Rear and Present Danger

A triple stabbing in the parking lot of the Sunset Beach Bar and Grill at Pulaski Highway and Allender Road in White Marsh

Whups! PG County accidentally released an alleged murderer, one Frederick Scott (left).

Bad PR move, SRB: a group of students from eight local colleges who'd planned to sleep in front of Baltimore City Hall to commemorate National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week on Saturday night were told to disperse by Baltimore City Police and threatened with arrest.

Oh noes! Kimberly Smedley, accused of using a room at the
Renaissance hotel to give a stripper from the Block illegal, ass-plumping silicone injections, was arrested in D.C. The dancer wound up in the hospital with silicone in her lungs, victims in other states were left with deformed buttocks ( NY Post headline: "Rear and Present Danger").

Baltimorean Terry L. Wilson goes to Indiana, robs convenience store, gets shot, dies. Assuming it's the same 20-year-old Terry L. Wilson in the Judiciary Case search, in 2007 he was charged with attempted murder and the case was remanded to juvenile court. In November of 2009 Wilson was again charged with attempted murder, in 2010 he was convicted and sent to jail.

A Baltimorean who brought cocaine to vend in Altoona, PA, Rodney "Rocco" Williams, is in custody after a year-and-a-half investigation.

Some good news: national reports show a huge decline in child sex abuse.

And here's one I missed back in August, but better late than never: five years after suing the City of Baltimore for sexual harassment, the 4th circuit found in favor Katrina Okoli, reversing the district court's decision. Wonder how much she'll get?

Really? Bloomberg News reports that "The U.S. prison population has more than doubled over the past 15 years, and one in nine black children has a parent in jail."

Things unfair

A "life" sentence for Michael Wiggins, accused of stabbing Marine Corps Private Darius Ray to death at a party last year.

Remember Veronica Williams, killed by her husband in front of the Eastside Court on North Avenue after taking out a restraining order? Her mother is now suing the BPD and seeking punitive damages for due process violations, conspiracy and wrongful death, claiming that Cleaven Williams' police buddies shielded him from arrest, even texting him to let him know they were on the way to arrest him.

So the government largely dropped its spying case against whistle-blowers Thomas Drake and John K. Wiebe, NSA employees who exposed waste, fraud, and the fact that, ps., government contractors are monitoring all of your email. Now the defendants want their computers back, the FBI refuses to return them, and Drake is working at an Apple store. Sigh.

Well that sucks: a homeowner says police raided the wrong house (his)

Check out this dick, Christopher Scott. His girlfriend dumped him, so he allegedly got back at her by posting their sex tape on the Internet. Then when police went to his house to investigate they also found kiddie porn. Allegedly. Charming. Now he's free on bail, so don't date his stank ass.

The second trial for accused dog-burning twins Travers and Tremayne Johnson is set to begin today.

Oh, Doug Gansler, have you nothing better to do than dilute Four Loko?

Good for the Daily Record, editorializing against the lack of accountability and transparency when it comes to the sketchball tax credits for city developers.

$10.4 million?!

So the city is going to tax your every bottle of pop, yet "The city's budget office revealed at an investigative hearing Tuesday that it has spent $10.4 million over the past three years — an average of about $3.5 million annually — defending the Baltimore Police Department against lawsuits."
"... payments to outside counsel defending city officers from suits have increased. The city spent about $700,000 last budget cycle on private attorneys, an increase from the approximately $350,000 it spent on such costs in 2010 and the $485,000 it spent in 2009." "Police officials testified Tuesday that they have instituted better training for officers, which has reduced brutality complaints"... which much be a recent thing, as the Sun and an independent review board have found that the police have been ignoring their own protocols on training for several years now.
Pants on fire!

Life x 4

Murderous crack dealer Antonio "Mack" Hall, 31, has been sentenced to four life sentences for shooting to death federal witness Kareem Guest in September of 2009, as well as shooting a police informant and killing another crack dealer, Martie Williams, in March of 2009.

The life sentences are adding up for Baltimore drug dealers. 36-year-old Johnny Butler has been sentenced to two life sentences for murdering Sintia Mesa back in 2007. Butler had already been sentenced to life in federal prison back in 2010 for leading a violent drug organization.

Two city rapes from last week are believed to be related. Accordig to police, both incidents involved similar circumstances.

Yet again the Goodwill store on Joppa Rd. in Towson has been robbed. This is the third robbery of a Baltimore County Goodwill in the last week.

Prominent Baltimore Hispanic group Casa de Maryland are trying to get Mayor Rawlings-Blake to stay true to her word and end racial profiling.

County police have released sketches of two of the four men who kidnapped and raped a 15-year-old in Woodlawn.


Police are on the lookout for the man responsible for the robbery of a Towson Wells Fargo. (Suspect Pictured Right)

A statewide manhunt is on for a man responsible for a series of bank robberies ranging from Baltimore County to Cecil County and just about everywhere in-between.

Finally, two more Baltimore police officers haveplead guilty for taking part in the "Majestic Towing" extortion scheme. 31-year-old Leonel Rodriguez and 32-year-old Rodney Cintron face up to 25 years when sentenced next year.

Bmore staycation for city officials

The high flying, resort loving Baltimore city pension board may have taken their last ethically challenged trip to a beach front resort - a nice win f0r beleaguered city taxpayers.

Putting the Firearms in Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

The sounds of gunfire and crunching metal filled Patapsco and Magnolia avenues after an ATF agent fired shots during a raid Monday. One ATF agent was injured and is currently recovering. Details are still minimal at the moment.

Police have made an arrest in the killing of Marquis Jones. 19-year-old Antwon Lee has been arrested and charged with first degree murder.

Another arrest of a police impersonator has been made. An unidentied young male was arrested by Baltimore county police after pulling over people in the White Marsh Mall parking lot.

