Friday, December 28, 2007

December 28

A Towson couple was arrested after their 3-year-old, 14-pound son died. According to the boy's parents, he had the flu and a Christmas tree fell on him.

The body of a man in his 20s was found in a rarely used alley in Pikesville, and authorities aren't sure who he is or how he got there.

A few victim IDs in the Blotter: William Harper was the guy who was killed on Christmas Eve on Reisterstown Rd., and Kevin Bacon was the man who was killed on Wednesday on N. Dallas St. Police are still looking for info about the man who was killed on 12/20 on S. Paca St. in Mt. Winans.

Today's Blotter is chock full of good times, Baltimore style. Did you know that we have a T&A Mart, and it's not on the Block?

Also in the Blotter, a man was stabbed in the neck at a bus stop on North Ave. Everybody together now: "M - T - A. Reliable and Safe. M - T - A. Reliable and Safe."

Speaking of reliable and safe, apparently it's those meddling kids who are causing all the problems on the buses.

A city resident is behind bars in HoCo after allegedly being too much of a wuss to move on after his girlfriend dumped his ass for another guy.

No bail for David Winters.

If I'm understanding the poorly worded article correctly, a home invasion in Cumberland left a victim and an assailant wounded.

Alleged sexual offender Ronald Lee Moore was caught breaking into a house in Louisiana. He was accidentally released from the Baltimore City Correctional Center last month.

Today's helpful hint for stupid gun owners: don't stash your gun beneath the cushions of your couch if you have a 5-year-old kid.

Okay, do we really expect a guy who can spend weeks sitting on top of a bar to be financially responsible?

Ahhhhh... we'll be seeing much more of this as the mortgage mess continues to unfold.
I'll be on 105.7 with Luke Broadwater at noon-- tune in!

Thursday, December 27, 2007

December 27

A man was fatally shot yesterday in the 1700 block of N. Dallas St. (Copy editors at the Sun are apparently on vacation this week: "where he was died during surgery...")

Jason Milton Allen was ID'd as the man who was fatally shot in the 2300 block of Druid Hill Ave. on Friday night.

In MoCo, recent Marine recruit David Winters claimed a bunch of scary men attacked him and his father. Police didn't buy the story, and charged Winters with killing his dad.

Five non-fatal (so far) city shootings were reported in this morning's Sun, including a 24-year-old woman who was driving with her family on Orleans St. by Hopkins early on Christmas morning, and a 19-year-old man who was carrying a pistol and some crack when he got a bullet lodged in his skull and flipped his car. Sucks to be him.

A delivery driver was shot and robbed in Glen Burnie last night.

A 55-year-old inmate at Jessup was stabbed and taken to Shock Trauma. No word yet on whether or not he was able to escape from the hospital.

If you live in an upstairs apartment, it's probably best if you don't shoot randomly through your floor.

Rodney wishes he'd stopped bitchin'.

Project EXILE charged 18 people with federal gun offenses in December, including Rodney's poor, victimized friend Akiba.

One of Sheila D.'s minions said yesterday's bus shooting was unacceptable, because "we need for (public transit) to be reliable and safe." Huh. Obviously these people don't ride the bus.

Oh, hey... look at that. A 17-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother were robbed at gunpoint while waiting for an MTA bus. Reliable and safe, my ass.

The zoo is safe, as long as you don't take the bus to get there.

Beware of phony cops who call and ask for credit card info on your customers.

Okay, somebody has to know what happened on Christmas night on the corner of S. Broadway and E. Pratt. We Baltimore Crimers slave over hot computers day and night for you, so the least you could do is fill in a missing gap here and there. Or don't. We don't really care anyway. Whatever. (Uh-oh. All the passive-aggressive family holiday fun is spilling over.)

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

December 26

One of the three Christmas Eve shooting victims mentioned on Tuesday succumbed to his injuries, and another fatal Christmas Eve shooting was reported.

This morning, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the leg on the No. 15 bus in West Baltimore.

Hey Kevin... generally speaking, we shouldn't stab our friends.

The Greater Baltimore Committee has statistics that prove Baltimore's a pretty great place to live.

It's got nothing to do with crime, but 16 cats died in a Cockeysville fire, and a 300-pound man and his dog died in a fire in the Southwestern.

