Thugs with badges

An arrest in the bus-stop murder of Joshua Matthews (#22)

In 1956, it was a very good year, a year for city cops and private lots with kick-back shops, to which the tow-truck driver would drive... also in 1965...

Also "Towing leader says she was arrested after complaining about accused company" and dirty cops called themselves "untouchables" & their filthy lucre = "coffee"

On the blog, still a lot of interest in the Erik Stoddard case.

Pastor Joel Kurz: "too many of our city's police officers are simply thugs with badges."

Have you seen this elementary-school burglar?

Oh JZ, I love you. Baltimore's cutest station reports that the same-sex marriage debate has been "hot and longer than expected". And Nancy Jacobs' piehole, the gift that keeps on giving: "Love between a man and woman that may lead to children is the only love that government has the right to recognize." Good for you, giving up all claims to your husband's 401k when your eggs dry up.

The Supreme Court heard a case yesterday on whether revised federal crack cocaine sentencing guidelines should affect binding plea agreements.

The question arises again, who should own public information?

City paid sex offender says no to pay back

The DPW employee who collected sick pay from the city while serving out a brief stint in jail for abusing a minor says he's not going to pay the city back...period

Duck and cover!

Semen squirter sentenced soon.

17 officers charged with extortion

and are facing 20 years for allegations of taking kickbacks from dirty towing company.
Jayne Miller: "one source said it's not the crime of the century, but it's not pretty."

Senate approves same-sex marriage

a 3rd and final vote is scheduled for tomorrow.
Also, "The Obama administration says it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law that bans recognition of same-sex marriage."

BPD and the feds

R-rod has scheduled a press conference to discuss BPD corruption.

.. does this have something to do with the impound lot? Here's a link to WBAL's stream if you want to listen live to the press conference at 3. Officers arrested, oh my!-- MB

Birth, school, work, death

Relatives mourn Anthony "Tyra" Trent

Relatives mourn Brandon Jackson

Dead body found near county elementary school ID'd as that of 20-year-old Vincent I. Thomas

The Ink details last week's five murders and notes that four homicides have been closed by arrest so far this year.

"The state Senate has just one bill on its agenda Wednesday: the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Act." The Post is live-blogging it and the CP has a same-sex marriage infographic.
(Mind-bogglingly assholic quote from Republican Nancy Jacobs, who opposes the bill: "We all love our gay friends in the House and the Senate ... I hope and pray that this does not get personal and does not get taken personally." )

"Prosecutors have dropped all charges against Douglas A. Hicks-Bey, the chief executive of a faith-based mentoring program, who was accused last month of raping a 15-year-old girl." And in HoCo charges dropped against Charles Ray Moore, accused of rape, tried in November but jurors were deadlocked.

CP on the state of Maryland's animal cruelty laws

A PBJ for gun-toting Edwin Hale

Tax evader with cancer sent back to jail

Bullets are bad for ya health! Client at Bally's in White Marsh robbed, shot at

Edgemere arson suspect arrested

Armed with babies and dogs, "Pigtown neighbors beat back Bohager-linked bar" (Bar's lawyer to residents: "What else do you want? Blood?")

Still searching

NPR joins the search for Phylicia Barnes

Williams case to jury

says Tricia Bishop

WMAR's cold case files: The Jeffersons

Fenton follies:
"City police say a 25-year-old transgender woman was found dead in a vacant building over the weekend"

"A 16-year-old boy killed last June in Reservoir Hill was shot by a friend in a dispute over a dice game"

and G-Black was arrested for killing Kevin "Chuck" Anderson with a shot in the back.

Really, JZ?

Man shot on Cliftview Ave Id'd as Mark Saunders, 23

County homicide victim ID'd as 18-year-old high school student Brandon Jackson.

Page Croyder takes on Dan Rodricks' "life means life" column

Yesterday family members of William Torbit Jr., plus talk show host Daren Muhammad, marched from the Select Lounge to city hall ("Almost 100 people," really, JZ?). Here's some shaky-camera'd video of people shouting the same thing over and over, and an Examiner post by Hassan Giordano reports that "The Fraternal Order of Police President Robert Cherry has taken a more criticle approach to the matter"

"Baltimore taken to task over police beard ban"

And a hearing today in Annapolis on decriminalizing small amounts of marijuanica

"Searching for Details Online, Lawyers Facebook the Jury." Would you "friend" the DA's office in exchange for free access to the court's wi-fi network?

AAC police arrested two winners for a shooting outside of a 16-year-old's birthday party in Glen Burnie

ps., watch out for that "whether mix" out there!

Fractured families

One murder in the city this weekend and six shootings, and two murders in the county

Judge allows lawsuit from inmate who claims he was attacked on orders from a gang-tied correctional officer

Have you ever heard of Dead Men Inc.? That Perry "Rocky" Roark certainly has an intense gaze....

"New daddy" goes to jail ... 30 years for Brian Savage, accused of beating his girlfriend's toddler son to death.

Readers gag as Dan Rodricks reports that Parris Glendening now regrets his "life means life" stance.

Lt. Col. Michael J. Andrew, who leaked a memo to the Sun, retired with "no regrets"

The aunt of murder victim Warren Wilmer writes about their fractured family

Irate letters dept: "Sun misleads in sensationalized Werdesheim coverage" and other screeds opinions
Related: WSJ's Robbie Whelan: "Past in Crown Heights Is Baltimore’s Present"

Ponzi schemers convicted of fraud conspiracy and money laundering; they ripped off victims to ride around in chauffeured luxury cars and attend sporting events

Public defender Nancy Forster's wrongful-termination lawsuit was dismissed. More about this here, though still no dirt on what really happened...

