April 17

The woman's body found in a creek in AAC has been identified as 46-year-old Svetlana Coontz.

Johnnie Toomer, the alleged shooter who attacked three kids and one adult last week, is being held without bail.

Idle Hands: The theories of who poured sulfuric acid on a slide in Middle River Saturday may prove right: two 16-year-olds have been arrested. Apparently they were just curious and wanted to see "if the chemical would burn the plastic."
The toddler who was burned by the acid underwent surgery yesterday.

Police labeled Michael Jay Francis as "critically missing" after recovering the car that was used in Francis' kidnapping and finding his bloody clothes inside the trunk.

A bad breakup led to the drive-by shooting that left an 18-year-old man and 17-year-old girl wounded in Darlington. Two 18-year-olds were arrested and charged with attempted murder.

Perv du jour: Baltimore County substitute teacher Stephen Williams Stauffer pleaded guilty to stalking a 10-year-old girl, sometimes with binoculars and a gun in his car. He didn't get any jail time, but he's totally not allowed to stalk her anymore.

Honorary perv du jour: Phillip Wilson of Finksburg, who was found guilty of fourth-degree sexual offense and second degree assault against two young girls.

Dead perv du jour: Rabbi Ephraim Shapiro, who may have molested hundreds of children prior to his death in 1989. The Jewish Times ran the story because "There are young men whose lives were changed forever because of his acts. Some of these men are more figuratively 'dead' than Rabbi Shapiro will ever be."

Someone vandalized the MARC signal house at Dorsey Station.

April 16

One of the students injured at Virginia Tech today by a currently unknown gunman was sophomore Justin Klein, a graduate of Catonsville High.

A 16-year-old-boy was shot in the arm, and arrests: Kenneth Mahai for the murder of Mark Robinson [#54 of 2007] and Keeco Stern, 18, and Kwamie Stern, 17, for killing Jermaine Morrison (2005).

More on the Middle River acid-on-the-playground incident and its toddler victim, Payton. There was a similar event in Austin, TX park on Thursday (though this involved muriatic acid instead). Creepy.

Johnny Toomer was ordered held without bail at his bail review this morning.

A baby shower turned deadly in PGC, ending with the death of uncle-to-be Jerrod A. Falls in a hail of bullets.

Maryland State Police shot Scott Perry to death after a car chase down your boyfriend's street in Elkton, Cecil Co. Fortunately Trooper Nitz sustained no permanent damage.

The Liquor Board has new legal power to check IDs and applicant backgrounds. Cheers!
(Is it illegal for a child molester to own a bar?)

Dalesios's of Little Italy has been cleared of harboring typhoid.

You know we couldn't go a single day without one ... a sex offender, that is. Today we have Raymond Strong of Port Deposit, who's charged with four counts of raping a 15-year-old he met on MySpace.

Bad Times in AAC:
- AAC and city police are looking for shooting victim Michael Jay Francis, 21, last seen being forced into the trunk of a stolen car, driver/shooter Antonio Moore, 20, and Moore's girlfriend, Sierra Monet Anderson, 18.
- Aaron Brown, 44, was shot to death in Annapolis.
- The body of a middle-aged woman was found floating in a tributary of the Patuxent River Tuesday in Davidsonville (down the southeast by Bowie).

April 15

WTF?! Someone poured sulfuric acid on the playground equipment at Victory Villa Elementary in Middle River, sending a two-year-old to the hospital.

Oh good, the Sun says our gang problem's hemorrhaging.
Actually, it sounds like the problem's doing pretty well for itself.
For would-be Blood teens, "you get a secret handshake, you get some special clothes, and automatically, you've got 300 friends" and may get to learn Swahili. As for cops, "having gang members openly wearing colors and identifying themselves publicly makes it easier to track criminal activity." And the neighbors get BBQs!
...though (in Part I) gang founders admit "we never fed the people like the Black Panthers did."

PdJ: Bethesda dentist David E. Fuster of MoCo, who fled to Mexico after being accused of drugging a 15-year-old with nitrous oxide and raping her.

Jemini Jones wants his job and reputation back.

BMore living tip: if you suspect someone's overdosed, give e'm mouth-to-mouth instead of trying to set their fingers on fire.

Four-Legged Neighbors

In the most recent poll, 35 percent of you said that it would be okay under some circumstances to poision a neighbor's obnxious dog to death!
Tough town!

April 14

An 11-year-old boy was shot in the shoulder yesterday at around 5 p.m. at the intersection of Baker and McKean.

Johnnie "Smurf" Toomer of the 2900 block of East Monument Street was arrested for Thursday April 12's, quadruple shooting in Broadway East, but there's still no known motive. It does seem the the 20-year-old was the target, not the kids, and the 20-year-old was a witness for the upcoming murder trial of Allen Little, who accused of shooting William Kirkpatrick, 16, and Stanley Dorsey, 31, on Belnord Street on October 18 of 2005.

It's a mockery of the bail bond system!
Defendants are ordered to post big-bucks bails, but the city's bail bondsmens' low low prices get them out on the cheap.

Fenyanga Muhammad tells Richard Sher that police shot him four times for no reason. Jablow: witnesses at the scene tell a different story.

Annie Linskey has more on the search for Terrance Randolph's three killers, including the detail that Don Papa Blake, aka Shamvoy Smith, "reached out to the Baltimore police shortly after arriving in the city in late 2005 and told them that he was from California and had plans to straighten out the city's gangs." Yesterday she detailed Jordanna/ Jiordanna Wagner 's taped testimony about how the three took Randolph to the basement of 1900 block of Division St. for "discipline."

Scary stat: Through March 31, Baltimore police reported 161 shootings in Baltimore — a 32 percent increase from the same time last year.

Spyware is letting stalkers take fucking with victims to a new level.

Once again, courthouse workers are protesting the filthy conditions.

Federal court judge Garbis: touching and tipping in PGC strip clubs doesn't lead to crime.

Not the Pine Knots!

The Sage Report recounts some Baltimore gang names from the early 1850s, including the Hell's Delights, the Gumballs and the Pug Uglies.

Evening

The 10-year-old boy shot yesterday was the cousin of the witness to a double murder, the case scheduled for trial today. BUT the latest news is it wasn't a case of witness itimidation at all... somebody was just trying to steal a jacket. Well, that's a relief!

Neil Rivers, 20, was killed trying to stop Deandre Lamont Williams, 18, from taking a dirtbike. His family is outraged that Williams was out of jail to commit the murder in the first place, and that he got only 50 years.

Shaidon "Papa Don" Blake was found guilty of second-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of Terrence Randolph, 19. Two other co-defendants, Janet Johnson and Jermile Harvey, were also found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy. "Prosecutors said Blake is a high-ranking member of the Bloods who came from California to get Terrence Randolph and other gang members in line."

