February 7

At a hearing today, Judge Allen L. Schwait sentenced Hasan Howard, 22, of the 1900 block of Fayette Street, to 15 years in prison for the December 17, 2005 attack of a 22-year-old city woman. A Baltimore City jury convicted Howard of second-degree assault and possession of a regulated firearm December 7, 2006. Judge Schwait sentenced Howard to 10 years for the assault and five years without the possibility of parole for the handgun count with the sentences to run consecutively. The facts:

On December 17, 2005, Howard got into an argument with his girlfriend, the victim, at her Pennsylvania Avenue apartment and started choking her. She escaped Howard's grasp and ran into the kitchen to call 911. Howard came after her with a handgun tucked into his waistband. As Howard approached the victim, he started to reach for the gun. Instead of reaching for the telephone, she grabbed a knife and stabbed Howard in the arm. She then called 911 but Howard grabbed the phone from her and hung it up. The victim left the apartment, taking her seven year old daughter with her and when the police arrived, no one was home. Six days later, detectives executed a search and seizure warrant at Howard's grandmother's house and recovered a handgun. The victim had filed six prior complaints against Howard during the year of their relationship. Howard is currently serving two consecutive three year sentences for violating his probation from 2003 convictions of two counts of possessing regulated firearms. Today's 15-year prison term will run concurrently to this previous sentence.

Four murders this week: Sintia Mesa, Stephanie Stevens, an unidentified man (who the Sun reported was Ryan Holliman), and Desmond Tucker.

Jurors began deliberating the case against Acurtiss Grimes, 26, accused of shaking his two-month-old daughter Kaitlyn to death.

James E. Darnell was sentenced to 10 years for attempted robbery, or maybe attempted rape.

County police are looking for two men who robbed the owners of Wilkens Liquors in the parking lot of the Wilkens Avenue Provident Bank Jan. 23.

A hit-and-run suspect died after crashing into a tree while fleeing police in Howard County.

Two suspects in a Frederick home invasion were arrested in North Dakota while crossing the U.S./Canada border.

Karen Ann Malinowsky was charged with embezzling $250,000 from her dead employer's estate.

A suspect spent an hour browsing the Reisterstown Road Payless Shoe Source before robbing it.

Kevin Adams, 20, Jonathan Mathews, 20, and a 17-year-old boy, all from Arnold, face 55 counts of destruction of property after (allegedly) going on a roving BB-shooting-spree.

Sounds like the family of the 22-year-old furniture deliveryman shot by a PCG Homeland Security official will be a-suing.

A stolen cell phone, drunken shopping-cart driving and a fake ID in the Greyhound Blotter.

David Simon's speech last night at Loyola was incredibly interesting. One recurring theme was that we can't change the institutional malaise that has taken over the city (and the country). As for the people who suffer the worst due to the system and their lack of response: "they're not rioting anymore; they're high." I'm cynical, but I felt like an optimist in comparison to Simon.

February 6

The last of the "Jugs," aka the Lexington Terrace Boys, Gregory Parker (at age 27 a boy no more) was sentenced to 20 years for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine.

Six Baltimore police officers from the Eastern District were suspended as part of an internal affairs investigation into possible 'irregularities' with their overtime pay.

Tanea Bullock, 22, was sentenced today to 30 years in prison, all but 20 years suspended, to be served at the Patuxent Institution. A co-defendant, Lawrence Watson, 26, pled guilty to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to time served.

A man was shot on South Street and is in critical condition.
Friday's murder victim, shot to death at the Sugar Hill Tavern, was ID'd as Desmond G. Tucker, 52.

The Rachels wrote poems, killed themselves with carbon monoxide.

Former Senator Thomas Bromwell's lawyers get scrappy, invoke Juvenal/ classic graphic novel in attempt to save the boss's severance package.

Dixon: "We have to get back to the days when officers knew the people who lived in the communities they patrolled, and the people in the community knew and trusted the officers that worked in their neighborhood."
Said Hamm, "at an unusual, impromptu press conference held in the mayor's office after [Dixon's] speech: 'I believe, and the mayor believes, that you cannot just enforce, enforce, enforce without providing some hope for the community.'"