WTF?! Poll of Americans says Ronald Reagan was the best president ever, and they admire George W. Bush more than Thomas Jefferson. Related: "Md. gets a C for teaching of U.S. history"

Motorcyclists give city sherriff the finger

Mayhem, and charges ensue (maybe not mayhem, just a some gun pointing)

$10 million lawsuit

Marlow Humbert (I know, right?) former suspect in a series of Charles Village rapes, is suing the police department

Babies and dogs

Things are indeed seldom what they seem in this burg. Remember William Bozman (or Bozeman), 68, who shot muy gordo armed intruder Marvin Cook Jr. last year, then Cook bled all over Bozamn's bed? Apparently Cook was conspiring with Bozman's own son, who was arrested in Florida. "Fun" fact, Cook also once tried to rob and shoot FOP spokesman Bob Cherry and had been sentenced to 10 years for attempted murder, but "good time" had him sprung sooner. He was also arrested "for two misdemeanors after his release ... but a judge decided not to order Cook to serve the remainder of that 2001 attempted murder sentence."

WTF? "A Baltimore City Circuit Court jury convicted Anita M. Jones, 39, of Baltimore of first-degree child abuse, second-degree child abuse, and second-degree assault for attacking an 18-day-old infant."
In other child-abuse news, "Shaken-Baby Syndrome Faces New Questions in Court"

WBAL has more video of the Werdesheim rally/protest. (Whoa, Susan Green, Huggy Bear wants his coat back. And hey look, at 2:11 it's the first tv appearance of Bernstein's new communications director Mark Cheshire.)

Man shot in head at Catonsville gas station

Stats be darned, septuagenarian spitfire Helen Vello really likes Ellwood Park

Have you seen a white Ford Econoline van with the imprint of 29-year-old Jason Cheslik in the front grill? Call crimestoppers...

O'Malley nominates his wife for a 2nd term as judge

More teens in trouble for animal abuse-- is there an epidemic, or are we just hearing more about this lately? Now two 16-year-olds from Severn are facing animal cruelty charges after they were busted at a dogfight.

21, 22

A man stabbed to death in the neck at the bus stop at E. North and Greenmount Avenues

Martez Anthony Hall, 22, was found shot to death in a home in the 1600 block of 31st Street at about 11 p.m. last night

Cleaven Williams, accused of stabbing his wife after she filed a restraining order against him, testified in his own defense and couldn't stand to look at the autopsy pictures. And srsly? "four days before the killing, Williams had tried to turn himself in at the Eastern District precinct in response to a warrant charging him with assaulting his wife, but the warrant could not be located and Williams was told to leave." And the witness who cradled Veronica Williams as she died testified that Cleaven was trying to commit "suicide by cop." And the Sun has creepy pictures of the knives and notes.

More on the Shomrim protest/rally by Nick Madigan... don't miss the awesome video. Looks like the vast majority were Shomrim supporters.

Shomrim protest outside of court

Two sides clash outside court appearance by Shomrim defendants

20

Unidentified man, 1100 block of W. Cross Street.
So far only three of this year's 20 homicides have led to an arrest, says Fenton.

"Opponents file new bills to abolish death penalty in Maryland"

Police are ISO a suspect, one Kedric Lamont Seay, 22, for the stabbing last Saturday at Reisterstown and Seven Mile

Crazy-driving carjackers caught on tape by Sky Eye Chopper 13

Early spring in the city! A floater pulled out of the Harbor near the Museum of Industry

Are you there, God? It's me, Joan Carter Conway

Cleaven L. Williams, accused of stabbing his wife to death in front of the circuit court on North Avenue after she got a restraining order against him, says he's "not criminally responsible" and that it was a spur-of-the-moment act he doesn't remember. Unfortunately for his defense, he left a note found in the family car "in which he talks about killing his wife and describes how he wants their three children raised." Today Judge Doory is to decide if said letter was legally obtained.

Fenton has bloody video of the aftermath of the BP double-stabbing; police say the victims may have been related and police are ISO a man with long dreadlocks.

In the Messenger blotter, a party host robbed by a guest, and in Hampden a pedestrian told to go back to "the ghetto." In the Baltimore Guide blotter, a woman set a mattress on fire, a lesbian chases her girlfriend with a knife over some marijuana and a stolen Snickers bar and doughnut.

PG county's Jack "put it in your bra" Johnson indicted yesterday

PG County Democrat Jim Rosapepe targeted by pro-ss-marriage U of MD student lobbyists, and Joan Carter Conway is "praying" to know how to vote (guess she didn't get the memo r.e. the separation of church & state?).

No more police

Mayoral candidate says we've spent too much on police in the past and too little on schools. He also wants to slash the property tax rate by 50 percent.

Good old traditional values

Sen. Joan Carter Conway talks to Len Lazarick. She wants you to know she didn't kill the wine shipping bill, and she's "conflicted" on same-sex marriage. "I'm kind of hung up between the constitutionality of what's going on and good old traditional.. my Christian upbringing." .. and another Senator has come out in support of marriage, one Edward J. Kasemeyer of the 12th district.

