July 13

Two murders on the East side last night: a man was stabbed to death near the Perkins Homes, a man was shot in the 400 block of North Bouldin Street at about 7:30 p.m. Also on the East side, Clayborn Johnson, 59, died Tuesday after being beaten on Sunday in the 2000 block of North Bentalou Street. And in the Western, a man on his stoop was shot in the arm.

Wanted:
City police are seeking Black "Gorilla"* Kevin Armstead, 24, of the 700 block of E. 43rd St., in the fatal shooting of Ricardo Paige, 54, whose body was found in a vacant house in Pen Lucy. (Thanks for the picture Durham)
*Er, shouldn't that be "black guerrilla family" ?

A robber is following elderly people home from the bank.

Like a beached fish with ADD, "Just a week after she indicated that police retention is a more pressing problem than recruitment, Mayor Sheila Dixon yesterday announced a series of steps to enhance police recruitment while mentioning no concrete plans for improving retention rates," which the spokescop of the police union says depend on "working conditions, leadership, equipment and, at the very end, wages."
Meanwhile, Mitchell's campaigning on a 15% across-the-board pay raise for the police.

A boy was shot in the leg near Milford Mill Academy, an 18-year-old woman hit a 25-year-old with a plank in the SE, and plenty of robbing and burgling in the Blotter.

Yesterday Judge John C. Themelis sentenced Leshawn Calvin Greene, 24, of the 2500 block of North Edgecomb Court to Life plus 95 consecutive years in prison for the murder and attempted murders of four juveniles in a shoot-out in a pizza shop on July, 16, 2005 in the 1300 block of Poplar Grove. Details:

A city jury convicted Greene on May 10, 2007 of entering the pizza shop and shooting at the victims as they were waiting for their food order. Mr. Javon Lee, 16, died from his injuries; the other three victims suffered non-life threatening injuries: Renard Hunt, 16, of 3100 Westmont Court, James King, 17, of 1400 Poplar Grove and Marvin Williams, 17, of 1200 Ashburton Street.

During the course of the trial, an identifying witness, Pharoah Carr, and a close friend of Greene, left Maryland to avoid testifying at trial. Prosecutor Diana Smith successfully used a provision in the new witness intimidation passed by the legislature in 2005 that allowed her to offer Carr’s photo identification and taped statement despite Carr’s absence. After the Court granted the State’s motion to allow the photo array and taped statements into evidence, Carr appeared for trial.

In a most unusual move (for a non-election year), the SA's office and the Mayor's office issued a joint press release on the Greene conviction.

First "Little" Al Gore, now the son of the civil rights director for the Maryland attorney general's office, Kojo Snowden, is having drug problems: he and 11 others were charged with selling the doobage. Little S and friends face a broad gamut of potential penalties: something between a year in jail and $1,000, to five years and a $15,000 fine.

You Might be a Redneck If ... you're a 41-year-old former KKK leader on trial for sexually assaulting your 15-year-old sister.

We'll soon be bidding a sad adieu to the Magnet Bar, best known as the quintessential dive near North Avenue where local service workers can grab an after-work quaff at 4 a.m. But the shell of the Chesapeake on Charles and E. Lanvale, an eyesore for 30+ years, gets to stay an eyesore.

July 12

The tragic tale of stabbed teen Christine Richardson is becoming clearer: the suspect, Calvin Puryear, 19, was not her current 22-year-old boyfriend, but rather her ex-boyfriend who was upset about the breakup. Puryear had perviously threatened Richardson with violence, telling her mom "If I can't have her, I'm gonna hurt her." However, police say, Puryear claims it was family friend Lloyd Chase (as seen interviewed on television and himself Richardson's "brother" to a Sun reporter) who fatally stabbed her (but mom believes Chase is innocent.)
And why isn't Puryear being charged with rape?

WYPR: "Optimist" Jessamy "Unfazed by Baltimore's Ranking as Nation's Most-Violent City"
Remarks the top prosecutor, "crime is really kind of cyclical. It goes up. And some years, it goes down," but goes on to say,

About 10 years ago, if you had asked a group of children, if you had 30 young people, and you had asked them if anyone had witnessed a violent act, if anyone ever had a loved one become the victim of a violent act, or who had been killed as the result of a homicide, you might have had five or 10 of those kids to raise their hands. Now, you have 20.