The trial in the infamous "robocall" case has been postponed after Judge Charles J. Peters was forced to rescue himself from the case.

Two defendants in a "rent-to-own" scheme have been convicted in federal court. 42-year-old Lamondes Dorian Williams faces 600 years in prison when sentenced while co-defendant Erica Brown, 29, faces up to 180 years.

Finally, this weeks Murder Ink has this weeks murders, including one that I was not aware of, Kevin Lofland Jr., 18, who was shot along with a surviving victim at the 2200 block of Aiken St.

180

A man shot to death this morning in the 1700 block of Moreland Avenue near Presbury Street, and #178 was actually a woman, found in a house in the 2600 block of Kentucky Avenue with a gunshot wound to her head.

Bealefeld talks to "60 Minutes" about Tazers. Apparently he's against them. What I didn't know was they have darts that actually shoot out and embed in someone's flesh... eeew. Says one of the weapon's designers, "The idea of using electricity to incapacitate at its core is, frankly, a beautiful and simplistic idea." Said FHBIII, "I'm not a huge fan."

Well, that ain't kosher: the police officers in charge of enforcing gambling laws are on the payroll of the Cordish Company, according to documents found by das Capital.

In other business news, the WaPo reports that MS-13 is diversifying its holdings to include pimping now.

Werdesheim case delayed

Jill Carter Tweets: "Werdesheim "Shomrim" assault trial continued in advance from 2moro 11/14 to 2/1/2012"
... more on that case

178

A man shot to death on Pennsylvania Ave. UPDATE: He was ID'd as Darren Robertson, 20. Justin Fenton Tweeted that he was shot in the face.

... Bmore fun fact: until the 60s, sources say, Pennsylvania Ave was Baltimore's "center for black life and culture"

More Molotov Cocktails

The police report three incidents of Moltov cocktail-tossing in the NW last night between 1 and 4 a.m., in the 4100 Blk of Belvieu Avenue, the 3900 block of Groveland Avenue and the 3300 block of Liberty Heights Avenue, at least one incident using a Rémy Martin bottle (classy!) Gugliemi held an unusual Saturday press conference, video here (unfortunately interrupted by a Walmart ad). Moltov cocktails are a well-known calling card from drug dealers to 'snitches' (see Edna McAbier, the Dawson family), but of course we don't know what these tossers' motive was. Police are also investigating nine other incidents.

Horror in Guilford

"an intruder raped and beat a woman while her children were just steps away"

Two shot in Harwood

...at East Lorraine Avenue and Barclay Street. (Not Charles Village)

Mary Pat Clarke wants to padlock the Yau Brothers Chinese carryout after the second murder there. Which seems rather unfair to the Yau brothers, unless they were somehow in on it.

Kids these days...

Horrible: 12-year-old girl reportedly raped at box-cutter-point by 13-year-old at an unnamed west Baltimore school; the victim asked a fellow student for help but her classmate did nothing.

Despicable teenager steals cookie money from the Girl Scouts

"Freedom fighter" Matthew VanDyke talked to WJZ. He's writing a book, of course.

Another defamation suit for the City Paper and reporter Van Smith(?!): the Courthouse News Service reports that strip club owner Rosalie Jackson, Rosalie's son Kenneth Jackson and former longshoremen's local union president Riker "Rocky" McKenzie claim the Baltimore City Paper falsely linked them to a violent drug organization and called them drug dealers and leaders of organized crime. Oh, my.

Ben Cardin says Obama is planning to nominate Circuit Court Judge George L. Russell III to the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt after Republicans blocked his first pick, Judge Charles B. Day, for more than a year and a half citing unnamed "insurmountable concerns."

Illegal weapons for sale

Looks like you can buy illegal switchblade knives all over the city, police say they don't have time to deal with it.

177

Santos Villanueva, 25, was shot to death in the 4300 block of Loch Raven Blvd. at around 9 p.m. last night

A guy on a bike wearing a hoodie shot up a parked car near the Edmonson village shopping center; the occupant wasn't injured in spite of at least seven bullet holes.

Police are ISO this man who broke into Charlie Brown's bar to steal cash, booze and lottery tickets

Police are also ISO this man who stole a gold necklace from Marley Station Mall

North Baltimore Patch reported on their FB feed that yesterday "Baltimore PD told us the JFX was closed for an unfounded bomb threat. And that it had nothing to do with the missing prisoner."

Joseph Gasque, 39, got 119 months for crack dealing.

Five years for a 54-year-old(!) man who conspired to rob banks and pharmacies

Forty-one months for funny-money-passin' Robert Johnson, 33.

Peter Angelos and Occupy Baltimore agree on something! The Brew reports that the shady quasi-nonprofit sorta-government Baltimore Development Corp. appears to benefit developers over the good of the city, should be more transparent and needs to follow 'best practices' used in other cities. The saved developers $14.5 million in taxes last year. The Brew also reports that the B.O.E. approved $5.6 million in consulting contracts at a four-minute meeting yesterday.

Should you pay for the Sun?

If you're still on the fence, reading this may change your mind.
Ps. James O'Shea, author of "Deal from Hell," will be speaking tomorrow at Hopkins.
.. could a news cooperative work in Baltimore (or anywhere)?

Switch blades removed

The mayor has banned switch blades from Hollins Market, meanwhile the SA's office says they're illegal.

Running and walking

Two life sentences for a man convicted for the murder of Brian Meise in a Catonsville convenience store.

The JFX was closed down today as police tried to capture a short and tubby escaped fugitive, one Maury Figueroa, arrested for drug violations and driving without a license.

Profiling nightmares! One of Chef Gordon Ramsey's crew was out scouting b-roll locations and got pulled over in what he alleges was a case of racial profiling.

Way to go, neighborhood walker! A JHU student on crime patrol helped nab a suspicious man on the rooftop of a building on Guilford Ave, who turned out to be wanted for burglary.