Bethesda, MoCo: A bummer year for the "Whitman Five," a quint of numnuts charged with robbing a Smoothie King for the fun of it, among other crimes.

Me fail English? That non-possible Dept: "Disciplining students is no about setting rules and consequences."

Registered sex offender Allen Spencer attacked two female paramedics who were taking him to the hospital.

Five men in Aberdeen were snagged after trying to provide the world some good lovin' at a reasonable price.

It's now illegal to post campaign signs more than 45 days before a primary election in Baltimore County, and the ACLU isn't very happy.

Don't ever, ever give Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman the wrong sandwiches.

February 5

Arkia L. Douglas of Glen Burnie got 12 years for beating her 13-day-old daughter to death. Reports Andrea Siegel, "Doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital stopped cataloguing her injuries because there were too many."

And, a sentencing hearing for Tanea Bullock, 22, of the 4800 block of Liberty Heights Avenue is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. tomorrow before Judge Schwait. Bullock pled guilty November 28, 2006 to manslaughter and child abuse resulting in death.  Under terms of the plea agreement announced in open court she faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison suspend all but 20 years. A co-defendant, Lawrence Watson, 26, pled guilty to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to time served. The heinous facts:

On January 5, 2005 at their residence in the 4800 block of Liberty Heights Avenue, Bullock and Watson awakened at 5 a.m. and found their son, Joshua Watson, one month old, cold and not breathing. They went back to bed. Several hours later they awakened and found Joshua cold and unresponsive.  Watson called 911. Emergency operators performed CPR and transported Joshua to Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The medical examiner found loop shaped scars and signs of blunt force trauma to the right side of Joshua’s body, skull fractures, hemorrhaging and contusions of the brain and 27 healing fractures to his torso.

Is it really possible that we had no murders over the weekend?

A robbery in Canton and a couple of stabbings over the weekend.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler wants to take on violent street gangs.

The Harford County Sheriff is tightening security after Terrance Washington's fourth successful escape.

A ewe was decapitated in Frederick County.

A truckload of TVs was stolen and recovered in Anne Arundel County.

Oh, goody. Sheila's going to talk about the State of the City.

Perv du Jour: Parris James McGhee-Bey, 57, former teacher at Woodlawn High School, was arrested for assaulting a 14-year-old student.

February 4

How did Garnell Moore, age 7, simply vanish?

Rozza Alston (accused of robbing and stabbing an 80-year-old-woman at the Norf Abenue KFC) was tracked down by a signal from the woman's cell phone.

What does that mean? "Federal prosecutors said the circumstances of Mesa's death and the demeaning way in which her body was found suggest a link to drugs."

Kim Barnes, 50, was arrested for pretending to work at the MVA.

Feb. 3 evening

A man was found dead in Harwood, AAC (not Baltimore City).

The mother of a 28-year-old man shot to death by a 13-year-old during a robbery in Baltimore is now part of a mothers' group in Harlem working to get illegal guns off the street.

Rozza Alston was arrested for stabbing 80-year-old Lilli Segal Jan. 26 at the Norf Abenue KFC.

Police shot and wounded a man after he fired at them during a drug arrest near Green Mount* Cemetery.
* two words? Really?

PGC police are going undercover to catch the UM Peepy Snuggler, and students are on high alert: "We keep the doors locked all the time; that's a big security thing with us."

Horrid sexual assault against a "heavily medicated" woman at HoCo General Hospital.

The Post also asks, What happened to the Rachels? It's sounding like a suicide-pact thing.

February 3

A man [30] was shot to death yesterday in the Sugar Hill Tavern on Druid Hill Ave., and a Sun reporter was chased away by "an unruly customer."

Two inmates were stabbed at the House of Correction in Jessup.

Alleged deliveryman Brandon Clark died after being shot at the home of off-duty P.G. police officer Keith Washington.

The bodies of Rachel Smith and Rachel Crites were found in Loudon County, VA.

