December 23

How did it get to that? Dept
Former Olympic biathlon gold-medalist and Canada's sweetheart Myriam Bedard was held in Jessup on child abduction charges after U.S. marshals found her and her daughter on the girl's 12th birthday at a hotel.

Andrew Cawthorne, wanted for the County SuperFresh robbery, was arrested.

A man was shot Tuesday afternoon in the leg in the hallway of an apartment building in the 800 block of N. Fulton Avenue, theft and a White Marsh purse-snatching in the blotter.

Samuel Acquah of Bowie got 3 1/2 years in the federal pen for operating a "marriage fraud mill" for Ghanaian immigrants.

Now it's getting interesting!
No doubt inspired by her good showing in the BCrime poll, Del. Jill Carter is jumping in the Mayor's race!
Here's a Jill story from April (with a much better picture). Jill's a nice half-decade above (the royal) us, and we've been shopping for a new Role Model, so Merry Xmas, Jill, you're it! You could not have come at a better time, what with the Britney clam, the Dixon scandals, the arrests, etc. Thanks for stepping up. We suggest Carter rag-doll kits fox X-mas, with pretzel MOM-bashing pintata snack bags...

Hey, Mfume might run, so let's reset and repost the Mayor Poll... that's right, you can vote again!

Dec. 22 nite

Tiffany Gwen Weaver of Resiterstown has become "News of the Weird" fodder in 111 papers worldwide so far, including the NYT, IHTrib and papers in Australia and India, for faking her way into prison with documents using the name of a lawyer out on maternity leave ... all to have full-on relations in front of guards with one Jason Moody, the first-degree murderer (02/03/1975), baby momma to one LaToyrea Thompson, and more (search him on this site or offender search, bookmarked right...)

NIH researcher "Trey" Sunderland III "was ordered to forfeit $300,000 and perform 400 hours of community service but will not have to pay a fine for failing to disclose lucrative consulting work with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer."

Rape charges have been dropped against three Duke Lax players, including David Evans of Annapolis and Bethesda (right). Here's more...

Family Recovery, Part V: "Parents Surmount Temptations in Bid to Get Clean for Keyona"

December 22

Underdog Blog has lots of background links for the Vernon Evans case.
(The Public Defender Blog Guide has a total directory of blogs by, for and about you-can-guess-what).

What the?! Crime is at the lowest level in forty years in the District.
(Though they, too, have an uptick in juvenile crime)

Dirty, dirty: environmental groups allege the Chlalk Point power plant has violated the clean air act thousands of times.

More on murdered Jamaican* immigrants the Holder brothers.

County police are looking for Andrew Cawthorne, left, a third suspect in the Bel Air Super-Fresh shootout that put officer David Garner in the hospital.

Git down bitch!! Git da cigarettes! Hurry UP! A woman in a giant, goofy hat was caught robbing a grocery store eight blocks West of Raven stadium.
(Macy Grey, how far you've fallen...)

PGC: A man's body was thrown out of a car near the intersection of 495 and Indian Head Highway.

A feel-good story about Deputy State's Attorney Laura J. Gwinn, who worked on the racketeering case against MS-13 down South.

James Lubbers, 36, of Olney, got a year for negligent homicide in HoCo. Lubbers killed his co-worker and friend, Carmen White, in a drunk-driving accident on Route 108 with his BMW.

Allegany: In Cumberland, "Operation Community Involvement" and some entity called the C3I Narcotics Unit capped off a year of detective work with a methamphetamine, crack heroin and MJ bust that netted thirteen 'collars.'
Though the headline says 20.

*I'm sure this will confirm Jamaicans' worst suspicions about Baltimore, which has a terrible rep there thanks to The Wire on satellite.

Dec. 21 evening...

The murdered Holder brothers apparently had a running dispute with another pair of brothers, the Minors.

Another fabulous Washington Post series, "Baby in the Balance," about a couple of addicts trying (sometimes) to get custody of their daughter back. There are four chapters out so far.

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Donavon Troy White, 15, of Edenton, North Carolina in the beating death of Joel Bradley, 39. Court documents allege on October 22, 2006 White was seen on close circuit television at the corner of Calhoun and Cumberland Streets assaulting Bradley as he sat on a park bench. Bradley later died of his injuries. An arraignment is scheduled January 25, 2007, Judge Gale Rasin, room 509 Courthouse East.

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Darrell Barnes, 42, of the 5600 block of Leiden Road in connection with the death of Shannon Nanette Jackson, 36. Court documents allege on November 9, 2003 Barnes was the last person seen with Jackson as she left her residence accompanied by Barnes. Ms. Jackson was later found dead in the 5500 block in Moores Run Drive near a stream. An arraignment is scheduled January 26, 2007, Judge Gale Rasin, room 509 Courthouse East.

Horrible child-abuse death of two-year-old Kyla Edwards in Salisbury.

