Amazeballs!

Baltimore homicides are at a 25-year-low (...but how many unclassified deaths do we have, Steve Janis?)

County police ID victims and a suspect in a shooting yesterday in White Marsh

and county police are ISO a suspect in a North Point shooting

Cockeysville tenants robbed of $2,500 in rent money

Some enchanted evening...

222 = man shot to death in the 5500 block of Richard Ave. in front of the Visions Banquet Hall, a block away from Clementine.

A retired officer shot a would-be robber at Judy's Island Grill & Bake Shop on Park Heights, and the suspect is not expected to be irie.

Enchantment of the Seas indeed! Cruise ship crew busted with cocaine and heroin

Shirley Watts appointed to the Court of Special Appeals

Owners of Club Reality complain of police harassment (reality.. who wants to go to a club for that?!)

Secure your weapons!

A 13-year-old Charles Diesmesor died after he and his friend were playing with a gun

More details on the story of Ellison McCall, the New Haven lounge bartender allegedly killed by some rowdy patrons he'd ejected

Four years for Tomeka V. Harris, a former mortgage broker turned credit-card-fraudster and prison-contraband-smuggler. More details from the DOJ

Harford county settles case of pro-life protestors who were strip-searched. Related: the Post reports that "Tests of 'Roe' more frequent since justices upheld late-term abortion ban in '07"

History corner: 10 years ago in the City Paper Lee Gardner wrote about Baltimore's first killing of the new millennium. "If the current rate holds out through the end of 2000, the number of homicides in Baltimore will drop below 300 for the first time in 11 years ... a major victory for Mayor Martin O'Malley, who was swept into office in 1999 on the strength of his vow to stem the bloodshed, and for police Commissioner Edward Norris."

Can a new mayoral candidate pull a Bernstein?

Maybe...

Small world

The man killed on Boyd St was ID'd as Raymond Woodland, who was apparently accused of shooting a 19-year-old in the face at a party at the Sheraton on Fayette Street last year.

Scary-looking Michael Carotenuto, 39, accused of robbing elderly women with a claw hammer on Christmas day

Speaking of violence... does data on domestic violence underrepresent the numbers of male victims?

Book note: added a couple of titles to the librury-- Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibitionand The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration-- both good reads.

News of the weird: Pat "Haitians swore a pact with the devil" Robertson spoke out for the decriminalization of marijuana

220, 221

Keith Lee Robinson, 23, 4100 block of Ridgewood Ave.

WMAR has interviews and vigorous preaching with family members of 14-year-old victim Isaac Joyner. No suspects, no motive, family members say he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A shooting this morning at Pulaski & Boyd in the SW, a man stabbed in the chest on Christmas morning.
UPDATE: the man shot at Pulaski & Boyd has died

Issac in heaven

Relatives mourn 14-year-old fatally shot Thursday

‎Police tweet, "2:40 am, Officers are on the scene of a shooting in the 4400 blk of Granada Ave. Adult male shot at location. Homicide Det's called to scene"

B*tch better have my goat meat

City lawyers and now the mayor insist it was the non-molesting Shapiro who insisted on secrecy in that $200k mistaken-identity case, but Shapiro's lawyer and the Daily Record have letters and e-mails that certainly "suggest otherwise"

The Milton Tillmans plead guilty, with the elder Tillman poignantly prepared to serve time so his son can go free.

Mustafa Malik, 43, was shot to death in the 2900 block of Mathews St.

Police are ISO "a pair of black males between the ages of 25 and 30" in connection with robberies and two murders last week near Patterson Park

Three teens shot on the West side, including a 14-year-old shot in the head

An arrest for the shooting of Coppin State track start Dale Dunn

A rather unusual 14 years for a drug dealer who sold heroin that led to overdose

Baltimore Charlie Brown's cubed goat meat is gone or perhaps never was, and the CP asks, what happened to all of Baltimore's "stimulus money"?

Seasonal: "Culprits Adorn Man's Yard With Stolen Decorations"

...that Peter Hermann,
orange shirt and a snifter of bourbon
tossed back the booze
and said "have yer year's crime news
in long, awkward sets of couplets."

Ho ho ho!

"A man dressed in a Santa suit told police that a suspect in her 50s had approached him and said, 'I always wanted to hug Santa.' She held him very close, rubbing herself against him, and picked his pocket."

Our bad...

