Quote of the Day

"In the black community, we'll find 10 different ways to kick you down before we'll take one to lift you up."
-- Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, on why not to vote for her

Yesterday the Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Dwayne Erving, 18, of the 1700 block of N. Bond Street for first-degree murder and handgun charges. Court documents allege Dwayne Erving is responsible for "a shooting incident" on August 8, 2007 in the 2300 block of E. Oliver Street. Joseph Bryant was found suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest in the unit block of E. Oliver Street. Erving allegedly attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended in the 2100 block of Federal Street, two blocks from the murder scene. Bryant died later the same day at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Wednesday, a Baltimore City jury convicted Joseph Brinkley, 39, of the 2700 block of Baker Street of two counts of attempted first degree murder, two counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, two counts of reckless endangerment and one count of handgun on person and one count of possession of a regulated firearm. Jurors heard two days of testimony and deliberated for one hour before reaching a verdict. Attempted first degree murder carries a maximum prison term of life. The handgun counts carry maximum prison terms of 20 years. Judge Paul E. Alpert scheduled sentencing for November 7, 2007. Details:

On November 11, 2005, two men were leaving an apartment in the 3400 block of Oakfield Avenue after noticing Brinkley had a gun. The men got into a hack and started to drive away. Brinkley ran into the street after them firing nine times from a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, motive unknown. Both men were hit multiple times in the back. The driver was unharmed and drove them to find the nearest ambulance. One of the victims was in a coma from the injuries for almost three weeks and lost his lung. Initially, when interviewed by Detectives a month after the shooting, he gave a taped statement indicating he did not see who shot him. However, after Brinkley approached him and his nine-year old son a year later, the victim came forward and identified Brinkley as the shooter. This witness was the only eyewitness and his compelling and truthful testimony at trial, despite his earlier statements, helped secure this conviction.

At a hearing yesterday, Judge Lynn K. Stewart sentenced Elmer Warfield, 37, of the 2800 block of Oakley Ave. to three terms of 10 years in prison suspend all but five years, consecutive, for three separate counts of robbery. Warfield pled guilty June 21, 2007 to three counts of robbery. Shortly after 9 a.m on March 19, 2007 police apprehended Warfield after a robbery call was placed from Carrollton Bank on North Charles Street. He pled guilty to robbing $1,300 from that bank and also pled guilty to two other bank robberies: robbing $4,400 from First Mariner Bank in Canton on March 16, 2007 and robbing $2,000 from Bank of America in Federal Hill on February 16.

August 30

Police killed a combative road rager in the Northwestern.

HoCo's #5, Wasel Ali, was missing for five days before his (allegedly) beaten body was found in the woods in Columbia. Ali had just admitted to stealing from his employer, and was recently discharged from the Army Reserve for impersonating an MP.

AAC police are investigating a Pasadena well in a homicide case from 30 years ago.

This has signs of Irvin Harris written all over it.

A bunch of guys attacked another bunch of guys, leading to assault charges in Glen Burnie.

To prove her decision isn't filled with political posturing, Sheila D. might appoint a new Police Commissioner before the primary on September 11. In unrelated news, pigs might fly out of my ass later on today.

The BPD case for Ramona Bradley was closed when 46-year-old Sandra Milton was arrested and charged with Bradley's death. In the same article, two people were arrested for the murder of Tyrone Willie Bonner.

Not guilty due to a plane ticket to Oregon.

Crime Alert: Mt. Vernon

On August 23 at approximately 12:52 a.m. there was an assault and robbery committed at Charles Street and Peabody Mews; a suspect grabbed a young woman and forced her into the alley and then into the car park behind 3 West Mt. Vernon. The suspect assaulted the victim by beating her and then stole her purse. He ran west through Peabody Mews to Cathedral Street. The Walters Art Museum was able to provide video to the Police from external CCTV cameras, above.

August 29

Thanks to a couple of detectives, Baltimore County police have charged Alphonso William Hill, 55, with six rapes that occurred between 1978 and 1989 along the Loch Raven Boulevard corridor. Investigators have also collected evidence from at least 20 other unsolved rapes that occurred in these areas that they suspect Hill of committing.

"Suspect in Roland Park attack [is] a man with a history of arrests for robbery and sexual assault" ... and makes you wonder why he wasn't, um, behind bars?

If the guy who is robbing you has a gun, you might not want to provoke him.