Jessamy goes on to blame the City's parents, saying Baltimore's grownups "need to shoulder their responsibilities as adults to help prevent crime before it starts."

A 16-year-old and a 23-year-old survived after they were shot while stooping in the SW.

The Ink provides some names for the unknown and notes that one Mario Mauro, a 53-year-old white man, has been added to the homicide tally.

A "Wig Lady" grifter, 47-year-old Jacqueline Elaine Belim (the younger friend of Carol Silva), got 61 months in federal prison.

July 11

UPDATE: Calvin Puryear, 19, and 17-year-old Lloyd Chase have been arrested for 15-year-old Christine Richardson's murder. Puryear claims Lloyd Chase actually stabbed Richardson after they both had consentual sex with her, and Puryear held her down.
More details.
Her mother's theory as of yesterday: it was not the boyfriend whom the victim met "four years ago" (she was 11?), but rather local junkies who were demanding to do drugs in the house.
(What the Sun story above hints at but doesn't say: Richardson was multiracial with a white mom and a "#1" dad... wonder how the city will classify her?)

A 16-year-old was shot on Dulaney Street last night.

The first-degree murder trial of Patrick Byers was postponed yesterday as police investigate a possible link between that city case and the shooting death of its main witness, Carl Stanley Lackl.

Blotterata: A woman was stabbed in the neck on the 6100 block of Eastern Avenue; a 14-year-old-boy selling water on the side of the road was robbed by an older man with a knife.
A 24-year-old woman is wanted for stabbing a 20-year-old in the stomach; murder and rape arrests; Shantel, Sharon and Tnesha were arrested on Lexington and Greene for illegal gun possession.

Yesterday the Baltimore Grand Jury indicted Charles Brockington for second-degree murder. Brockington shot a man who he believed had stolen rims from his Mercedes.

Dixon: we need a weekend court session.
Jessamy's office: don't hold your breath.

Thieves: Harford County pawn shops are your best bet!

Camp counselor Dion Harvey Montgomery, 18, was arrested over the weekend in Gaithersburg in a string of robberies and sex assaults that targeted Latino women.

Rodricks = being his usual fucking annoying self.

God Smites Baptist Church

July 10

A 14- or possibly 15-year-old girl named Christine was found dead in a house in the 300 block of S. Fulton Ave. in "hardscrabble" Southwest Baltimore, shortly after 2 a.m. this morning.

A Randallstown male counselor at a home for troubled boys was shot in the stomach and isn't doing too well. More details

Death penalty supporters are annoyed by the governor's "de facto moratorium" ass-draggage.

How flaccid is Team Dixon? She tried to have a felon released for his son's funeral, but wasn't able to use her Mayorial pull to get him out of the state-run Central Booking. Now she says she never should have tried in the first place, because the guy's got a scary criminal record (well he is in jail!). Someone teach that woman to use the "JIS"!

Olesker reports on that great Baltimore pastime, stoopin and watching the shit go down.

"Heroin County" is turning to coke.

Christopher Gary, accused of fatally shooting his mother in Prince George's County, committed suicide by cop in PGC.

I wonder how much the Annapolis Mast Thieves would charge to get rid of the blight in front of the train station?

Afternoon

Herve Massaba must take great comfort in the political posturing about how the only people affected by crime in Baltimore are the people who are involved in crime in Baltimore. Of course, this happened in Baltimore County, so maybe things are different out there. Interestingly, the article in the Sun did not mention the woman who was paralyzed after being shot in the neck in Fells Point a few days before Massaba was shot.

The reckless endangerment trial against Shanda Harris has been postponed until September 5. Harris is the mother of 11-year-old Irvin Harris, who was allegedly murdered by babysitter / convicted sex offender Melvin Jones.

The first-degree murder trial against Melvin "Tight Rope" Faulkner is scheduled to begin tomorrow. Faulkner is accused of murdering Pierre Alston at 3620 Edmondson Ave. on May 5, 2006.

Kevin Warren was arrested during a traffic stop on July 6, shortly after being featured on America's Most Wanted. Warren was charged with first- and second-degree murder for killing 13-year-old Briona Porter during a robbery of her family's new ice cream truck.

