Guilty Plea but No Jail for Shanda Harris

At a hearing today, Shanda R. Harris, 41, of the 3100 block of Lawnview Avenue pled guilty to one count of reckless endangerment and three counts of child in need of assistance (CINA) or contributing to the negligence of a child. Judge John M. Glynn sentenced Harris to eight years in prison suspending all but the time she already served from October 5, 2006 through March 26, 2007, and also sentenced her to three years' probation and set special conditions: that she complete drug and alcohol abuse treatment, psychiatric treatment and parenting classes. Between July 1, 2005 and July 30, 2006 Harris allowed convicted child sex offender Melvin Jones access to her four children after being notified that he was in fact a registered child sex offender. Assistant State’s Attorney and Felony Family Violence Division Chief Julie Drake will prosecuted this case.

September 6

Fox's Jeff Barnes reported last night that the man shot in an auto-parts store on Belvedere Avenue died, and a suspect fled in a silver Mercedes, plate 9CT H64.

From yesterday: A foul-smelling (alleged) sex offender with a collection of knockout drugs was discovered hiding in the closet of two Dundalk kids.

More on murder vitims Jasmine Borum and her grandmother Pauline.
WMAR reports that neighbors believe the grandmother was caught in the way of someone after Jasmine, but

'[Jasmine's] dead and gone why drag her name through the mud,' says [neighbor Marcus] Lynch. Only because other residents believe her record may explain why someone would kill a 60 year grandmother and her granddaughter inside their home and in a neighborhood, everyone agrees was quiet full of families, full of children.

A 20-year-old man walking in the 1500 block of Cliftview Ave. about 12:30 a.m. and was shot in the back and lived; Troy Spencer, 33, was arrested for shooting two people; stolen American cars in the Blotter.

In AAC, Ronald Francis Dawson II will serve two months for killing TJ Watson in an alleged drug deal gone bad.

Mother-of-the-year Shanda Harris won't get a plea deal.

Who Knew? Dept:
Apparently, Remington isn't an abyss of drugs and violence.

"Implementing Park Heights Revitalization A Tall Order"

Missing persons:
PGC Police Department is seeking the public’s help in locating missing 18-year-old Julian Carlos McCormick, last seen Saturday Sept. 1 leaving his dorm at Bowie State University in his Blue-Silver 2003 Honda Civic with Maryland temporary tag # 83870A.

More on the Karen Kamsch mystery.

Crime Alert! Fake BGE Men

"Fartsy" wrote:
"I live in Pigtown and we have a guy who's going around robbing houses in broad daylight. He's described as a black male, and VERY tall...like 6'5" or so, and he wears a construction vest and gloves."

I called the SW district to confirm, and the very nice officer who picked up the phone said that what police have seen a lot of lately, in the SW and city-wide, is an uptick in reports of the scam of men posing as workers from BGE, sometimes complete with a very-real looking uniform and badge. Sometimes they scam people by saying that they owe money on their bills and the power's going to be shut off that minute if they don't pay, other times they just flat-out shove their way in and rob the house after someone opens the door.
Of course, he says, BGE doesn't collect cash door-to-door, and they don't show up unannounced, so if you see an unexpected "BGE man" or other utility-person type knocking on your door, don't open the door, and call the police!

UPDATE: Says Fartsy, "No, it's not one of the phony BGE men! This guy just kicks in doors and windows -- he doesn't bother with knocking and pretending to be a phony BGE man. One of our neighbors was stabbed multiple times and has a collapsed lung (or had, I haven't gotten an update lately on the guy's condition). The phony BGE guy is a different crook."

Jezum crow!

This Just In: WBAL Reportage Lazy, Hype-Driven

OMG, what little lying weasels!
Looking for the clip of the Walters' CCTV tape of a mugging I posted a while back, I found this instead from WBAL. Assuming that they found the clip randomly and don't read this site, my YouTube "handle" and a link to send me a message is right there on every clip! Hardly a BIG MYSTERY!
I guess a mugging is too dull, they felt the need to fabricate a hook out of thin air!



How does Jayne Miller stand to hang out with those assclowns?

ps. a Great essay/rant by George Saunders, "The Braindead Megaphone," in this month's GQ, opining the myriad ways in which progressively "dumber" TV news spreads the "disease" of "stupidity, aggression and anxiety."

A very violent blotter, and let's preserve the news of bodily harm for posterity here:

Northeastern
Shooting // An unidentified man was in critical condition at Johns Hopkins Hospital after he was shot in the head, chest and neck about 9 p.m. yesterday in the 2500 block of Garrett Ave. by an unknown assailant.