A unid'd 20-year-old man in critical condition after being shot in the chest in the 2900 block of Edgecombe Circle South

A double stabbing at the intersection of Liberty Heights and Gwynn Oak Aves

What's going on in Cumberland? An inmate found dead in his cell yesterday. Another inmate was killed there on the 2nd.

"Fun" MD legal fact alluded to in this article on what might be the nation's oldest Mikvah/Mikveh: until the charmingly named "Jew Bill" of 1825 (enacted the following year), Jewish people in MD could not hold office, vote, work as lawyers, and if the Sun article is to be believed, couldn't incorporate to own property until 1828.

"From brides to freelance photographers, Darien Small became known for a rip off," now "the stuttering con man" faces fraud charges in the city. His online trackers claim he was still at work in the city as of last August, operating under the name "Daniel Craig" at "Studio 51" or "Great Studio."

Extra-legal liasons

Keep an eye out for missing octogenarian James MacKinnon (or is it McKinnon?), left, who has Alzheimer's
Update: Fox reports he was found, no details on when, where, by whom.

The man shot Friday on Shirley Ave. has died and was ID'd as Jose Estrella, 19

"Death penalty moratorium leaves survivors, convicts in limbo" -- why would O'Malley risk the controversy of pushing for a legal solution if there's a grey-area quasi-legal place to haunt? That would be unOmalleyful!

Altercation at the impound lot leads to man shot in the elbow in a "road rage" incident. "Both the suspect and victim had been at the same nightclub [and] from the club were still intoxicated Sunday morning." I wanner partay at dat club!

Greasy-lookin "Canton Burglar Caught By Craigslist Sting," more from the Sun

Students picketed the former site of Read's drug store, and Sun commentors don't like it one bit.

Starting March 1, you can put two mommies on a birth certificate in MD. (Why not two dads, you may wonder? And how is this biologically possible? In MD whoever is married to mom is legally presumed to be the parent of children born in the marriage-- no matter if the inseminator is the milkman or a turkey baster.)

Structurally unsound

Two men shot last night, not counting the suspect shot on Harwood Ave.
(Gawd that soda lady is annoying-- soda is not "groceries" you "feed your family," fatty!)

A man stabbed early this morning in Pikesville at Seven Mile & Reisterstown Rd

Slumlord Watch notes that an X painted on a vacant building means it's structurally unsound (not that a body is stashed there, necessarily).

Students plan to picket this morning at Lexington & Howard, former site of the Read's drug store and the famous 1955 sit-in, now boarded up and "poetic in its misery". More from Preservation Magazine on the Read's building (orchids and onions, who knew?)

It's going down

On Harwood ave at York Rd (500 block)-- five police cars, one ambulance and the whole street blocked off w/police tape across the road.
UPDATE: The deuce reports an off-duty officer shot a guy, and insinuates guy tried to rob the officer as he pitched woo to his girlfriend in a parked car. But things in this town seldom turn out to be how they seem at first, do they?

ps. love this Google maps picture of city workers relaxing next to a pothole

El Dooce also reports that a thief is targeting gym lockers throughout the state. Says somebody, "We take the safety of our members very why we have all of the cameras installed throughout the parking and within the gym and makes sure that its well light and we patrol it pretty often."

Try, try again

Travers and Tremayne Johnson will be retried in May.

Homicide detectives called to Park Hgts and Shirley Ave in the NW following a shooting in the parking lot of the Food City

Trial begins for Cleaven Williams Jr., accused of stabbing his pregnant wife Veronica to death outside of the North Ave District courthouse

More than 20 pounds of cocaine found in a shipping container at the Baltimore seaport.

Gold fillings stolen in Essex

47-year-old woman from Baltimore arrested for carjacking in Cumberland

Illegal flier backlash part II, no go to Pigtown nightclub

Housing officials blast Fells Prospect resident as a "pit bull" after she demanded an apology for a snafu that resulted in a lien notice being attached to her home for an unpaid fine for illegal fliers she reported.

Liquor board say no to proposed Pigtown nightclub

Death penalty moratorium extended

"Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration announced Thursday that it is withdrawing regulations that are needed for executions to resume in Maryland, effectively extending a four-year moratorium on the death penalty" and Del. Sandy Rosenberg, a Democrat repping the 41st, said he submitted a DP repeal bill today.

And 10 years for Zachary D. Watson, the final defendant accused of beating and robbing septuagenarian fisherman James Privott, and the one who admitted to driving Privott's stolen, LoJack'd truck.

That sucks

Save the Moshers!! Bolton Hill's On the Hill cafe robbed after closing.

18

Unidentified man, 21, killed in a drive-by at the bus stop in the 6600 block of Alta Ave.

Murder Ink (barely) covers last week's murder of Warren Wilmer, 36, and has some updates-- arrests for the 2011 murders of David Jones (#1) and Jeffrey Purnell (#15), and a conviction for the murder of Mark Johnson in 2009.

After debate raged in the Senate yesterday, Mike Miller set odds of same-sex marriage passing at 60-70 percent. Unexcited by the prospect is one Victor Kirk of Lanham, "What if a father wants to marry his daughter? Or a brother and sister want to marry each other?" And Senator repping the the county, Jim Brochin, has swung his stance from civil unions to full-frontal civil marriage rights.

"Md. hands keys to Baltimore detention facility" to the feds. (Really? Actual literal keys?) Hey wonder whatever happened to that cell-phone-jamming idea? I know they tested the jamming system last year, but did they ever implement it anywhere?

