Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Policing the police

The city's Civilian Review Board investigated but didn't want to talk about a whole bunch of complaints against city officers.

Murder Arrests, Identifications...

32-year-old Steven Pennington has been Id'd as the man shot to death at the intersection of Moreland Ave. and Presbury St. on Nov. 14.

This week's Murder Ink gives more details of the robbery-murder of 25-year-old Tavon Toney, allegedly committed by Jerome Burgess Jr, 19.

The Sun has updates on another murder arrest alongside that of Jerome Burgess Jr. Arrested for the murder of Lakeisha Player was Darnell Kinlaw Jr., 21. *

If the name Darnell Kinlaw sounds familiar, it might be because of his peculiar involvement in the Annie McCann case. McCann, if you don't remember, was a 16-year-old girl who ran away from her Virgina home, only to end up dead in a trash can in Southeast Baltimore. Kinlaw's involvement in the case only revolved around his having been charged with stealing her car. Those charges were later dropped, much to the chagrin of McCann's parents.

One has to wonder if a man already accused of a murder of one woman might have had a larger-than-thought-of role in the death of Annie McCann. That is, of course, all speculation. What isn't speculation is the fact that Darnell Kinlaw was in no way supposed to be free at the time of the alleged murder of Player. He had been sentenced to 3 years and 4 years, respectively, in two different cases in January of 2011. Even with prior time served and parole after having served half of his sentence, there is still no reason why he would be released any earlier than early-to-mid 2012. A shame all around.

Finally, a gas leak turned up a lot more than the broken gas valve: instead a grow-op was found in this McElderry St. row-home.

Three escapes, a scapegoat and a zebra

Good grief, $107k to settle two more police-misconduct lawsuits, reports the Brew. Has Bealefeld decided that lawsuits are cheaper than training?

Fenton writes about the changes to the crack-sentencing law that will eventually allow for the release of about 50 Maryland inmates*

Police say a lady carjacker (and MS-13 member) may be in the area; keep your eyes peeled for one Stephanie Lynn Schwab. She's a mom of two, and has a neck tattoo and a potato chin.

Also keep an eye out for Cornelius Moore, who police say escaped home detention. Also Nathan Cockrel, who was accidentally released from Central Booking. Oopsies!

A Poly student is in caliente agua after allegedly bringing a gun to school*

One duplicate conspiracy charge was thrown out today against Paul Schurick in the robocall case, but by the end of the day both the defense and prosecution agree that he approved the calls.

Oh, look, the lawyer repping Frank Conaway Sr., J. Wyndal Gordon, is also defending Tiffany Alston (D- PGC) against allegations of campaign-finance violations (specifically, using campaign $$ to finance her wedding) ... and guess which group Gordon is scapegoating for her charges?

... and who knew that while the circus was in town in 2008, two zebras escaped?

* Sun link

Monday, November 28, 2011

"things happen differently"

... so what did I miss, Baltimore?
It looks like police arrested one Alvin Ray Wright Sr.*, 48, for the rape of a 13-year-old girl in an abandoned rowhouse on N. Caroline Street in October. He doesn't have a record of prior sex offenses, just drug and car-theft charges, but DNA evidence implicated his evil ass after his sample was given high priority in the testing queue.

A woman robbed with a toy gun in Roland Park and a shootout in the 5400 block of York Road in the North Baltimore Patch Blotter

The Conaway/Meister drama continues, and here's a nugget that will make you crap a book on how to puke: Conaway's lawyer J. Wyndal Gordon says Conaway is being investigated because both Meister and Bernstein are Jewish*: "When you have a situation where you have a Jewish victim and an African-American male, you have things happen differently than if it happened to be a regular case ... perhaps because of their commonality in their religion."

Ehrlich aides' robocall trial kicks off today. Hilariously, the wife of the judge in the case got one of the calls, but Judge Lawrence Fletcher Hill says that won't affect his judgment.

Bernstein has hired a young hotshot to do some prosecutin' up in the state's attorney's office*, heading up a division that is "new" and "major." His notable achievements so far include attending basketball games, making a baby, and encouraging prosecutors to paint their offices (with coveralls over their suits, one hopes).

WTF?! County man committed suicide by setting himself on fire in front of cops

ps. this is weird, the Sun reported yesterday* that James L. Owens is suing the city of Baltimore for $15 million ... but the suit was filed (and widely reported) on October 12. A worthwhile story to be sure, but why write about it now?