February 2

The Court of Special Appeals has reversed the murder and conspiracy convictions of Clayton Damon Colkley and Darnell Fields, charged with the 2003 shooting of James "Buck" Bowens. The lower court had "concluded that the state failed to show that the defendants and their attorneys had been properly informed of the contents of a jury note inquiring about the guns and shell casings used in the shooting."

Ryan L. Holliman, 23, was shot and killed yesterday near Club Mate and Lounge in Brooklyn [29].
The 22-year-old woman killed yesterday on the 800 block of Hilton St. was ID'd as Stephanie Stevens, 22, of Martinsburg, West Virginia.
The Examiner recounts January's 28 homicides plus the shooting of home-invasion suspect Isaac Pitts in tidy, chronological order.

In East Baltimore, a man was shot by police after he fired at officers who were arresting a suspected dealer.

Arrests of an (alleged) murderer and 16-year-old (alleged) armed carjacker in the Blotter, a man stabbed in the stomach after a bump at the bus stop.

Deputy Police Commissioner Col. Frederick Bealefeld: "What kind of society do we have when anyone can decide at their whim who dies?"

Do you work at a community organization in a crappy neighborhood? The Baltimore City Health Department's Office of Youth Violence Prevention wants to give you money.

A Baltimore City jury convicted Dale Fauntleroy, now 22, (not to be confused with Cedric, left) of the 2500 block of Woodbrook Ave. of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery with a deadly weapon yesterday. The jury deliberated for approximately two hours following two days of testimony from four State's witnesses. Judge John M. Glynn will sentence Fauntleroy on June 4, 2007. He faces a maximum possible prison term of 35 years; 20 for the conspiracy and 15 for the robbery. On January 9, 2006 a City jury acquitted Fauntleroy of armed robbery and handgun counts and hung on the remaining counts that prosecutors retried this week. On October 29, 2004 Fauntleroy attempted to rob an off duty Mass Transit Police Officer with an unknown caliber handgun while they were both inside a carry-out in the 2700 block of Pennsylvania Ave.

Agg. assaults w/ gun

Jan. 14 - Jan. 27th (plus one from the 13th that didn't make the last update)

Northwestern District:

1/15 - 3700 block Park Heights Ave, 21215 (two victims)
1/20 - 3600 block Woodland Ave, 21215 (two victims)
1/27 - 5200 block Florence Ave, 21215

Northern District:

1/23 - 5600 block The Alameda, 21239
1/24 - 3100 block N Calvert St, 21218

Northeastern District:

1/16 - 3100 block Annetta Ave, 21213
1/16 - 2700 block Harford Rd, 21218
1/23 - 5500 block Frankford Ave, 21206
1/24 - 3100 block Erdman Ave, 21213

Western District:

1/16 - 2200 block Braddish Ave, 21216
1/19 - 1900 block W Lafayette Ave, 21217
1/22 - 700 block N Carrollton Ave, 21217
1/22 - 2400 block Druid Hill Ave, 21217
1/25 - 1800 block N Ashburton St, 21216 (two victims)

Central District:

1/23 - 100 block E Fayette St, 21202
1/25 - 400 block Key Hwy, 21230
1/25 - 100 block N Howard St, 21201
1/25 - 700 block Druid Park Lake Dr, 21217

Eastern District:

1/13 - 1400 block N Eden St, 21213
1/19 - 1900 block Harford Rd, 21218
1/20 - 1200 block Greenmount Ave, 21202
1/24 - 1200 block N Luzerne Ave, 21213
1/27 - 1800 block N Wolfe St, 21213
1/27 - 1600 block Cliftview Ave, 21213

Southwestern District:

1/22 - 100 block Diener Pl, 21229
1/27 - 2100 block Chelsea Ter, 21216

Southern District:

1/25 - 800 block Light St, 21230

Southeastern District:

1/15 - 4800 block Eastern Ave, 21224
1/16 - 6300 block Brown Ave, 21224
1/20 - 1400 block Mosander Way, 21224

February 1

An unidentified couple from West Virginia was shot at Gwynns Falls Park while meeting "with a man about money." She [28] was shot repeatedly in the upper body and pronounced dead at Shock Trauma; he was shot in the hand and taken in for questioning.