Dawson sister: seven family members were killed because they "Believed," were not given promised protection.


Police have released a composite of the Fredneck hit-and-run killer, left.

City bank robber Terron Moore got 11 years 4 months. If only the teller had used a prophylactic excessive-customer-service-technique to disarm him from the gitgo ...

If you still own a radio...

I'll be on Ed Norris on 105.7 this morning from 11:30-12:30.

April 13

The body found after a house fire on the 2600 block of W. Coldspring Ln. had been beaten and stabbed.

Sheila D. is outraged because at least six people were shot in the city on Thursday, including three children and one man who were shot on N. Bradford St.

The man who was stabbed in throat in Pigtown was identified as Eric Zurawski. Also, two people were shot on W. Lombard St., one person was shot on W. Pratt St., a boy was shot on Callow Ave., and a 19-year-old woman's car was stolen at gunpoint on E. Preston St. after she stopped to avoid hitting a pedestrian.

Commissioner Hamm says "You can't arrest your way out of a problem. You just can't."

Maryland's Court of Appeals says the family members of Angela Dawson have no grounds for a suit against the city.

Fenyanga Muhammed says the BPD shot and arrested him for no reason.

The family of Lindsay Bender are offering a $5,000 reward for information about the driver of a green pickup truck that was involved in Wednesday's fatal road rage accident near Frederick.

William Parrish, who was arrested last month for holding a woman against her will in Finksburg, was charged with unauthorized use of his ex-wife's Visa card and throwing a propane tank at an ex-girlfriend.

Steven Gossard of Washington County got two years for punching an 11-year-old girl and knocking her out.

Perv du jour: Thomas Carroll pleaded guilty to raping a 17-year-old girl 14 years ago, after DNA evidence was discovered that linked him to the crime.

I don't even know how to summarize the story of George Robert Chaney III in one sentence, so just go read about his most recent arrest.

April 12

"Of the 42 people charged with gun crimes in Baltimore between Jan. 1 and March 21 of this year, 24 suspects — or 57 percent — had been previously charged with gun crimes a total of 52 times."
How'd this happen? They're out on bail and out of jail, and that's the way it goes.

Tavon Campbell, 20, was shot to death shortly after midnight in the 2600 block of E. Madison St.

"John Daughtry, 25, was identified Tuesday as the man shot in the chest at an unknown location about 6 p.m. Monday, then staggered to his home in the 100 block of S. Morley St." ; also, a 20-year-old man was shot in the chest but survived.

WBAL reported at noon that two women were shot while walking on the West side, no motive or suspects.

A "suspicious body" was found by firefighters at 4 a.m. in the basement of a house in the 2600 block of West Cold Spring Lane (aka Coldspring Avenue). Wonder if we'll ever hear of it again ... ?

Yesterday's Fredneck road rage victims were ID'd as driver Christian M. Luciano, 28, and passenger Lindsay L. Bender, 25, both from Harrisburg PA. Speaking of road rage, sound advice the Sun's Googled for us from the Dane County Sheriff's Office in Madison, Wis.):

Almost nothing makes another driver angrier than an obscene gesture ... Avoid making any gestures that might anger another driver, even 'harmless' expressions of irritation like shaking your head.

(JZ's video on the link above is actually about Duke lax. Isn't it nice how Reade Seligmann says "If police officers and a district attorney can systematically railroad us with absolutely no evidence whatsoever, I can’t imagine what they’d do to people who do not have the resources to defend themselves.")

April 11

Rozza Alston, 29, of the 1600 block of Saint Paul Street, pled not guilty at arraignment today. He was criminally charged March 16, 2007 with attempted first degree murder, attempted second degree murder, assault, armed robbery and plain-old robbery. Court documents allege that on January 26, 2007 Alston accosted an elderly female victim in the parking lot of a Kentucky Fried Chicken located at 1821 Saint Paul Street demanding her purse. When the victim refused, he allegedly stabbed her numerous times in her hand, arm and chest. Police arrested Alston on February 3.

Jean Sierra, 21, of Owings Mills, MD pled not guilty at arraignment today. He was indicted by the Baltimore City Grand Jury for multiple counts of robbery, armed robbery and assault. Court documents allege that on January 16, at approximately 2:30 a.m. Sierra pointed a handgun at a group of three off-duty law-enforcement officers, (Jason E. Dietsch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Virginia state trooper and bagpipe player Michael McCann, and a Marie Burkhead, all in town for the funeral of Troy L. Chesley Sr) with the intent to rob them in the 2800 block of O'Donnell Street in busy Canton Square. Police responded and searched the area and detained Sierra, who was then allegedly identified by the victims. Sierra remains held without bail at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

Speaking of the garbage problem, how great would that be if we could ban plastic bags.

No, it isn't an old headline... charges will finally be officially dropped against David Evans of Bethesda and two other Duke lax players indicted for rape and kidnapping in May of last year.

Rodricks: Community "call-in" urges criminals of the Western to get a clue.

PdJ: CarlCo's James Allen Gregory, 62, has been released from jail after serving 27 months of a 36-month sentence for a violation of parole in Washington State. Gregory violated parole by being hired as a handyman at the Rainbows and Reasons daycare center in Westminster in 2001, where he was charged with sexually abusing two 3-year-old girls at the day-care center and other locations and was given a 15-year suspended sentence. It's all very confusing.

Two people were killed by a white man in a basball hat during a Fredneck road-rage incident.

Baltimore Crime collectable: the "Baltimore City Police / Policing the City that Bleeds" patch. Notes the description: "This patch was designed by some of the Baltimore City Police Department Officers because of the high Homicide rate in Baltimore City. They feel they have no support from the Mayor or City Council, so this was a patch that was designed to show their displeasure with the lack of support."

USS Constellation a Fraudulent Frigate!

According to Wikipedia, Harborplace's USS Constellation is a fraud! It's not the first US Navy vessel to put to sea, as city plaques proclaimed to schoolchildren for 137 years, but an 1850's Navy war sloop altered to look like a 1797 frigate!
Oh, my.

A letter:

Just saw your post about the Connie. I used to work there as a shipwright. Although there are people who will swear with their dying breath that it's the Frigate Constellation built in 1797 (I'm doing this from memory, forgive me if I get the details wrong), general consensus, including the current management, is that it was a new boat built in 1854. There was some kind of Naval chicanery with the money from congress back in the 1850s—they weren't allowed to build a new boat, so they said they were restoring the old one, but they pretty much restored it out of existence. I believe there was a book written on the subject recently by a guy named Footner. During a major restoration a few decades ago, they tried to make it look like the original, and did a bunch of stuff that later had to be undone in the most recent restoration (1990s).