A man was shot in Milford Mill

Mom of murder victim Tyra Trent begs for leads. Sigh.

Cellphones tracked, crackheads freed

In case you haven't heard, SRB is in, Belinda Conaway is out, voter turnout was a mind-bogglingly dismal 13 percent, and there are complaints about write-in voting being hampered and other improprieties in the 13th district, where Shannon Sneed was defeated by incumbent Warren Branch.

Demond Tyler, 36, has been arrested and charged with smothering his own grandmother to death. Shirley Tyler was 67.

Murder Ink covers last week's three homicides, including Richard Ford, shot in 1998 after reportedly driving off without paying for some crack.

Two men were shot during the course of a robbery in the Heritage Crossing Community

Changes to the penal code mean 1,900- 12,000 inmates serving time for crack-possession charges across the country, and scores here in MD, are now getting let out of jail.

Blotteratta: a man tried to rob the Hampden Rite Aid with scissors, a teenage girl punched unconscious at Patterson Park High School.

SCOTUS heard that warrantless GPS-tracking case yesterday, but apparently GPS tracking of vehicles is small beans compared to the more common (also warrantless) tracking of location by cell phone. (And, of course, the N.S.A. is already monitoring all of your email.)

What the?! Some nerve!! The state of MD is now charging $190 for timely access to public information!

Adam Meister sums up that "Another BDC is Possible" meetup/protest yesterday. Sounds like it got off track into unrelated issues (racism, unions) and M.J. Brodie showed up and came off well.

Knives for kids

282 knives were confiscated from city school kids in the past two years. Plus it's pretty easy to buy a switchblade in the city.

Scary times

WTF?! Fox files a FOIA request to try to uncover the shady development deals behind the $1.5 billion-dollar State Center project involving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, but developers refuse the request saying they can't afford to make copies of documents. And now, says Fox, the state itself is suing plaintiffs who are suing for violations of procurement law-- a SLAPP suit, in other words. Nutrageous! A judge is going to stop the insanity and demand transparency any minute now, right? More on the State Center project here.

A man was stabbed at 100 E. Redwood Street early this morning

A city police officer is in Shock Trauma after being dragged two blocks by a pickup truck

Here's a shocking factoid: at present the government-- FBI, DEA, and presumably state and local police as well-- can attach a GPS device on your car and track your movements without a warrant. Particularly disturbing considering the very recent history of state police spying on anti-Iraq-war demonstrators.

In media news, Sam Zell, the Sun's gnomish overlord, was potentially awarded large shovels-full of money by a bankruptcy judge. And the Daily Record has laid off three people, citing costs.

Ps. don't forget to vote today, if you haven't already...!

News From Around the Region

A mostly non-city post today.

After three years their has still been no arrest in the 2008 murder of former Marine Leroy Taylor.

Orioles pitcher Alfred Simon has been acquitted of any charges related to the New Years Eve shooting death of a man in the Dominican Republic.

Armed Robberies Galore:

Police in Elkridge are offering up a reward information leading to the capture of a liquor store robber.(Pictured Right)

College Park bank robber and twice convicted drug dealer Antonio Michael McClurkin, 26, has been sentenced to 15 years in the federal pen.

Another career offender will serve a lengthy federal prison sentence. 41-year-old Mark Ellicott Lomax was sentenced to 20 years for committing 17 robberies in about a month.

County Police are ISO the men who robbed a Middle River bank Monday afternoon.

A city police officer is recovering after being dragged by a car during a pursuit. The officer fired two shots, but the suspects are still unknown at the moment.

Eight well earned years in a federal penitentiary for child pornography trafficker David Twitty, 64.

Police officers in Howard County shoot an armed man. 19-year-old Jeffrey Dustin Nichols was shot after he reportedly failed to drop the gun he was holding when confronted by the officers.


Finally, Towson U. was on lock-down for the second time in a week after a bomb scare in one of the on-campus parking garages.

It's Never to Soon to Ruin Your Life...

14-year-old Nefatea Hector is facing two counts of attempted murder for shooting Joseph Esdelle, 20, in the face, and hitting Anthony Samuel Johnson, 24, with a stray bullet.

For the second time in a week, a 2009 Baltimore County murder has led to federal indictments. Several members of the massive Marijuana trafficking operation were indicted in federal court for their roles in the drug ring and kidnapping-murder 50-year-old Michael Paul Knight.

City police have made an arrest in a quadruple shooting at a city club. Karon Darren Shaw, 19, was arrested for shooting the four men, including two who were club employees.

Police have already arrested 17-year-old Markell Jones for the murder of Freddie Jones Jr. at the turbulent Yau Brothers Carryout on Greenmount, but they are still searching for the other two robbers involved in the killing.

Just two months in jail for Maximilian Bode, 21, the man who killed former Johns Hopkins fencing coach Richard Oles with a snowplow.

An apparent jumper at the Tapco Tower in Towson. The death of the elderly man found in a dumpster near the building is not believed to have involved foul play.

Bail has been denied for accused human trafficker Alarcon Wiggins. Besides being the ringleader of a prostitution ring, Alarcon Wiggins is also apparently a god-awful rapper and deadbeat dad. And as authentic as his talent profile seems, I probably wouldn't call the number he listed.

The jury in the Ulysses Currie trial is still in deliberations on day three. After weeks of testimony the jury has yet to make a decision on the fate of the State Senator and two co-defendants.

A missing Silver Springs man winds up dead in Anne Arundel County. Manuel Enrique Diaz Gomez, 37, was reported missing by his family on Halloween.

The oxycodone overdose death of a quadriplegic Ellicott City man has been ruled a homicide after a lengthy investigation.

Bullets ripped through a Hagerstown home, leaving only one of the homes dozen residents injured.

An Odenton man was caught trying to hang himself in his jail cell Saturday.