The above link also provides the first mention of Vernon Dredden's [27] murder in East Baltimore on Saturday night. Dredden was walking on N. Chester St. when another man shot him repeatedly in the chest.

The feds are still looking for Jermarl/Jemarl/Jemaral Jones and they're offering a $5,000 reward. Jones is not currently a suspect in Sintia Mesa's murder.

Officer David Hare Jr. is in good condition after being shot by a fellow BPD officer yesterday.

There was a carjacking/shooting in the Northeast on Monday night, and a double shooting in East Baltimore on Tuesday afternoon.

Looks like a future serial killer is practicing on the Canada Geese at Fort Armistead Park.

The two Rachels are still missing from Montgomery County. Despite no suspicion of foul play, investigators are "concerned about the girls' emotional states."

Olinda Aparicio was sentenced for transporting women, mostly illegal immigrants, to DC for week-long prostitution sprees.

A substitute teacher and two counselors in Germantown are charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy.

Kevin Clark is fighting to come back to Baltimore.

Is it okay to search for crack in the crack?

Gotta love those "grandiose statements about the meaning of life."

January 31

Police shot a home-invasion suspect on the 2900 block of Rockrose Avenue in Northwest Baltimore.
(Thanks Lurtiss)

"A 20-year prisoner who disemboweled a fellow inmate in gang warfare but maintained he acted in self-defense was sentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of parole."

Anna Ditkoff recounts the murders of Dante Watson, Bonita Madden, Anton Jones, Jr. and an unid'd man [16-20].

ANOTHER police officer has been shot, this time in a "friendly fire" accident. Fortunately, the bullet struck his vest and his injuries are not life-threatening.

After writing a confessional letter to police, state inmate Robert Preston Howard has been charged for the 1994 shooting of James Earl Singleton in Park Heights.

The feds were tracking Sintia Mesa's car because of her boyfriend's alledged drug dealing. Mesa and Jermarl/Jemarl A. Jones were also reportedly storing cash in a storage unit.

Bowling Brook School staff say they thought Isaiah Simmons was pretending to be asleep.

Two Fredneck teens (allegedly) joined Bloods, smoked some crack, then carjacked, robbed and shot minivan driver.

Girls Gone Wild: A 15-year-old girl tried to poison a basketball player on her school's team. And a Calverton Middle School student stabbed two of her classmates with a pen.

January 30 Evening

17 Years in Cold-Case Murder
Judge Martin P. Welch sentenced Dennis James Wallace, 54, of the 3400 block of Leverton Avenue, to 17 years in prison for second- degree murder. Court documents allege that on July 31, 1983, police discovered William Gibson's decomposed body in a trash can which was placed in a wooden clothes locker outside a rear basement apartment located at 2221 Pratt Street. The landlord had complained of a strong foul odor coming from the apartment. Police identified Wallace as a potential suspect but 10 days after the incident he was no longer seen and his whereabouts were unknown until he was located on July 28, 2005.
Assistant State's Attorney Sam Yee prosecuted this case and Cold Case Homicide Detective Tyrone Francis investigated the case.

No more than 20 Years for Murder Gunman, No More Than 10 for Conspirators
Says the SA's office, today, Joshua Mills, age 21, of the 2500 block of Winchester Street, pled guilty to second-degree murder for shooting Antwon Torain, age 35, and co-defendants, Farrakhan Jenkins, age 22, of the 700 block of Payson Street, and Tavon Coleman, age 20, of the 500 block of North Brice Street, pled guilty to Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder for assisting Mills in this murder. They will be sentenced on March 23, 2007. The plea agreement calls for Mills to receive no more than 20 years in prison. Jenkins and Coleman will each receive no more than 10 years in prison. The murder occurred November 27, 2005 in the area of the 700 block of N. Payson Street. The victim had locked himself out of his car and asked the defendants for help in getting into his car. The defendants instead tried to sell the victim drugs. As a result of this conversation, the defendants got into an argument with the victim. Jenkins grabbed the victim and Coleman said something to the effect of "shoot the victim." Mills responded to this request by shooting the victim in the head and the neck. The victim died of these gunshot wounds.