* Sun link ... I'll try to warn you from here on out so you can save your monthly clicks!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Scrappy city workers

Brazen DPW workers discuss ripping of the city with the cameras rolling

The Turkey's Not the Only One Getting Stabbed

A thanksgiving stabbing in Milford Mill. A 51-year-old man spotted a very intoxicated man, identified as Gilberto Mendez, 24, in the middle of the street. While trying to get him him out of the street Mendez took it upon himself to break a bottle and stab the 51-year-old. What a wonderful time of year.

Police have id'd the knife wielding man shot to death by police as 52-year-old Anthony Stoakley.

Dundalk resident Mason Smith, 19, is in a whole lot of trouble after striking a cop with his car while fleeing arrest.

Baltimore County Police have come to the conclusion that the person who killed Russian woman Yulia Pogrebenko was her federal-prisoner son

A missing person in Hunt Valley may be the same woman pulled from a burning car.

Finally, over in Aruba, a judge has decreed that 50-year-old Gary Giordano is to be released from custody.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

27 Shotings = 20 Years

The case against notorious drug kingpin Stephen Blackwell has come to a somewhat anti-climactic ending when Blackwell (Pictured right in the first picture I've ever seen of him) pled guilty to heroin conspiracy charges as well as a variety of other non-violent crimes.

While Blackwell was never charged with any of the violence that threw him into the spotlight, he was believed to have been at the head of an organization that engaged in a violent war, resulting in the shootings of 27 people. All of the violence started with the April 2008 abduction of brothers Stephon and Sterling Blackwell. Interestingly enough, young Stephon is already following in his older brothers footsteps, with an early 2012 trial for drug dealing and a conviction for prescription drug fraud already on his record.

This abduction set off a war between the Stephen Blackwell organization and the Terrell Allen group. Allen, 38, is also serving a federal prison sentence for possession of ammunition. No end-all prison fight between the two drug leaders will likely occur due to Terrell Allen likely being released in January.

Throughout this long ordeal there were many shootings and several notable homicides including: Omar Spriggs; one of the men responsible for the abduction of the Blackwell brothers, Tony Allen; who was Terrell Allen's dad and was shot alongside his son and Spriggs, as well as Quinton Hogan and Donell Rogers. Also killed were Troy Wilson and Demarco Brown Jr; the two men believed to be responsible for the Hogan & Rogers murder, Anthony Izzard, and kidnapping/murder victim Eric Pendergrass Jr.
Thanks to Justin Fenton and the Baltimore Sun as well as City Paper for all the information found here.

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The news keeps coming in the Adam Meister-Frank Conaway yard scuffle case. Now an outside prosecutor is going to be handling the case. This is a pretty good move, since an unbiased prosecution is nearly impossible to get with this case.

A city police officer fatally shot an man armed with two knives at the 3300 block of Edmonson Ave.

50 Years in prison for Michael Hunter, 20, for shooting 72-year-old security guard Charles Bowman in the often-dangerous Yau Brothers Chinese take-out restaurant.

A Windsor Mill teen is in serious condition after being shot by two unknown males while walking to a 7-11.

Occupy Baltimore protestors are giving it another shot to obtain a park permit.

54-year-old Russia teacher Yulia Pogrebenko, who was found dead in the Chesapeake Bay after having gone missing during a trip to Maryland has been officially deemed a homicide victim. No charges have been filed as of yet.

Baltimore County police are citing pedestrian error for the death of 74-year-old William Norton, Jr.

Finally, a Dundalk couple are in the hospital after both somehow getting doused in flammable liquid before catching on fire.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

183

As-of-yet-unidentified man shot in the head at the 900 block of Franklin St.

This weeks' murder ink notes several homicide arrests as well as two cases closed by exception; the death of Earl Brown, who was shot in 1999, and the murder of 1-year-old Davon Booth Jr.

Still no info on the body found in the World Trade Center Monday morning.

The story of how a traffic stop in Louisiana led to a drug arrest in Baltimore.

An apparent arrest in a triple stabbing in White Marsh, though the suspect wasn't id'd.

Flash mobs strike again in Montgomery County.

Glen Burnie murder suspect Cornelius Keith Johnson, 24, inadvertently turns himself in.

Finally, 12 years in federal prison for now thrice-convicted Baltimore drug dealer Stephen Johnson, 31.

So... apparently they didn't kick out the wall street protestors?