Eyebrow-raising story from TDR's Danny Jacobs reveals the details behind a mysterious $200,000 settlement from the city: police picked up the wrong guy on child molestation charges, in spite of the fact he'd never lived or worked in Baltimore and didn't live in the country until five years after the alleged abuse took place. Adding insult to injury, city lawyers also apparently flat-out lied that it was the victim who wanted to keep the story quiet. But as Rikki Spector surely taught at Talmudical Academy, time wounds all heels.

Man shot to death in the 3700 block of Mt. Pleasant Ave.

Arson killing may have followed an "altercation" at the New Haven Lounge where the victim was a bartender

Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke is soliciting donations to help with Karen Ferrell's funeral. The victim was a mom of three, found dead and entombed in plastic in her own basement.

The CP has details on last week's five murders (two of them in CHuM, the city's most murderiffic neighborhood). Also the death of 10-month-old Micha Crane has been added to the toll.

Shooty weekend continues

Four Five murders this weekend so far:

• unid'd 42-year-old man, 3700 block of Ravenwood Avenue;
• unid'd woman, 38, 4:30 a.m. in the 3100 block of East Monument Street;
• unid'd person, first block of N. Lakewood Ave. at 6:16 a.m.;
• and an un-id'd 23-year-old killed in the 600 block of Evesham Avenue
.

Also three more six more shootings, and then there's the mighty "suspicious" 42-year-old woman's body found wrapped in plastic in the 1800 block of E. 29th St. UPDATE: Fox reports that this death has been ruled a homicide, and the victim was Karen Ferrell, 42

.. and in York, PA, Baltimorean and twice-convicted murderer Kevin Mattison was sentenced to death for the December 2008 murder of Christian Agosto. Mattison just got out of jail in June after serving less than two years for 1st-degree rape, assault, sex and weapons offenses, and is due in back in a Baltimore court in February on burglary charges.

Violent night

Three killed, two injured last night in spate of violence, and a suspicious death: "a 42-year-old woman's body found wrapped in plastic in the 1800 block of E. 29th St." Shootings mapped by SpotCrime

Drug arrest thrown out due to issues with an officer's "past transgressions"

Media blabber: Not-so-shocking U of MD study finds Fox News viewers have a "higher level of misinformation" (though MSNBC, PBS & network news viewers got stuff wrong too)

Robo call raid

The home of Julius Henson, the admitted perpetrator of the election night robo calls, was raided by detectives working for state prosecutors.

Tragedy, stupidity abounds

Friends gather to remember slain Cherrie Gammon, likely killed over a drug debt

"Man suffers graze wound after shooting," which kind of makes it sound like he'd been chewed on by some sheep

A computer glitch lets scores of parking tickets get dismissed. The moral of the story: so long as your time is worth less than the price of the ticket, it's worthwhile request a hearing.

Lead-paint landlord jailed over violations

Holabird high student encounters pervert lurking in the boys' room, who stuffed a sock in his mouth and kicked him in the nads

A Hagtown inmate who mailed white powder to a judge "to bring attention to a motion to modify his 50-year sentence for first-degree murder" got five more years tacked onto his time

Lawyer warns that toning shoes won't shape your buns and may break your legs

4 Aces

.. beats the government's royal flush. Milton Tillman Jr. and Milton Tillman III, charged with multiple counts of tax, insurance and wire fraud, are reportedly making a deal with the government that will let Milton Tillman the Jr., serve no time. Tillman the IIIrd, aka "the Emperor," and "citizen of the year" is a prolific political contributor who owns a oodles of real estate in the metro area and allegedly has "close proximity" to the drug world.

'Tis the season

.. for home invasions. Police are investigating two unrelated armed invasions.

Tomorrow is ladies' day at the BPD: "BPD Recruiting Event: Women's Hiring Event 12/17/10 @ 12 PM, BPD HQ (601 E Fayette Street) Info Session & Written Test"

Bodymore is Burning

In yet another incident of a severe fire in Baltimore a homeless man was found burning behind a Canton Safeway.

Fire officials officially believe that the fire on the Block was set by "human hands." how they know that I will not pretend to know.

We are officially pansies; A christmas ornament causes the shutdown of the Pentagon train station.

24 Years in federal prison for a man who shot at city cops.

Ending on a happier note, The Sun gives us an uplifting/slightly depressing story about a child shooting victim.