Remember Greg Doda, 18, of Crownsville, who killed Heather Donahue, 29, in a snowboarding accident in Jackson Hole?
He'll spend six months in jail ... and has to write a magazine article (cruel torture!).

December 21

"Two brothers who ran an East Baltimore garage were gunned down execution-style yesterday three hours apart in different city neighborhoods, and police scrambled to protect their families as detectives searched for suspects in the attacks..." Ralson and Everton Holder were partners in a towing business.

A man was shot in the leg in the Western.

"I don’t know what to make of it," said top prosecutor Mrs. J of her 83k raise. The Sun takes a more cynical 'tude, opining that MOM wants to encourage someone to run against his venerable foe.

Ooh, a gang database.
Wonder if it'll be as effective as the domestic-violence database.

Headline of the day: "Investigators: Woman fakes attorney pass for inmate sex"

HoCo police arrested Ronnie Gordon Smoth Jr. for a couple of home invasions after checking pawn shop records.

AAC police are looking for Lamal Lamonte Wise, 17, wanted for killing Marvin Timothy Wilson, 20, of West Baltimore Nov. 15.

In AAC a cold-case rape was solved-- by accident.

Norris for Mayor?

Wow, we were sort of joking putting former Police Commissioner, soap salesman, actor, talk show host and convicted felon Ed Norris on the poll for who should be our next Mayor. After all, BCrime readers are against felons even voting, and anyway, a convict can't run for office without approval of the Governor (or in Ed's case, as it was a Federal conviction, the President himself).

But if Marion Barry could be Mayor of DC, why not Ed, here? It would be a great PR move (we've always felt BMore should embrace its edgy, shocking image), he's certainly one of the most beloved guys in town, and if we're going to live in a police state, we might as well have someone in charge who's seen something of crime and punishment.

And, the campaign would make a great reality show!

Coming in second place in the poll was an even bigger impossibility, Mary Pat Clarke. The inside word is Clarke is ready and psyched to retire and has zero interest in the job.
Smart lady.

So that leaves Keiffer Mitchell Jr., left, as the only viable candidate, with an underwhelming 16 percent of the vote.
We don't know anything about him, other than he looks a lot like Jamie aka "16-piece chicken McNugget Head" from She's Gotta Have It, so we'd better do our civic duty here ...
Looks like he reps the 11th, went to BL (and we hear, taught there briefly), comes from an old well-to-do Baltimore policial family (as in, "Mitchell Courthouse;" see John Sarbanes), lives in Bolton Hill and has two preschool kids and his wife doesn't work.
And he's really young and into education.

YAWN!

Run, Eddie, RUN!
Run like your pants is on fire!

December 20

Hell of a Week in the Ink: "For the fourth time this year there were 10 murders in one week, putting this year's homicide total one above last year's at this time. The city is on pace to match or exceed last year's final total of 269 murders."
No wonder we kept losing count...

• Theodore Caldwell, 29; intersection of West North Avenue and North Mount Street
• Steven Richey, 41; 3400 block of Cliftmont Avenue;
• Joseph Simms, 41; 3900 block of Bonner Road
• Keith Barney, 30; 4400 block of Haddon Avenue
• Ronald Stewart, 29; 4000 block of West Belvedere Avenue
• Christopher Whitfield, 22; 3800 block of Hanover Street
• Kevin West, 39; 2800 block of Virginia Avenue
• Kurt Malone, 19; 1300 block of McCulloh Street
• James Williams, 44; 3700 block of Fairhaven Avenue
• Kenneth Worrell, 28; 800 block of Bethune Road.

The BPB crime lab is now accredited.
Nice news: "In 2001, Koch said, the backlog of cases with evidence awaiting DNA testing stood at 5,100. The backlog now is about 400"

"Mildred E. Boyer, a minority subcontractor with ties to City Council President Sheila Dixon, was charged yesterday with theft, lying on loan documents and filing false tax returns, according to a city grand jury indictment..."
Boyer's company had once employed Dixon's sister.
Doesn't sound like the Dixons did anything illegal, though:
"The indictment mentions a payroll statement as part of Boyer's application for a 2004 car loan that was 'purportedly signed' by Dixon's sister, Janice. But Janice Dixon never prepared or signed the statement."

The newborn was strangled, say prosecutors in the Princess Anne/ Baby Olivera death. The baby was found at Custom Pak, a tomato packaging plant in Westover (20 miles south of Salisbury).

December 19

The Court of Appeals has rejected halting executions on protocol or racial-and-geographic-disparity grounds-- but halted them because the procedures were never approved. The legislature or the gov. will have to approve them now. WW the new gov do?

Tim Evers is 37

"The NAACP* said in court Monday that the Baltimore police department is guilty of a 'larger pattern' of illegally arresting residents."
"Baltimore lawyers said ... that arrests for "quality of life" crimes are not illegal; that the City State's Attorney decision not to prosecute some crimes does not mean those arrests were unlawful; and that using a performance-evaluation system for police officers based on the number of arrests is not unlawful."

