Unreliable Witnesses

Tyrone West

Calvert Street is bringing it today-- Justin Fenton has put the Tyrone West documents on The Cloud, and uploaded audio* of a female witness's description of the "scuffle" to the Sun site. She was apparently the passenger in West's car and describes police and West (who she calls James?) somehow starting to fight, police and West punching each other on the ground, then on the police car, police hitting West in the face, more fighting on the ground, police Tasing West on the ground, more scuffling, West yelling "Travon Martin," more beating of West on Kitmore, West saying "you got me, stop beating me," then West getting away and running across the street followed by more beating, police cars running into each other at the crime scene, CPR. Other witnesses have described West being sprayed with pepper spray, but this witness doesn't.

Somehow, some way, intrepid reporters Luke Broadwater and Scott Calvert got their mitts on that secret speed camera audit that taxpayers paid $278,000 for but weren't supposed to see,* and hoo boy is it a doozy! Xerox's cameras had a whopping 10 percent error rate and 26 percent of the tickets were "questionable," costing Baltimoreans at minimum an estimated $2.8 million in erroneous tickets. The camera at Loch Raven Blvd. had an error rate of 58 percent (!!!) and the one at 6500 Eastern Avenue, 45 percent. Xerox is still the camera operator in the County and HoCo. Could class action lawsuits (a la New Jersey) be far behind?

In the Eastern district an 18-year-old guy was shot in the leg* there last night.

Lamin Manneh

Speaking of the Eastern, former Eastern District officer Lamin Manneh, 32, accused of pimping out his 19-year-old wife and her friend down by BWI? He's pleaded guilty* to operating a prostitution business. "In a federal indictment filed against Manneh in August, prosecutors said his wife had entered into a 'contract of slavery' with him and agreed to be subservient to him as her 'master.'"

Twenty years for gun-toting coke-slinging felon Antoin Lamont Garrison, 46.

The owners of Sam's NY grocery store on North Milton Street were arrested for allegedly stealing $1.5 million of food stamp money.

Remember Katz Insurance and Hal Katz? Apparently his son Geary is the operator of Senate Insurance, the "Kiss my Bumper" one, and now he's facing legal troubles of his own.



Weds February 5th the restaurants of Canton will hold a benefit night with proceeds going to the recovery fund of Jon Fogg, the Sun editor who had his skull fractured in six places, possibly by the guy below.