Clerk, clerk thyself

Oh, too funny. The MD state police report that the handgun Frank Conaway, Sr. may or may not have "brandished" while he was or wasn't chasing Adam Meister has an expired permit. If it's true that Conaway left his property with the gun, he could be facing a month in jail. Oh, my. Conaway is the Clerk of the Court, so his job is to file and maintain the court's records and legal documents. Yet he groused to Justin Fenton, "I was never notified. I think there's an obligation on the part of the state police to notify." ... uh, really? If anyone knows that kind of information shouldn't it be the Clerk of the Court?!
... here's a WBAL interviews with "strong young guy" Adam and "I could have taken care of him otherwise" Frank.

.. and why is no one asking (or telling) exactly what Adam said to Frank?

Monday, November 21, 2011

Tonight's the night

... Occupy Baltimore gets evacuated, camper-protestors believe.

In other news, Adam Meister claims doddering Clerk of the Court Frank Conaway, Senior, took a swing at him today, after Meister ran into him and asked him why he wasn't at work at 10:30 a.m on a Monday and other harsh words were exchanged. LMFAO! One (rather far-fetched) version of the story has Meister pounding on the door and delivering a karate chop. In the police version Conaway brandished a firearm, but Meister claims he didn't.

And the case of the fetal-alocohol-syndrome-lookin brothers accused of burning Phoenix the pit bull was postponed for the 4th time.

And octogenarian Margaret Hepburn has gone missing, please call 911 if you see her.

Broken Legal Education

One thing law school fails at teaching is how to be a lawyer.

Rear and Present Danger

A triple stabbing in the parking lot of the Sunset Beach Bar and Grill at Pulaski Highway and Allender Road in White Marsh

Whups! PG County accidentally released an alleged murderer, one Frederick Scott (left).

Bad PR move, SRB: a group of students from eight local colleges who'd planned to sleep in front of Baltimore City Hall to commemorate National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week on Saturday night were told to disperse by Baltimore City Police and threatened with arrest.

Oh noes! Kimberly Smedley, accused of using a room at the
Renaissance hotel to give a stripper from the Block
illegal, ass-plumping silicone injections, was arrested in D.C. The dancer wound up in the hospital with silicone in her lungs, victims in other states were left with deformed buttocks ( NY Post headline: "Rear and Present Danger").

Baltimorean Terry L. Wilson goes to Indiana, robs convenience store, gets shot, dies. Assuming it's the same 20-year-old Terry L. Wilson in the Judiciary Case search, in 2007 he was charged with attempted murder and the case was remanded to juvenile court. In November of 2009 Wilson was again charged with attempted murder, in 2010 he was convicted and sent to jail.

A Baltimorean who brought cocaine to vend in Altoona, PA, Rodney "Rocco" Williams, is in custody after a year-and-a-half investigation.

Some good news: national reports show a huge decline in child sex abuse.

And here's one I missed back in August, but better late than never: five years after suing the City of Baltimore for sexual harassment, the 4th circuit found in favor Katrina Okoli, reversing the district court's decision. Wonder how much she'll get?

Really? Bloomberg News reports that "The U.S. prison population has more than doubled over the past 15 years, and one in nine black children has a parent in jail."

Friday, November 18, 2011

Things unfair

A "life" sentence for Michael Wiggins, accused of stabbing Marine Corps Private Darius Ray to death at a party last year.

Remember Veronica Williams, killed by her husband in front of the Eastside Court on North Avenue after taking out a restraining order? Her mother is now suing the BPD and seeking punitive damages for due process violations, conspiracy and wrongful death, claiming that Cleaven Williams' police buddies shielded him from arrest, even texting him to let him know they were on the way to arrest him.

So the government largely dropped its spying case against whistle-blowers Thomas Drake and John K. Wiebe, NSA employees who exposed waste, fraud, and the fact that, ps., government contractors are monitoring all of your email. Now the defendants want their computers back, the FBI refuses to return them, and Drake is working at an Apple store. Sigh.

Well that sucks: a homeowner says police raided the wrong house (his)

Check out this dick, Christopher Scott. His girlfriend dumped him, so he allegedly got back at her by posting their sex tape on the Internet. Then when police went to his house to investigate they also found kiddie porn. Allegedly. Charming. Now he's free on bail, so don't date his stank ass.

The second trial for accused dog-burning twins Travers and Tremayne Johnson is set to begin today.

Oh, Doug Gansler, have you nothing better to do than dilute Four Loko?

Good for the Daily Record, editorializing against the lack of accountability and transparency when it comes to the sketchball tax credits for city developers.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

$10.4 million?!