The unbearable whiteness of being

The CP's Van Smith interviews the new white guy, details his fondness for Elvis Costello & 'Mad Men' & asks, "What kind of challenges does you being a white guy present?"

A dispute between tenants led to a barricade situation in West Baltimore, which ended peacefully with the arrest of a suspect.

Source tells WBAL that fire on The Block was arson

"A tearful Benjamin L. “Bennie” King Jr. apologized to his family and former employer Legal Aid before being sentenced to 30 months in prison Tuesday for embezzling more than $1 million from the organization over a decade."

Last week's four murders in the Ink: Dante Sweeney, David Carter, Travis Baltimore (reported as Travis Alexander by WBAL) and "an unidentified Caucasian woman." ... (srsly, the CP just way too obsessed with race ... ok, it's an important detail, but is it so important that must be reported in the first sentence in every single case?)

Creditors to Tribune Co. executives: bitch better have my money

Deputy speaks out

Shot in the line of duty, they're now saying he lied.

Six dead in city fire

Heavy winds made the fire worse, according to the fire dept.

Narcojacking

A pharmaceutical delivery employee was abducted and his truck full of narcotics stolen in the 2000 block of W Pratt St

County police are ISO the guy who robbed the Columbia Bank on York Rd.

... and a federal judge declares that the "Affordable Care Act" is unconstitutional

enjoy your crime news, hon!

A woman was shot to death in the 1400 block of Franklintown Road at about 5 a.m. yesterday morning

The city jail is on lockdown after "a series of violent incidents," but nevertheless, a guy somehow escaped from the Pre-Release Unit on Saturday night (and was found loving that chicken at a Popeye's in PA.)

"there is a growing consensus" that the case of George Huguely V, accused of killing former NDP student Yeardley Love, will be settled in a plea deal before trial

Ye olde loophole: Convicted felon Thomas Royal got 188 months for possessing ammo, but no time for the gun he was carrying as it was manufactured before 1899.

Gee, rilly? After the second escape in a year from the Hickey school, a report issued by the Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit floats the notions of equipping juvenile facilities staff with radios and transporting the l'il hoodlums in secure vehicles.

In Annapolis, a 60-year-old genius was arrested after running over a guy he'd just had a fistfight with.

Interesting read from the Post: "What the Assange case reveals about rape in America"

ps. ... what kind of rich freaknut would pay $700,000 for a Nazi baton?

Gory stories

So much for pot being the drug of peace and groovy love.... investigators believe that missing Michael Paul Knight, 50, was "beaten, tied up, and murdered, and his body was then dismembered 'with a power-type saw'" in Rosedale after he ran afoul of a national weed-smuggling operation.

Another homicide: Travis Baltimore, 24, 3400 block of Virginia Avenue

Likely stories

A "flurry of shootings" near Leakin Park

Crack reporter Melody Simmons lands an interview with the ousted mayor, who says "hopefully people realize that I am sorry for some of my decisions,” and that she might possibly write a book.

... but according to WBAL, there wont be much of a market for it, as "in Baltimore ... only one in 300 kids [as in, .003%, or about 2,100] has even a single book in their home." sounds rather implausible.. but I'm sure they wouldn't report it if it wasn't scrupulously fact-checked, right?

Another perk for citty employees

Jail pay OK.

Taking bribes in B-more

A city housing inspector has been arrested for taking bribes.

Horribly depressing stories you should not read

Andre Clay Russell Jr. got 55 years for beating his girlfriend's three-year-old son to death. Says the mom who left her son with the convicted sex offender, "there is not a day that I don't second-guess myself."

and "calm, peaceful, respectful" Brian Maurice Savage, 22, is on trial starting today for allegedly beating his girlfriend's 15-month-old toddler to death.

and in Hagerstown, a 23-year-old man got 35 years for "fatally abusing" his girlfriend's five-month-old daughter.

A 65-year-old man pled guilty for the robbery that led to the death of Constantine Frank last year. Frank died of a brain hemmorhage after being restrained.

The 4th circuit has ruled that "allowing the indefinite confinement of 'sexually dangerous' federal inmates after their prison terms end does not violate their due process rights"

"Fatal shooting [of Dante Sweeny, 22] in Northeast Baltimore could be drug-related robbery"

"Baltimore police say the death of [Tammy Madison, 45] who was pushed in front of a truck in February is being classified as a homicide, but the man who shoved her will not face criminal charges."

a Baltimore man has been arrested for attempting to blow up a military recruitment center in Catonsville with a fake bomb

City paper's top 10 news stories include the Dixon sentencing, the Sun's story on rape reports being marked unfounded, and "Pat Jessamy loses, some guy wins." Also last week's three murders in the Ink.