... btw here's a picture of the alleged burglar who left his cell phone charging at a crime scene in MoCo. He looks so sensitive!

And a man arrested in Annapolis after faking "distress", then robbing the woman who stopped to help him.

And a missing person: Mark Cheshire, Gregg Bernstein's new Communications guy. After one single press release (announcing the arrest of Avi Werdesheim), nothing-- no press releases, TV appearances, answers to questions... total flatline. What do they have him doing over there?
Update: apparently he's sent out a few things but hasn't added me to the e-mail list. So much for transparency.

Beware of reporting illegal ad fliers

This upper Fells Point resident did and ended up with a $300 fine for her trouble...

More on Duane SHORTY Davis, Sr, alleged toilet bomber

According to his Myspace page, Duane Davis Sr. has previous experience with the whole bomb threat thing:

"People of the State of Illinois County of Lake vs. Duane G. Davis Sr. Case # 07CF4988 Defendant was charged with Bomb Threat ( Terrorist Activity)"

He is apparently making a movie about racism in the judicial system.

Oh, and he's had some other charges, too...

Also, photos of "Shorty's Underground Toilet tour"

17

Craig Manuel, 19, shot to death in the 2700 block of Polk St.

Speaking of death, I hear this is good: PBS' "Postmortem: Death Investigation in America."

Yet another police-misconduct award, $75,000 for David Harris, 21, who spent 29 days in jail for assault and burglary even though the victim said he wasn't involved. The Record reports that the city has shelled out more than $688,000 in awards against the police so far this year.

$200,000 bond for terlit artist Duane G. Davis

What the? Man on the beltway tried to strangle his girlfriend and run over his friends, then crashed the car and was pinned down by his friends until help arrived. I think.

"A 16-year-old boy was hospitalized with serious neck and back injuries after being struck with a Taser® by a Baltimore police officer in a struggle on the roof of his North Baltimore home"

Mistrial in Dog-Burning Case

Will it be tried again? One of the twins, Travers, was due to be arraigned on attempted murder charges in another case on the 27th, don't know what happened with that.

and a "South River senior admits beating younger student unconscious"

Double-murder defendant Kenneth Perry took the stand and didn't do himself any favors

Save the puppehs!

City council committee supports extending in-state tuition for undocumented residents. (& I support extending one's skirt a little farther below your crack if you are addressing a city council committee. I know it's not the Vatican but geeze.)

That poor dog-burning jury is still a-deliberating. Says JZ, "the case spewed the creation of the city’s Animal Abuse Task Force."

Two freaky-looking chicks arrested for burglarizing a Glen Burnie pet store

Really? Owner of the Wine Source says 10-fold hike in hooch taxes is a good idea because it could curb alcohol abuse.

Cell phone taped terlit near courthouse

Officers find a toilet with a cell phone taped to it near the Towson courthouse. Reports Fox, "At this time, no evacuations have taken place." Uh, TMI, Fox!

UPdate: that's some toilet. The Brew reports that a similar "art can" has been parked in front of the schools HQ on North Avenue for "weeks". Quote of the day from Cp editor Tim Hill, "'I figured it was one of those memorials to a kid who had died,' Hill said, noting that, when he shot the picture, the assemblage included a stuffed 'Kenny' doll from the South Park animated television show."

Big bux awarded in police-misconduct lawsuit

$170,000 for Salahudeen Abdulaziz, who claimed police handcuffed him and punched him in the face while he was on the way to the store to get a bag of potato chips.

Sneaking and leaking

"Md.'s wine shipment laws create smuggling routes from D.C. and Va." Fun fact: MD became known as the "Free State" because the state did not allot any funds or pass an enforcement act to support Prohibition. Ironically, we now have the most jackassed liquor laws in the country.

And speaking of free, we'll believe in you when we see some hot document action, Baltileaks!

Super Sunday Crime Round-up

What do rapper Lil' Wayne, career criminal Joel Ugah, and Baltimore Blast owner Edwin Hale Sr. have in common? A weapons charge on their record.

Court Watch is back. Concerned citizens are bringing back the program due to the repeated breaks that the accused murderers of Stephen Pitcairn received.

Maryland and California both suspend their "Scared Straight" programs, a few weeks after the premier of the show "Beyond Scared Straight."

Federal officer Curtis Anthony Warren is convicted of killing his brother back in April of 2009.

63-year-old school teacher Myra Elizabeth Cason was shot to death last Friday.

Robert "Seattle" Jones gets 15 years for a bungled home invasion.

Interstate traveling stoner Travis Bielaski arrested in Nebraska with 33 pounds of grass.

Finally, Latin Kings enforcer Brandon Smith pleads guilty to Racketeering and attempted murder.

Fate of gay marriage hangs on six undecided senators

"Two men stabbed, one shot in 3 nonfatal incidents"

Four people stabbed at the Cheer's (sic) Bar and Grill in Parkville

PG county to seek the death penalty for a man who shot four people in Lanham

Shoulda, coulda, woulda

WJZ has an interview with Emmanuel Miller, the stringy-shtached teen charged in the beating of elderly black fisherman James Privott. "I wish I would have done something to try to help the guy."

Your tax dollars at work vol. II

The two DPW workers who spent hours at S & J's Deli drinking a gambling while on the clock get to keep their jobs!!!

People, animals, opiates

A second trial concluding for Kenneth D. Perry, found guilty in 2001 of killing pregnant Kelly Bunn and his former girlfriend, LaShawn Jordan, as Jordan's 4-year-old watched, then "stayed in the apartment with the bodies for two days, caring for her 1-year-old brother and trying to treat her mother's wounds with toilet paper and a toy stethoscope."