July 9

The man who was fatally shot in a triple shooting on Friday night was identified as 25-year-old George Thomas Johnson. The shooting was originally reported as being in the 1900 block of E. Lafayette Ave., but is now listed around the corner in the 800 block of N. Payson St.

A 27-year-old man is suspected in a fatal domestic shooting in Bowie that left the man's mother dead.

There was a shooting this morning in the 3700 block of Offutt Rd. in Randallstown. Last night, two men were injured in two separate shootings, one in the 700 block of N. Rose St., and one in the 2000 block of Westwood Ave.

Two bottle bombs blew up in a Harford County parking lot on Sunday morning, and two undetonated bombs required bomb squad intervention.

HoCo PD's school resource officers have kept busy this year, with everything from stolen gift cards to kids carrying assault weapons (to protect themselves from gangs, of course).

Don't mess with the Girl Scouts.

July 7

Sorry for the Sun-heavy post today; with the exception of the Harford hammer beater, you might as well just go read the Sun.

The body of Phyllis S. Johnson was found by her son in her home in the 1700 block of N. Broadway in Oliver. She had been stabbed and was lying in a pool of blood. Also in Oliver, the man whose body was found in a garbage bag behind a house in the 1500 block of N. Bond St. has been ID'd as 52-year-old Christopher M. Barrett.

An unidentified man was fatally shot in the head last night in the 1900 block of W. Lafayette Ave. Another man and a woman were also shot at the same time.

In Harford County, 17-year-old Andrew E. Bogris allegedly attacked another 17-year-old with a hammer after arguing over a girl.

Kelly Schreck was arrested after five dead dogs, four starving dogs, and four starving cats were found in her Glen Burnie house. She's being held on $800,000 bail, the highest amount ever for an animal cruelty case in AAC.

The BPD, Hopkins, and the people of Charles Village are all a bit freaked out about the attempted abduction of a 29-year-old JHU grad student.

Joseph C. Schultz was given $1.3M after getting shot in the face by an FBI agent in 2002.

Sheila D. fought to allow Charles Murel out of jail long enough to attend his son's funeral. His son was the 3-year-old boy who was hit by a car on June 30 on W. Lanvale St.

July 6

Police found the car that fatally struck Pedro Colon on Dundalk Ave. early Wednesday morning, but they haven't located the driver.

Two men in a black SUV tried to abduct a Hopkins student in the 100 block of W. 29th St. yesterday morning, but fled when she screamed and witnesses ran to help her.

More on the drive-by yesterday morning in a downtown parking garage.

Bryant Mitchell Johnson is wanted for a whole bunch of bank robberies.

Vandals targeted 15 cars and a house in Hamilton.

A push for $2M to recruit city cops is falling on deaf ears. Sheila D. says we're meeting our recruiting goals (despite having at least 140 unfilled positions), and we shouldn't use the city's "rainy day fund" for this. Meanwhile, there are a paltry 21,000 open city warrants (that's the conservative number) and 79 officers to work on them. (Baltimore Crime loves us some math: if each officer closes a measly 53 warrants per day, and no new crimes are committed, we'd have a clean slate in a week!)

Two more dismissals of BCFD fire commanders for negligence and incompetence.

Darryl E. Green got two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years for killing Vanessa and Bianca Price in 1992.

The Examiner has a homicide Q&A for HoCo State's Attorney Tim McCrone.

Cory Booker

There's an interesting article about Cory Booker and his first year as mayor of Newark, NJ, in the Newark Star-Ledger (June 24, 2007, "Booker redirects his anger at the war on drugs"). His words almost sound like Mayor Dixon's, but Booker claims he's willing to go to jail to make things change. Sitting in jail is a far cry from riding around on a garbage truck.

"I'm going to battle on this," the mayor says. "We're going to start doing it the gentlemanly way. And then we're going to do the civil disobedience way. Because this is absurd ... I'm talking about marches. I'm talking about sit-ins at the state capital. I'm talking about whatever it takes."

There's also a series of articles in the New York Times on Booker's first year as mayor. The most recent part of the series details dissent in Newark, some from supporters of former mayor Sharpe James, and some from people who feel Booker has broken campaign promises.