So Boston beats us on the oldest ship, with the Constitution, but the USS Constellation has some pretty cool history, including slave trade interdiction off the coast of Africa and running famine relief to Ireland. Seems harsh to call it a fraud, I prefer to think the people who believed it was the frigate were just misguided. One important thing—although it was altered to look like the frigate, it got altered back, so what you see there between the water taxi and the paddle boats is the 1854 sloop.

Still, when you look at memorabilia on Ebay and such, the older stuff will say "USF Constellation" with an F for Frigate, and the new stuff will say "USS Constellation" with an S for either Ship or Sloop, I can’t remember. There are any number of old armchair sailors who can talk about this for days on end. I tend to tune out after "Not the original? Okay."
More importantly, I made the mast in the middle at the very top after the last one was struck by lightning.
Cheers,

Chris L.
Former boatbuilder

April 10

A man died of a gunshot wound in the 100 block of S. Morely St. near Gwynns Falls Park.

Donta Madison, 31, was shot in the parking lot of the Rite Aid on West Chase Street near Martin Luther King Boulevard Monday night, and survived.

This morning, Judge John C. Themelis sentenced Keon Stokes, 29, of the 1300 block of North Carey Street, to 36 years in prison -- 30 years for second-degree murder, three years for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, and 18 months each for car theft and arson, and the sentences are to run consecutively. A Baltimore jury convicted stokes March 20, 2007. Say charges,

On May 1, 2005 Stokes, in a stolen vehicle, struck and killed Kurt Fulp, 20, while Mr. Fulp was riding a bicycle in the 1500 block of Presstman Street. Stokes fled the scene without stopping. Police responded to a call of a car fire later that day and it was determined the burning vehicle matched the description of the one that struck Mr. Fulp.

In the county, Rami Adana Martin, 24, was shot to death at 1:30 a.m. in the Pikesville area.

"It was a regular afternoon at Keeper's Market, a tiny neighborhood convenience store on Brehm's Lane in Belair-Edison. Miss Debbie was buying her scratch-off tickets at the front counter, the store owner was checking inventory in the beverage case and Miss Linda and a manager were playing video games in the corner. ... Then ..."

Salvadoran Deysi M. Benitez, right, aka Rosi Chavez, aka Estela Sedillo, is officially Missing, according to the FBI; aka it's unknown if she is alive or dead.


PduJ: Christian Marcel Liverman, 30, who gave his address as Towson University, is charged with the sexual abuse of a 16-year-old female student at Chesapeake High School.

Non-Profit Malfeasance Dept.
Johns Hopkins University has put a financial aid director on paid leave after learning she had received about $65,000 of consulting fees from a student loan company.

A radiologist who was kicked out of the University of Maryland Medical Center after he performed a Muslim ritual has filed a $30 million lawsuit against the hospital.

April 9

A man was fatally stabbed in the throat in Pigtown.
And a man was stabbed in the arm and leg in the 2300 block of McCulloh Street in Reservoir Hill.

Dept of WTF?!:
Sun's Sara Neufeld: The city school budget is full of errors, including an item that "shows $6.2 million in salary money to pay zero employees."

Gregory Eaton was the armed robber who died at Fantasies Nightclub after being shot by off-duty police. Alex Reiff was also shot and is expected to recover.

Project Exile continues to target felons with guns. Meanwhile, the Blotter lists a shooting Friday morning on W. Lexington Ave., an armed robbery on Friday morning on E. Patapsco Ave., an armed carjacking at a gas station on Glynns Falls Pkwy. on Friday evening, and a shooting Friday night on Ascension St.

Oh, and also in the Blotter... a 10-year-old girl was robbed of her candy at knifepoint while walking to school in Woodlawn on Friday morning.

A 30-year-old man was attacked and robbed while walking along Furnace Branch Rd. in Glen Burnie.

"Do I dare disturb the universe?" Not if I go to school in Harford County.

April 8

Word in our inbox from

Delegate Jill P. Carter
Next Mayor of Baltimore

JILL P. CARTER MAYOR
829 East Baltimore Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
443-927-9076
www.peopleforjillpcarter.com

Dear Friend
Baltimore or Baghdad: which is the greater American tragedy?

As of March 19, 2007, violence has claimed the lives of 47 Americans in Baghdad since the start of the year. During the same period, violence claimed 61 lives in Baltimore, Maryland - most due to gunshot wounds.

Thousands marched this past weekend to end the loss of life in Baghdad. By contrast, the cry of outrage in Baltimore has barely risen to the level of a whisper."

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Carolyn Redd of the 5500 block of Jonquail Avenue, and Lawrence Gee, of Monastery Avenue for the first-degree murder of Mary Page. Court documents allege Carolyn Redd, the victim's daughter and her boyfriend Lawrence Gee lived with Mary Page at her residence sometime before August 19, 2006. Court documents also allege the couple was asked to leave the home. Court documents further allege the couple was seen near Ms. Page's home around the time of her death. Arraignment is scheduled for April 9, 2007, before Judge Lynn Stewart, 215 Mitchell Courthouse. Assistant State's Attorney John Cox will prosecute this case.

He's Just Not That Into You Dept.
Former Baltimore Police officer Kabeer Din was found guilty of conspiring to have his girlfriend murdered. Din wanted her dead, says the NYT, because he feared she'd "report something that would damage his reputation with the [NY] Police Department." In spite of the spate damning evidence, would-be victim Sherry Nohar is standing by her man.

HarfCo SA Joseph Cassilly is joining the choir against the proposed anti-gang bill. Or he just wanted to use that metaphor, "pig in a swimsuit."

April 7

Three people were shot Thursday, all injuries were non-fatal.

PduJ: "An Annapolis man who is in the country illegally from El Salvador was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday for possessing pornographic images of minors."

Probation for Wayne J. Schepens, a former NSA employee accused of awarding more than $770,000 in contracts to companies in which he and his wife had financial interests.

Evening of April 6

Judge Wanda sentenced Donald Washington, 23, of the 1900 block of West Franklin Street, to 20 years in prison. More than two years ago, on October 27, 2005, Washington pled guilty to the second-degree murder of two-year-old Andrea Carroll-Butler. September 23, 2004 Washington beat to death Andrea Carroll-Butler, his girlfriend's daughter, at their residence in the 1900 bock of West Franklin Street. The medical examiner ruled that Butler-Carroll died as a result of blunt force trauma. Washington admitted striking the girl several times with his fist.

April 6

An 8-year-old girl was hit by two cars in Govans, but only one driver waited at the scene.

More on the police shooting at Fantasies Nightclub in South Baltimore that left one robber dead and one wounded.

A 12-year-old girl was left alone on a sidewalk in a strange neighborhood after city police arrested her father during a traffic stop in November.

Richard Cannon was arrested in Knoxville (Washington County) after attacking his estranged wife and sending her to Shock Trauma.

There was an armed robbery at a Frederick movie theater.