Glen Stewart, 17, was the former owner of the burning body found in a park just over the County line.

From the "Where were these teachers when I was in high school?" Department:

Kirsten Ann Kinley pleaded guilty yesterday ... to one count of third-degree sex offense for improper sexual conduct with a 15-year-old boy at her Columbia apartment. "She's very depressed," said Thomas Morrow, her Towson-based attorney.

Well, no shit: "She's lost her teaching career. She's facing the unenviable task of being a convicted felon and registering as a sexual offender for the rest of her life." Ah, hindsight.

Former Washington Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, who was out of a job when a new administration came to town in January, is so hard up for work
he says he wants to be Baltimore's next police commissioner. However,

As a city council member, Fenty had often criticized Ramsey for not focusing enough on Washington's most troubled and crime-ridden neighborhoods, a sentiment echoed by some community leaders yesterday. Critics in the city's police union accused Ramsey of playing to the news media while undercutting rank-and-file officers, who they said are demoralized and leaving in droves.

Baltimore County's cost-cutting medical examinations of police officers -- in some cases, forcing them into early retirement -- are illegal, sayeth los Federales.

Some people use guns, but Joseph R. Lagana used WD-40 to carjack a Columbia man. He'll be doing nine years in the clink.

There's been a fatal double-shooting (double fatal shooting?) in AACo.

MD is either the richest state in the U.S. or its citizens are the most likely to inflate their income on census bureau forms.

County Swimming Holes Terrorized by Rabid Beaver

At arraignment today Calvin Puryear and Lloyd Chase pled not guilty to the murder of Christine Richardson. The court scheduled a murder trial for November 14, 2007.

Roland Park Sex Attack/Robbery Arrest

Chaz Montreal Ricks, 20, left, of 5339 Gist Avenue, was arrested for the Roland Park home invasion, robbery and sex attack. Word is that a city detective actually recognized him from the sketch.
A JIS case search shows that Ricks' rap sheet is as long as your arm and includes 10 criminal cases. Less than a month ago he was loosed after being accused of armed robbery, theft, use of a handgun and second- and third-degree sex offenses when County prosecutors decided to drop the case because the only evidence against him was the word of a co-defendant, which is not legally enough. A second suspect, right, is still at large.

The man found dead in a wooded area in Columbia last night was id'd as 19-year-old Wasel Ali, who had been reported missing by a family member August 22nd.

Entertainment Insider Exxtras: The last season of "the Wire" will include homeless people.

...and the lyrics to Frank Conaway's rap.

August 28

A man was shot and killed in the 400 block of S. Payson St. in the Southwestern early this morning.

The man killed at a Texaco station near Mondawmin Mall has been ID'd as 18-year-old Himank Karki, an immigrant from Nepal who was preparing to start his first day of college after wrapping up his 12-hour shift at the gas station. (What's this, the second BCCC student in the past two months who can't attend school because he got fucking shot? Great leadership, Sheila.)

26-year-old Matthew Sivells has been identified as the man who was killed on Cecil Ave. on Sunday afternoon.

The body of a man in his 20s was found in Columbia, and there appear to be no signs of foul play.

Shawn Jones got life + 30 years, and Donnie Bowman's family is still grieving.

Lawrence Joseph Lannin is already serving two life sentences, so he won't really be punished for murdering child-killer Richard Spicknall in prison.

"Gang members seem to be showing tribute. They use their bandanas each one of them come by and sort of ceremoniously drop a bandana in the casket. ... They want to put in bottles of Hennessey, they want to put blunts ... in there."

The citizens of Oliver, Harlem Park, and Charles Village are a little freaked out. (As are the citizens of EB Midway, Highlandtown, Better Waverly, etc.)

Frank, you could've at least thrown your support to someone more worthy of being mayor, like Jill Carter or my dog Roxy.

Tuesday

#213 - Unidentified Victim, fatally shot in Southwest Baltimore.

Top Cop: Frederick H. Bealefeld III v Charles H. Ramsey, who, until he resigned last December, was DC's Chief.

“You may not have killed her, but she died of a broken heart": the victims berate Shawn Jones in Carroll County's 2005 homicide/double-shooting.

Emulating Schaefer, and other anti-crime policies of the candidates for Mayor.

Someone discovered "a body in a wooded area in Columbia" yesterday evening. (Woods? In Columbia? I thought they all got chopped down).