Finally, a three alarm blaze occurred at DiDi's pizza in Dundalk, supposedly from two cardboard boxes catching fire.

15 years for Pitcairn killer's accomplice

Lavelva Merritt got a deal for testifying against her crack buddy John Wagner; Wagner got life +20. She also has a hearing in December for violating her probation on a previous drug charges. Tricia Bishop reports that Merritt could be out in as few as six years, plus Merritt's courtroom comments: "making myself depressed ain't going to make it no better ... I'm not going to sit here and let it take over my life."

An unidentified man shot to death in the 4100 block of Parkwood Avenue over the weekend, plus four nonfatal shootings.

Another female Frostburg student stabbed by a female classmate?! Kortneigh McCoy, 19, a sophomore at Frostburg State University and a Poly grad, died following a stabbing early Sunday. Student Shanee Liggins, 23, of Waldorf, is in custody. WTF?

Back again...

The conviction of Erik Stoddard was affirmed by the Court of Appeals last week. Stoddard was convicted and then retried no fewer than three times before his final conviction for child abuse resulting in the death of a child in 2008. The victim, three-year-old Calen Faith DiRubbo, died of multiple blunt-force injuries in 2002.

And Matthew VanDyke is back, still skinny, still sporting a schmattle and planning to write a book.

He just snapped

The teen who stabbed another student at Civitas High School in NW Baltimore was being bullied.

We can only dream of a murder rate like yours

A former Baltimore homicide detective travels to Glasgow Scotland to compare both city's penchant for violence.

Afternoon Round-up: Friday Edition

Three arrests have been made in two police impersonation robberies. Demon Harris, 36, Wayne Kasey, 26, and Donte Driggs, 23 are all facing serious charges for their roles in the robberies.

Two fatal fires in last 12 hours. 20-year-old Conner McKeown was killed in a Harford County fire, while an unidentified man died in northwest Baltimore garage fire.

A 10th grader at Civitas Middle/High School was stabbed by a 14-year-old fellow student yesterday.

A detective in a Carroll County murder case has been charged with perjury.

Two non-fatal shootings in the city yesterday including a 20 year old who was shot in the head.

Jury deliberations in the Ulysses Currie trial continue today.

33-year-old Chad Frobouck got 5 years for growing pot at a strip mall. The moral of the story here, is if you're going to grow weed in your business, make sure to pay your rent on time.


Creepy barber 54-year-old Jung Gon Kim(Pictured Right) was busted for sexually abusing a 13-year-old patron in his shop.

16 years exiled to Federal prison for career criminal Barry Murel, 49, for his 12th and (hopefully) final felony conviction.

A whopping 21 years in the Federal pen for heroin dealer Taurus "Ock" Wiggins, age 43.

Arrest in Yau Bros. Murder

Police say 17-year-old Markell Jones has reportedly confessed to Killing Freddie Jones Jr. at the Yau Brothers Carryout Monday night, after his parents turned him in. Two more suspects remain at large.

Twenty years for Arteesha Holt, the 14-year-old who killed Jose Rodolfo Gonzalez-Coreas after he laughed at her attempt to rob him

What is it going to take?!

to get a standing independent review board in this town?!
In case you haven't heard, the report is out on the criminally negligent "tragic perfect storm" that lead to the shooting deaths of Officer William H. Torbit Jr. and Select Lounge reveler Sean Gamble, and the stupidity within is mind-boggling. Highlights include:

- Torbit left his police identification in his trunk, went into the crowd alone, tried to get some drunk girls to quit hitting a car with their shoes and told Sean Gamble to "mind your own fucking business" when he tried to intervene, escalating the situation.

- many officers didn't let dispatchers know they were on the scene, so the chain of command couldn't be established. As the melee was going on, an officer radioed "That's an officer, he is one of us, stop shooting" and was ignored.

- officers shot into a crowd of people, exhibiting "poor marksmanship and undisciplined shooting."

- investigators didn't log photos of the crime scene.

- officers involved in the incident refused to testify, including Deputy Maj. Marc Partee, the commander on duty that night. If a civilian witness refuses to show up to testify, they get thrown in jail, but when it's an officer shooting someone, apparently they are within their rights to not even make an appearance.

- As we already knew, the police has for years gone against its own policies and failed to conduct "after-action" training reviews of police-involved shootings to prevent future incidents.

and, finally, two years ago Bealefeld justified not releasing the names of officers to the public because their own internal investigations are so thorough. "But the report found that in practice, the internal affairs unit defers to homicide detectives and waits until the criminal case is resolved — which can take months and in some cases more than a year, 'delay[ing] the Department's ability to determine what policies were violated or how it might improve its practices.'"

So what is it going to take to get an independent review board in this town?
So far this year we've had $1.2 million worth of extra tax dollars going to compensate victims of police malfeasance, how many citizens shot by police? 1, 2, 3.. a bunch. Also an officer dealing heroin out of the NW District Police Station, the towing scandal, 30 percent of rape cases being deemed "unfounded" ... what is it going to take?

Without demonstrable integrity, the police department loses its legitimacy. With no legitimate police force, people take the law into their own hands and refuse to cooperate, making community-based policing impossible. Citizens take the law into their own hands. If the mayor, Bealefeld and Robert Cherry are genuinely committed to a fair and responsive police force that holds protecting citizens as its top priority, they would welcome a standing independent review board, one with subpoena power and the ability to make recommendations. Seventeen out of 50 largest cities have this, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Miami, San Diego and Pittsburgh. The fact that the mayor, chief of police and head of the police union support the BPD conducting its affairs in secrecy and answerable to no one is a spitwad on the cheek of every tax-paying citizen in this sorry burg.

Sleazy, sad and evil

Police have released video of the suspects wanted in the murder of Freddie Jones Jr. near the Yau Brothers on Monday. Lowell Melser reports that the robbery netted $13-- the exact same amount Charles Bowman was murdered for, which sounds a little too coincidental to be true.