Two people jumped into the Glynns Falls while trying to flee police in West Baltimore.

Two armed men robbed a Wachovia Bank in Hanover yesterday morning.

Calvin Mcrae got nine years for smuggling heroin in jigsaw puzzles.

HoCo thieves, one of whom got caught on video, are stealing from unlocked cars.

Paula Anderson got 18 months for stealing $317,000 from UMMC.

Criminal justice expert Tyrone Powers loves Hamm but says he's gotta go.

In non-Baltimore news, today marks the 13th anniversary of the plane crash that killed Juvenal Habyarimana. His death led to the most efficient genocide in the history of humanity, during which Rwandan citizens were murdered at the rate of 5 per minute for 100 days. Rwanda is smaller than the state of Maryland, and the people are nearly all Christian. Many who sought refuge in their local churches were slaughtered by their local political and/or religious leaders.

April 5

Off-duty officers thwarted a robbery at Fantasies strip club in South Baltimore, and one would-be robber is dead.

Dating "troubled Tommy" tended to start out nicely with cards and roses, but things would go swiftly downhill from there.

Slots of fun: a tape of now-disgraced Senator Bromwell sounding very Sopranos as he riffs on the "big bucks" potential of casinos, slots and statewide OTBs.

Things that make you go ?: What's with a 25 percent difference between the level of robberies Comsat figures show in the City, and the figures State Police have?

April 4

Horrible: another Hispanic-family murder suicide, this time in MoCo! Mom is alive and found the bodies.
What is going on out there?

Don "Overkill" Papa of California's Bounty Hunter Bloods "denies that he bound, tortured, burned and suffocated Terrance Randolph, 19, in a West Baltimore house a year ago this month." But, "he admits he was drawn to the city's lucrative drug culture ... Pennsylvania Avenue is a freaking gold mine,' he said to police, according to court papers. He boasted that he made $180,000 selling drugs there one night. 'This is the heroin capital of America, ain't no more dope sold nowhere than right there on Pennsylvania Avenue. It's the largest open air drug market in the world for heroin." But take note, "... these gangs here are not even Bloods ... these are a bunch of Internet surfers ... none of these gangs are in allegiance with an official Blood set."

Skitzy Vitali A. Davydov pled guilty to killing Dr. Wayne Fenton in Rockville.

Pervs of the day: couple Diana Cornwell, 34, and her husband, Jesse, 32, who have been "accused of soliciting money for sex in an advertisement on a popular Web site - with her husband acting as her pimp."

PDJ of last December 5, Timothy Gounaris, will get 60 days after an Alford plea in the County.

For "the 13th time in 15 months ... charges have been dropped against a defendant accused of a homicide or other violent crime" in PGC. Wonder how often that happens in the City?

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake vows to persue a new law that would give police the right to evict home and business owners for having two nuisance violations in two years.

A protest in the Eastern is "another chapter" in the arrest of young Gerard Mungo Jr. A dull chpater, with lots of sign-waving and finger-pointing.

Baltimore History Corner: Did You Know? Somebody Rioted on West North Avenue in Baltimore in 1968 and busted up a pharmacy.

... Torts for Dorks
In District Court, Hershey Co is suing the maker of "Dork Peppermint Patty" stickers.

April 3

An unidentified man in his early 20s was fatally shot near the 3600 block of St. Margaret's St. in Brooklyn.

Mahmud Faruq Brent (aka Mahmud Al Mutazzim) a Baltimore man who drove a cab in DC, pled guilty yesterday in Federal court to attending a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.

Police are investigating the murder of 16-year-old Estefany Gonzales. Some of the girl's friends think she might have been killed by a stray bullet.

The family of William Thomas Parrish III knew he was holding a woman captive, but they were too afraid to report him.

Blood was found on Charles Eugene Burns' car that links him to 25-year-old murder victim Jennifer Lynn Blankenship.

Sheila D. is trying a "conflict resolution and violence intervention program" called Operation Safe Streets, which she hopes will lead to a decline in crime by election time.

The senate has approved expunging records for people who are arrested but never charged. Now what about the ones where charges were "abated by arrest"?

A month-long undercover investigation by Anne Arundel cops led to 12 arrests, four cars, two guns, and about $50,000 in drugs.

Fredneck:
The Latinos of Frederick are horrified by the murder-suicide family of five.
If they were white the story would be on the cover of this week's People magazine!

Former sixth-grade teacher Michelle Dohm was convicted of making bomb threats directed at five students.

Evening

Jemini Jones' Second Set of Charges Dropped
"Two months after a city jury acquitted a Baltimore officer of one set of rape charges, city prosecutors today dropped a second set of rape charges against him."
He faces trial again in two weeks for illegally carrying a handgun.

William Thomas Parrish III, 25, of Reisterstown, allegedly kidnapped, beat, burned, tattooed and raped a woman at his grandfather's house in Finksburg.

A man shot ot death in Woodlawn was ID'd as Jamar Mackie, 24.

Give 'Em Hell Zell!

Some fabulous media news-- the Tribune Co., (owners of the Sun) is going to be sold for real this time and will go private (as it should have been all along). So long, Chandlers... don't let the door hit you where the Good Lord split you!

The new owner, Sam Zell, is "bullish" on the news business and developing the Internet side of the Tribune's holdings, his soon-to-be papers report. He's baldish, gnomish, sent his brother-in-law to jail, and is fond of ducks, motorcycles, salty language and contemporary art. What's not to like? (Though the title "vulture investor" is a bit unsettling. And all that debt.)

More coverage: NYT

April 2

A 16-year-old girl, Estefany Gonzalez, was shot and killed on Friday night in O'Donnell Heights.

Andre McBride was fatally shot in the head on Saturday afternoon in the 6600 block of Knottwood Ct.

David Johns has been ID'd as the man who was fatally shot early Friday morning on Noble St. in the Southeastern.

Luke Broadwater at the Examiner looks at the month in murder: we have 9 more homicides than we did at this time last year, shootings are up by 24%, and lots of innocent bystanders are getting caught up in the killings.

Gina Fowler believes that her daughter, Jill Conklin, may have been murdered. Conklin's body was found by a fisherman beneath an I-95 overpass in Linthicum.

The autopsies are complete on the four children in Frederick.

Last night, two teenagers were shot, one in the neck and one in the back, on Loyola Northway in the Northwest.

Perv of the day: former NIH researcher McClellan Walther got four years for his child porn collection.

Hmmmm... has John Galt's true identity finally been revealed?

Answer to the "Trivia" Question

The Q was, until the mid-50s, Baltimore housing and school were was racially segregated by law and "negroes" could only live in three neighborhoods. What were they?