Stabbing // Two teenage girls were stabbed about 8:45 p.m. yesterday in the 1600 block of Abbotston St. by one of several other females who fled the scene. The victims, one stabbed in the face and the other in the face, chest and back, were treated at an area hospital.

Northwestern
Shooting // Police were seeking a man who shot another man at an auto repair shop in the 4100 block of W. Belvedere Ave. about 9 p.m. yesterday and stole a car. The victim was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. His condition was not available.

Victim named // Police released yesterday the name of the man shot Aug. 29 in the 3100 block of Artaban Place who died the next day at Sinai Hospital. He was Darnell Thomas, 23, of the 3900 block of Piedmont Ave.

Southwestern
Victim named // Police yesterday identified Kahlil Taylor, 23, of the 2700 block of Dunkirk Ave. as the man who was shot Aug. 30 in the 3000 block of Normount Court and died the next day at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Three other males who were shot during the same incident survived. There was no arrest.

Arrest // Tyron Stridiron, 26, of the 4100 block of Glenhunt Road, was arrested Tuesday in the 2600 block of W. Franklin St. on a warrant charging him with attempted murder. Stridiron is charged with shooting another man in the 4100 block of Mountwood Road on June 4.

Southeastern
Victim named // A man fatally shot in the 2000 block of E. Fairmount Ave. on Aug. 31 has been identified as Sean Blackwell, 20, of the 1500 block of E. Madison St. No arrest had been made.

Assault // Police were seeking a known male who fired several shots at two brothers standing in the 300 block of Loney's Lane about 9 p.m. Sunday. The incident was attributed to an attempted robbery of one of the brothers by the gunman several minutes earlier.

Assault // A man, 59, and his nephew were standing the rear yard of a house in the 100 block of E. Barney St. about 2:20 p.m. Sunday, arguing over who would perform a paint job there, when the nephew allegedly struck his uncle with a shovel. The victim was not seriously injured, and no arrest had been made.

...and then there's a whole other page of robberies, drugs and so on.

WTF? A foul-smelling (alleged) sex offender was discovered hiding in the closet of two Dundalk boys.

In AAC, police say they are questioning a 'person of interest' in the 1976 disappearance of 14-year-old Karen Beth Kamsch.

Life Plus 5 for Myron Gladney

Saying that violence involving young people has forced citizens in Baltimore to be confined to their homes and that it gives him no pleasure to sentence young people to long prison terms, Circuit Court Judge John C. Themelis today sentenced Myron Merrill Gladney, 21, to life in prison plus 20 concurrent years on a handgun charge and five consecutive years for witness intimidation. A Baltimore Jury convicted Gladney of attempted first-degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and witness intimidation on July 17, 2007. Says the SA's office:

Evidence introduced at trial proved that Gladney approached Stephen Arrington as he waited for a bus in the 3400 block of The Alameda on April 6, 2005 and told him not to come to court. Arrington was scheduled to testify against Gladney’s brother in a homicide trial the next day. Myron Gladney left the area then returned a few minutes later with a handgun and chased Arrington across The Alameda where he eventually shot him in the back.

Arrington eventually did testify in Anthony Gladney’s murder trial however Anthony Gladney was acquitted of murder by a city jury July 20, 2005. Arrington also testified in June and positively identified Myron Gladney as the man who shot him.

Homicide prosecutor and assistant state’s attorney Lisa Phelps prosecuted the case.

September 5

238 words about five victims: Davon Qualls, 17, was shot to death last night in the 2500 block of Garrett Ave. in Northeast Baltimore; two people who were found yesterday in a dwelling in the 6100 block of MacBeth Drive near Chinquapin Parkway in North Baltimore and their deaths are "suspicious," and a woman and a boy were shot in East Baltimore.
WJZ reports that the MacBeth Drive incident was in the 6000 block, and the victims were a grandmother and her neice.
"It seems the women had gun shout wounds to their body's."
UPDATE: "a Sun reporter" says the victims were named as Pauline Borum, 60, and her granddaughter, Jasmine Borum, 17.

We knew that the Tuxedo Park home-invader, Chaz Ricks, had a long-as-your-arm record, but that's just the tip of the incredibly fucked-up iceberg: Bykowicz reports that he also stomped his mother's face, terrorized his neighbor, stabbed his cousin in the eye and shot a nine-year-old.

The Northern District will get its third police chief in as many years; the well-liked Major Michael Pristoop is retiring from the city police department to take a job with the state.

The Murder Ink details intentional homicides from August 27-31.

Who knew? WYPR has a whole "Crime & Violence" department, where one can have various perspectives on the bad news delivered via rich and lilting oratory.