July 5

According to "Murder Ink," the death of Philip Airey (the man who was killed and stuffed in the trunk of a burning car) has been added to the city's murder toll because, "Maryland State Police contacted Baltimore police and told them that they had evidence that the murder actually occurred in a building in the 4800 block of Pennington Avenue in Curtis Bay, making it a Baltimore City homicide." There were also updates on several homicides, including several cases that were closed.

A man in West Baltimore got shot in the leg after he cut a cop's face.

An Essex woman who was partying in Fells Point was paralyzed after she was shot in the neck by some people with whom she and/or her friends were arguing. WBAL doesn't report what day the shooting occurred, but they do tell us that "police are looking for black men in connection with the shooting."

A man died yesterday after being the victim of a hit-and-run in Dundalk.

Two people were shot early this morning in a parking garage just west of the main library and north of Lexington Market.

An 18-year-old was arrested in Ellicott City after police found a bomb in his car.

Sumathi Reddy and John Fritze at the Sun profile a few of your City Council candidates, those of us who are brave/crazy/driven enough to want a job that "is far from glamorous, (and has) had less and less influence in recent decades over citywide problems such as crime and education. Like the Maryland General Assembly, the council has virtually no power over the budget, and many members spend significant effort on nonbinding resolutions."

Well, that narrows it down...

"witnesses said they heard a gun shot and found the victim slumped over ... Police are looking for black men in connection with the shooting."

(Thanks Jeffrey)

July 4

More on the murder of defense witness Carl Stanley Lackl, who was set to testify in the homicide trial of Patrick Byers that was scheduled to begin on July 10.

There are some reports in yesterday's comments about a murder in the 1100 block of Greenmount Ave. on Monday night, but I can't find anything about it.

Kevin Mark Warren has been identified as a suspect in the ice-cream-truck murder of 13-year-old Briona Jasmine Porter.

An inmate was stabbed at the Maryland Correctional Institute in Jessup last night.

A man with a gun was arrested at the second hole of the Longview Golf Course in Cockeysville.

Juvon Curtis Harris was arrested for fatally shooting Taavon Chambers in the parking lot of the Windsor Inn.

Jason Chen got 20 years for murdering his father with a steak knife in their Ellicott City home in 2005.

A robber in Frederick was arrested after calling one of his victims and demanding more money.

Operation Safe Streets East is trying to take back an East Baltimore neighborhood.

Dear readers, when posting the Mayorial poll, I inadvertently omitted the heir apparent.
The poll has been redone and you can vote again. Sorry for the oversight.
ps. yes I'm still in China, where Blogger is blocked ... one can create posts, but not view them. Please kiss the ground for me this July 4!

from Beijing Xinhua Domestic News Service:
"it is necessary to announce to the world the human rights violations in the United States ... In American society, excessive violence has resulted in ineffective protection of human life and personal safety."
"Indiscriminate arrests are [a] serious problem ... [in Baltimore in 2002,] Prosecutors declined to charge in 24 percent of the cases. Two-thirds of the cases they dropped were dropped on the day of arrest because they could not be proved in court."

"The Sun newspaper reported on 31 August 2002, the Baltimore City Detention Center has a poorly run system of health care and suicide prevention. In some cases, the problems resulted in jail suicides, heart attack deaths and fatal asthma spasms that federal authorities deemed preventable if the inmates had been properly treated."

"The United States has been releasing annually Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, censuring other countries for their human rights situations, but it has turned a blind eye to serious violations of human rights on its own soil."

Carl Stanley Lackl

The man killed last night in the 8000 block of Philadelphia Rd. was Carl Stanley Lackl, a witness in the Baltimore homicide case against Patrick Byers. Lackl and Byers didn't know each other, and the State's Attorney's Office said Lackl had been a helpful witness. A 10-year-old girl witnessed Lackl's murder, and is probably scared s--tless, for a whole bunch of reasons that go way beyond the fact that no 10-year-old should have to witness a homicide.

No word yet from Sheila or Lenny. I really hope neither of them has the gumption to say it's a Baltimore County problem, not a city problem.

