Thought to ponder...

From this week's NYker: there are more Americans in jail now than Stalin ever held in a gulag, more black men in jail than were slaves in 1850.

The sad, the bad and the stupid

Steven "J.R." Blackwell was sentenced to 20 years in the federal pen; his dad is already there.* Like Al Capone, twas the tax evasion that led to his undoing.

Thirteen years for "Big Man" Fauntleroy for selling the crack at the Gilmor homes.

And a decade in the federal pen for hairron dealing for Lamont Causion, 40 (no nickname given).

Oh, Baltimore Guide Police Blotter. "Someone broke into a parked car, stole the radio and set the car on fire." Also stolen: junk food and Ravens playoff tickets. In the Southeast, a woman "took exception" to being called a "dirty bitch," and a man stabbed at a bar left a blood trail.

The Supreme Court is backing privacy rights? It's true, police can't stick warrantless GPSes on car underparts any more.

Today in Annie McCann updates, Vaccaro's waitress says she served Annie McCann* a cappuccino and a cannoli, Anthony Guglielmi told Peter Hermann, then recanted, that the McCann's had a sketch of the waitress* generated with the help of a psychic. What a sad picture that is (left)-- the Sabrina Harman un-Duchenne.

To what do we owe last year's reduction in crime? One theory: Federal grants that helped the state & locals arrest violent offenders with outstanding warrants*.

Well there's an unexpected twist: a guy arrested for the 2000 murder of Heidi Bernadzikowski, 24, was *not* the one who took out a $700,000 life insurance policy* on her.

In Glen Burnie, a man was arrested after pulling a gun on a door-to-door salesman. Shoulda pulled a gun on that barber!

Animal-abuser registry: good idea?

The WaPo reveals that the Ehrlich campaign paid Paul E. Schurick's legal fees. And *irony alert*-- Ehrlich is set to write a column for the Sun.

Pervy corner: a priest with no pants, a Wicomico teacher accused of repeatedly boning a student in a classroom.

8

A man shot in the head in a barbershop on West Baltimore Street.

And one more added to last year's toll: a guy who set himself on fire, killing his mother.

Ten years for Kadeem R. Santiful, implicated in the Skateworks rape.

Have you seen..

This guy who exposed his sin bits then tried to rape a woman in Guilford Gateway Park? That's the face of a short African-American man, They say.

Now where did I put those?

Annie McCann's parents claims that OCME threw away her organs after her autopsy. The parents are also planning legal action against the state.

7

An unidentified man was found shot in the head and dead near a playground in the 4300 block of Cedar Garden Road.

The parents of Annie McCann, the 16-year-old Virginia girl mysteriously found dead in 2008 may have a "significant new investigative lead."*

A man and a woman were shot Tuesday in separate incidents.

Just two years for Gale Terera Roland, 53, who shook another woman's baby to death.

5 years in the Federal slammer for Kimberly McIntosh, a less then likely BGF leader. City Paper has more info on the single mom turned gang chieftain.

Third generation criminal Dion "Dummy" Fauntleroy Jr, age 28, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for leading the Gilmore Homes drug conspiracy.

In a nearly a months period the Baltimore County Regional Warrant Apprehension Task Force snagged up 382 wanted criminals.

Matthew L. Wood, 30, is in hot water after striking a state trooper with his car.

10 well earned years in Federal lockup for sex offender Windsor Warner Kessler III, 25. Interestingly enough, according to online court records it appears his namesake, Kessler Jr. or possibly even Kessler Sr. was a police officer for several years. I could be wrong, but I'm under the impression Windsor Kessler is not a common name.

Finally Baltimore career criminal Matthew Craighead, 28, has been exiled for the next 15 years after trying to shoot several people outside the Velvet Rope Night Club.

Dragged away

Life for three guérilleros noirs "Petey," "Snags" and "Jim Dog," implicated in the kidnapping, robbery, and murder of Qonta Waddell. You may remember this story, Waddell was kidnapped, kicking, screaming and hogtied, hanging on his mother's leg*.

Two shootings, on Gorsuch Avenue and Terra Firma Road, respectively

The CP's Ink recounts last week's murder of James Hunter.