HarfCo man arrested for raping a 5-year-old girl

Jury begins deliberations in twin brothers' dog-burning trial.

Scene killed at Select Lounge

Suleiman Zakaria, 27, of Pikesville, got 10 years for hiding 6 pounds of Ghanian heroin in his luggage

WBAL: Baltimore has a high police-to-citizen ratio

That movie sounds hilarious!

"Mexican cartel on trial in Baltimore drug case: Informant describes driving cross-country with cocaine-filled mobile home"

13 years

for serial drunken driver Thomas Lee Meighan Jr., who fatally plowed into Hopkins undergrad Miriam Frankl as the tried to cross St. Paul St.
The Sun has posted the 911 calls made by drivers

Wieners aplenty

Demetrius Arrington arrested for murder of Jeffrey R. Purnell, 51

CP's Van Smith "A recent California drug-trafficking and money-laundering case [showed] how hundreds of pounds of cocaine allegedly reached Baltimore’s streets last year thanks to Hollywood-based traffickers, and how millions in drug proceeds left town: by private jet"

Fifteen years in prison for Joseph Lawhorn, 35, convicted of taking "sexually explicit" pictures of little boys with his iPhone

Burning dog trial: Sgt. Jarron Jackson "can't testify as to whether [Tremayne] can fly or not," today, jurors nodding off

The Daily Record asks, "Wrecking buildings or lives in Middle East?" (Fumes "Prez Jack" Young, "What if I become governor and they want me to show them where I lived? I will have nothing to show them.")

Howard County senator Allan H. Kittleman becomes first Republican to jump on the big gay senate bandwagon. Kittleman's civil-unions bill was withdrawn, and he stepped down as Senate minority leader soonafter. Yesterday Republicans closeted themselves to privately vote to officially oppose the bill. And the the National Organization for Marriage is robo-calling.

History corner: 10 years ago last week, then-mayor O'Malley told a Sun reporter re. the dropped case against officer Brian Sewell: [State's Attorney Pat Jessamy] "doesn't even have the goddamn guts to get off her ass and go in and try this case, and I'm tired of it... If she doesn't have respect for the police, if she doesn't have respect for the people of this city, maybe she should get the hell out and let somebody else in who's not afraid to do the goddamn job."

You booze, you lose?

Serial drunk-driver Thomas Meighan will be sentenced today after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the death of Miriam Frankl.

Dead body in a field in Northeast Baltimore.

Counterfeiting arrest on the Eastern Shore.

Two people are in serious trouble for helping an inmate escape from theWashington County jail last week.

Bigger fish to fry

County Judge Robert E. Cahill Jr has ruled that Karla Porter's whole 10-hour police interview will be admissible.

Fabulousness! Charles Village residents (or mostly Stephen Gewirtz) form "Court Watch" to track cases. Says Gewirtz, "I get the sense it's really been a revolving door downtown." ...so wonder what happened with Thomas Meighan Jr.? Every court reporter in town (that is to say, Tricia Bishop) was at the dog trial. Almost makes me miss old Joe Sviatko. He would know!

And urBanite asks, "Is there hope for quality local news after all?"

$15,000 for three tons of rockfish? Those poachers really should get into drug dealing.

A septuagenarian hit with a brick, sisters who whacked their mom's boyfriend with a bicycle tire pump and a golf club and couples fighting over cold food and who should make the bed in the "Baltimore Guide" blotter.

In the Catonsville Times blotter, an attempted carjacking at the WalMart parking lot and other teenage misbehavior.

... and the "hontroversy" rages on, that never-ending intellectual-property "uproar" that "casts unflattering light on the priorities of people ... who have spent their time on this subject in a city with bigger problems." Nevertheless, good readin' from Ed Ericsson.

Justified

Please note that the deaths of Sean Gamble and Officer William Torbit Jr. are considered justified until determined otherwise. Baltimore city has had 15 official homicides so far this year.
Thanks,
Mgmt.

Meanwhile...

The man shot on Pratt St on Friday (homicide #16) was id'd as Raynard Benjamin, 30

Court of Appeals throws out a murder conviction obtained by a detective telling the suspect, "This is between you and me, bud."

Tooty-two years for Manny, the coke dealer who tried to intimidate a witness. And up in Gettysburg, PA, trial for a grandma accused of bringing Baltimorean white drugs up from the KMart parking lot to sell in the TGI Fridays parking lot.

A witness out to "get paid" says she saw the Johnson boys running away from the scène du pit bull flambee, and jurors watched the crime camera video. And then there's the two teens arrested for the burning of Mittens the cat.

Police and fire unions plan to picket the June Mayor's conference, and members from other states are invited. Maybe they can stay at the city-owned Hilton, plenty of empty rooms there ....

A Daily Record investigation reveals that when it comes to East Baltimore development, "Elected officials short on financial details"

In the crime beat blog, police appeal for the public's help to solve the Jan 2. murder of autistic Hezikah Wilson, the mayor introduces new legislation that includes a mandatory-minimum illegal-firearm sentence. Meanwhile, in South Dakota, legislation to require gun ownership.

and on this blog, a new comment in the self-defense vs murder debate

Alleged serial killer convicted in 1st trial

William Vincent Brown is convicted in 1st of 3 trials of raping and then strangling a woman who survived to testify against them.