The A:
The East, West and South sides of town.
A PA librarian found this article, "The Transnational Contexts of Early Twentieth-Century American Urban Segregation," which in spite of the horrible title turns out to be quite a worthwhile read, full of interesting info. In it we learn that the law didn't dictate where "Negroes" had to live, exactly. Instead, "white" people segregated themselves into the gay-sounding "favored fan" of the North, and in 1911 the Baltimore City Council passed the West Segregation Ordinance* which apparently allowed neighborhood associations to have racially restrictive neighborhood covenants. However, of all the 1910's white housing projects, only Guilford's covenant (and possibly Northwood's, see comments) was in-your-face enough to specifically include restrictions on resale to Negroes in the home deeds (a tip Olmstead et. al got from real estate developers in Chicago).

The U.S. Supreme court struck down racial real-estate covenants in 1917, so in Baltimore racial housing segregation was on the books for just four years, though the "marketized system of urban residential segregation-- along with its consequences for unequal access ... and unequal exposure to toxins and the criminal justice system-- remains virtually unscathed."

ps. Why did the same real estate developers who didn't want to put racial language in the deeds for Roland Park feel more emboldened for their next construction project? Apparently July 4, 1910 was Jack Johnson's victory over white boxer James Jeffires, who came out of retirement solely to prove "that a white man is better than a Negro." Jeffries' loss incited white people to riot nationwide, and local whites ("officers of neighborhood associations, letter writers and signers of petitions") brought pressure to lawmakers address the "Negro invasion."

April, Fools!

On the dock this week:
Tomorrow: Jemini Jones' second rape trial is scheduled to get going (presumably at 9:30 a.m.) at 236 Mitchell.
Also Sean Braxton, accused of robbing plainclothesed HoCo policemen.
Wednesday, no fewer than six murder trials are scheduled to begin, along with the usual.
The Schedule:

Chris Andrew Ward double MURDER TRIAL part 45 (robyne szokoly)
Kendrick McCain (juv, 15, charged with light rail murder) MURDER JUV TRANSFER HEARING 228E (paul oconnor)
Leshawn Green (pizza parlor murder, att murder) TRIAL part 46 (diana smith)
Roy McMillian, BPD Raid, gun and drugs part 45 2:00pm 236M (jason silverstein)
Dean Crater, 4B01859834~Murder 1st~ARRG~Judge Welch~Rm 228E~Don Giblin, ASA (forced entry along w/another person & fatally shot Arnilo Handy in 2nd floor bedroom)
~Paul Highfield, 6B01860480~Murder 2nd~Prelim Hrg~Hargrove~Rm 2~8:30 (CO-DEF DESTINY D'URSO, MOM ACCUSED OF KILLING 2 YR OLD, SON ANTHONY D'URSO)

Friday the 6th, the SA's schedule notes,
Child-murderer Donald Washington is DISPO (? Giving a disposition?) with Julie Drake
and Vivian Day is due on 1st-degree murder charges. Day is accused of wrapping the body of her lover, Nelsene Burnette, in plastic and leaving it in the closet of her apartment for three days.
Blarfghhhh.

March 31

Murders #70 and 71: Pelvin Derrien, 23, of the 6800 block of Sturbridge Drive was killed during what witnesses say was an attempted robbery (though nothing was stolen). And an unidentified man was shot on the 3400 block of Noble St. March 30.

Parents of a 14-year-old Kevin Cooper, who was fatally shot last August 12 by a police officer in his Southwest Baltimore house last year, have filed a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit. Police say Cooper was attacking the officer with a broom handle, the boy's family said he was unarmed and "never put his hands" on the officer.

...more Did You Know?

A librarian in Bethlehem, PA (thanks to the Maryland AskUsNow librarian chat function, in which an actual person will answer your reference questions for free!) found this article about Baltimore's "racial geography" by one Carl H. Nightengale at the Department of American Studies in Buffalo, NY. It's pretty long, though, so I haven't had a chance to read it yet!

C Love was kind of right, Upton was/still is I guess a black neighborhood, as confirmed from this site by the government... at least from 1910 on. But:

In 1900, the Federal Census showed the neighborhood to be entirely white (except for a few black servants) and probably of German-Jewish origins. By 1910, a major racial change had taken place; the 1500 block of Druid Hill Avenue, for example, had only two white families in that year.

Now how did that happen?

March 30

38-year-old Clarence Johnson was the bank robber who was killed during a shootout with Anne Arundel police.

While being questioned for the murder of Allen Coates, Lamont Thomas Harrell was linked to the murder of Andre S. Jones.

The body found in Linthicum on Wednesday has been identified as 23-year-old Jill Marie Conklin, and the ME reports no outward signs of trauma. Also, a woman's body was found in Randallstown, and has been tentatively ID'd as a woman whose missing from the city.

Holy cow! Witness testimony works!

Perv of the day: Salisbury resident / former youth coach David Lee, who was sentenced to five years for his child porn activities.

When I was 8, it never would have crossed my mind to beat up a 14-year-old.

HoCo police arrested 25 alleged dealers in Columbia, but didn't learn much about anything above street-level dealing.

Goodthink of the day: "When Big Brother is watching, people have a tendency to try to do the right thing." -- Kenneth Harris, 4th District, Baltimore City Council.

A senior citizen was charged with grand larceny after shoplifting at the Super Fresh in the Northern on Wednesday.

A Bel Air man was arrested in Wisconsin for allegedly stalking pop singer Michelle Branch.

Did you know?

... that before Cherry Hill became famous for attresting white people for asking directions, it was founded as a community for African-American World War II veterans?
"Trivia" Question: Until the mid-50s, Baltimore housing and school were was racially segregated by law and "negroes" could only live in three neighborhoods. What were they?)

March 29

The body found a-floating next to the Constellation was ID'd as James Lee Butler, 41. So far no signs of foul play, odds are 341-1 favoring that the ME's office will pronouce the death "undetermined."

Travis D. Terry, 24, a County man who killed his friend Edwin Leon Potillo III, also 24, and shot and robbed his girlfriend, was spared the death penalty by Judge Kathleen Cox.

An unID'd woman's body has found mouldering in Linthicum.

In what "must have looked like a scene from the TV series 'The Untouchables'" (?) County police raided the Trial Club on Cove Rd., an alleged unlicensed bar in North Point.

The armed robbery trial of Corey McLeaurin, 29, of the 3400 block of Gwynns Falls Parkway, is scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow morning before Judge Wanda Heard. A Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted McLeaurin April 11, 2006 for armed robbery, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and other related counts. Court documents allege that on March 17, 2006 McLeaurin and another man robbed Bel-Airian Mark Beckwith, 57, of $5,900 cash in the parking lot of the Village of Cross Keys shopping center (between Roland Park, Poly and 83). The victim shot and injured McLeaurin during the robbery. Another suspect was shot and killed, and the State's Attorney’s Office later found the shooting was justified.

