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.

March 16

49-year-old Michael Stuckey was stabbed to death in the Southwest, allegedly by 50-year-old Robin A. Weaver. In the same article, Antwan D. Askins was ID'd as the man who was fatally shot in Lauraville on Tuesday night and Maurice Wilkerson was arrested for the murder of Steven Washington.

Danielle Eboni Riley got 20 years for killing her newborn baby.

Yesterday, Anthony Jerome Miller was found guilty for the murders of Jason Convertino and Sean Wisniewski. Sentencing is scheduled for June 8.

On April 16, 2003 at approximately 2:30AM police responded to 1917 Gough Street for a shooting. Upon arrival, officers discover the bodies of Jason M. Convertino, 31, and Sean M. Wisniewski, 22, in an apartment inside the building. The medical examiner later rules that both men died as a result of gunshot wounds. Evidence from the crime scene is gathered and secured. In May 2003 a laptop computer owned by Convertino is pawned by Miller. In March 2005 DNA evidence is collected from a piece of evidence discovered at the crime scene, a latex glove, and in November 2005 that DNA is matched to Miller.

Perv of the day: Jose Elder Montufar is wanted for kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old Baltimore girl.

Anthony Hawks was arrested for last month's murder of Harold Robinson at Club International. Also in the Blotter, a burglar in Greektown got the beatdown when he broke into an occupied house.

City leaders are outraged and horrified by the arrest of 7-year-old Gerard Mungo Jr.

Yesterday, Frederick County released the 911 tapes from the fire that destroyed a shopping center last month.

An inmate at the Baltimore City Detention Center was injured during a fight on a jail van.

Kevin "Chopper" Barnes got community service for robbing a couple at gunpoint in 2001. Apparently, his lawyer asked the court to cut his client some slack for the youthful mistake and not jeopardize Chopper's pending million-dollar record deal.

It looks like Bowling Brook might be liquidating their property.

Former BPD cop Andre Alan Stover earned $150,000 from false workers' comp claims.

Truants may be losing the right to drive.

The Guardian Angels will be recruiting for their Edgewood chapter this weekend.

March 15

Two people were killed and three were injured in two separate Northeast Baltimore shootings on Tuesday night. 18-year-old Christopher Clarke was one of the men killed; the other has not yet been identified.

Parole was revoked for Lawrence Banks, who will be in prison until 2014. So far, Banks has murdered his son, killed a friend, and thrown his 7-month-old daughter through a glass door. He is being investigated for the deaths of his girlfriend's 22-year-old daughter and 9-month-old granddaughter.

A 7-year-old boy was arrested while sitting on his dirt bike in East Baltimore.

A guard at Central Booking might be stealing inmates' credit cards.

Our elected leaders continue to fail miserably at battling witness intimidation.

Perv of the day: 52-year-old volleyball coach Robert Borello got 18 months for his 'relationship' with one of his 16-year-old Wicomico High School students.

A fire commander at the BFD training academy was suspended for 30 days for not properly tracking EMS certifications. Additionally, nearly 1/4 of the BFD cannot legally drive large vehicles, including fire trucks.

Racists vandalized a street sign in front of Councilman Harris' home in the 4th.

On what was, indeed, a 'hisrotic' day, police headquarters was re-named as the Bishop L. Robinson Sr. Police Administration Building yesterday.

March 14

Murder Ink covers a multitude of homicide convictions and closed cases, along with the deaths of Michael Woods, Richard Stuckey, Anthony Bryan, Allen Coates, and Damon Smith. This is the first media mention of Anthony Bryan's death, who was 37 years old when he was shot once behind his right ear in the Southwest neighborhood of Rosemont last Friday.

Three men have been killed in Baltimore since Monday. An unidentified man was shot late yesterday morning during an argument in the 1600 block of Cliftview Ave. in East Baltimore. Early yesterday morning, Tyrone Jackson Jr. was fatally shot on the front porch of his family's house on Brook Ave. in the Northeast. On Monday night, Mark Robinson was found on the sidewalk in the 2700 block of Harlem Ave; he had been shot repeatedly and died at Shock Trauma.

Nancy Jean Siegel allegedly killed her much-older boyfriend more than 10 years ago, and his been cashing his Social Security checks ever since.

Convicted murdered Lawrence Banks may go back to prison for parole violations, while PG police investigate whether he was involved in the murders of his girlfriend's daughter and granddaughter.

Death row inmate Lawrence Borchardt, convicted for killing an elderly couple who helped him while he was a heroin addict, died in his cell on Sunday.

There's a serial bank robber running amok in the city. And a former bank robber contemplates all of the wasted years and wasted lives.

A citizen in Charles County helped capture some neo-Nazis.

A mother and son in Washington County were indicted for stealing from the liquor board.

March 13

Travis Davon Terry was convicted of first-degree murder today by a Harford County jury in the shooting death of Edwin Lee Potillo. He could get a death sentence.

Police and family members are seeking new information about the murder of Gap Suk Suh, who was murdered on Friday, November 3 after a minor accident with a Buick Rendezvous at the corner W. Mulberry St. and Jasper St. Suh would have turned 60 yesterday.

18-year-old Raymond Zubrowski Jr. has been missing from North Point for 45 days and "seems to have disappeared without a trace."

Good times in the city over the past few days: a shooting, two shootings, a shooting, a shooting, and a bank robbery.

Joseph Kopera's false credentials and make-believe science may lead to the review of hundreds of murder and shooting cases.

Perv of the day: William Wray of Crespatown, who was charged with abusing an 11-year-old girl.

Perv of the day, part II: A transcript from last night's "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" on CNN, where Headline News anchor Thomas Roberts discusses being abused by former Calvert Hall chaplain Father Jerome Toohey from 1987 - 1990.

Michael Dean Jackson Jr. got the maximum sentence -- 10 years -- for voluntary manslaughter for shooting Anthony James Owens-Smith to death in Howard County.

Leeander Blake's confession is admissible in his federal murder trial.

BFD Captain Brian K. Edwards is in trouble for talking to the Sun.

The City Council is considering banning BB guns because they "have the same effect as real guns when they're used by criminals." Uh, yeah, the same effects, except for real bullets' tendencies to tear flesh and shatter bones and destroy organs.

In other City Council news, members unanimously agreed that the death penalty is bad, even if the killer used a BB gun.