Update: the Notre Dame attempted-abduction story was a total lie, and the crazy bitch who phoned it in now faces gun charges. Says the head of security, "We found a student concocted the story to more or less create a cover story for some behavior that she was involved in earlier in that week involving the same gentleman."

SHOCKING! Says Philadelphia police Capt. Ben Naish of a new stat showing that 91 percent of Baltimore murder victims have criminal records, up from 74 percent 10 years ago.

Police say there's new information in the case of Karen Kamsch, who went missing in the 'Deaner in 1976.

September 4

Bang, bang. An officer responding to a domestic on North Wolfe St. shot and wounded a suspect last night, making the third officer-involved shooting in a week.

Following the Roland Park home invasion, police say Tuxedo Park will get "special attention." The second suspect is still at large.

The victim who put serial rapist Alphonso W. Hill in jail in 1983 imagines the stress his many victims went through before he was charged August 28: "Until a name and a face is attached to that person, anyone could be that person. It could be the person walking down the street, passing you on the sidewalk. Once you know who they are and once you know they have been charged and sentenced, the rape can have a different role in your life. You don't get over it. But you can move on."

Saturday night, someone at the College of Notre Dame called to report that a man had trespassed on campus and tried to abduct a student, triggering the school's first-ever text-message campus security alert.

"Sod it all, Bobby! Some bloody arsehole nicked four sport-riding-bikes from the gerridge whilst I was kipping!"

Like candidates in your earhole? WYPR has audio and links for just about everyone who's running for anything.

Burbs
Up in Bel Air, 6'7" 550-pound David P. Matarazzo threatened to kill his family with a rock and a folding chair, then died after police squirted him with pepper spray.

More on Edna Gorham Bey, right, felon and self-appointed Queen Doctor Sultana of the United States Moorish-American Nation.

The last episode of "The Wire" is in the can, and the soundstage will be turned into a Wegman's.

Four recent murder victims were id'd:
Aug. 28: Lacy Hazel, 44 (Payson St.)
Aug. 30: Darnell Thomas, 23 (Artaban Place.)
Aug. 30: Kahlil Taylor, 23 (Normount Ct.)
Aug. 31: Sean Blackwell, 20, (Fairmount St.)

Last week's goings-on at the federal courthouse:
The fake child-porn movie that's lured other pedophiles previously snared a 20-year military vet named Steve Miller.

Two months in jail for pro basketball player/ firearms fan Lonny Baxter for convincing his friend to send his other friend some guns via FedEx. Last August, Baxter was arrested by the Secret Service for firing off a .40 caliber Glock handgun into the air near the White House.

Edna Gorham-Bey, the self-proclaimed Sultana of the United States Moorish-American Nation, was found guilty of various counts related to forging postal money orders.

September 3

21-year-old Gary Watts was shot repeatedly and killed last night in a drive-by in the 1300 block of N. Rosedale St.

The Examiner offers up their month-end homicide recap, and Luke B. reports that our murder rate is "insane" (and our politicians are windbags).

Lots of bricks and guns in the Blotter:

A man, 44, and a woman, 30, were seated in the man's car parked in the 3100 block of Baker St. about 10 p.m. Saturday when someone threw a brick through the car's window that struck the man in the head. Police said when the woman got out of the car, she yelled out, "The money is in the console!" With that, the injured driver attempted to flee and was shot in the left arm. Police said the woman, who apparently set up the incident, joined several men and was being sought. The wounded driver ran to the 1300 block of N. Rosedale St., where police were investigating a fatal shooting [the murder of Gary Watts, above], and was taken by ambulance to Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Police are ISO 57-year-old Kenneth Beauchamp, left, for the Rosedale murder of Patrick Pearce III.

Interesting poll results: while crime is the biggest issue to Baltimoreans who respond to telephone polls, the majority say that in their neighborhoods, it's "not much of a problem at all."

Arthur Lee Edmondson Jr., the city "officer who shot and killed a man during a struggle for his service weapon on a Northwest Baltimore street early Thursday had previously shot four people, including one man fatally in 1994, according to department records."

September 2

A 16-year-old in McElderry Park crashed his bicycle as he was fleeing police, pointed a stolen Army gun at the cops, and got shot in the shoulder by undercover police.

Remember our collective outrage over the Dawsons? This is what it got us.

Criminologists who study Baltimore say apathy, alienation and cynicism have taken root. People have seen the criminal justice system fail to arrest and lock up criminals, allowing gangs to proliferate. They have seen politicians announce crime-fighting plans with great fanfare, only to have results fall short of the rhetoric.

At the same time, many of the positive forces of cohesion from the past have disappeared. Libraries have closed. Neighborhood associations have weakened. The number of recreation centers in the city has dropped from 145 in 1980 to 43 today. ... The violence considered routine in the city's most desperate neighborhoods is spreading to places once assumed to be safe.

