Throw ya money in the ayar

Batimoreans go to York to rob bank, hilarity, arrests ensue

Bill would allow blackjack & other table games at MD's casinos

U of MD Violence Intervention Program in the NYT today

"Preppy burglar pleads guilty"

appropos of nothing: looks like Michael Steele's tenure as the leader of the RNC is coming to an end over.

Is Baltimore Fallujah...

According to a city police training program it is....

Book Learnin

John Paul Stevens reviews David Garland's Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition in the NY Review of Books (adding it to the liebary)

.. and Justice Thomas halts an execution?! Marking the first time since his confirmation hearings that the justice has ever said, done anything

Meanwhile, the police union is not at all happy about SRB's plan for an independent review of the Select Lounge fracas. Imagine how PO'd they'd be if the citizen review board was actually empowered & functional?

a 'prance, a flamboyant shimmy'

Yet another cancer-scam case in Baltimore County?! This time one Lisa Hoppenstein Cohen allegedly bilked former Raven Mike Flynn out of $10,000. Says Cohen, "nothing's been proven."

Police say U of MD student shot over pot, his parents don't believe it

Victims protest outside the Archdiocese of Baltimore, demanding more disclosure in the case of defrocked priest Laurence Brett

Woman recalls traffic stop by fake cop in drag: "he approached her vehicle in what can only be described as a 'prance, a flamboyant shimmy.' He was tall, lanky, wearing a fake-looking ginger bob-style wig, an oversize police hat and blue-pleated pants that 'poofed' at the hips." .. and WJZ has an awesome composite sketch

A lawsuit puts the State Center project on hold

Hefty! Hefty! Hefty woman wanted in connection with purse-snatching

A U-turn in Mr. Carl's wild ride: Judge Silkworth threw out his illegal double PBJ and is letting the defendant decide if he wants a whole new trial or just a new sentence.

Rare moves

Some unusual responses following the Select Lounge melee: SRB ordered plainclothes police to dress up and an independent review of the nightclub shooting. The police department has named the officers involved (Harry Dodge, 37; Harry Pawley, 40; Toyia Wiliams, 36; and Latora Craig, 30). WBAL also reports that Officer Torbit was struck with 20 bullets.

Last week's murders in the Ink, and the first victim of 2011 is named as David Jones, 21

Turns out the Glen Arm intruder, Robert "Scooby" Buss, had patronized the would-be 64-year-old victim's barber shop. Says WJZ commenter "essex," "He always said he would never go back to jail."

An attempted robbery by a guy who needed toilet paper on O'Donnell Street in the Baltimore Guide blotter. Not to be confused with the guy last week who actually stole toilet paper.

Holy shamola, that's a lot of kablingy! Last year the district of MD netted $60 million in penalties and seized assets.

Twelve years for coke-dealing felon Tavon Johnson

Who owns crime reports? Not the public, apparently.

Prettiest cop on the block?

Police Impersonator: BPD looking for a W/M, 40 years old, 5'8, dressed as a women (sic) w/ a black wig. Last seen driving a blue Oldsmobile Alero.

Enchantment of the Seize

Fox reports that cocaine and heroin were found again on Royal Caribbean's cruise ship at the port. More from the Sun

Two more murders

in CHuM and Harlem Park, no suspects, no motive

Teen Ronald Johnson arrested for murder of marine

A vigil for nightclub shooting victims, meanwhile Select Lounge has a lawyer, and he's got no comment

PG County has also had 10 homicides in 10 days

Legal farce* drags on

Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner has said he will not delay the capital murder trial of prison-guard killer Lee Stephens. A pre-trial appeal on evidence in that case is still waiting before the Court of Appeals, but five years after the crime Judge Hackner is tired of all the delays.

* note this does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the blog administrator

Worst. 48 hours. Ever.

Bealefeld says 41 shots were fired by police in the Select Lounge gun battle, and witnesses say the slain officer was shot by police as he lay on the ground.

And "Pistol" Pete Welch was sworn in after only three council members, James B, Kraft, Bill Henry and Mary Pat Clarke, voted against him.

.. so what story did WBAL lead off the 11 o'clock news with? A flashing wanker, of course!

Tweet, tweet with Pistol Pete

You can now "follow" parody Pistol Pete Welch on Twitter.

.. only three hours til we're officially stuck with this guy forever, if you're not thrilled about that write or call your city council rep!