July 3

Lots of murder news in the city:

• Two men were shot yesterday afternoon in the 2000 block of Guilford Ave. in Barclay, just up the street from the public school headquarters. 39-year-old Allen Burton died from his wounds at Shock Trauma shortly after the shooting.
• 30-year-old Nathaniel Price was reported missing on Saturday; his body was found in the back of his 2007 Jeep yesterday in the 4900 block of Greencrest Rd. in the Northeastern.
• The unidentified body found in a garbage bag behind a rowhouse in the 1500 block of Bond St. had a gunshot wound to the upper torso, and has been declared a homicide.
• Davon Turner was the man who was murdered Sunday in the 800 block of N. Patterson Park Ave.
• Gerald Smith was shot to death behind the wheel of his idling car in the 4800 block of Herring Run Dr.
• Jewels Cook was the man whose body was found last week in the 2300 block of Cylburn Ave, near the Cylburn Arboretum.

Hey, all you Baltimore County people, you've got a few also:

• A 38-year-old man was fatally shot in the 8000 block of Philadelphia Rd. in Rosedale last night at about 9:00. He was the 21st murder victim in the county this year.
• 23-year-old Taavon Chambers was the man who was shot to death in the parking lot of the Windsor Inn in Woodlawn just after closing time on Monday morning (or Sunday morning, according to the Sun). Chambers was the nephew of a Baltimore County police officer, and did not appear to know his attacker.

13-year-old Briona Jasmine Porter died after being shot during a robbery attempt of her mother's new ice cream truck.

The family of murder victim and alleged rim stealer Joseph Johnson claims that he and Charles Brockington have had disputes in the past.

Luke Broadwater's monthly recap in the Examiner focuses on Marine reservist Michael Simms, and gives us a few fun facts: Every police district in the city has had at least nine murders; police have closed 48 of this year's 151 homicides; our population is apathetic towards violent crime; and a pastor on Edmonson Ave. is preaching on the street outside her church to try to stem the flow of blood.

David Lee Miller, the alleged murderer of Elizabeth Walters and their unborn child, will face first-degree murder charges for the fetus' death.

There were four shootings in two separate incidents in AAC over the weekend. (Actually, the article lists five victims, but the headline says four. Go figure.)

Fascinating evidence that MO'M and his zero-tolerance approach might not have been as effective as the former mayor claimed.

There's a good article on BPD foot patrols in the Sun that poses questions and observations like "Is it (the foot patrols) going to be sustained?" and "How this will prevent violent crime ... isn't readily apparent. But then, preventive measures rarely are dramatic or immediate."

Accusations of excessive force were made against officer James Wilder of the BPD for his behavior at the scene of an accident on 39th St. and N. Charles St.

Kenneth Pinckney was charged with first- and second-degree assault for stabbing a man who was talking to Pinckney's wife at the Deutsches Gasthaus in Aberdeen.

A porn shop in Aberdeen was burned on Sunday morning.

As of yesterday, felons who have completed their sentences can vote in Maryland.

Guardian Angels will begin training Edgewood residents within the next few weeks.

Someone stole a banner from a PFLAG booth at the Columbia City Fair last weekend.

Lawrence Williams stole Viagra from the military and sold it for his own profit.

Rats have infested the playground at the old Memorial Stadium site in Waverly. (Okay, so it's not a crime, but it's really gross.)

July 2

Charles Brockington, the man charged with second-degree murder for shooting rim-stealer Joseph Milton Johnson, will be held without bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8:30AM July 26, 2007 in Wabash District Court, room six.

Three more murders between Saturday night and Sunday night, bringing our official tally to 157.

A man was killed in the parking lot of the Windsor Inn bar and restaurant in Woodlawn (Balto. County) just after closing time on Sunday morning.

A decomposing body was found in a garbage bag behind a rowhouse in the 1500 block of Bond St. The death is suspicious but has not been ruled a homicide. Also at the same link, a man was shot during a robbery at a house in Severna Park.

The hit-and-run driver who killed 10-year-old Kianna Johnson with a green station wagon on June 21 remains free and unidentified.

Hey Sheila, your voters are almost ready to pack up and leave. Maybe you should do something more meaningful than holding another f--king meeting.

July 1

Charles Brockington was charged with second degree murder yesterday.