Residents of Charles Village are assaulted and mugged on the street. A Roland Park woman is raped and robbed in her home. Near Patterson Park, a young man is beaten into a coma while walking home from Canton. ... After such well-publicized incidents of crime this summer... even people committed to the city are talking about getting out. They're disillusioned... after five police commissioners in eight years and no clear direction from the city when it comes to fighting crime.

"I think the entire city is under siege," [Warren] Brown said.

Rough stuff. And yet the status-quo Mayoral candidate leads the polls. Why?

This guy's quote about a new anti-panhandling bill ("It's a stress for me. I'm like, 'Do I have any spare change? If I don't, are they going to be upset?'") sounds a lot like The Onion article titled, "Man With Friend With Cancer 'Going Through A Rough Time'."

Yesterday, the Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Tevon Allen, 18, at left, of the 1200 block of Seminole Avenue for first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder and other charges. Court documents allege Tevon Allen is responsible for a shooting incident on July 30, 2007 in the 600 block of Winans Way. Jordan Taylor Brown, 21 was found suffering from a gunshot wound there, and is alleged Brown was riding in the front passenger seat of the vehicle, which was stopped at the intersection of Swan Avenue and Rokeby Road, Allen discharged the weapon as the vehicle turned eastbound on Rokeby Road striking Brown. Brown succumbed to his injuries the next day at Sinai Hospital. An arraignment is scheduled for September 24.

September 1

The decomposed body of Patrick Carroll Pearce III was found on Thursday night, four days after he was reported missing by his girlfriend. His body was buried beneath garbage in the 600 block of Todds Lane in Rosedale, and he'd been shot in the chest.

In other Rosedale murder news, the manager of the El-Rich motel on Rt. 40 in Rosedale found a body behind the motel. He was tending his garden yesterday evening when he found the body of what might -- or might not -- be a woman in the woods in the 1100 block of Batavia Farm Rd., about a mile from where Pearce's body was found. The death is being ruled suspicious. Police haven't linked the two bodies.

Our favorite news station offers the following about the two Rosedale murders:
1) A headline that informs us that a murdered man was found dead
2) The wonderful new word, "whuke"
3) An alternate spelling to the victim's name
4) The possibility that Pea(ie)rce was shot in the head rather than the chest

In Wicomico County, Muhammad Na'im Akram apparently had a change of heart and drove his wife to the hospital after taking her to a sand pit, binding her with duct tape, and beating her unconscious with a hammer.

Stephen Janis gives some history behind the quadruple shooting in West Baltimore on Thursday night. A longtime resident of the neighborhood said, "Something happens there every month. I lived here for 30 years. I don't want to leave, but it may be time."

A dumbfuck 16-year-old was arrested after he and two of his dumbfuck friends detonated a soda bottle bomb in a Quiznos in Severna Park.

Lots of car crime in the Blotter.

August 31

A man was shot to death last night in the 2000 block of E. Fairmount Ave. in Butcher's Hill, and a quadruple shooting in the 3000 block of Normount Ct. left one 22-year-old man dead.

A man who was shot on Wednesday night in the 3100 block of Artaban Pl. died yesterday. The man was found in the yard of a house a few blocks away from where Constitutional Defender and All Around Great Guy Warren Brown lives with his crime-fighting swimming pool.

A decomposed body was found in the Jones Falls near the 3000 block of Falls Rd. and Chestnut Ave. in Hampden. The death has been ruled suspicious. (Thanks, Burger.)

Police aren't really saying much about the investigation of Karen Kamsch, a Pasadena teenager who disappeared in the '70s, except to say that there's nothing in the well.

A woman crossing Harford Rd. in Parkville was hit by a silver Saturn that continued driving south towards the city. The car contained two women and a baby.

"In fact, until recently, (Cherry Hill) went several months without a single murder, something that hadn't happened in decades."

More Molotov cocktails, this time in Abingdon.

A guard at the Somerset County jail allegedly sexually assaulted five female inmates.

Former Army Lt. Col. and current pedophile Steve Miller got five years in prison.

DJ Nelly Nell got convicted for drugs and might get a 40-year gig in prison.

Oops! Dale Clark, Sheila D.'s former campaign chairman who earned half-a-million-big-ones working for the city without a contract, forgot to file his tax returns.

An ex-employee of Bowman's Restaurant and Pub in Carney pleaded guilty to robbing his former employer, who happened to be located directly next door to the Baltimore County Fraternal Order of Police lodge.

Note to criminals: be careful with your E-ZPass.

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.