"The ACLU also is suing the city and state over what the organizations call a 'gross violation of rights.' The groups say city police officers make 'illegal arrests' and then state jail officials mistreat people taken into custody at Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Facility.

The lawsuit accuses the jail of conducting illegal strip searches and holding suspects beyond the statutory time limit of 24 hours."
--
Weekend murder victims Christopher Whitfield 22, and William James, 44, were ID'd.
Keith Worrell, 28, was with the 15-year-old shot in Cherry Hill and has died of gunshot wounds.

Carjacker Keith Ray escaped from the courthouse and onto St. Paul Street, forcing Joe Sviatko to lock his office door.

Psycho in Reist-o
Former Medical Student Mujtaba R. Jabbar, 25, was charged in the County with shooting salesman and aspiring ice skater Paul Schrum at that Owings Mills movie theater near the TJ Maxx.

A "fatal stabbing in Reisterstown and the subsequent police shooting of a man armed with a knife..."

--
Another one of those dead-baby stories. 24-year-old Florentine Olivera was charged with 2nd-degree murder.

--
A man named Carroll and his son Carroll are charged with "animal cruelty, selling contaminated meat and feeding garbage to swine" in (where else?) Carroll County.

--
*Meanwhile, NAACP HQ to GTF out of town!
Wonder if they're going to take Dorothy Parker with them?
We should give them that statue in front of the Train Station as a going-away present...!

December 18

Kevin West, 39; Kirk Malone, 19; and an unID'd man in South Baltimore were all murdered over the weekend.

Marquel Smith, 32, was shot to death in Essex.

In addition to the 15-year-old boy shot over the weekend, two men were shot in the Western (both were sent to Shock Trauma) and a man was shot in the Southeastern. And, in Pikesville, there was a Hannukah double-stabbing in the 4600 block of Old Court Road.

FBI: Crime's up everywhere in America by 4 percent.

Fun! The FBI and local banks are launching an online "Bandit Gallery." Where it doesn't say, somewhere around here we assume?

"Quality is much more important than quantity," Commissioner Hamm opines on the E Letters page.

"A man who was shot by a Harford County sheriff's deputy for holding his pregnant wife hostage and threatening to set her on fire during a 1995 standoff with police was arrested yesterday in York County, Pa., after threatening to set fire to a trailer..."

"Police: Teen Stabbed, Others Struck With Bat During Party" in Crofton.

The perv du jour is, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Michael Malloy, 35, charged with sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography.

WBAL's Chip Franklin: Children "aren't always the victms" in the child welfare system.

December 17 Nite

Executions have been put on hold in California and Florida, as Maryland's top court hears various challenges to the gruesome practice.

Chesterstown police shot toddler-threatening lunatic Clifton Blanchfield, but didn't kill him.

A County officer is in Shock Trauma after an accident on Spooks Hill Road in Hereford.

"... the best ideas become clear through the utterance of weaker ones."
Good Op-Ed about the JHU Party Mess.

December 17

... and Just another terrible day in Murderland!

jeziz. A 15-year-old was shot and is in serious condition in the 800 block of Bethune Road in Cherry Hill.

A hostage situation in West Baltimore ended in suicide.

Horrible: "Lawrence Banks cut a violent path through Maryland on Nov. 19, 1991, shooting an acquaintance in Pasadena after a night of drinking and then killing his own teenage son in Baltimore."
Banks spent less than 10 years in prison, then killed young mother Lisa Brown and her nine-month-old baby in Laurel last Tuesday.

Davon Temple probably got away with double murder, and now he's gotten away with trespassing, too.

HarfCo police arrested one bloody Eveline Bergman, 46, for stabbing her husband to death in Joppatowne.

A drug raid at 2900 West Coldspring Lane (between Wabash and Reisterstown Rds.) unearthed six-figures' worth of various substances.

Under new Federal legislaton, doctors will be able to prescribe "bupe" to 100 city harewin addicts (there's currently a 30 patient limit.)

Baltimore police ID'd the killer of a two-decades-cold murder of 26-year-old nurse Beverly Louise Feight. The DNA of Orrell Youmans, 50, matched when Sgt. Roger Nolan of the cold-case squad ran a sample through the FBI database.

The Post continues the series Being a Black Man.

Stories on the "news" that schoolkids are in gangs were so dumb-n-obvious they weren't worth linking to ... but this high-larious thread of pissy trash talk about it on the Sun forum is!

Some Hampden neighborhood gossip:
When I went to court about the kid who stole my bike last week, the police officer gave me a piece of news about one of my former neighbors on Elm Avenue, a blind guy named Charles (whose house was once set on fire after he let police use it to stake out drug dealers). Anyway, Charles told officer Basil how he came to be blind-- one day he was high on heroin and PCP and gouged out his own eyes!
Wild!

Thanks for the links Simon!