What the?! Homeland security is making raids across Baltimore, and has made 50... make that 69, arrests!
This should come as jolly news to readers who endorsed more raids after the 7-11 smackdown.

New stomach-churning details in the case of BarfCo serial killer Charles Burns.

Denny's manager Michael Fredrick, 52, was stabbed 32 times by David Burton, who "had just taken hits of cocaine and heroine [sic]" and was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder.

It's the towns vs. the gowns as Tuscany-Canturbury neighbors attempt to zone the Phi Psi's boozy, deliquent urinatin' fun out of their residential district. On the Phi Psi's side, no one less than NY Mayor and former brother Michael Bloomberg.

Car-Burning Cop Pleads Guilty

At a hearing today, former Northern District Baltimore Police Officer Keosha Buie, 23, pled guilty to conspiracy to burn with intent to defraud. Judge John M. Glynn sentenced Buie to a suspended 18 month prison term, 18 months probation and 40 hours of community service. The State entered a nolle prosequi in the case of co-defendant Vincent Harris, 43, of the 2900 block of Lakewood Circle. On May 17, 2006 Buie was involved in a scheme to get rid of her 2002 Ford Taurus in order defraud an insurance company. The Police and Fire Department discovered the flaming 2002 Taurus May 17, 2006 in the 100 block of McPhall Street.

March 28, afternoon, from the SA's Office

Phillip Johnson, convicted by a Baltimore City jury on January 19, got 12 years for first-degree assault and handgun counts.

On August 10, 2005 at approximately 8:00 a.m., a Baltimore Police Officer conducting a traffic stop near the Smallwood MARC train station, heard several gunshots. The officer witnessed Johnson firing a handgun at an unidentified man while chasing him down the 500 block of Pulaski Street. The officer apprehended Johnson after a foot chase through an alley. Several eyewitnesses identified Johnson as the person firing the gun at the man.

At the request of the defense, Judge Martin P. Welch remanded 15-year-old Jermaine Sanders to the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts. The State wanted Sanders to be tried as an adult for first-degree murder.

Court documents alleged that at approximately 10AM December 1, 2006 Jermaine Sanders stabbed his brother, Jason Sanders, 17, in their home following a verbal dispute. Police discovered Jason Sanders lying in the 1100 block of N. Chester Street near the corner of N. Chester and E. Biddle Street. Jason Sanders died later at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Judge David Mitchell sentenced 19-year-old Davon Jones to 30 years and 20-year-old Derrick Gardner to 23 years for attempted murder and handgun counts.

On January 10, 2006, the victim, Jerome Smith, was walking in the 2500 block of Druid Park Drive when he was confronted by Gardner who asked Smith about $70 he owed their drug boss. Jones joined Gardner. Smith did not have the money and turned to flee. Gardner pulled out a silver revolver and shot Smith in the back. Smith stumbled across the street and fell down in the woods. Jones and Gardner followed and Jones took the handgun from Gardner and shot Smith himself. Lying prone, Smith held his arms up to defend himself and was hit on the inside of his upper forearm. Police responded minutes after the shooting and Smith was transported to Sinai Hospital were he was treated and released the next day. Smith was subsequently found guilty of violating his probation for drug distribution and is currently serving a two year sentence.

March 28

Two people were killed in the city yesterday. In East Baltimore, a 17-year-old boy was shot in the head in the 2200 block of E. Biddle St. last night at about 10:30. In West Baltimore, 18-year-old Artesha Moses was stabbed to death by her boyfriend in her home on the 700 block of N. Carey St.

Anna Ditkoff reports on three new murders, and the fact that we've only had three four-day stretches without a murder in 2007. This week, there is information published about Charles Hargrove, Ricardo Paige, and Shawn Weaver, along with updates of several murder cases from the past few years.

Deysi Benitez is still missing, and there's no conclusive cause of death for her husband and four children. In the past year, police were called to the home of Pedro Rodriguez and Deysi eight times.

A pregnant woman was shot at a motel in Odenton when two men fired through the motel room door after failing to pry it open.

Yesterday afternoon, a 15-year-old at Woodlawn High School allegedly stabbed a fellow student outside a library next to the campus.

A bank robbery in Severna Park (AAC) went horribly awry this morning, leaving a cop wounded and the robber dead. (WBAL has some audio files from the scene.)

A fast food robbery in Glen Burnie went horribly awry yesterday morning after a man walked out of the restroom and got shot in the face.

Sheila D. is definitely getting some outrage. And it looks like some dirt bikers are preparing for a revolution of their own.

Perv of the day: Child's gymnastic coach Patrick Bogan was busted with "violent and aggressive" child porn and 21 pairs of panties.

An alleged bank robber in Baltimore was arrested under the JFX on Tuesday after the Carrollton Bank on N. Charles St. was robbed. Police suspect the man is responsible for nearly half of the city's bank robberies in 2007.

A Senate bill that would allow for automatic cleaning of criminal records when someone is arrested but not charged is being challenged for how it would affect people's rights to sue police.

There is lots of debate as to how the owners of Kawasaki Japanese restaurants should be sentenced for their crimes against their illegal staff.

30 Years For Murderer Caught on Camera

At a hearing yesterday, Earl Holeman, 38, of Capitol Heights, Maryland pled guilty to first-degree murder. Judge Wanda K. Heard sentenced Holeman to life in prison and suspended all but 30 years. The State presented the following facts as part of the plea agreement in open court:

At approximately 10 a.m. on January 1, 2006, Holeman stabbed Michelle Denton, 49, his former girlfriend, in the throat with a knife, as she waited at a bus stop in the 300 block of West Fayette Street. The State entered into evidence seven still photographs captured from Citiwatch cameras that show the defendant fleeing the scene. One of the seven photographs positively identifies the defendant.

While the actual murder was not videotaped, several cameras captured Holeman as he ran from the crime scene, and ran up Paca and Lexington Streets. A camera operator was able to direct police officers from the crime scene to Holeman, leading to his apprehension and arrest. This is the second murder case where prosecutors have negotiated a plea agreement and have noted in the court record that camera footage would be included as evidence in the State's evidence.

March 27

Two 16-year-old boys have been indicted for the March 13 killing of 17-year-old Steven Washington.

State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy announced that the Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Tevin Moultrie, 16, of the 1600 block of Cliftview Avenue and Maurice Wilkerson, 16, of the 400 block of E. Oliver Street for first-degreee murder and other counts.

Court documents allege that on March 13, 2007 Steven Washington, 17, was found lying on the sidewalk in the 1600 block of Cliftview Avenue suffering from a gunshot wound to the head following an altercation with the defendants. Police identified the two suspects through witnesses. Washington died as a result of his injuries.

On Sunday afternoon, the body of an unidentified woman was found in a townhouse on the 1200 block of Treeleaf Ct. near Old Town Mall. She died from head injuries.