Two shootings yesterday near Franklintown Blvd & Edmonson Ave

The Dept of Labor is suing Baltimore Behavioral Health for withholding financial records. A Sun investigation uncovered veritable assloads of shadiness at the supposed treatment clinic, including stolen retirement funds, Medicaid fraudsters on the payroll, and family members of the director pocketing six-figure salaries.

Judge Ben C. Clyburn has issued a “stay” on 3,878 debt col­lec­tion cases brought by two com­pa­nies whose busi­ness licenses have been sus­pended

After liberating Libya, Matthew VanDyke is now headed home to work on his memoirs

No bail for a woman arrested here and charged with running a prostitution ring in El Paso

A prisoner named Derontay walked away from a work detail in Glen Burnie yesterday, but was soon recaptured

Down in Bethesda, Brittany Norwood was found guilty of murdering co-worker Jayna Murray

A thoroughly depressing suspected grandson/grandma murder/suicide in Parkville

The City Paper has their election endorsements. Wouldn't it be nice if Pistol Pete got rousted?

Dead Man Inc. Indictments

22 members of the infamous Dead Man Incorporated were indicted in federal court today. Among the bevy of crimes the 18 men and 4 women indicted were charged with are the 2009 murders of James Flanary, Tony Geiger, Eugene Chambers, & Walter Milewski.

Indicted Members Are:

Perry “Saho the Ghost” Roark, age 42
James Sweeney, age 34
Nicky Cash, age 46
George "Fat Boy" Treas IV, age 28
Dane Shives, age 22
Michael Anthony Quinn, age 28
Michael “Skinny Pimp” Forame Jr., age 40
Brian Mitchell, age 40
Richard Lee Ingram, age 45
Timothy “Fuhrer” Mixter, age 35
John Henry Adams, age 25
Gregory David Cook Jr., age 36
Jeremy Ridgeway, age 22
John William Zion Jr., age 27
Russell Bernard Hartman, age 29
Bonnie Rice, age 35
Kelly Witter, age 26
Charles Robert Gray Jr., age 31
Edward Adam Mueller, age 31
Melanie Holquist, age 28
Scott William Jarriel, age 28
Gary Charles Horton, age 26

Despite the vast majority of members having long, serious, and violent criminal records, information was quite difficult to find on the indicted members. If you find any more information on the indicted, let us know.

"her buttocks had scratches"

The investigation into the shooting of William Torbit Jr. is reportedly complete, with results expected to be released to the public tomorrow (my money's on Friday afternoon, though...)

Walter Bishop Jr. got life without parole, which of course means he's eligible for parole in 25 years. Sentencing for handgun and conspiracy charges are still TK, though.

The accusation of sexual assault at Occupy Baltimore was unfounded, say police. Apparently a woman woke up to find that "her buttocks had scratches" and there was "$1,800 missing from an envelope in her purse." Who could sleep through a buttock-scratching? Who keeps $1,800 in their purse? And what's the next step for these occupiers, anyway?
.. in other protest-y news, a petition is circulation calling for greater transparency and more community participation from the Greater Baltimore Development Corporation, and protestors are gathering at 36 South Charles at 5 p.m. on the 7th, "where some sunlight can hopefully be cast upon these matters"

OH and here's some shady-sounding shiz: The Brew reports that the Board of Estimates has just approved a new no-bid contracting process that will have contractors selected by a five-member board instead of via competitive bidding. I don't see how such a system could possibly invite corruption, do you?

County police are ISO this lumberjack-looking guy for robbing an Essex CVS. He's also guilty of gross and willful fashion violations-- black jeans and white sneakers, yech.

THIS is a good idea: the city got a grant to build a child-custody handoff center. (... how bananas is it that a husband could try to strangle his wife, but still have unsupervised visits with kids?!)

Two drug-toting individuals are in custody after causing a flaming crash a few blocks from City College yesterday

Puke sandwiches: politicians line up to praise the honesty, integrity and overall super-fabulousness of Ulysses S. Currie. Closing statements in that case are apparently going on right now.

Former city solicitor Ralph Tyler, defender of many a police misconduct lawsuit, is joining the local mega-firm of Venable LLP.

Curtis Lopez, accused killer of Jane and William McQuain, is OTW back to MD from NC. .. apparently in these extradition cases the perp actually rides on a commercial airline handcuffed to a Marshall. If that's true, is the perp allowed to get little pretzels and half a Coke?

Walter Bishop Dodges Death

A Harford County jury has decided against the death penalty for Walter Bishop, and apparently against life w/o parole as well.

172, 173

A man was fatally shot in the 2900 block of Greenmount Avenue yesterday evening after being robbed in front of the Yau Brothers carryout, and during prime trick-or-treating hours, no less.

Richard A. Ford Jr., shot in 1998 on York Rd. in Govans, has died of shooting-related injuries.

A man was arrested in the tan van teen gang rape case: one Lucky Christopher Crosby Jr., 22, who was wearing a GPS ankle bracelet at the time.

It is your right to videotape the police. But that apparently doesn't mean they can't threaten to arrest you on some BS charge and erase everything on your phone anyway.

Violence in Waverly

Fatal shooting at the Yau Brothers carryout on Greenmount. This is the second fatal robbery at that establishment in less than two years.

Rape Assault alleged at Occupy Baltimore

Some tension at the Occupy Baltimore protest

What a relief

In NE Bmore it's unusual to hear gunshots in the morning.

Cat mutilator pleads guilty

Ethan Weibman, 20, pleaded guilty to charges related to two cats he mutilated earlier this year. Weibman was busted when he and his girlfriend Jorden Donahue took a beaten, shot cat back to the SPCA... and asked for another cat. This Facebook group went to great pains to copy his profile pictures (lots of weed shots from his Hampshire College days) and contains high levels of seething rage ... rage so conspicuously absent when human children are beaten to death in the city, no?