Six Occupy Baltimore protestors were arrested on MLKJr. day (by State Troopers, oddly) in front of the juvenile jail, and most concerning, media were not allowed to watch and threatened with arrest. In other Occupy news, the Sun obtained emails of one-percenters grousing to city officials about having to see McKeldin Square from their office windows (and uploaded the emails to a document cloud).

And in case you missed it, after Jack Young criticized the Grand Prix, SRB revoked his Ravens skybox tickets*. (Re. the Grand Prix-- don't cities usually have insurance to prevent against loss from events like that?)

A couple of armed robberies in the Patch blotter of the Northern, and someone reportedly tried the door handle of SRB's car. Two years ago, someone broke into her husband's car and stole a satellite system. I hope the police also told him that irksome canard about how it's his own fault for having anything valuable in the car in the first place.

Got honey nut? Michael K. Williams (aka Omar) is appearing in a Marylanders for Marriage Equality ad. And a county lawmaker is trying to pass a gender-identity anti-discrimination bill. Opponents say the bill is just going to encourage sexual predators to cross-dress so they can use women's bathrooms.

Arc of Justice Long, Bending

Death penalty opponents are rallying in Annapolis today.

Occupy Baltimore is rallying at the proposed site of the new juvenile justice center.

CC president Jack wants to rein in spending on police training programs.

A Dundalk man got stabbed in the head when he tried to break up a catfight.

The roof of civil rights landmark Read's Drug Store has collapsed.

Ship employee (one site says a "pool boy") is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl on the Enchantment of the Seas.

The Sun's Yvonne Wenger revisits patricides past in a not-very-enlightening article. Wonder what Nicholas Browning looks like/is doing these days.

"Jews can get away with anything in this city"

A man was shot at the B-More Chicken and Seafood carryout

The man who got away after one Manuel Imel attacked police as they arrested him was re-arrested.

The family of the first man murdered this year, 62-year-old Bruce Royster, has asked for the public's help to solve his killing. Royster was an accountant.

The woman accused of having her estranged husband Lee Martin killed has entered an Alford plea*

The teenager who was accused of killing a teacher at Cheltenham pleaded guilty*

Yes, I'm sure you're probably sick of the Conaway chronicles. BUT... Meister reports that Belinda is still taking that tax credit on her Randallstown home. And check out the comment David Anthony Wiggins left on his blog.. oh my. "I stand behind my statement that Jews can get away with anything in this city. I also stand behind my statement that Frank should have popped your ass. ... Gregg Bernstein, a Jew, is violating the Civil Rights of the People to equal access to the courts and denying the Right of the People to appear before the Foreman of the Grand Jury, and he is being protected on a federal level by Rod Rosenstein, a Jew, in his criminality."

"If you wave at someone in Baltmore, they might shoot you"

Former city homicide detective Kelvin Sewell talks about the difference between policing in Baltimore and Pocomoke City in USA Today. He's also the author of Why Do We Kill?

Stop Shooting. Start Living.

SRB has a thing for attracting baffling slogans. First there was "only a punk would hurt a dog," which left you wondering which kind of punk... like a punk rocker, or an Ashton Kutcher target, or a pirate peg boy? Then there was "I was drunk. Was it my fault?" an anti-rape campaign that sounds like a pro-drunk-driving campaign. Now comes "STOP SHOOTING. START LIVING." which sounds an awful lot like a certain European Sony campaign. Can one not have a rich, satisfying life and a little shooting, too? But anyway, the point is, Operation Safe Streets is back, in which convicts are paid to broker peace and help connect at-risk youth with services. The initiative has been controversial in the past, because, well, the city is paying convicts, and results are hard to quantify. In 2009 a Safe Streets worker was wounded at a memorial BBQ while hanging out with the notorious Blackwell brothers, Bodie Barksdale's nephew was a Safe Streets outreach worker (for better or worse), and last year, SRB yanked funding for the program after suspicions surfaced of possible ties to the Black Guerrilla Family, though no one from Safe Streets was ever charged. But if you're an established 501(c)(3) interested in running your own Safe Streets program in your neighborhood, there's a $375,000 grant on offer. But therein lies the rub... if you're an established 501(c)(3), how would you know all those criminals?