Charles Carroll Acquitted

A Baltimore City Jury acquitted Charles Carroll today of second degree rape, third and fourth degree sex offense, three counts of second degree assault and two counts of sexual child abuse following three days of testimony and approximately one hour of deliberations. The Baltimore City Grand jury indicted Carroll May 19, 2005. Three counts of sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 18 and one count of third degree sexual offense are still pending against Carroll. Court documents allege Carroll sexually assaulted two victims. The alleged assaults occurred between December 2004 and April 2005. Carroll’s first trial ended January 11, 2007 when the court declared a mistrial after hearing witness testimony.

The burning body found over the county line off of Liberty Heights Avenue was id'd as an African-American male between 15 and 25 years old.

RP Rape Suspects Arrested Suspected

From the neighborhood association e-mail list:

Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
Det. Connolly has identified and issued warrants for the arrests of the two suspects for the rape on Colorado Ave.  I cannnot give you any further details.  The Warrant Apprehension Task Force has the warrants and is on the case!  They will be in jail soon!
 
Tell your neighbors to breathe easy.

But Juile Bike-a-wits says,

the neighborhood association is jumping the gun, so to speak. no arrrests have been made. police are simply interviewing these guys right now.

Luke Broadwater says that sources inside the PD say that a "big announcement" is coming soon related to the Roland Park home invasion/assault.

August 27

The attendant at a Texaco station in the 2600 block of Gwynns Falls Parkway was shot and killed early this morning.

On Saturday afternoon, an unidentified man was fatally shot in the 1900 block of Cecil Ave. in East Baltimore Midway.

A burning body was found in a Baltimore County park at about 1:45 this morning.

O' mighty Warren Brown, beloved defender of the Constitution, there's a dead man in your pool named Dwight McDaniel Baker.

Somebody in Carroll County really doesn't want to get with the learnin'.

August 26

JZ: Police say 28-year-old Andre McNaire died after he lost a shootout in the 3500 block of East Baltimore Street around 3 a.m. today. His is the 203rd homicide declared by the Medical Examiner's office so far this year.

Warren Brown's Pool Filled With Victim's Blood!

A man who was shot in a robbery attempt drove through a concrete wall in his SUV and plunged into Warren A. Brown's swimming pool, where the victim bled to death!

The teen who was shot last Thursday in front of his home on Riggs Avenue was id'd as Ishmael Cooper, 15.

Sean Smith, 28, was arrested in the horrid hamlet of Stamford, Conn for the August 11 murder of Samuel Horne in Edgewood.

"Wire" news: As the show is set to finish its last week of shooting ever, brother of "The Wire" actor Ralph Anwan Glover, Tayon Glover, 29, was shot to death in DC. Ralph himself has also been shot 13 times. In better news, Lance Reddick (Col. Cedric Daniels) landed a role on ABC's "Lost."

Roland Park Sex Attack/Robbery Update

Reports from the past 24 hours:
- LB adds that one perp raped her while the other robbed the house.
- Julie B. notes that the victim was 59 and taken to Mercy Medical Center, interviews Dr. Fessenden (famous 10th-grade economics teacher).
- ...And Janis & LB say "crime has left residents of this community of well-manicured lawns and pricey historic homes looking for answers" and reporters looking for new ways to say "rich white neighborhood."
- On WBAL officer Nicole Monroe says that the victim is still hospitalized and suffered a neck injury from being grabbed. There is now a composite sketch of a suspect who looks like Paul Mooney with edema.

Evening Update

Newly released DOJ statistics show that in 2005, 49 percent of the victims of homicide in the United States were "black," ("blacks" are only 13 percent of the population), and 52 percent of people convicted of murder in the United States are also nero. But chill out, white people: "93 percent of black homicide victims and 85 percent of white victims in single-victim and single-offender homicides were murdered by someone of their [own] race."

"A Baltimore attorney and a mortgage broker have pleaded guilty to charges related to a mortgage scheme in which they helped secure loans for two suspected drug dealers, federal prosecutors said today."

Three crack dealers got the business end of the law's Rod.

Baltimore police have charged two women — Janice Jones, 27, and Dakia Frazier, 23 — with witness intimidation. The brazen bullies drove a witness to the police station to get her to recant her testimony, and then waited for her outside.

At Loch Raven Reservoir, a woman had her car broken into and cell phone stolen, then got carjacked when she asked "a pedestrian" for help.

