Media Blabber

Baltimore City Paper: They're Twittering fools on Calvert St

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Murder #132

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A man shot in the head shortly after midnight, "found on the ground next to the driver's side of a vehicle in the 500 block of E. Lynn Ave." and three other shootings last night

... did you hear the one about the lawyer negotiating the return of children from a murderous drug gang? When they heard what his fees were, the gang decided keeping the kids would be cheaper!
... some politic backpedaling from the Mayor after her "step up" zing to the feds.

A shooting near the mall in Columbia

"Cop killer to be freed"

"Unfounded" abduction?

Family says police refused to take report on teen's abduction

Dixon: Step Up, Feds!

Dixon: Federal investigators need to "step up" to fight the Blackwell/Old Chapel Hill Boys drug-family feud. Meanwhile, one of the victims of the Ashland Ave BBQ shootup was an Operation Safe Streets mediator.. will s/he "snitch"?
... You can "chat" "live" with reporter Justin Fenton at 2 p.m. today on the "Crime Beat"

Tewfer! Stolen minivans haul off stolen bikes

Christopher Hitchens - a man's home is his Constitutional castle; rights cannot be negotiated away over beer.

Need a job? "Prison consultants help inmates get good digs"

Parking problems

According to the city, 129 parking lots are facing criminal or civil penalties for not paying parking taxes, including one valet service in Little Italy that is facing criminal charges.

Indicted again!

Linskey: the grand jury's got five counts fa da Mayor's azz!
... the original 12 counts will be dismissed.

Helen Holton and octogenarian H&S bakery magnate/Harbor East developer John Paterakis were indicted yesterday

10 days in prison for officer accused of punching & choking his then-girlfriend

The Ink updates the names and numbers.

It's nice to be from the suburbs

Charges are dropped against a Calvert Hall student initally charged with assualting a Baltimore police officer during a car stop.

Police get $10 million from stimulus package

Drug Family Feud

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No arrests yet in the N. Lakewood/2600 E. Ashland Avenue Sunday BBQ bulletstorm, which the Sun reports was rooted in the feud between the Blackwell and Rich family drug organizations.

The two teens shot and killed at 200 N. Conkling St, Gary Martin and Darien Jones, apparently had no connection to the BBQ shootings and no criminal histories, reports JZ, though they were also reportedly on the way home from a cookout.

However, the shootings at Baltimore & Bond (and Comet?) apparently all DO have some link to the feud that dates back at least as far as the Blackwell brothers' kidnapping and the shootout at Unity United church last summer, and the Baltimore Spectator speculates that the the woman shot at the Club at 4217 Erdman and the killing of Jerrod Reed were connected also.
Some smart comments to a Sun blog post, "Second Opinion"

Interview with a former crack dealer part II

"Most of these white people, if they’ve been to some of the blocks I’ve been on they wouldn’t last a day. I dare them to live a day of my life -- I dare them"

Bealefeld: it's "Gangster War"

A Gus & Annie from 2008 on what was then five homicides related to the Blackwell kidnapping case.

FHBIII was on WBAL, says these are "not so much the Bloods and the Crips and Purple City Dip Set(?)" but "committed groups of drug dealing organizations" "bent on destroying each other" in a "gangster war" for control of the East side

Update on shootings

Two more victms makes it 19 people who were shot in six hours

War in the East

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.. claims 17or 16? in any case, a record-breaking number of shooting victims in three incidents in one night
a pregnant woman, a toddler and 10 others struck at a BBQ and two teenagers shot dead on Conkling St...

The Baltimore Spectator blogs that the BBQ was a memorial to 16-year-old murder victim Jerrod Reed, shot on the 16th, and that there may also be a connection to Saturday's murder of a woman at the Club House Lounge.

Sun UPDATE:

One of the victims at the cookout shooting was Steven Blackwell, 25, whose younger brothers were abducted last April in what police said was part of an escalating feud between rival drug organizations. Police sources at the time told The Baltimore Sun that the abductions may have set off a wave of as many as five retaliatory homicides over the course of three months last summer.

Sunday's cookout was to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the fatal shootings of Quinton Hogan, 23, who police believe was connected with the Blackwells, and Donell Rogers, 21. They were fatally shot July 25, 2008, shortly after Hogan appeared in District Court.

More from Hermann.

... also, the "stars have aligned" to bring federal Supermax to MD

Interview with a crack dealer

A veteran Baltimore crack dealer shares his veiws on crime, punishment, and the drug game.

128, 129

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Two separate murders within 10 minutes of each other: an unidentified Hispanic man found in the 5100 block of Foster Avenue, and a "woman was found inside of her car in the 4200-block of Erdman Avenue outside Club House Lounge"

A double shooting Saturday in Mt. Vernon

... have you seen this serial bank robber, suspected of hitting six different spots this month?

Hanover police arrest nut acting wacked out in the Arundel Mills Mall parking lot

A nonfatal stabbing before 3 a.m. at "Bonfire's" in Middle River

126, 127

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Sixteen-year-old Jerrod Reed was shot to death last Sunday (7/19/09) at Kenwood & Madison


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The man found in crashed car at 3605 Woodland yesterday had been shot in the side.

The Ink updates names and numbers, justified homicide removed from rolls

The SAO reports that today Judge John C. Themelis sentenced Darius Hester, 21, of the 6400 block of Rosemont Avenue to 50 years in prison for the attempted second degree murder and robbery of a Zorba’s Restaurant deliveryman. Details:

On May 29, 2009 a city jury found Hester guilty of attempted second degree murder, reckless endangerment, robbery with a dangerous weapon, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit 1st degree assault, and related handgun charges.

On July 20, 2007, at approximately 2:30 PM, police responded to the block of 3500 East Northern Parkway to investigate a shooting. Officers observed the victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the groin area. He was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital. Police investigation revealed that the victim worked for Zorbas Restaurant and was delivering a food order to the 3500 block of East Northern Pkwy. As the victim approached the apartment building he was met by two males. One of the males stood in front of the other and acted as if he would pay for the food order. The male in the back took out a handgun and demanded the victim’s money. The victim and the unarmed man struggled. The unarmed man struck the victim in the face, knocking him backwards. The unarmed male then grabbed the food and fled. The gunman then fired his weapon striking the victim in the groin area, knocking him to the ground. The gunman then stood over the victim and fired several more rounds at the victim’s head before fleeing on foot.

Detectives developed a suspect and placed him in a photographic array. The victim identified Darius Hester in the photographic array as the person who shot and robbed him.

Assistant State’s Attorney Michelle Wilson of the F.I.V.E. Division prosecuted this case.

Corey Johnson, the 17-year-old accused of trying to rob an off-duty officer at a bus stop, will be charged as an adult

"Transgender prostitutes find sisterhood in Old Goucher"

Court of Appeals awards $13 million to mom not offered c-section at Essex hospital

"Baltimore police say an off-duty officer shot one of three people who tried to rob him at a bus stop."

Trouble with tickets

Looks like the world traveling Baltimore pension board also has now ran afoul of city ethics laws for taking some free tickets to an O's game.