January 30

The body of Morgan State alum Sintia Mesa [26] was found in her car's trunk in Northwest Baltimore. Police have determined that she was murdered and her body showed signs of trauma.

They took Kevin Fowlin's [25] paycheck and they shot him anyway.

The boy killed in Owings Mills over the weekend was identified as Kevin Evans Jr., the son of a Baltimore City police officer.

The man killed last week on E. Baltimore St. has been identified as Milan Walker [19]. The same article identifies Jermall K. Ford [24] as the man who was killed on Madison Ave. last Wednesday.

Isaiah Simmons' family is seeking criminal charges against the staff of Bowling Brook.

The car that Terrance Washington stole was found in Alabama, and Washington is suspected of stealing a pickup truck that "had several weapons on board."

Frederick resident James Drew will get 5 years for propositioning what he thought was a 13-year-old girl. Meanwhile, Anne Arundel perv William Villeda admitted to possessing child porn after offering images to an undercover agent online.

"Was the public benefited at all by the resources spent on her arrest and prosecution?"

January 29 afternoon

Brandy Britton, right, the former UMBC professor accused of prostitution, hanged herself in her HoCo home.

Puzzling metaphor of the day:"I'm not saying a black person's a magic bullet ..."

January 29

A 24-year-old man, Kevin A. Fowlin [25], was shot and killed on W. Rogers Avenue in Northwest Baltimore on Saturday night.

A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed on Old Coach Lane in Owings Mills last night.

A 25-year-old man, Darrell Letike R. Hamilton, was beaten and killed on Morris Hill Avenue in Glen Burnie early Saturday morning.

Former community association president and alleged child abuser Michael B. Martin is charged with trying to hire someone to murder a prosecutor in his case.

Students at Bowling Brook Prep say there's more to Isaiah Simmons' death than meets the eye. Meanwhile, school officials want "speculation over the teenager's death to cease."

Ten people were arrested and charged with various crimes after police found Elizabeth Carter alive in a West Baltimore rowhouse. Carter's mother calls this a lesson for kids to "just trust (your parents) that they've got you covered, they're looking out for you." Assuming, of course, your parents aren't holed up in a West Baltimore rowhouse with a 14-year-old girl.

Edward Williams was arrested for robbing an off-duty cop by pointing a gun at her daughter's head.

More on Saturday's anti-crime march at McCulloh Homes. It remains to be seen whether any of the march's participants will do anything else to fight against Baltimore's culture of violence.

A surprising amount of cigar-related crime over the weekend.

January 28

Hoon Seong No, 32, was shot to death during a robbery in PGC.

Jill Carter: "I'm outraged at the violence and outraged by the lack of outrage." Oh yeah? Not only am I outraged, I'm also affronted, angry, annoyed, antagonized, bitter, chafed, choleric, convulsed, cross, displeased, enraged, exacerbated, exasperated, ferocious, fierce, fiery, fuming, furious, galled, hateful, heated, hot, huffy, ill-tempered, impassioned, incensed, indignant, inflamed, infuriated, irascible, irate, ireful, irritable, irritated, maddened, nettled, offended, passionate, piqued, provoked, raging, resentful, riled, sore, splenetic, storming, sulky, sullen and vexed, so there!

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated a lawsuit filed by a black man in Prince George's County who was arrested and detained for 19 days for a crime allegedly committed by a white man who shared his name.

Weird! A study found that serial killers are more common in the Western U.S. than the Northeast.

January 27

Just when you thought the lows couldn't get any lower:

WBAL reported that a 80-year-old woman was stabbed repeatedly in the parking lot of a KFC after she refused to give spare change to a pair of panhandlers.

A 14-year-old boy was shot multiple times with a pellet gun while getting off the bus on N. Howard Street.

Roxanne Umphery-Lucas claims that the former head of the PTA, Michael Franklin, stalked her, threatened to burn down her house, stole her mail and slashed her tires.

Speaking of the "troubled North Avenue corridor," that's just Elizabeth Carter was found after a neighbor recognized her from the TV.

"A Lutherville man facing a 13-year prison sentence for sexually abusing a child and harassing witnesses has been charged with soliciting the murder of a Baltimore County prosecutor."