15

An unidentified 51-year-old man was fatally shot in the head while sitting in the driver's seat of a car in the 5700 block of Eastbury Ave.

Segregation-a-licious

City that Breeds on the un-diversifying of city council districts

Says "Pistol Pete" Welch, "I hope that we can one day select a council person via Facebook"

in other neighborhood news, a Hopkins consultant opines that the Middle East neighborhood needs to be "rebranded"

Your tax dollars at work Vol. 34

DPW employee to co-worker who was caught drinking in an Eastern Avenue deli by an IG investigator while on the clock: “What the f**k do you do all day besides stand behind that f**kin’ counter?

14

Unidentified man, age 30, shot multiple times, 6:35 p.m. last night in the 800 block of West Pratt Street

Fenton tells the tragic tale of two brothers named Curtis

Court of Appeals: waistband adjustment and fidgeting isn't reasonable enough suspicion to merit a pat-down (aka 'Terry stop')

Yes, we have no abortions today ...

U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis just shot down the "pregnancy disclaimer law" on account of it being "unconstitutional" and "unenforceable". Well, duh. No one could see that coming? And George Nilson will advise the Mayor to appeal? It's all very strange. Doug Gansler doesn't seem to have done anything all week but issue one single totally obvious press release, doesn't he have a buddy in the FTC he could call or something?

and legislation for direct wine shipments was introduced (again) today in the House & Senate. Last year Joan Carter Conway allowed a similar bill to die in committee.

Lost and found

WBAL's Barry Simms reports that Judge Charles Peters sentenced "demons made me do it" dad Stephen Nelson to 50 years for throwing his 3-year-old son Turner off the Francis Scott Key Bridge, no word yet if any of that is suspended. Judge George Russell had previously rejected a deal that would have given Turner 30 years.

Three union timekeepers were sentenced for wire fraud in a scheme to defraud the terminal operator at the Port of Baltimore

Another day, another BPD lawsuit: three men arrested without charges or explanation outside of the liltlingly named Don't Know? what you are doing tonight? Tavern are suing for $420,000.

Crazy story down in Takoma Park: police shot a robbery suspect who used a bank teller as a human shield after he slipped on some ice, and it was all caught on tape

O'Malley's budget contains some massive new fees for speeding tickets and DUIs

A suspicious brown paper bag downtown. Don't stomp on it if it's flaming!

Update on Solothia Thomas: she was found with friends in a fast-food restaurant in Rosedale about 90 minutes after the police posted the bulletin, though no explanation as to why police waited more than a day to tell the public that.

Today's the one-month-aversiary of the day Phylicia Barnes went missing, and the police posted a video update that makes you watch a crappy movie preview before you can see it. Interesting tidbit on Nancy Grace: her dad said that Phylicia's half-sister's ex-boyfriend was the last person to see her alive, and said half-sister's ex-boyfriend has now lawyered up.

And Rachel Reilly, 16, another one of Maryland's missing teens, was found in San Antonio, Texas

From JHU security:

Arrest of Student – Malicious Destruction (Alcohol Related) – 300 Blk. E. University Parkway – On Jan. 28th at 2:33 AM, a senior undergraduate was arrested by Baltimore Police for breaking a window in a non- affiliate’s front door and then entering the non-affiliate’s residence. The student who was intoxicated thought he was entering his own residence which is actually across the street. Baltimore Police transported the student to Union Memorial for treatment of minor cuts. The student was charged with malicious destruction of property.

Public shaving, private drinking

A jury was seated today in the trial of the twins accused of setting fire to Phoenix the pit bull, and one can't help but to notice the twins' facial features & ears look pretty Fetal-Alcohol-Syndrome-ish.

Missing Solothia Thomas was found unharmed... but no explanation of where she was or what she was doing

A 4th circuit judge upholds the 2009 Baltimore foster-care system consent decree, which ended court oversight of Baltimore's fucktified foster care system

Judge J. Frederick Price denied defense motions to exclude the death penalty in the Thomas Leggs case

Shaving-bump-afflicted former city officer sues over forced public shaving

Carl Snowden is appealing the tossing-out of his 3rd DUI PBJ

Crime-unrelated Baltimoriana: Rafael Alvarez eulogizes Burke's Restaurant; Marty Bass stoop storytells the day he lost his toupee.

Phantom suspect

The man who allegedly shot a city homicide detective has vanished without a trace.

Another missing girl

Solothia Thomas, 14, left Overlea High School yesterday but never made it home.

Dancer a whistleblower

Fenton reports that murdered mom Cherrie Gammon, left (from Facebook), was also a drug addict, crack and heroin dealer, and police informant.

One Wood Cafe

Former police officer Bill Countess: "'The Wire' is a very accurate depiction of reality both on the street and within the Baltimore Police Department."

A new bill would put a special code on MD sex offenders' drivers' licenses

Here's a question: if "two dozen or so" people are outside the courthouse saying irrational, "inflammatory" things and acting out of "political opportunism," how many words should the local paper of record grant them? For what it's worth, so far this week the Sun's given the anti-Bernstein inflammatory opportunists 1,855 words (including the story, the editorial and related verbiage in a blog post); the inflammatory political-opportunists' protest at Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder's funeral garnered 1,074.
Lapping it up = grammatically challenged "Examiner" Hassan Giordano

County police release names of deceased bachelor-roommates found in Perry Hall

From the JHU security bulletin: "Indecent Exposure – One World Café – On Jan 25th at 7:00 PM, a non – affiliate observed a lone male at nearby table exposing himself. Upon being noticed the male left the establishment.  Baltimore Police and Campus Officer responded. Investigation continuing."