So the city is going to tax your every bottle of pop, yet "The city's budget office revealed at an investigative hearing Tuesday that it has spent $10.4 million over the past three years — an average of about $3.5 million annually — defending the Baltimore Police Department against lawsuits."
"... payments to outside counsel defending city officers from suits have increased. The city spent about $700,000 last budget cycle on private attorneys, an increase from the approximately $350,000 it spent on such costs in 2010 and the $485,000 it spent in 2009." "Police officials testified Tuesday that they have instituted better training for officers, which has reduced brutality complaints"... which much be a recent thing, as the Sun and an independent review board have found that the police have been ignoring their own protocols on training for several years now.
Pants on fire!

Life x 4

Murderous crack dealer Antonio "Mack" Hall, 31, has been sentenced to four life sentences for shooting to death federal witness Kareem Guest in September of 2009, as well as shooting a police informant and killing another crack dealer, Martie Williams, in March of 2009.

The life sentences are adding up for Baltimore drug dealers. 36-year-old Johnny Butler has been sentenced to two life sentences for murdering Sintia Mesa back in 2007. Butler had already been sentenced to life in federal prison back in 2010 for leading a violent drug organization.

Two city rapes from last week are believed to be related. Accordig to police, both incidents involved similar circumstances.

Yet again the Goodwill store on Joppa Rd. in Towson has been robbed. This is the third robbery of a Baltimore County Goodwill in the last week.

Prominent Baltimore Hispanic group Casa de Maryland are trying to get Mayor Rawlings-Blake to stay true to her word and end racial profiling.

County police have released sketches of two of the four men who kidnapped and raped a 15-year-old in Woodlawn.


Police are on the lookout for the man responsible for the robbery of a Towson Wells Fargo. (Suspect Pictured Right)

A statewide manhunt is on for a man responsible for a series of bank robberies ranging from Baltimore County to Cecil County and just about everywhere in-between.

Finally, two more Baltimore police officers haveplead guilty for taking part in the "Majestic Towing" extortion scheme. 31-year-old Leonel Rodriguez and 32-year-old Rodney Cintron face up to 25 years when sentenced next year.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Bmore staycation for city officials

The high flying, resort loving Baltimore city pension board may have taken their last ethically challenged trip to a beach front resort - a nice win f0r beleaguered city taxpayers.

Putting the Firearms in Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

The sounds of gunfire and crunching metal filled Patapsco and Magnolia avenues after an ATF agent fired shots during a raid Monday. One ATF agent was injured and is currently recovering. Details are still minimal at the moment.

Police have made an arrest in the killing of Marquis Jones. 19-year-old Antwon Lee has been arrested and charged with first degree murder.

Another arrest of a police impersonator has been made. An unidentied young male was arrested by Baltimore county police after pulling over people in the White Marsh Mall parking lot.

The trial in the infamous "robocall" case has been postponed after Judge Charles J. Peters was forced to rescue himself from the case.

Two defendants in a "rent-to-own" scheme have been convicted in federal court. 42-year-old Lamondes Dorian Williams faces 600 years in prison when sentenced while co-defendant Erica Brown, 29, faces up to 180 years.

Finally, this weeks Murder Ink has this weeks murders, including one that I was not aware of, Kevin Lofland Jr., 18, who was shot along with a surviving victim at the 2200 block of Aiken St.

Monday, November 14, 2011

180

A man shot to death this morning in the 1700 block of Moreland Avenue near Presbury Street, and #178 was actually a woman, found in a house in the 2600 block of Kentucky Avenue with a gunshot wound to her head.

Bealefeld talks to "60 Minutes" about Tazers. Apparently he's against them. What I didn't know was they have darts that actually shoot out and embed in someone's flesh... eeew. Says one of the weapon's designers, "The idea of using electricity to incapacitate at its core is, frankly, a beautiful and simplistic idea." Said FHBIII, "I'm not a huge fan."

Well, that ain't kosher: the police officers in charge of enforcing gambling laws are on the payroll of the Cordish Company, according to documents found by das Capital.

In other business news, the WaPo reports that MS-13 is diversifying its holdings to include pimping now.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Werdesheim case delayed

Jill Carter Tweets: "Werdesheim "Shomrim" assault trial continued in advance from 2moro 11/14 to 2/1/2012"
... more on that case

178

A man shot to death on Pennsylvania Ave. UPDATE: He was ID'd as Darren Robertson, 20. Justin Fenton Tweeted that he was shot in the face.


... Bmore fun fact: until the 60s, sources say, Pennsylvania Ave was Baltimore's "center for black life and culture"