"Youths at a private residential program for juvenile offenders are telling their lawyers about watching staff members sit on [17-year-old Isaiah Simmons] until he died."

Ann LoLordo Op-Ed:
"How many more murders will it take before Baltimoreans are fed up enough to do something about it?"
Cybrarian Op-Ed:
Dear Ann, if standing outside and hollering like a renegade Pawnee is what it would take to stop the violence, (or driving through the West Side shaking a finger, or writing irate letters to the editor) we'd be all over that shit. But we all know that 3,000 people could converge on city hall with flaming torches and not a thing would change. The police are understaffed-- that is not my fault. Judges who do have the opportunity to lock people up dole out half-assed "concurrent" sentences-- what am I supposed to do about that, other than not vote for that judge again next time? The city gets grants, and what becomes of them? They're pooped away on one-time worthless projects like cameras, database projects that never get finished and chit-chatting committees. As long as we're blaming "the citizens," the people who are in charge and actually do have the power to change things are off the hook. The violence Baltimoreans are subjected to is bad enough-- to suggest we deserve it because we aren't mad enough is downright offensive. Mkay?

A lot of creeps out there, gals...

Hurrah for the clerk at the County courthouse who thought there was something fishy about one Boaz Immanuel Mohammed Pleasant-Bey and Googled him ... he turned out to be wanted for the rape of a seven-year-old girl.

College Park's got a creep who peeps, sneaks and sleeps.

Elizabeth Carter, 14, of Fallston, fled her overprotective, grammatically challenged parents, probably got abducted.

January 26

Mrs. Patricia C. Jessamy announced today that her office has dismissed first degree rape and misconduct charges against Steven Hatley, 27, and Brian Shaffer, 31, in connection with the alleged rape of a city woman December 27, 2005. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Shaffer and Hatley January 6, 2006 following an independent Grand Jury investigation. Jurors heard evidence and witness testimony during secret proceedings under Maryland law before returning indictments. Prosecutors from the SA's Sex Offense Division conducted a review and evaluation of the evidence in this case following the recent not guilty verdict in the Maryland vs. Jemini Jones.

Brian Witte: Md. lawmakers seek to repeal death penalty.

A 16-year-old was shot in the leg in the Eastern.
And three guys went to a whole lot of trouble to steal a moped.

Terrance Washington appears to have left the state.

Parkville pedestrians are being mugged by four unarmed men.

A jury found Enoch Hill, the former associate pastor of the House of God church, guilty of repeatedly molesting a 12-year-old boy.

Five people were arrested for selling pot.

A PGC cop shot two men in his home under murky circumstances.

HoCo: No wonder Mr. Hartlove was such a peppy teacher.

Wow... I was excited by the picture for a second. It looked like Baltimore had thrown Sheila out with the trash.

January 25

In murder news, an unidentified man [24] was shot to death yesterday morning near Madison Ave. and Bloom St. Tio Floyd [23] was killed in the 1700 block of E. Biddle St. at 10:30 on Tuesday night. At 8:00 Tuesday night, Ronald Lewis [22] was shot to death in McCulloh Homes, which is located nine blocks south of where yesterday's killing occurred. David Thomas [21] was the victim of a shooting on Brighton St. in Rosemont on Monday night.

More on Isaiah Simmons III, the boy who died after a violent outburst at Bowling Brook Prep.

A 16-year-old boy was shot in East Baltimore.

You'd think after two other escapes, they'd know to keep a close eye on Terrence Washington, or Terrance, or whatever his name is.

The carjacking mentioned here a few days ago is in today's Blotter.

The P.G. County Deputy Director of Homeland Security shot two alleged furniture delivery men.

HoCoPoPo are offering a grand to anyone who helps them catch the guy who robbed a Chevy Chase bank in Ellicott City on Monday afternoon.

The Sun reports that Jessamy's high-fivers were "reassigned."

Yikes. WJZ reports that "many young girls are looking up to Baltimore's first ever female mayor for inspiration." And WBAL blows our mind with this shocker: "Jailing Violent Repeat Offenders Key To Safety."