Sadder than sad

Homicide victim #13 of 2011, Harry Hicks, was gunned down in front of his wife and preschool-aged children

.. in better news, Fenton reports that one Hassan Muhammed was arrested for the Dec. 12 murder of young mother Cherrie Gammon

"Bernstein Maps Out New Crime-Fighting Approach" to the city's legislative delegates, one that involves "satellite offices" and setting free alleged perps with bails less than $5,000

And Van Smith went to the sentencing of youth leader by day/BGF "city-wide commander" by night Todd "Donnie" Duncan, wherein Duncan boo-hooed that charges were "blown out of context" and his lawyer opined, "these guys were up to bad, but not a whole lot of bad." (is Van Smith the only reporter who goes to a courthouse anymore?)

Court of Appeals Judge to Retire

Judge Joseph F. Murphy Jr will be retiring from the Maryland Court of Appeals this August. Murphy has been a judge on the state's highest court since 2007.

It gets better

Gay marriage legislation introduced in the General Assembly; Don Dwyer's panties in twist. (John Waters: "I think we should just try to make heterosexual divorce illegal")

#s 14 & 15

Homicide #15, an unid'd 31-year-old man shot in the head & stomach this afternoon in the 500 block of S. Fulton Ave. UPDATE: the victim was ID'd as Damon Gilmore, and the address revised as the 1700 block of Cole St.

#14, Antonio Lamont Lee, 36, shot to death Sunday night while stopped at a traffic light on E. Monument St.

Good for O'Malley, trying to criminalize child neglect

New drug alert: "Bath salts," aka synthetic cathinone

Ten years for Darnell "Nelly" Savoy, a thrice-convicted narcotics possessor caught in the same room with two illegal handguns and some gelcaps

30 months in prison for hydrocodone-dealing dentist

It's Bernstein's first protest! Nine (or 10?) people protest in front of the courthouse against "hate group" Shomrim, and for some reason the Sun & the JiZ treat it like major news

Jury selection slated for Wednesday in dog-burning case .. if those boys get more time than Lakesha Haynie, I am going to pee myself.

Tow this

Who's calling around City Hall claiming the FBI is investigating the city's tow business?

Confrontations gone wrong

Homicide victim #13, Harry Hicks, was football coach of the Cherry Hill Eagles

High-larious! Man arrested in AAC after falling asleep with his headlights on and buds on his dashboard, a police search uncovered a pound of pot

Two new federal magistrates named, including a lawyer who defended Lee Boyd Malvo

A juvenile arrested after a "verbal confrontation" between packs of girls at the Towson Town Center

Who shot the detective...

Turns out there are plenty of questions being raised about the story of the detective who was shot in parking garage along with some evidence that contradicts his original story, including gunshot residue on his pants

Un. Frickin. Believable!!

Really?!?! No jail time for Lakesha Haynie, who pled guilty to killing her baby Rajahnthon by smothering him and burying him in Druid Hill Park, and p.s. his skull was fractured. Sickening! Could you imagine a parent who killed a baby in Towson by fracturing his skull, smothering him and denying him medical care getting no jail time?! Is there any possible explanation for this other than Judge Charles J. Peters finding no value in this child's life?!

Toke up with Montel

Rhidel Price, 21, fatally shot in Cherry Hill. Fenton uncovered a high school interview with him in '07 for DigitalSports.com.

A 23-year-old man shot & killed in Severn

Fourteen years for Todd Duncan, a (city-funded) youth counselor who moonlit as the citywide commander of the Black Guerillas. (Says a commentor, "he is learning the hard way what happens when you cut in on the CIA's drug profits")

D'oh! A police report says that the detective shot in a parking garage this week may have shot himself. Does that mean he's paying for the SWAT team?

Go Bernstein! In his first press release, Big B announces that John Couplin, famous for abducting a Guilford resident in the trunk of his car last year, has been jailed on probation violations stemming from a theft charge.

Bad news, death penalty fans: Hospira, the U.S.' sole maker of lethal injection drugs, has ceased production

Felony charges dismissed against Shomrim member Eliyahu Eliezer Werdesheim; misdemeanor charges are still on the table, and now his brother Avi has been charged with something in connection to the incident where a teen was allegedly beaten and had his wrist broken.

Yeeks-- the bodies of two men who had been "deceased for some time" found in Perry Hall house

MS sufferer/payday-loan hawker Montel Williams in coming to town to push for medical marijuana

Blotter: Anderson Honda employee mugged, hack cab passengers robbed and a woman charged with aggravated assault (good!) for slapping and choking a child on S. Schroeder St

Evan of the City that Breeds is royally PO'd that Rikki Spector doesn't actually live in her district

Fenton on Rodericks at 1

This D.C. crime blogger is way more intense than I

Juveniles charged with setting cat on fire

Mittens survived, but two teens have been charged with arson and animal cruelty

How fat is he?!

Comedy rules at Brockbridge Correctional Facility's talent night. "There were blind jokes and deaf jokes, and some long, graphic descriptions of pussy."

Murder Ink covers last week's two murders, of Wendell Woodard and Kevin Lewis.

There's a new First Assistant U.S. Attorney, one Stephen M. Schenning. He replaces Stuart Goldberg.