Buckets of Duckets

Detective Jemell L. Rayam, who TDR reports shot three people in two years, is being sued by the family of his most recent shooting victim. This makes us wonder, how much has the BPD paid out in lawsuits so far this year (and how does that compare to other years)? In March Brendan Kearney tallied up $800,000 in settlements for the first two months of 2011, then in July $100,000 to a 65-year-old man beaten when police thought he was rolling a joint, $30,000 to this guy, then $250,000 for the helicopter-unit whistleblower, $45,000 for a guy who had his arm broken ... Did I miss any? $1.225 million then?

A knife-wielding man hopped in the front seat of a deputy sheriff's cruiser stopped at a traffic light at Walther Avenue and Moravia Road and got himself shot

18-year-old James Johnson was arrested for the murder of 70-year-old Milton Hill

Another murder at the Perkins hospital-- patient Ragelio Mondragon was killed and one Andre Mayo is charged.

Ppatin will be tickled pink to hear that a HarfCo jury has found Walter Bishop Jr. eligible for the death penalty.

en fuego!

Mark Cheshire es en fuego! Three press releases from the SAO:
- Life +10 for the killer of Shonte Ellis, shot 16 times while she sat in a parked car outside of The Clubhouse Bar.

- 40 years for Antwane Brown, who shot his neighbor in the back and paralyzed him

- the SAO's office has gotten a grant of $127,984 for a prostitution diversion program. Apparently the city arrests 1,200 prostitutes a year. (Or the same 10 prostitutes every other day.)

The Urbanite publishes mini-essays by prisoners in Michael Corbin's writing class

Accused document thief Barry Landau's assistant (also referred to as his 'associate' or 'young friend' in reports), Jason Savedoff, 24, left, is due in federal court today. Savedoff is from Vancouver and has worked as a model. How he got hooked up with Landau, mommy is dying to know.

Heads up, boozehounds: the state is expanding the ignition interlock system to include DUI first-timers who blow more than .15. Sounds like one of these thingys would be a worthwhile investment. Or just do your drinking and driving in the city, where few police officers can be bothered to haul your drunken ass to central booking.

Two vigils

Fenton reports on the vigil for Marquis Jones, which ended in a stampede of terror fueled by the fact that the killer is still at large, "as is the case in nearly six out of 10 city homicides."

The North Baltimore Patch has a roundup of robberies

Deadline passes, but 'Occupy Baltimore' campers remain, with the mayor restrained yet irritated: "it's not about pitching a tent, it's about getting the work done." (that's what she said... *snicker*).

The crime beat is tough in Bmore

Even reporters from Scotland have a have a hard time getting the facts from the BPD

Walter Bishop Jr. Guilty

In the murder of William Porter. The Sun's Arthur Hirsch reports that sentencing is scheduled for tomorrow in HarfCo, and Bishop could possibly be the first person sentenced to death since the law was changed to only make eligible cases that involve DNA or videotaped evidence. And the judge (I assume?) has okayed the release of the tape of Bishop describing the murder to a county detective. "I come around the corner, point it, close my eyes and squeeze the trigger."

Afternoon Roundup

A man was rescued after falling into the Inner Harbor at around 2:30 am.

The Federal bribery trial of good 'ol Ulysses Currie is still going, even without Currie actually taking the stand. His trial is expected to go to the jury sometime next week.

An inside scoop into the begining of the lululemon murder trial over in Montgomery County. The Washington Post has someone live tweeting the happenings of the case.

A Howard County police officer is in stable condition after striking a guardrail and flipping his patrol car in order to avoid a deer.

Police have arrested 34-year-old Dionysios Vinias for the armed robbery of a 70-year-old lady at a Glen Burnie Box N' Save. When Mr. Vinias isn't robbing little old ladies he apparently enjoys drawing and the band Tool, according to his Myspace page.

Anne Arundel County police have busted creepy janitor Jason Beatty, 30, for committing some less-than-school-board -approved acts whilst outside a young girls home.

Finally, jury deliberation in the first death penalty case since the implementing of new rules as to what is considered a death-penalty warranting case has begun today.

A tan van

The BPD is ISO a tan van driven by a man who raped a 14-year-old.
Also, whoever wrote this post really needs to learn the difference between a plural and a possessive.

More Sun Layoffs!? Srsly?

A 32-year-old man shot in the face at 1300 block of North Spring Street in East Baltimore last night

The SAO reports that Baltimore City Circuit Court jury convicted Dajuan Marshall yesterday of "conspiracy to murder and participation in a criminal street gang resulting in death" for the 2008 murder of Kenneth Jones. Jones was forced into a trunk, shot in the head with large-caliber handgun and his body dumped in the 4500 block of Bonner Road in Northwest Baltimore. Says the SAO, "Jones was the leader of the Pasadena Denver Lanes Bloods gang, also known by the acronym PDL. At the time of the murder, Jones's PDL was in a dispute with a rival set of Bounty Hunter Bloods known as the Spider Gang, which was headed by Marshall." Twenty-three PDLs were indicted in 2009 on federal racketeering charges.

The Ink summarizes last week's two murders; noting that 23-year-old victim Antoinne Pratt managed to drive himself for four blocks before expiring.

Inside Charm City reports that the Baltimore Sun Media Group is cutting even more positions: 10 in the Patuxent and Homestead groups. As much as I want to support reporting and such, that is a total dick move ($115 million in management bonuses!!). Also note that if you subscribe to the Sun online they make it nearly impossible to cancel your subscription-- you can't do it online, you have to send them a message and then have someone call you to try to talk you out of it first. If you do subscribe online, good idea to use Amex or another credit card that provides consumer protection.