Two bills in Annapolis will replace the Maryland death penalty with life in prison without parole.

January 24 Nite

The Ink catalouges 2007's murders 16-20.

January 24 afternoon

Rumor has it that Mrs. Patricia Coates Jessamy fired two genuises on her protection team who high-fived each other in the courtroom after Jemini Jones' acquittal.
Says the SA's office, "We have NO COMMENT."

Why this isn't front page news is beyond me: an off-duty cop's daughter was held at gunpoint during a robbery outside the girl's day care center on Monday morning.

A fight at the McCulloh Homes in West Baltimore left one unidentified man [22] dead.

A Bowling Brook Prep student died after becoming "enraged for no apparent reason" and threatening school staff.

Typical Baltimore stuff (shootings, robbery, etc.) in the Blotter, including an armed robbery on The Avenue.

Two Annapolis men were wounded in a shooting late last night.

Harford County Detention Center inmate Terrance Kassis Washington escaped while being taken to the emergency room.

A robbery victim in South Baltimore was locked in the trunk of a Jaguar.

Breaking News!!! On October 13, robbers forced their way into a Pikesville house, restrained the family who lived there, and stole $20,000 worth of sports memorabilia. Police are searching for the suspects. Hopefully they fled the scene really, really slowly.

John Gray was sentenced to 90 days for attacking his son's peewee league football coach.

January 24

La Migra: we weren't planning a raid, but the inmigrantes jumped on our cars!

That's one rape trial down, one to go for Jemini Jones. Shouted a friend of the alleged victim, "Police... just proved they can get away with everything."

Cue the violins: The murder of Antwaine Curbeam (14) has made Loyola students nervous about walking to the CVS. Though the Police have never said killing was drug-related, Loyola Director of Public Safety Tim Fox was quick to reassure students: "All indications are that it was drug-related. It was a single shot, so that it kind of tends to look like it was maybe a hit of some sort."

Dear Readers, Does anyone have a CBS radio login they could share? Tried to register unsuccessfully and I kind of miss listening to Ed Norris...

January 23 afternoon

An immigration raid around Broadway resulted in an estimated two dozen arrests. Says our reporter on the scene,

I spoke to representatives from United Workers' Association, including Spanish speaking workers who were in the area of Broadway and Lombard this morning. At 11:30, unmarked cars rolled up to that corner in front of the 7-11 and rounded up Hispanic immigrants waiting for work there. At 10:30 the corner was full of people waiting for offers of work for the day ... Witnesses said the raid was carried out by 'Immigration,' presumably ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Department of Homeland Security). There is no word yet if this was an isolated raid or part of a coordinated, multi-city effort.

The Baltimore City Grand Jury has indicted Kevin White, 23, of the 4700 block of Ellison Avenue; Kevin Barnes, 20, of the 900 block of E. Lombard Street and Lennard Jones, 21 of the 900 block of Whitelock Street on first-degree murder and other counts. Court documents allege on December 26, 2006, the victim, Jose Hernandez, along with another male, were approached by three males as they walked away from the corner store in the 3200 block of East Baltimore Street. Two of the males produced knives and the other produced a handgun. Mr. Hernandez and the other man ran, gunshots were fired and the other man witnessed Mr. Hernandez fall to the ground. Mr. Hernandez died as a result of his injuries. The other man escaped without injuries. An arraignment is scheduled February 14, 2007, before Judge Gale E. Rasin.

Judge Allen L. Schwait sentenced Reginald McKever, 21, of the 4700 block of Ellson Avenue, to 50 years in prison today. A City jury convicted McKever November 3, 2006 of attempted first-degree murder, use of a handgun in the crime of violence and attempted robbery deadly weapon. Judge Schwait sentenced him to 30 years for the attempted murder and 20 years for the handgun count with the sentences to run consecutively. Judge Schwait also sentenced McKever to a concurrent 20 year prison term for the attempted robbery deadly weapon count. Say the facts,

On July 18, 2005 Baltimore Police Officer Kevin Simmons was off-duty when McKever and an unknown male approached him. McKever brandished a handgun and demanded money from Simmons. Officer Simmons, fearing what might happen if the defendant got his service weapon, attempted to flea from the defendant while announcing that he was a police officer. McKever shot Officer Simmons one time, striking him in the foot, and then fled the scene.