Flying bullets, Yorkie

Two shootings in Cherry Hill*

A woman was shot through her patio door in the Harford-Echodale-Perring Parkway neighborhood

Trial scheduled to start today for Lee Edward Stephens, one of two prisoners charged with stabbing David McGuinn to death in 2006.

Lead investigator in the Mary Hare murder was arrested three years ago* for not following his sargeant's order, reports Fenton

The Ink has last week's five murders

Immigration lawyer David Agatstein pled guilty to helping immigrants commit marriage fraud

Occupiers succeed in saving woman from eviction, for now

Counterfeit bill passed at the Charles Village Pub

A drive-by purse snatching in the Northern

A mugging with a piece of wood, a machete attack, an engine block stolen out of a parked Chevy and threatening gestures with a spacke knife in the Baltimore Guide blotter

Indictments for "D", "Peaches" (real first name = Tyeast), William Alvin Darden and Keith Eugene Daughtry for a scheme to transfer almost $1.4 million out of the Baltimore Housing Authority's bank account.

A man went to jail in the county after he threw his pet yorkie off of his balcony

A century in jail for 28-year-old Jason Scott of Upper Marlboro, a former postal worker* linked to more than 50 burglaries, nine home-invasion robberies, carjacking, production of child pornography, gun theft, and gun-related charges. He's also charged with the killing of a mother and daughter in Largo. "He told investigators that he was inspired by the movie 'Bullet,' starring Mickey Rourke and Tupac Shakur."

Bernsteinorama

Bernstein speaks! Not one but two articles out today about his first year, one with TDR's Ben Mook (subscription required) and another from the Sun and Tricia Bishop*, who Page Croyder says misrepresented her words.

Evicted Occupy to Occupy Eviction

Less than a month after eviction from McKeldin Square, Occupy has moved on to a new thing, the group plans tomorrow to occupy a home at 1433 W. Lombard St where the resident is scheduled to be evicted. Property search shows the home was acquired by Deutsche Bank in August, in 2006 it was flipped by one Jui Fan-Lee Yang.

Twenty-one years in the slammer for a Mississippi truck driver who caused four crashes in MD while hopped up on "bath salts"

A reader/blogger has procured an org chart of the Baltimore FBI field office, if you are interested in that sort of thing.

3, 4, 5

The third homicide of the year occurred Friday when 27-year-old Doral Hinton was shot to death in the 2400 block of Ashland Ave. There were also plenty of non-fatal shootings as well.

Virginia resident Raymon Parrot, 35, was shot and killed in the 4100 block of Mariban Court while visiting relatives Sunday.

A 2006 beating turned into a 2011 death, which has now become 2012's 5th homicide.* Joseph Curtis, age 65 at the time of his death, is counted in this year's tally. His attackers have already been tried for the crime.

The Skateworks rape trial has ended in acquittal. Davon Perry, 26, was found not guilty on two counts of rape while deadlocking on sex offense charges, leaving the opportunity for a re-trial open.

The City PD and the ATF are working together to solve the heinous murder of 84-year-old Mary Hines.

A Maryland man is in hot water for trying to join a Somali terrorist group.

A Towson liquor-store robber got 10 years in the Federal pen. 27-year-old Edward Sample was exiled after pleading guilty to the 2009-2010 robbery spree.

Another Baltimore criminal was exiled for the next decade. Darryl Carter, 48, got his prison term after being caught holding a gun while riding a bike down Oliver Street.

And yet another ten-year term for another Baltimorean. James Bridgeforth, 38, was given the parole-free term after copping to bringing in heroin from India, Ghana and Peru.

Finally, 15 years at Club Fed for Roger "Tink" Ford. Ford was a major player in the Gilmor homes drug conspiracy.

Rapes, Robberies, and More Rapes. 2012 is Really Starting on a Low Note...

A serial rapist has been arrested for, surprise, surprise, rape. Nelson Bernard Clifford Jr. age 34, was arrested for a series of rapes, including one where he broke into a woman's house and raped her while her children were nearby. Clifford, a convicted sex offender, had been charged with sex offenses 3 times prior, as well as having been indicted for failure to register as a sex offender multiple times. Clifford beat his last rape charge back in September.