Jack Young is apparently against paying for police settlements, but made an exception for an officer fired after he blew the whistle on waste and mismanagement in the helicopter unit.

MarylandReporter.com alleges a case of quid-pro-quo back-scratchery when it comes to the new alcohol tax, with the $$ to benefit the districts whose representatives voted to support the tax, not where the funds are needed most. (... don't miss the awkward hilarity that is Len Lazarek interviewing Herman Cain.)

Terry Lee Nolley, 47, of Silver Spring pleaded guilty to transporting child pornography and destruction of records; Nolley was the host of a bulletin board called “Country Lounge” that hosted child pornography for the enjoyment of 142 members.

A peeper busted in Glen Burnie

And, finally, Occupy Baltimore has been asked by the mayor's office to have only two people spend the night. (But where are the campers using the bathroom?! Someone please tell me!)

Victim #170 was ID'd as Sherry Montgomery-Cantey, 43.

County police are ISO a striped-jacket-wearing bank robber responsible for robberies in Towson and Parkville.

BCPD detective Antonio Green is in a hefty lot of trouble for filing some false disability claims.

Speaking of lawmen gone bad, there have been two more guilty pleas in the massive Majestic towing scandal. 25-year-old Jerry Diggs Jr., and 39-year-old Osvaldo Valentine both pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit and committing extortion. Diggs and Valentine both face a max of 25 years when sentenced.

14 years in Federal prison for crack dealing Curtis Bay resident William Bayne.

Over in Howard County, police have busted the mother-daughter tandem of Denia Lyonette Wallace, 35, and Kyresha Shamaya Anderson, 16, for what are now charges of armed robbery after they maced a security officer whilst shoplifting some unknown items.

Yet another murder-suicide in Maryland. It appears a murder-suicide has occurred in Rockville at the National Lutheran Communities & Services assisted living home.

Thomas Anthony Hubbard, 52, is facing serious time in the Federal clink for committing an Upper Marlboro sub shop robbery using a gun and a fake bomb. This is Hubbard's 3rd conviction and 4th arrest for robbery since 1991, so don't be surprised if a hefty sentence is imposed.

Finally, In Harford County, police are frantically searching for the creepers in a black work van who attempted to kidnap a 14-year-old boy off the street.

170

Police tweeted last night: "900 Blk E. 41st St. (Northern District-Pen Lucy Community), 5:22pm, adult female shot. Homicide detectives investigating." then "UPDATE: 41st Street incident is now a homicide, caused by blunt force trauma and not a shooting."

A Baltimore City Circuit Court jury awarded $18.5 million to the family and estate of Philip Parker Jr., killed by inmate Kevin Johns on a prison bus.

The NYT reports that in spite of being in bankruptcy, the Tribune Company executive bonuses could equal $115 million over three years. Kind of makes one feel like a jackass for paying for the digital subscription after all.

And the city has decided to "disperse" Occupy Baltimore on October 26th, reports the group's web site

"Do it and let them gasp"

A 38-year-old man was shot to death in the 2200 block of Linden Ave.

And Fenton Tweets that there was a homicide Friday night in the 2800 blk S. Woodbrook Ave.

A nonfatal shooting on the East side

After 50 years with no murders, two in 13 months at the Perkins Homes (MD's hospital for the criminally insane). The alleged perp, Vitaly Davydov, pleaded guilty in the fatal beating of Rockville psychiatrist Wayne S. Fenton during an office visit in 2007.

The SAO's office reports that a Baltimore City Circuit Court jury convicted Lendelle C. Sanchez for the first-degree murder of Thomas Mouzon Jr. on Friday.

The final two suspects in the Gilmor Homes drug network have pleaded guilty, and they're a father and son team, Dione "Sticks" Fauntleroy Jr. and his father, Dione "Big Man" Fauntleroy Sr. Junior's grandpa, William Herring, also pleaded guilty for his part in the cocaine-dealing conspiracy last month, making for three generations in the big house, reported Fenton. Boy of Baraka Romesh Vance has also pleaded guilty in the case.

Clients up, funding down at Legal Aid

Two 40-somethings have been arrested for an 8-month-long bank robbery spree in PA. And Baltimorean Jenerette Dixon, 37, was exiled (exiled!) to prison for 20 years for his part in robbing the Harbor Bank next to the Charleston restaurant.

Judge Sylvester Cox ruled that Philip Parker Jr.'s family can't claim malice, limiting the amount of damages they can sue for in the prison-bus-slaying case. On Thursday, guards testified that they turned the lights on in the bus twice but didn't notice anything amiss.

A microwave, a toaster and something called a "chorus bag" stolen in the Northern

This story is from last month but I just saw it: a lawsuit is accusing Kennedy Krieger of knowingly exposing children to lead dust(!) for a research study. Not in 1932, but in the 1990s. Dang.

And here, have two pedophiles, one who directed nude girls to perform "various gymnastic exercises", another a 65-year-old with 1,483 images and 32 videos on his hard drive. Meanwhile, the 'hacktivist' group Anonymous has been targeting servers that host child pornography and uploading clips of "To Catch a Predator." Heh.

Comcast and Verizon have been ordered to release the names of customers accused of illegally distributing copies of "Cuties 2" and "Illegal Ass 2" over BitTorrent. In July, a student at Perdue sued to try to block the release of his/her name from a subpoena.

Down in MoCo, trial for what the WaPo is calling the "Lululemon Killing" starts today. Fittingly, the lululemon athletica inc.'s site's most recent blog post urges visitors to "DO THE CRAZY THING. The hard-to-imagine-but-somehow-you-did thing. Do it and let them gasp."

Life + 20

for John Wagner.

A press release from the SAO (and look, I can paste it!)

JOHN WAGNER RECEIVES LIFE PLUS 20 YEARS FOR THE MURDER AND
ATTEMPTED ARMED ROBBERY OF A JOHNS HOPKINS RESEARCHER

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Charles Peters sentenced John Wagner today to Life plus 20 consecutive years for the murder and attempted armed robbery of Johns Hopkins Researcher Stephen Pitcairn.