ATF to investigate fires

reports the Deuce

..and anti-abortion protestors have descended on Germantown. QTD from activist Patrick Mahoney: "I'm thrilled with all this police tape. Let's say you're an orthodontist and your little sixth-grader comes with her mom and sees all this. That's exactly what we want."

Burning house of love

New hires at chez Bernstein. Wonder who wrote the press releases?

Two five-alarm fires downtown = mighty suspicious.
QTD: "Girls tryin ta get dressed in the street, I mean, runnin across the street butt naked just tryin to get their clothes on..."

Update on missing senior Lola Louise Brant: she was found in a clearing in the PA woods by a hunter, alive and confused.

Looking out for city taxpayers while tanning

Ethics board probe of pension board travel as some trustees of said board luxuriate at the Ritz Carlton.

"Maryland to become the late-term abortion capital of America"

says the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition. Dr. LeRoy Carhart, former co-worker of murdered Dr. George Tiller, has moved his practice to Germantown

Are all murderers mentally ill?

... and if so, does that make the death penalty unconstitutional?

An arrest in Anne Arundel's 11th homicide: Clayton Avila Battle allegedly shot and killed Kelly Fisher at Dietrich's Tavern.

BPD may re-draw districts

Councilman Bill Henry wants a smaller Northeast district.

Stay in School

In the second case of students gone wild this week, a 15 year old is facing attempted murder charges after beating and strangling a fellow classmate.

City paper, who first broke the story in June, give more information on the Federal indictment for the murder of Kareem Kelly Guest.

A 26 year old man was shot and killed last night on E. 30th St.

Police have made arrests in two separate homicides, including one where two October killings may be linked. The other case involved the arrest of Mark Winchester, 31, for the 2007 murder of Yemel McMillan, 23.

Finally, a Snow Hill man was sentenced to a year in jail for possession of over 75 pounds of pot.

Best sighting ever

Rod J. Rosenstein in the front row of "Annie" at the Olney Theater (with his children, TG.)

.. if anyone deserves a chorus of singing orphans it's RJR, whose past week at the office included indicting Antonio “Mack” Hall for the murder of federal witness Kareem Kelly Guest, convicting "L'il Mama" of racketeering, and a guilty plea from "Mrs. T" of 420 Income Tax Services, who stole children's identities and their parents' refunds, and a whole bunch of other assorted Roosters and Lily St. Regises.

anyway, ... keep an eye out for Lola Brant, who left Bel Air in her tan Mercedes yesterday and never came back.
UPDATE: she was found in PA

Social studies

More on the Snowden drunk-driving case. Was his PBJ a simple mistake.. or something back-scratchier?

A 14-year-old student at Baltimore Community High School beat the dickens out of a social studies teacher

LOLZ, check out these winners arrested on drug charges in the Deener

Crown Heights it's not (sorry, NAACP), but tensions are up in the NW after the beating & wrist breakage of a teen by 23-year-old neighborhood watcher Eliyahu Werdesheim. Indeed Wedesheim's story sounds none too Kosher: if the kid was trespassing, why not call actual police? If his stick/plank was so threatening, why not just get back in the car? In better news, apparently another Shomrim member helped the beaten boy while Werdesheim fled.

Three people pled guilty to smuggling knockoff Coach handbags through the Port of Baltimore. Remember when Coach bags used to be un-tawdy and non-shiteous, and made in America out of nice, thick leather?

Alleged crack dealer Terrell Rogers got 292 months in prison for a rolling gun battle near the Bloody Bucket and attempting to trade crack for evidence-tampering services.

Former Republican committee treasurer gets three years for embezzlement

Other Baltimoreiana: The NYT has a glowing profile of Andres Alonso

It may cost only $100 to double park in Bmore

Council committee approved by the bill to end the $250 I'm dropping off groceries ticket, but the Mayor has said if she will support it.

15-year-old killed

Reports Fox: "Police say the victim of a deadly shooting in southwest Baltimore earlier this evening was a 15-year-old boy. The teen died at Shock Trauma after he was shot multiple times at S. Payson and W. Pratt Streets. Detectives have no suspect or motive at this time."