A 28-year-old Frederick man apparently committed suicide after murdering his four children. The children's mother, 25-year-old Daysi Benitez, has been missing for more than a week.

Monsignor Richard Smith's ability to function as a priest was removed by the Baltimore Archdiocese after two women accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior that occurred in the late 1960s.

A woman on Eutaw St. ran over a fireman who asked her to move her car away from the fire station's doors.

Kevin Klink, charged with beating 18-year-old Robert Brazell to death with a bat, has waived a preliminary hearing.

Daryl Chase pleaded guilty to the 2004 murder of Michael Deal and was sentenced to 30 years. Meanwhile, Terrance Wynn got 83 years for a 2004 home-invasion robbery.

Jack Schroeder is charged with killing his HoCo neighbor's beagle.

The bill that would allow parole for non-violent, twice-convicted dealers was surprisingly passed by the House yesterday.

A Pause for Perverts

For whatever reason, Baltimore is home to a TON of child molesters.
Not as many as Florida, we hear, but at least once a day, if not three or four times a day, a new dirty old man is arrested. What is up with that? The whole Catholic-church thing gets a lot of ink, with TV anchor Thomas Roberts coming out with tales of Father Jeff Toohey of Calvert Hall, and the pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ellicott City. The Catholic church has countered with the scary stat that "only" some 1 percent of priests have been accused of sex abuse, as compared to 5 percent of U.S. public school teachers. Yikes.

As of a year ago, the law allows people who are now 25 or younger and were molested to be able to sue the molestor until they're 42 (what's with the weird ages?), an apparent compromise to save the Catholic church.
So while civil suits are thus restrained, there is no time limit for criminal charges, a good thing since every pedophile on the East Coast seems to wind up living here!

State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy released the following statement following media inquiries regarding the arrest of Lakisa Dinkins on March 24, 2007 and the legal review by prosecutors at Central Booking:

This afternoon I had an opportunity to review this matter. The official position of my office is that this case was legally insufficient to proceed. I stand by earlier statements by my office that this case was legally insufficient. This case was not legally viable, and therefore should not be reflected as 'abated by arrest.' A full review of the records in this matter support my decision in this matter.”

March 26

In Port Deposit, Brian Jordan stabbed his girlfriend to death and tried to do the same to himself.

Timothy P. Mussleman was shot to death in Elkton after withdrawing several hundred dollars from an ATM.

The mother of the 7-year-old dirtbike arrestee has one version of the events that led to her arrest, the police have another, and neither sounds particularly credible. Meanwhile, Doc Cheatham seems to be calling for war.

Someone robbed the GameStop in Pikesville.

A 14- or 15-year-old kid tried to rape a woman behind an abandoned house in the Western, and an employee of Beauty Zone was maced by someone who wanted to steal some human hair.

Hondas and Acuras are the most-stolen cars in HoCo.

From the SA's Office

On Friday Baltimore Jury convicted Simmeon Anderson, 31, of the 2800 block of Hollins Ferry Road, of two counts of first degree assault, two counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, two counts of reckless endangerment and one count each of felon in possession of a handgun and wear/carry/transport a handgun. The jury deliberated 40 minutes after hearing approximately two and a half days of testimony. Anderson faces a maximum possible prison term of 90 years when sentenced by Judge John Themelis on June 4, 2007: 25 years for each assault, 20 years for each use of a handgun count. Say Court docs,

On September 12, 2000 Anderson shot victims Derrick and Lisa Kattrell. This case was tried once before, in 2004, and a mistrial was declared. It has been postponed 27 times until this week's trial, and was the oldest pending trial in Baltimore Circuit Court. Anderson is also pending trial today. CDA on September 9, 2005 court documents allege Anderson, while held inside the Baltimore City Detention Center, attempted to arrange the murder of witnesses in the above case. On November 16, 2005 Anderson is charged with solicitation to commit murder, solicitation to obstruct justice, solicitation to intimidate a witness.

On Friday the Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Gregory Brown, 22, of the 2400 block of Druid Hill Avenue for first-degree murder. CDA that on February 26, 2007 Gregory Brown was identified as the person responsible for fatally shooting Vernon Carter, 25 [#46] in the 1800 block of W. Lanvale Street.

March 25

About 75 people showed up for a vigil and march to memorialize honor student / athlete / musician / police academy enrollee / all-around-good-kid Christopher Clarke, but as Rodricks says, "there should have been thousands."

March 24

Murders are up, but robberies, aggravated assaults, and arrests are down.

Today's Blotter has a bunch of disgusting crimes, even by Baltimore standards: a 15-year-old girl was chased down and raped, two women were attacked in Reservoir Hill, and several jackasses did some aggravated assault action at what might be the world's greatest non-profit ice cream shop.

Our police force is, at least temporarily, down 14 officers.

There's still no parole for nonviolent drug offenses.

March 23

Two teenagers were shot when they tried to rob an off-duty MTA cop.

Shardae Coles pleaded guilty yesterday to throwing a 16-month-old boy and killing him.

The Baltimore Algebra Project staged a die-in on North Ave. yesterday morning.

In the Blotter, a bunch of arrests, a bunch of shootings, and a whole bunch of robberies.

Perv of the day: Jeffrey Thompson, the former band director at Glen Burnie High School, couldn't keep his hands off his students or his vodka out of their Gatorade.

Paul Stella couldn't wait until they were dead to steal their money. And Theresa Antoinette Adams made a career of burglarizing retirement homes.

Some nice, classic fear reporting from WJZ on (cue scary music) How Your Attic Can Get You Killed.

Homeland Security: Giving traffic tickets in the name of American safety.

March 22

17-year-old Shawn Weaver was killed in a gunfight in the 900 block of McCulloh St. in West Baltimore, and the dead bodies of a man and a woman were found in a Rosemont rowhouse. This brings us to 64 homicides, which is 11 more than we had last year at this time.

Also in the link above, the man killed on Queensberry Ave. on Saturday was identified as 21-year-old Rodney Dewitt. The man whose body was found in a vacant house on 43rd St. was 54-year-old Ricardo Paige.

A man was shot and wounded in Glen Burnie early this morning.

Elementary school kids are being robbed at gunpoint.

There was insufficient evidence against Kevin Lomax in the shooting death of a pregnant woman outside of Club Choices last year. Charges against him have been dropped, but charges against co-defendant Oscar Adams still stand.

A blonde woman in her 20s or 30s tried to lure an 8-year-old girl into a maroon four-door sedan after the girl got out of school.

Apparently, spring is the best time to rob college students.

Perv du jour: 64-year-old Rondal Greenwade was charged with molesting a two-year-old girl and will be tried in Carroll County.

Kerry Harrison Parrish is the only HoCo sex offender who couldn't be found after police did an audit of registered offenders. (The article contains a nifty link to the state's Sexual Offender Registry, so you can find all the pervs in your neighborhood!)