Pitcairn was fatally stabbed in July of 2010 as he walked home from Penn Station along St. Paul Street.

“We continue to express our deepest condolences to the Pitcarin family and all of Stephen's friends. While the verdict and sentence cannot bring him back, we hope that his family and friends will find some measure of closure in the result.” State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein said. “This case is representative of the State's Attorney's Office continued efforts to successfully prosecute repeat violent offenders, and thereby make Baltimore a safer place."

Assistant State’s Attorney Josh Felsen prosecuted the case.

Co-Defendant Lavelea Merritt’s sentencing is scheduled on November 7, 2011.

Hi-de-ho

John Wagner, convicted of stabbing Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn while robbing him of money for drugs, is scheduled to be sentenced today.

Opening statements in the death-penalty-eligible case of Walter Bishop are scheduled for today in HarfCo

Good Jeebiz! Ryan Jackson, 18, was killed with a hatchet, and his alleged killer, Larry Horton, was tracked down to Bayou La Batre, Alabama. No word on motive, though a county police spokesperson says the 37-year-old killer was "part of a group that the victim knew in that Rambo Court area." Hmmm.

After the mysterious death of Loyola grad Emily Hauze, police are reviewing the file of the other person found in a trash chute at the Park Charles, Harsh Kumar. Kumar and been drinking and taking Ambien, but his death was caused by "massive injuries that included a fractured skull, broken neck and ribs, and a broken nose."

Poor Frederick Douglass High School ... first famous as the alma mater of Cab Calloway and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, then the setting for the dismal-yet-enlighetning documentary "Hard Times at Douglass High," and now in the news after a 14-year-old was videotaped having sex on school property. And now at Milford Mill, three students are charged with a perverted sex act and exposure after doing... something perverted, videotaping it and posting it on the Internet.

More arrests in Charles Village/North Baltimore robberies.

In the county, Jason Gross, 36, was convicted for the murder of 16-year-old Rochelle Battle, though Battle's body has never been found.

Child robbed of video game and "Poo" robbed by "Angel" in the Baltimore Guide's SE blotter

And the Brew lays out how no-bid contracts go on in the city. (Also see: NYmag's playbook of popular tax-dodging strategies)

Bath Salts, BGF, And More...

Christopher McMillion, 23, has been identified as the man shot to death at the 1500 Block of East 29th St. He is victim number 163 this year.

Gone are the days of legal relaxed bathing, as the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has made an emergency ban on bath salts.

An arrest has been made in a previously unreported police impersonation robbery. 35-year-old Ioannis Vasilios Skordalos has been charged with armed robbery and a variety of other charges for impersonating an FBI agent during the robbery. Apparently this isn't the first time Mr. Skordalos has been charged with impersonating a police officer during a robbery, as he was charged with just that in 2004.

Stabbing in a Westminster Regal Cinemas parking lot leads to the arrest of Michael Fisher, 19.

FDA chemist Cheng Yi Liang, 57, has plead guilty to a variety of charges related to a $3.7 million insider trading scam.

10 well earned years in Federal prison for convicted sex offender and child porn aficionado Vincent Eugene Koerner, 47.


Federal terms for a BGF leader and one of his co-conspirators. BGF leader Ray "Uncle Ray" Olivis, 57, (Left) was sentenced to 11 years after admitting to leading the prison turned street gang. 27-year-old Erik Ushry (Right) plead guilty to several drug charges and received a 57 month sentence.

A quick look into what police are doing to crack down on the suddenly booming cigarette smuggling industry in Maryland.

"I don't know if we should be lauded or put in an insane asylum."

The Ink has last week's seven homicides, including two deaths from injuries sustained in previous years.

The woman found in the trash chute at the Park Charles apartments was ID'd as Loyola grad Emily Hauze, 23. As with the man found last August, police are saying evidence points to an accident, and residents are finding that explanation hard to believe. Report Hermann & Fenton, "The [trash chute] entrances are in rooms off each floor's main hallway. And the heavy, waist-high, spring-loaded doors — about 14 inches wide by 16 inches tall — open like ovens and close quickly. 'It's not like you could just fall in,' said Allison Busby, a 25-year-old who moved out of the Park Charles in May. 'The door would shut before I could even get my trash bag into it. It would slam shut. It was kind of a pain.'"

Luke Broadwater writes about Baltimore's 'urban pioneers.' (...but since when is being a teenager in a hoodie an arrestable offense?) Pull quote from Chris Taylor: "I don't know if we should be lauded or put in an insane asylum."

Police have released a sketch, left, of a man wanted for raping a 13-year-old

In Cockeysville, one Samantha Steck was arrested for stabbing her "boyfriend" in the chest

Deeply depressing: in MoCo, police gather evidence against William McQuain's stepfather. And also in MoCo, another stepfather has been charged with killing his stepchild; David Rich Hang of Gaithersburg was linked by DNA to the sheath of the knife used to kill 12-year-old Jessica Nguyen.

In Severn, a guy with bizarre ear-holes arrested for child sex offenses.

In bankruptcy news, managers at the broke-azz Tribune Co are getting bonuses, and the ridiculous catfighting restructuring planning at Alter Communications has been extended for another 30 days

Once again, a judge has blocked Baltimore's lawsuit against Wells Fargo. Meanwhile, Baltimore now has 20% more homeless people.

Bwhahaha! Russian 'reporter' asks the City Paper for some help with a story.

A rare press release from the SAO-- 17 extra years for a guy who had a cell phone in prison (why a press release on this case and not any of the high-profile cases in the past month, one wonders?)

Speaking of rare events, don't forget the BCrime Crappy Hour tomorrow at around 5, email or check our FB page for location.