A possible robbery turned into a very definitive shooting in Glen Oak. A man was shot in the back Friday night at the 5700 block of Chinquapin Parkway.

Police are ISO a perv who raped a transgendered teen back in November. Though, with his face being plastered everywhere, it should only be a matter of time.

30 years in prison for the death of a County teen. Jason Gross, 37, was given the 30-year term for the murder of Rochelle Battle, despite the fact that her body has yet to be found.

Finally, several charges were thrown out in the last day of trial in the Skateworks rape case. Several charges were thrown out Friday, including first degree rape and assault charges. But after deliberating for several hours the jurors were not able to come to a decision.

I decided to take a trip to the Circuit Courthouse in Baltimore County Friday, to watch a few cases and just generally get a feel for how the county courts were handling cases. I bore witness to a bevy of cases, some interesting, some not so much. I managed to miss all the cases I had wanted to see, including the sentencing of Jason Gross, and the trial of Jeremiah Edwards, who was facing car theft charges, but more importantly was indicted for a Dundalk murder late last year.
I had completely forgotten that the Skateworks trial was going on, and sure enough, I walked into what I thought was a random jury trial, and instead found out to my surprise, that I had in fact walked into the closing statements of the Skateworks trial. I was both horrified, because I had up until then done a good job of burying my head in the sand about this case, and disappointed, because the state had done a very weak job of presenting their case against Davon Perry, 26. Although I had only been to the final portion of the trial, I got the sense that, had I been in the jury box some 10 feet away, my confidence in giving a conviction would have been sub-par a best.

But my trip to the courts wasn't entirely horrendous. I did catch the sentencing of Andrew Palmer, who if you may recall, was the man who made headlines for faking seizures at restaurants to avoid paying his tab. Palmer was on trial for... faking seizures! This time, at a local Applebees. Unfortunately for Palmer, his case was heard by the Honorable Judge Sherrie R. Bailey, who is by far my favorite judge now, after her non willingness to let repeat offenders walk. And golly, Andrew Palmer was a repeat offender, with, and I quote the prosecutor: "a 116 page criminal record" Palmer has been around. Around so much, in fact, that he was caught in the act due to the fact that a paramedic who responded to the scene recognized him from a prior fake seizure. The only line of defense Palmer offered before sentencing was the fact that he has been held since June on these charges, and last Friday he had supposedly "been nearly beaten to death by an inmate serving 127 years without parole." Of course, the great Judge Bailey wasn't interested in his sob story, and gave him the maximum, 18 months.

#2

Fenton Tweets: "Breaking: 84 y/o woman who died in fire yesterday morning had been first stabbed multiple times, autopsy finds..."
WTF?! Story here*

And WBAL has pictures of Jerome/Bootsy and friend, the Bolton Hill kidnapping home invaders. Guglielmi says it took police so long to release pictures because of the holiday weekend.

'They brought a toilet and a megaphone'

Adam Meister takes to his blog now that "this part of the saga is over." ... check out this clip he found from the Afro-American, June 1972: Frank Conaway charged after hitting his wife and putting her in the hospital! On one hand, neither I nor Adam had been born when this went down. On the other, I get the sense it was not so easy to get charged with wife-beatery 40 years ago.

Abduction on Jordan Street

A Bolton Hill man was abducted on Jordan Street, taken on a tour of ATM machines and then left in some bushes on North Avenue*, minus his wallet, iPad, cellphone, gym bag and grey 2011 Infiniti SUV.

Remember the Walmart bleach attack? Now the alleged victim in that case, Ebony Odom, has been indicted for reckless endangerment and second-degree assault.

Murders may be down in the city, but they're up in the county

Lots of car-related crimes and a robbery at King Wok in the North Baltimore Patch blotter. In the Northern District, a 30 percent increase in shootings and a 22 percent increase in commercial robberies in '11, say police.

Kooky video of the day: Adam Meister stroking his cat and Frank Conaway jumping out of bushes in WBAL's report about the conclusion of the latest installment of Days of Our Conaways.

Seriously?! Down in DC, 75-year-old Marion Barry is running for re-election.

Who'll pay for it?

The Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled that indigent defendants are entitled to public defenders at all court proceedings including initial bail hearings*. Public Defenders say they don't have the resources to do it.