Something went down around 11:00 last night at the corner of S. Broadway and E. Pratt. Does anybody know what happened?

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Weekend

Friday night, a man was found shot to death at the intersection of North and Druid Hill avenues.

Baltimorean judicial suckitude has pissed off the Beantown PD!:
Boston police officer Lt. David Murphy allegedly punched his girlfriend off a Baltimore barstool and fled from cops, but because "the Baltimore judgment amounted to a dismissal of legal charges," the Boston police Commissioner says his department has no choice but to let Murphy return to work-- gun, badge and all.

Police are looking for a suspect in a fatal shooting in Edgewood.

What's new in "Stop Snitching 2"? Marketing savvy, and one Kenneth Morris, who "serves as a Virgil to the Dantes lost in Baltimore's Inferno."

An officer was accidentally shot by a bullet meant for a dog.

Friday, December 21, 2007

December 21

Four nonfatal shootings and a stabbing the Blotter.

There was a fourth arrest in the Glen Stewart murder.

Edward Williams got 85 years for robbing an off-duty police officer and her then-5-year-old daughter at gunpoint in January.

University of MD law students helped get some indigent non-violent detainees released.

Rilly? GBC says that the city is growing in "prestige, population."

WYPR continues coverage of ex-offenders re-entering society

QTD: "The thing that always amazes me is what people think that we do and what we're capable of. They think that we're some place between a super hero and the Pope with a law degree." -- Maynard Edwards re. the Ed Norris show. ("we"?)

Good news! If you've turned 17 since November 4 of this year, you can now register to vote, and vote in your party's primary! Just download the forms and mail them in.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

December 20

A man was shot to death in the 2600 block of S. Paca Street this morning. Sentementes reports that this is official murder #277.

Lezli Williams, 22, was strangled to death Tuesday afternoon in her apartment, and police are seeking a suspect.

"A man who refused to surrender to police for several hours after a domestic situation yesterday afternoon in an apartment in the 2700 block of Greenmount Ave. in the Barclay community was taken into custody and faces domestic assault charges."
And "A man was shot in the chest about 8:30 p.m. yesterday in the 900 block of Pennsylvania Ave."
Plus lots of robbery in the Blotter.

The girl stabbed on the #51 bus reportedly participated in the brawling.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Indictment for the Murder of Carl Eugene Barnes

The Grand Jury today indicted Brandon Holland, 25, of the 3800 block of Delverne Road for first-degree murder and handgun charges. Court documents allege on August 1, 2007, Brandon Hall was identified as the person responsible for a shooting Barnes several times in the unit block of 2400 block of Westwood Avenue.

It's Stop Snitching 2!

Just in time for Christmas! Says the DVD's site, Stop Snitching 2
The highly controversial “Stop Snitching” DVD gained national attention and multimedia coverage raising the bar for what is considered real in urban America. Fearing their message was too powerful Baltimore City and Maryland State officials attempted to pass legislation to prevent the filmmakers from producing a sequel but to no avail Producer Rodney Bethea and Host Skinny Suge bring you “Stop Snitching” Part 2 and continue to show the reality of hard times on hard streets.

Learn the truth behind the rumors of the first “Stop Snitching” DVD. Find out the real story behind who was arrested and why? The role the media played spreading lies and what they didn’t want you to know!
... and local media and the mayor are giving them plenty of free press!
UPDATE: More from the Sun.
QTD: "Jessamy said she is a bit flattered by the mention of her name in the sequel, attached as it is to some salty language."
Hope this one has subtitles knowhatimsayin?

December 19

Our 275th official murder was three-year-old Jabari Stocks, who died of a head injury.

Your tax $$ at work:Ronald Lee Moore
A portly and violent rapist, Ronald Lee Moore, was accidentally released from an AAC jail. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Tracy Morgan at 410-222-3466 or 410-222-8610.

Nine plaintiffs have joined the ACLU's illegal-arrest-practices lawsuit against the BPD.

"Maryland paid welfare benefits to about 52,000 residents who in 2006 did not provide Social Security numbers or used invalid ones, according to a state audit of the Family Investment Administration." That's about 17% of total welfare cases.
(Did you know? The Washington Times is owned by Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church!)

