $673k phone system,* which found that competitive-bidding protocols were breached, lies were told about the purchases and other deliberate concealment went on: "Top administration officials deliberately tried to conceal from [Joan] Pratt and [Jack] Young their plan to replace the phone system. ... About $673,000 in purchases were for equipment and installation of a new phone system, not the other uses that administration officials have contended." SRB's excuse: the guys who bought them, Rico Singleton and Damien Sharp, don't work for the city any more. And of course the reason Singleton doesn't work there any more is b/c he was canned after his ethical lapses from his previous job* in NY came to light after an audit there. Due diligence on potential hires is not this mayor's strong suit, is it?

And the Brew's Mark Reutter tried to go to a public Baltimore Development Corp meeting this morning, only to find himself mostly staring at a closed door, some very nice chairs and a philodenron in desperate need of sunlight. Somebody please find a window for that poor plant.

What's worse than speed cameras? The city spending $$ to study speed cameras. BTW noticed a new one is up at E. Northern Parkway and Waverly Way (between the 21239 post office and Hillen Rd.)

Way to stay on the case, Jayne Miller, we can all rest a little easier now that the city has admitted to taking down a guy's twinky-mannequin yard art.

And you probably already heard that the flea-market Renoir turned out to be stolen from the BMA.

If you smelled something burning last night, that was just me getting roasted by Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley and Nevada AG Catherine Cortez Masto. They tell me that it was to "welcome" me as the new President of the National Association of Attorneys General."

This just in: booze enemas are 'extremely dangerous'. Especially if you don't take the little umbrella out first.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Society did it

Boone St. murder victim ID'd as Damon Vaughn, 21. The Patch notes that Vaughn had a sizable criminal record, including a conviction for armed robbery.

The Ink recaps the past week's seven murders

Remember that guy, Christopher Sharp, who took pictures of police beating up his female friend at Preakness? Police seized his camera and deleted the pictures, along with other personal photos and videos of his. So Sharp, with some help from the ACLU, sued the department, considering that taking pictures of the police in public is thoroughly legal, so long as you aren't all up in their business and whatnot. Then the DOJ chimed in as well, with a 10-page letter to the BPD telling them to quit being hosers. Buuut rather than settling the case and quietly moving on, as most flagrantly-in-the-wrong plaintiffs usually do, the department is now using your tax dollars to dig up dirt on Sharp, including talking to his ex-wife, his ex-wife's boyfriend and his former employers,* and subpoenaing his medical records, including the results of a court-ordered hair follicle test in 2007.

....But the city can afford it, because guess how much it made from speed cameras last year? Here's a hint: Xerox's windfall was $18.4 million, it averages out to about $57 per Baltimorean, and it also happens to be about the same amount the city paid out in police lawsuits last year. Note to self, buy Xerox stock.

Criminal-of-all-trades Jose Morales has been charged with soliciting the murder of one Robert Long, an accomplice who'd recently agreed to testify against him in a case involving stolen scaffolding.

The May Flower Chinese buffet at 33rd and Greenmount was robbed at knifepoint

"Parkville Man Allegedly Burglarizes Mother, Blames Society"

In Towson, a guy who wants to start his own railroad has been charged with stealing dirt.

The missing grandson of the octogenarian couple murdered in Pikesville was named as 31-year-old Michael Long*.

A shooting near Catonsville High

"Glen Burnie man shot while tattooing girlfriend"

In Dundalk, a guy stabbed a guy over a woman

Friday, August 17, 2012

Guys you should not date

Someone awesome vandalized a speed camera near Loch Raven high school by spray-painting the lens plus some choice commentary including "THieF go to Hell" and the f-bomb (pic at left from The City That Breeds).

The Baltimorean shot in Columbia in a police standoff August 9 was ID'd as Percy Holland of Preston Street; Holland broke into his girlfriend's house on Exeter street and kidnapped their daughter, fortunately neither the ex or daughter was harmed.

In Worser Waverly, two sisters took turns spraying Mace® brand oleoresin capsicum spray in the face of one of their husband's ex-girlfriends.