An unidentified woman was walking in the right lane of 695 last night when she was killed by a truck. In unrelated news, somebody at WMAR really needs to learn how to use, commas.

March 21

City Paper covers the murders of Charles Erdman, Mark Anthony Robinson, Tyrone Jackson Jr., Steven Washington, Christopher Clarke, Antwan Askins, Michael Stuckey, and two men who were unidentified as of the CP's press time (one of whom has since been ID'd as 30-year-old Edwin Mathews, see link below).

Christopher Clark(e) was an honors physics student with no criminal record who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Late yesterday afternoon, two more people were added to the city's murder roll. At about 6:00, police found a man who'd been shot to death in an apartment on E. 43rd St. several hours earlier. At about 5:15, 20-year-old Charles Hargrove was taken to Shock Trauma, where he died about 30 minutes later. He had been shot several times in the head on the 1500 block of Rayner Ave.

Lamar Damian Fleming was Annapolis' second murder of the year. The killing occurred Monday night in the Bywater Mutual Homes community.

A body was found next to the USS Constellation in the Inner Harbor.

Vaughan Lamont Garris was arrested for the death of Chontae Waters. Garris was Waters' next door neighbor.

Two movers in Sykesville got into a fight over a palate jack on Monday. One of the men was stabbed, the other charged with attempted murder.

The Blotter tells of a shooting, two shootings, a shooting, a shooting, and an arrest.

Two separate attacks in Glen Burnie yesterday.

Carroll County, the last county in the state to rely entirely on the Maryland State Police, is establishing its own police department.

March 20

A man's body was found in a house in the 2900 block of E. Madison Ave. on Saturday afternoon. Missing Cumberland resident Candice Annette Page was found, alive, at the same time with a gunshot wound to the back of her head. (Thanks for the link, Chris.)

The body of 31-year-old Chontae Waters was found in her Putnam Green rowhouse on Heatherton Ct. Waters was stabbed to death and was found by her roommate. (Putnam Green is in Baltimore County, near Woodlawn.)

Timothy Brockington and Tyrone Gross were sentenced to 45 years for kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery. Their victim was an off-duty BPD officer. Gross is a three-time felon, so he must serve the first 25 years without the possibility of parole.

On July 5, 2005 at approximately 1:30AM off duty Baltimore Police Officer Antoine Boykin was at the Exxon gas station at 513 E. Mulberry Street when a burgundy Lincoln with three males inside pulled up next to him. One of the defendants, who was armed with a handgun, got out of the Lincoln and approached Officer Boykin. Officer Boykin was forced into the defendant’s vehicle at gunpoint. An unknown person exited the defendant’s vehicle and took Officer Boykin’s car from the gas station. Once inside the Lincoln, Officer Boykin was robbed at gunpoint and was struck in the head several times with the gun. The defendants drove Officer Boykin to the 1100 block of Myrtle Avenue where he was blindfolded and walked at gunpoint down the rear alley. The defendants had a conversation indicating that they planned to stash Officer Boykin inside of a vacant house at which time they walked into the yard of 1123 Myrtle Avenue and up the stairs. Officer Boykin was able to withdraw his service weapon, fire at the defendants and get away. Officer Boykin flagged an unknown citizen and was able to call 911. Timothy Brockington was located in the rear yard of 1123 Myrtle Avenue with gunshot wounds; Tyrone Gross was located in the front yard with a gunshot wound.

After pleading guilty to 2nd degree murder on March 8, Larry McMillian was sentenced to 25 years yesterday afternoon:

On May 25, 2006 following a neighborhood dispute McMillian shot Ruffin twice, once to the head and once to the leg. The incident occurred in the alley behind Mr. Ruffin’s home in the 2000 block of Woodbourne Avenue.

Roger Burks was indicted yesterday for first-degree murder. Burks is accused of stabbing Irvin Conley to death at a backyard cookout on July 3, 2006.

A badly decomposed body was found in Leakin Park.

Baltimore County Councilman Vincent Gardina wants an investigation of the taser-related death of Ryan Lee Meyers.

Sheila D. is going to have "frank discussions" about our rising murder rate. In an exciting development, there will be meetings to discuss the problem. In the first of four "emergency meetings," the people said they want more foot patrols.

It appears that Her Honor is starting to see the outrage she so strongly desires.

House of Correction: "It's as bad as you could imagine."

Scary pervs of the day: A man tried to grab a 16-year-old HoCo high school student and drag her into the woods. And in Carroll County, 34-year-old Lincoln Goodman Sr. was charged with picking up two teenage girls, getting them drunk, waiting for one of them to pass out, and then having his way with her.

Beware of DPW workers who show up unannounced.

There's a statewide struggle to retain and recruit school teachers. The article fails to mention anything about teachers who leave because they're getting beaten up, nor does it address whether student-on-teacher violence is a problem outside of Baltimore City.

March 19

One killing over the weekend has been reported so far; a 22-year-old man was shot to death on Queensberry Ave in Park Heights.

40-year-old Ryan Lee Meyers was killed by a police taser gun while he was allegedly attacking his family members with a baseball bat.

17-year-old Kenneth Tomlin tried to steal a Caddy but got killed instead.

Good times around town: A barber was stabbed, a 64-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint, a 13-year-old boy was assaulted and robbed, a man was shot in the face, and a couple cut each other during an argument. (And that's not even looking at the county.)

No more House of Corruption.

A convicted heroin dealer just bought the Hillendale Shopping Center, home to a Baltimore County police substation.

O'Malley's legacy lingers on.

Trouble's brewing at the Cecil County Detention Center.

Frednecks have vandalized their local mosque three times this year.

An honorary Darwin Award should go to Zachary Martin, who cut his hand while vandalizing a knife store.

The Guardian Angels expect about three dozen applicants for their new Harford County chapter.

March 17

65-year-old Charles R. Erdman has been added to the list of this year's homicides. He died on March 9 after being intentionally run down after a minor traffic accident.

A 23-year-old woman was raped in White Marsh last Saturday morning.

A Hyattsville woman helped reunite a Missouri mother and her kidnapped son.

In AAC, Aubrey Mayhew cried and pleaded guilty to strangling his estranged wife, who for some inexplicable reason was seeking full custody of their two kids.

Sheila D. apologized for the cops who arrested a 7-year-old boy. She is also calling for an emergency meeting about the problem of student-on-teacher attacks in the city's school system. If we're really lucky, maybe she and Commissioner Hamm will form both a task force and a committee.

Four years for the racist Hagerstown cop.

College students in Salisbury are passing "bogus Benjamins." (WJZ's words, not mine.)

Columbia cat ladies Ayten and Nese Enetullah Icgoren accepted a plea deal for their animal cruelty charges.