Quote of the day: "That's what I think of TV news." -- some pervert

Neighborhood Alert: Roland Park Sex Attack/Robbery

From an e-mail from Karen DeCamp:

I just got off the phone with a Deputy Major with the Northern District Police - the police are calling community leaders to alert people about a home invasion and rape this evening [8/24] around 8 pm on Colorado Ave [in the Tuxedo Park area] in Roland Park. The suspects appear to have targeted this house, hiding and following the woman into her house when she returned home. The police are searching for suspects - the only description they have is that they are two black males, one taller and thin and one shorter and more heavyset, both wearing summer clothes.

I know that's not much to go on, but the police are asking that if you have any information to please call 911. And of course, it goes without saying that everyone should use extra caution when coming and going.

Note, dear readers, that it is very common for robbers to stake out parking lots of grocery-store shopping centers (the York Road Giant parking lot is perennially popular) looking for single women to follow home; they know if you're getting groceries you're likely going home directly. So watch your rearview as you leave these places, and if you think you're being followed, let the ice cream melt and drive to a police station, fire station, etc!

And solid advice for the ladies from Craigslist: grab a rock!:

"If you feel as if you are about to be a victim, try to do something to make your possible attacker think HE might end up being the victim. Turn and face him, cross the street, take your hands out of your pockets and keep them free for fighting, stare right in his face, suddenly walk slower than him, pick up a weapon from the street (rock, brick, whatever and just hold it). The killers pick up on that and will move on to their next target."

And how about some pepper spray?

Updates: The media rolls it out for Roland Park!
LB adds that one perp raped her while the other robbed the house.
And Julie B. notes that the victim was 59 and taken to Mercy Medical Center, interviews Dr. Fessenden (famous 10th-grade economics teacher).
...And Janis & LB say "crime has left residents of this community of well-manicured lawns and pricey historic homes looking for answers."

... please help spread neighborhood crime alerts by joining your neighborhood listservs and bulletin boards and forwarding them here!

August 24

A teenage boy was shot to death yesterday afternoon in the 1400 block of Riggs Avenue in the Western district.

Police are busy investigating three shootings in three different parts of the city this morning: 1:40 a.m., a man was found shot twice at Sinclair Lane and Frankford Avenue in the Northeast; at 2:30 a.m. a man was shot in the 900 block of N. Rosedale Street in the Southwest; at 5 a.m, a juvenile in the 4100 block of Garrison Blvd.

If we're so worried about all of the juvenile murder victims, why is no one enforcing the Minor Curfew laws?

Waverly Terrorist Attack! Update II:
The firebombing was on McKewin Street, and the "cocktail" actually landed on the wrong porch! The family is now in protective custody (which sounds a lot like jail) and Mary Pat Clarke says "This is the first time I've ever had a firebombing in my district and it will be the last."
Whose district was the McAbier attack in?

City police found that kid who escaped from the Hickey School, Davon Julius. And what's up with this garbled-yet-intriguing piece of a story? "[Troopers] say Julius had not been struck by rounds fired two nights ago by a state trooper police say was being dragged by the Jeep Cherokee Julius was driving. Police found that Jeep Thursday in the 200 block of North Charles Street. They are trying to determine if it was stolen."

Scandalous! A County traffic-ticket quota system in place since May demands that police write at least one traffic citation every day, or they'll be last in line to pick days off, and issuing three or more daily tickets will get a "positive counseling form."
In spite of the straightforward memo, the County police spokesman denies an illegal quota system exists. WBAL's Steve Fermier: Chief James Johnson says "he had no knowledge of it, would not have tolerated it if he had... and it's gone now in any case." He's also stopped beating his wife!

How crazy is crazy Frank Conaway Sr.? He plans to ask Bundley and Carter to drop out of the race to give him a better chance to beat Dixon!

The family of RPEMS mom and fire cadet Racheal Wilson deem her death criminal murder and have hired local windbag Warren Brown to sue. They say Wilson was 'set up' intentionally because she was female.

Terrorist Attack in Waverly! Update: WBAL reports this is actually the second time the house has been firebombed, and the family has now relocated.

You may remember Amara Eden, right, arrested in PGC after her five children were found alone in squalid conditions. She pled guilty to to five counts of leaving a child under the age of 10 unattended (which is odd since the DJS Web site attests that you can leave children alone if they're 8 (!!) or older) and two counts of reckless endangerment and will serve 20 days in jail.