Ewewewewewie ew ew. With a side of EW!!: Dad of a 12-year-old autistic boy, "Rafael Luis Mieles, age 25, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to distributing child pornography in connection with an online ad he posted seeking to have sex with a father and son."

Dirt biker wins settlement

Man hit by police while sitting on dirt bike gets a fairly sizable payday, courtesy of city taxpayers.

Police officer shot near HQ

Shot in the leg near headquarters, swat team looking for suspect.

Friends & lovers

Oh snap! David Simon snarks back at Bealefeld's remarks that The Wire is a "smear that will take decades to overcome" and an "unfair use of literary license": "A more lingering problem might be two decades of bad performance by a police agency more obsessed with statistics than substance, with appeasing political leadership rather than seriously addressing the roots of city violence, with shifting blame rather than taking responsibility."

True that: the recent police shooting may just show us all exactly how "buddy buddy" Bernstein's relationship with police is.

The family of Marine Tyrone Brown, shot dead by an off-duty Baltimore police officer outside a nightclub last June has filed a $270 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the officer and the police department.

In spite of all of the hand-wringing after the murder of Sarah Foxwell, MD's sex offender registry is still not in compliance with federal law

The 4th circuit addresses the level of justification needed to authorize a no-knock entry, reiterates importance of not processing photos of your marital relations at WalMart.

SCOTUS rejects Maryland pastor's attempt to have same-sex marriage brought to a vote in D.C.

Liquor board inspector under investigation

Apparently you can hire a liquor board inspector to make sure your club passes muster with the community.

"Police-on-police shootings spark reform" -- like new "no shooting into a crowd of drunks" rule

Central booking warden suspended

Warden, 7 other employees suspended from Central Booking after allegations that excessive force sent a 26-year-old detainee to the hospital

Ewww, Douglas A. Hicks-Bey, 48, head of a "faith-based mentoring program" charged with rape, child abuse, assault, perverted practice and other sex offenses on a 15-year-old girl

A "private reprimand" for District Judge G. Darrell Russell Jr. who "sentenced" an alleged domestic abuser to marry his victim

County police are ISO a guy who tried to rob a man and shot him as he fled at a bus stop on Liberty Rd

Lost at Lexington Market, a "saschal" with $65,000

Throw ya money in the ayar

Batimoreans go to York to rob bank, hilarity, arrests ensue

Bill would allow blackjack & other table games at MD's casinos

U of MD Violence Intervention Program in the NYT today

"Preppy burglar pleads guilty"

appropos of nothing: looks like Michael Steele's tenure as the leader of the RNC is coming to an end over.

Is Baltimore Fallujah...

According to a city police training program it is....

Book Learnin

John Paul Stevens reviews David Garland's Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition in the NY Review of Books (adding it to the liebary)

.. and Justice Thomas halts an execution?! Marking the first time since his confirmation hearings that the justice has ever said, done anything

Meanwhile, the police union is not at all happy about SRB's plan for an independent review of the Select Lounge fracas. Imagine how PO'd they'd be if the citizen review board was actually empowered & functional?

a 'prance, a flamboyant shimmy'

Yet another cancer-scam case in Baltimore County?! This time one Lisa Hoppenstein Cohen allegedly bilked former Raven Mike Flynn out of $10,000. Says Cohen, "nothing's been proven."

Police say U of MD student shot over pot, his parents don't believe it

Victims protest outside the Archdiocese of Baltimore, demanding more disclosure in the case of defrocked priest Laurence Brett

Woman recalls traffic stop by fake cop in drag: "he approached her vehicle in what can only be described as a 'prance, a flamboyant shimmy.' He was tall, lanky, wearing a fake-looking ginger bob-style wig, an oversize police hat and blue-pleated pants that 'poofed' at the hips." .. and WJZ has an awesome composite sketch

A lawsuit puts the State Center project on hold

Hefty! Hefty! Hefty woman wanted in connection with purse-snatching

A U-turn in Mr. Carl's wild ride: Judge Silkworth threw out his illegal double PBJ and is letting the defendant decide if he wants a whole new trial or just a new sentence.

Rare moves

Some unusual responses following the Select Lounge melee: SRB ordered plainclothes police to dress up and an independent review of the nightclub shooting. The police department has named the officers involved (Harry Dodge, 37; Harry Pawley, 40; Toyia Wiliams, 36; and Latora Craig, 30). WBAL also reports that Officer Torbit was struck with 20 bullets.

Last week's murders in the Ink, and the first victim of 2011 is named as David Jones, 21

Turns out the Glen Arm intruder, Robert "Scooby" Buss, had patronized the would-be 64-year-old victim's barber shop. Says WJZ commenter "essex," "He always said he would never go back to jail."

An attempted robbery by a guy who needed toilet paper on O'Donnell Street in the Baltimore Guide blotter. Not to be confused with the guy last week who actually stole toilet paper.

Holy shamola, that's a lot of kablingy! Last year the district of MD netted $60 million in penalties and seized assets.

Twelve years for coke-dealing felon Tavon Johnson

Who owns crime reports? Not the public, apparently.

Prettiest cop on the block?

Police Impersonator: BPD looking for a W/M, 40 years old, 5'8, dressed as a women (sic) w/ a black wig. Last seen driving a blue Oldsmobile Alero.

Enchantment of the Seize

Fox reports that cocaine and heroin were found again on Royal Caribbean's cruise ship at the port. More from the Sun