Charging documents allege that he killed Joseph Milton Johnson, Jr. 29, early Friday, June 29, when Brockington spotted Johnson removing tires from Brockington's 2006 Mercedes parked in front of his home. The documents further allege that in a ruse to return the tires and distract Brockington, Johnson returned to his car and drove away. While driving away, Johnson was struck in the left shoulder area by a 9MM gun fired by Brockington.

Damon Holmes got 40 years for killing Malian can driver Oumar Bah.

19-year-old Adrian Jones got nervous when he saw some cops, so he ran away then tried to shoot them.

With 155 murders at the year's halfway point, the Sun investigates the violence and the lack of outrage in the city. Meanwhile, WJZ has a story about a rally to stop the violence.

The Sun published Q&As with Hamm and Dixon.

Annapolis is having a rough time with crime, too.

Police are still searching for the two men who robbed an Edgewater Shell station last week.

Robberies and drug arrests in the Blotter.

June 29

A man in Park Heights was killed at 5:20 this morning, allegedly while stealing wheels off of a Mercedes.

Three city residents were indicted for using information from stolen credit reports to buy a whole bunch of fancy stuff.

A man having a psychological episode led police on a leisurely car chase near Frederick.

Happy day in the Blotter: No killing, shooting, stabbing, beating, raping, assaulting, child abusing, car jacking, or other generally acceptable Baltimore behavior. There was, however, a robbery on Monday morning at a gas station on W. Franklin St.

Stephen Sellman was arrested on Wednesday after DNA linked him to a 1987 rape.

Threatening letter-writer Michelle J. Dohm got canned by Frederick County.

Department of governmental incompetence and/or corruption:

The Maryland Judiciary failed to get competitive bids for about $4M in equipment.

Four HoCo schools didn't use approved vendors for their fundraisers.

Evening

News from the State's Attorney's Office:

Sentencing for 15-year-old Damon Holmes is scheduled for 9:00 tomorrow morning before Judge Lynn Stewart. Holmes pleaded guilty to shooting cab driver Oumar Bah during a robbery on May 31, 2006.

***

17-year-old Christopher Ford was indicted for first-degree murder and handgun charges.

Court documents allege that Christopher Ford was responsible for the shooting incident on May 29, 2007 in the 3400 block of Clifton Avenue. Neil Rather, 18, was found shot on the parking lot on Clifton and Denison Avenue. The two men were engaged in an argument over a $20.00 debt when Rather was shot. He died later at Sinai Hospital.

***

The attempted murder trial of Rozza Alston, 29, of the 1600 block of Saint Paul Street, is scheduled to begin 11AM tomorrow before Judge Wanda K. Heard, 540 Courthouse East, 111 N. Calvert St.

Court documents allege that on January 26, 2007 Alston accosted a 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, 2007.

***

The RIAA is thanking Baltimore for going after music pirates:

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) will present a number of awards to police and prosecutors for their professionalism in the ongoing successful effort to charge and prosecute defendants who engage in music piracy. Dozens of these cases are prosecuted annually by the State’s Attorney’s Office.

June 28

A body with gunshot wound(s) was found yesterday morning in the 2300 block of Cylburn Ave, near the Cylburn Arboretum.

Police don't know whether Moeen Raja's Ellicott City murder was a random crime, and Raja's family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

The man murdered in Annapolis yesterday has been identified as 35-year-old Marcus Antonio Wells. It was the fourth homicide in Annapolis this year, which gives the capitol city a per capita murder rate of about half of Baltimore's.

Two men were shot at a playground in the 1100 block of Orleans St. on Tuesday evening.

An Easton police officer shot at a suspect and was placed on administrative leave.

Michael McFadden was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of 16-year-old Ronny Martin on January 1, 2006.

Vera Rennie Rogers testified in the Carroll County murder trial against her nephew, Shawn Anthony Jones. In exchange for her testimony, Rogers got a five-year suspended jail sentence and three years of supervised probation.

PDJ: Scott R. Davis got five years for trading pictures online of adults having sex with kids. Have fun in prison, Scott.

The debate continues over whether or not James Thompson deserves a new trial.

The Harford County Sheriff's Department has some sweet new digs.