A police officer got glass in his eye responding to a domestic call on Sunday; a 49-year-old woman stabbed a man in his home; a chainsaw, methadone, Greek god statue and half a bottle of rum purloined in the Blotter.

The machete-wielding man shot by police in Catonsville was awaiting trial on charges of making his foster children watch pornography.

Police arrested some big-deal jewel thieves in Timonium.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Three Bus Attacks in Three Weeks!

A teenage girl was stabbed in the arm today on the #51 bus near Mondawmin! Have city buses always been rolling hellholes, or are we in the throes of some widespread teenager freakout?

Remember Kenneth Barnes, whose visit to a Falls Road snowball stand got him arrested and triggered a panic a la "Little Children"? Now the victim of the original case says she lied. His mother is asking the public to call the governor to ask for his release for Christmas.

The Ink reports on the murders of Artavious Tubman, Richard Lawson and Jamal Rowlett.

The CP, and excellent reporter Van Smith, are being sued for $12 million by Nicholas Piscatelli, who claims that the paper accused him in two stories in 2006 of murdering Jason Convertino and Sean Wisniewski or arranging their murders.

25 Years for Murder and Robbery of Jose Mendoza

From the SA's office:
At arraignment today, William Salmeron, 21, of Owings Mills, Maryland pled guilty to second degree murder, attempted robbery deadly weapon and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. Judge Lynn K. Stewart sentenced Salmeron to 25 years in prison for the murder count and a concurrent 20 years for the robbery and five years for the handgun counts.

On January 16, 2006, Salmeron was among a group of people who entered a restaurant in the 400 block of S. Newkirk Street announcing a robbery. Salmeron, who admitted to police to belonging to the gang MS-13, told the court today that he and the others were riding around and needed money. He and the unknown assailants with a shotgun attempted to rob the establishment when the owner, Jose Mendoza, 42, grabbed the weapon. A struggled ensued and one of the assailants shot Mendoza in the head. He died at Johns Hopkins Hospital the same day.

Salmeron is already serving a 26-year prison sentence handed down for a murder in North Carolina and is facing murder charges for a pending case in Baltimore County.

Assistant State’s Attorney and Homicide Division Chief Mark Cohen prosecuted this case.

Lawyers: Teens Demeaned

Unshockingly, lawyers for two of the alleged teen-boy bus-beaters held a press conference to say that their clients are innocent and were misidentified.
UPDATE: you can watch the press conference on the Sun's web site. Yawn.

Boy vey! The Sun reports that Israel Shapiro (not to be confused with rabbi Ephraim F. Shapiro, or "Dateline" rabbi David Kaye), a former bar mitzvah lessons teacher in Baltimore's Orthodox Jewish community, was charged yesterday with sex offenses that allegedly occurred nearly two decades ago against a then-12-year-old boy and his brother.

December 18

Lance H. Walker and Nadirah V. Moreno were arrested for the murder of Marlon Beckford (#256). Fox reported that Walker has a gigantamic rap sheet and was supposed to have been serving 50 years for his various crimes.

In better news, "Operation Safe Holiday" has led to the nabbing of 141 criminals.

More details on the arrests for the murder of Glen Stewart.

Lay the smack down, Baltimore: The Sun reports on "Bupe" in depth.
... and the wine glass too. Lawyer Bruce Robinson doesn't buy that there are no DUI quotas. (BTW, did you know that field sobriety tests are optional?)

"The Court of Appeals clarified the process for terminating parental rights ... The high court held that because a presumption exists that it is in a child’s best interest to remain with a parent, courts must expressly find that a parent is unfit or that other exceptional circumstances exist before parental rights can be terminated."

The bus-beating story has gone national, hitting MSNBC as well as far-flung CBS affiliates.

Remember this guy? HoCo's Jack Schroeder will spend a month in jail for feeding his neighbor's yappy dog chicken bones and antifreeze.
Fun fact: only 25% of BCrime readers think Schroeder was in the wrong.

Monday, December 17, 2007

December 17

Two murders this weekend: Friday, Richard Lawson, 24, was found shot to death at his home in the 2900 block of Chelsea Terrace. On Saturday, Jamal Rowlett, 20, was shot after leaving Club Choices on Charles Street. In March 2006, pregnant Ashley Harris was shot to death outside of the same club.