A would-be carjack victim crashed into parked cars like Wendy Kroy in the Last Seduction, plus stolen Marilyn Monroe dolls, a handicapped-parking placard, and oxycodone pills in the Guide Southern blotter; assault with a machete and another batch of horribly violent ex-boyfriends in the SE blotter, including a guy who rammed his ex's car, a guy who held a sword to his ex's neck and a guy who shot up his ex's house.

Timonium doc Daniel Alexander has had his license suspended under suspicion of running a "pill mill."

A man in Salisbury broke into a home, stripped off his clothes and baked a pot pie.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Think of the invisible children!

Damn, domestic assailants! A Baltimorean who held a gun to his babymom's head and kidnapped their child was shot to death in Columbia.

Fifteen federal years for a cocaine dealer who helped bring product to MD from CA in a shipment of strawberries.

A teacher who taught at Towson's Carver Center for Arts and Technology was indicted for assault; he allegedly pointed a gun at workers removing trees near his Carney home.

Think of the (invisible) children! Five new speed cameras are up and running in the county, supposedly to protect schoolchildren. Never mind that the one "near" Stoneleigh school is actually five blocks away, or that the school is currently closed for renovations. According to the Patch, the county got an even worse deal than the city's 48%-of-revenue kickback, in 2010 paying the camera co. 81 cents of every dollar collected in camera revenue. Fun bonus fact: in D.C. in 2008 ACS, now a subsidiary of Xerox and operator of city and county cameras, was accused of vandalizing speed cameras by cutting wires after losing the contract to a competitor.

The MD political process has hit a new low with the "Special Session"-- an *emergency* meeting of the legislature in the middle of summer. And what's the emergency, you out-of-state readers might wonder? The state's poor preparedness for a natural disaster, terrorist attack or outbreak of infectious disease? The closing of fire stations or post offices? Schools that are falling apart? Ho, ho, ho. No, dear reader, the gambling industry is apparently having a money emergency and needs some tax breaks this minute*. One sliver of good's come out of it though, a senate panel has advanced nixing that goofy pit-bull law in favor of a bill that makes dog owners responsible for their own pets.

Thought-provoking Google ad of the day (from this page*): "Do you need to be on House Arrest? Inexpensive & No Ankle Bracelets www.shadowtrack.com" Can I take this ad to imply that if you're on house arrest you have to buy your own ankle bracelet? Notes the ad, "ShadowTrack has been helping individuals with their house arrest needs for over 10 years."

Monday, July 30, 2012

Two more murders, a strange corpse,
a kidnapped senior citizen

A man shot to death in the 300 block of Charles St, either inside or near the Holiday Inn Inner Harbor, and one Derian Hampton was shot to death in the 1200 block of N. Caroline Street.

Fenton reports conditions facing youth in the city jail include lack of medical care or air conditioning, violent fights and sleeping in poo*.

A sexagenarian was kidnapped by two well-dressed men (one in a plaid suit, the other in a polka-dot tie) in Catonsville and forced to drive to ATMs.

A peculiar corpse was found near the harbor Saturday, Police don't know if the deceased jumped or fell off of a nearby building, or something else*.

In offensive-sex news, Baltimorean Andrew Sterling Dash traveled to Frostburg, where he then allegedly raped a woman then fired a gun at her friends; Ocean City police have warned residents about a would-be sex assailant targeting drunk female victims walking alone; loose peen on parade in Crofton.

Bottles, bats and rocks: stuff flying last week in South Baltimore.

Vandals Freedom-loving revolutionary cadres attacked a speed camera in Catonsville, pushing it off of its pedestal and, best of all, ripping its money-grubbing guts out. Nice work there comrades!
Ps. the WaPo claims that the photo-blocker sprays actually work (sometimes), but Amazon product reviewers say otherwise. This license-plate cover got good reviews,but is illegal under MD law, says el WaPo.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

48 Percent?!?!

Luke Broadwater reports that the Dallas-based private company that operates the city's speed cameras, whose contract was due to expire, instead of getting rightfully run out of town with torches and pitchforks will instead get 48 percent of the city's revenue for at least the next five months*. $19.20 of every ticket. Hey all you firearms fans who claim you need your guns to fight some hypothetical corrupt regime-- said regime has arrived. Please put those hand cannons to good use and shoot those damn things down!