Last of the 28 Tree Top Piru defendants plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute the crack

Bad boys, bad boys...

A member of the Jewish neighborhood watch group Shomrim is accused of attacking a 15-year-old and breaking his wrist

Last week's five murders in the Ink, including the guy who stabbed his brother to death on Thanksgiving

"Poor man's Puffy" and others indicted in scheme to ship "hundreds of pounds of cocaine on chartered jets from Los Angeles to Baltimore."

BPD unravel the case of stolen metal worth $2.6 million

Fenton: why was Pippi Longstocking (aka Franklin Gross Sr.) out of jail?

Video-poker executive-cum-developer John Vontran -- owner of the much-torched Seagram's distillery-- forced to liquidate

Pizza-shop owner fights off gun-toting robber with a spatula, and JZ has the high-larious video

Demons and Spirits

Stephen Todd Nelson, who claimed "demons" forced him to throw his 3-year-old son off the Key Bridge, dropped his NCR plea to plead guilty today to second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.

Man who shot uniformed city officer on Calvert St sports adorable Pippi-Longstockingesque pigtails

Twin brothers in custody for shooting a dancer and her swain near the Block

You have until 5 p.m. Thursday to stock up/savor the flavor of "prison wine made from Fruity Pebbles."

and County police want to know who keeps setting fire to the Seagrams plant

Can Bernstein really clean this up?

..a little inside look at the BPD trial board and some of the infighting between agencies that has little to do with fighting crime.

Thanksgiving Weekend Crime Recap

The Sun gives more details on the weekend running gun battle on a busy city street that left a City police officer in critical condition.

The Grinch struck a little early this year, when scowling sexagenarian Harry Patterson Jr. decided to stab his younger brother in the neck on Thanksgiving day. His younger brother, ID'd as Robin Patterson age 51, was stabbed while trying to intervene in a fight between Harry and his wife.

One man is in custody and three are in the hospital after a triple shooting outside an Odenton bar.

The hunt is on for a Wicomico County teen accused of firing shots at police.

Two more Homicide victims have been identified. Patrick Dolan, 19, who was stabbed at the 3500 block of Juneway during a suspected robbery attempt, and Davon Douglas, 28, also stabbed, at the 1800 block of Eagle St. on Wednesday.

Finally, the MD USDOJ released their annual Criminal Prosecution Totals showing a sharp rise in prosecutions this year.

Officer shot on North Calvert Street

201 & 202

View Larger Map
Tweets the BPD: "‎1839 EAGLE ST,ADULT MALE STABBED IN THE NECK WAS TRANSPORTED TO SHOCK TRAUMA AND PRONOUNCED." (Dead, one assumes)

Patrols stepped up in the SW


View Larger Map

and HOMICIDE, 4406 PLAINFIELD, ADULT MALE STRUCK WITH BLUNT OBJECT IN HEAD. HOMICIDE HANDLINIG

and SHOOTING, 601 N BROADWAY, ADULT MALE WALK IN AT HOPKINS.

and SHOOTING/1500 N. ELLAMONT ST: ADULT MALE SHOT SEVERAL TIMES IN THE CHEST, VICTIM TRANSPORTED TO SHOCK TRAUMA.

and STABBING - 3500 JUNEWAY ADULT MALE STABBED. HOMICIDE NOTIFIED

and another victim added to the tally this week, Wilbur Street, 52

Judges declare days leading up to holiday "Misdemeanor Blast." Whee!

Van Smith: Federal prosecutions in MD reach all-time high

Lots of questions after three-time drunk driver Carl O. Snowden, current director of the civil rights office in the state attorney general's office, gets yet another peanut butter & jelly. Snowden also made headlines when his son Kojo Lummuba Malik was arrested for gun and drug charges.

Bernstein to Jessamy staff: Beat it

Writes our former friend Joe Sviatko:

"Thought you would like to know that my last day in the SAO is January 3, 2011. Your SA-Elect has told me there is no place for me in his administration. ... HR woman gone. Financial guy retired. Deputies gone. Joe and Marty gone. Should be fun for continuity. But he won thanks to you. :) Good luck! No more Joe and Marty to kick around."

18 years for Dennis Testo

reports The Daily Record's Danny Jacobs

in other news...
Investigators say Baltimore teen found mutilated in MA BlogThis!

Do Not Call

The "Do Not Call" list may soon be tossed, according to new SA Greg Bernstein.