Arrests in the death of 17-year-old Glen Michael Stewart, who was shot and his body burned in a county park. Police identified the men charged as Joseph William Payne, 24, arrested Friday; Jason Michael Bond, 23, arrested Saturday; and Desmond Hideji Willis Jones, 19, also arrested Saturday.

Five years for rim-thief shooter Charles Brockington.

An armed robbery this morning at the Stop Shop & Save in the 2700 block of W. Cold Spring Lane.

Messenger crime log: A home invasion in the 2700 block of Calvert street, a robber using a brick as a weapon, gifts stolen and a hamburgling in Park Heights.

Blotter: "A man, 55, was walking in the 700 block of Cumberland St. about 3 a.m. Thursday when a gunman forced him into an alley and robbed him of $100, a silver watch and a cell phone. Before the gunman escaped into a car driven by a second man, he ordered the victim to disrobe." ... and plenty more burglary and robbery. It's the most wonderful time of the year!
Bmore living handy tip: don't leave the house or answer the door until after Christmas.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

This is Why I'm Shot

The stepfather of Coby Brown, shot by police after he robbed a Burger King in Fells Point and pointed a gun at an officer, apologized to police and citizens for raising a thief who put an officer's life at risk. Syke.

In the county, police shot a man who pepper sprayed an officer and brandished a machete.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

If you are easily annoyed...

...don't read today's post!

Stats: only 16 percent of murder cases ever go to a jury, and in 2006, 27.8 percent of cases ended in the state declining to prosecute or an acquittal.
Wonder how that compares to other jurisdictions?

In what may well be the worst-written and most annoying op-ed piece of the year-- Olesker columns included-- the Sun's "Back of the Bus" compares rowdy students to victims of Jim-Crow segregation laws.

Mayor Dixon uses her crystal ball to probe the #64-bus attackers' souls, and reassures citizens that the beating was not racially motivated, in spite of the victims' reports that the attack was unprovoked, they weren't robbed, and "the whole time of the beating, it was white this and white that."
Meanwhile, five days after the attack the Sun's finally gotten around to covering the incident with 220 words and a nonexistent address. There are two new pictures though, a sixth guy and a second shot of the fifth guy:
Suspect #4?bus suspect #6

Some Southside/ New Era students feel that police used excessive force to quell Thursday's riot.

County police: "There’s no indication there’s organized gang activity in Towson." (The "county's crown jewel"?)

Gregory Kane on the Randallstown shooting verdict.

"The bandits struck three times in Carroll County ... 'It surprised me they'd do it around here in Carroll County---bust into a store,' said customer Robert Triplett, 'It don't make no sense.' But Maryland State Police say it made plenty of dollars and 'cents' for a trio of men who share the same last name from the same family."

Friday, December 14, 2007

December 14

A man was shot in the back last night in the 500 block of North Bouldin Street, condition unknown.

A city jury yesterday convicted Raymond Handy of first-degree murder in the drug-related killing of Mark C. Jones in May 2005.

Concerned that rogue bail bondsmen are making a “mockery” of the bail bond system, Mrs. Jessamy is asking the state for new laws to regulate the industry.

CJCC: Let's free the junkies

Lawsuit: Aurora Organic Dairy = a sham

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Pics of Bus Beating Suspects; Sweet 16 Guilty Verdict

Bus beating suspect #1Bus beating suspect #2Bus beating suspect #3Bus beating suspect #4Bus beating suspect #5

The MTA has released photos of five #64 bus-attackers-- four long days after the assault. If you see any of them, call the MTA police at 410-454-7720 so that they may respond with sluggish apathy. On second thought, call WBAL first.

Jamal Charles, 17, and Dwayne Drake, 18, were both found guilty of second-degree murder in the "Sweet 16" killing of Bryant C. Jones.

Soon after the CP revealed abuse and neglect allegations lurking in the past of the new director of Maryland's juvenile detention facilities, Chris "the Colonel" Perkins has resigned from the position.

Police arrested Kweisi Battle, 24, Maurice Barfield, 28, and 15-year-old Kevin Reverley for three unrelated shootings in the city.

Seven students were arrested for brawling on a football field after someone called in a fake bomb scare.