Two more murders

Two men found shot dead in the laundry room of an apartment building in the 1700 block of Gwynns Falls Parkway

A suspiciously dead man in a car in the 1300 block of Bradford St

One of the brothers accused of setting fire to Phoenix the pit bull was arrested for attempted murder seven months after prosecutors dropped gun and drug charges

Relatives of the 22-year-old killed in the gun battle outside the Select Lounge say uniformed officers fired recklessly into the crowd

Phylicia Barnes is still missing, a prayer service was held and Nancy Grace put a little box on the bottom of her home page.

George Huguely to be arraigned on additional charges in Charlottesville today, by closed-circuit TV. Update: the Post reports the hearing was postponed

The NYT asks, "Is Law School a Losing Game?" (A: Yes. Yes it is.)

Page Croyder: "Bernstein should have picked his own spokesperson. He didn't need his wife to do it for him." Burn! .. for what it's worth, I do know Cheshire, I think he'll be committed to transparency and I don't see him caving into anybody. Though the SA being married to the mayor's liaison to the police is certainly a mighty cozy situation.

Gun-toting felon nominated

This is horrifying! On Friday, all but three city council members voted to nominate former gun-toting felon Pete Welch to his mom's old seat. The final vote is tonight, please take a few minutes to drop your city council rep a note letting him or her know what you think.

Two killed on N. Paca St., one on 33rd

Officer William H. Torbit Jr., 33, and 22-year-old Sean Gamble were killed and four others were shot in a melee outside of Select Nightclub at 415 N. Paca St.

A man was found shot almost-dead in a car on 33rd Street near Union Memorial, but was taken to Hopkins where he died.

29-year-old Marco Lomax and 28-year-old Ravanna Cornish were arrested after detectives saw them shoot an 18-year-old in the 2300 block of Harford Road.

Mighty strange details in the Glen Arm shooting: it sounds like the female homeowner fired at the alleged intruder and missed, then the guy retreated, drove his truck to the parking lot of Sanders' Corner Restaurant ("that dam place") and shot himself with an AK-47. (Reader comments [for what it's worth] identify the guy as "Scooby" and the woman as "lou the barbers wife" and his former employer)

Volunteers searched the ground for Phylicia Barnes yesterday; a prayer service is to be held at 6 p.m. tonight at Brown's Memorial Baptist Church, 3215 W. Belvedere Ave.

Also missing: the brother of Ravens safety Ed Reed, who jumped into the 40-degree waters of the Mississippi during a police chase.

Downtown shooting, police officer killed

multiple people shot and and some killed on Paca and Franklin streets downtown.

Party crasher, panty snatcher

Grab your junk, 2nd amendment fans: "A burglary suspect was shot by a homeowner in Parkville." Reports WBAL, the suspect dragged himself to his truck before expiring

Two men shot in city

Defrocked priest Laurence Brett, who taught at Calvert Hall & reportedly molested dozens of students, was found dead in Martinique. Said a victim, "He taught us a bunch of stuff that was way outside the box of Catholicism that I grew up with."

This just in: Nancy Grace is a big fat racist.

"Death penalty, gay marriage issues are back for Maryland lawmakers"

Crofton panty snatcher in custody

More on the barricade situation near UMBC yesterday

Pay cut for cops

Police officers not happy about a cut in pay deducted from their latest checks.

Avoid MLK & Howard

Word on the street is that area is also shut down as a suspicious package is under investigation at the Herbert O'Connor State office building at 201 W. Preston, though the building as not been evacuated. (update, the suspicious package was a box of laptop batteries)

4:28 p.m.: Fire trucks have also surrounded the Mitchell Courthouse and traffic is shut down on the west side of Calvert St. (update: the suspicious package was a box of toner cartridges)

4:45: Inside Charm City reports "Significant Police Activity on Linden Ave" as well (probably unrelated)-- update, a mere barricade situation

You can follow the Sun's story here

Mail bombs!

Two packages have exploded today in two state government buildings ... the Jeffrey Building on Francis Street in downtown Annapolis and another at the Maryland Department of Transportation building in Hanover.

... one shouldn't laugh

Karla Porter said she wanted her husband "hit," not killed

Have you seen these 20-something white guys, wanted for holding up the Wise pharmacy & a Subway?

Tough times: attempted theft of Irish Spring & stolen terlit paper in your local blotters

Bernstein tells WBAL he plans to set up databases to let the public follow cases

Retired Episcopal priest Donald Belcher indicted on child sex abuse charges