A jury acquitted Jemini Jones of all charges.

No bail for Brandon Grimes.

Carroll County's one homicide of 2006 was Rylee Emge, age three months, a victim of shaken-baby syndrome. His father has been charged.

Silver Spring has bought itself a $7.7 million bridge that's now "a perfect place for a crime."

Examinertorial re. the Robert Clay case: "Every reason given for secrecy [by the police department] is specious."

If you've been groped, assaulted or forced to watch porn with the pervert at left, Fabrice Snowden, please call Baltimore County Police.

January 23

An unidentified man was shot to death at 8 last night on Brighton St. in West Baltimore's Rosemont neighborhood. The 21st murder of the year wasn't reported by WJZ, WBAL radio, WBAL TV, WMAR, or the Examiner.

The grandmother of Bonita Madden, the woman killed in the murder/suicide in West Baltimore last week, is being evicted from a senior living facility for taking in her granddaughter's newly orphaned kids.

Duane Latoye Geiger eluded police for nearly two years, but was finally arrested for the murder of White Marsh resident Ralph Amadi.

"Eggy's become a great man now."

Former Q.A. teacher Chris Tribbitt got 18 months, which is about six months shorter than his "relationship" with a teenage girl.

We steal from the churches, we steal from the outreach centers, we steal from the BK, and we steal from each other.

Funeral home owner Paul Stella is being investigated by the feds for stealing from pre-paid funeral accounts.

The Yorkway complex in Dundalk -- source of 3,800 calls to police in 2005 -- has started to come down.

Two 16-year-old girls are missing in Montgomery County, but foul play is not suspected.

Shut up and drive!

January 22 Evening

The Jemini Jones case has gone to the jury.

This past weekend I decided to finally update my non-fatal shootings map, so I slowly combed through the Baltimore Police Dept. Online Crime Map and counted all the "Agg. Assault - Gun" green triangle icons I could find. I thought the readers of this fine blog would like to see the list of this year's so far. It's a lot less than I expected and I have a feeling it is rather incomplete (where's that kid who got shot on Belnord and who was erroneously reported as dead by ABC?). Also, I don't understand why the person killed in the 300 block of West North Avenue gets to be the victim of both a murder AND an aggravated assault while the rest of this year's murder victims only get to be murder victims, but here it is, Jan. 1st through Jan. 13th:

Northwestern District:

1/1 - 5100 block Elmer Ave, 21215
1/7 - 2900 block Taney Rd, 21209
1/11 - 4100 block Fairview Ave, 21216
1/12 - 3800 block Beehler Ave, 21215
1/13 - 3400 block Paton Ave, 21215

Northern District:

1/5 - 1100 block E Belvedere Ave, 21239 (four victims)
1/5 - 3900 block Roland Ave, 21211 (three victims)
1/6 - 300 block W North Ave, 21217
1/8 - 400 block E 27th St, 21218

Northeastern District:

1/1 - 4900 block Aberdeen Ave, 21206
1/4 - 2600 block Pelham Ave, 21213
1/5 - 1700 block Carswell St, 21218
1/8 - 1800 block E 31st St, 21218
1/9 - 1700 block Abbotston St, 21218
1/11 - 4800 block Harford Rd, 21214

Western District:

1/2 - 1400 block Mountmor Ct, 21217
1/5 - 1900 block Clifton Ave, 21217 (five victims)
1/6 - 1000 block W Saratoga St, 21223
1/8 - 1600 block N Gilmor St, 21217

Central District:

1/4 - 1900 block Pennsylvania Ave, 21217
1/7 - 500 block W Saratoga St, 21201
1/7 - 400 block W Franklin St, 21201

Eastern District:

1/1 - 2400 block E Oliver St, 21213
1/2 - 1300 block N Bradford St, 21213
1/2 - 600 block N Wolfe St, 21205 (Johns Hopkins Hospital)
1/4 - 400 block E 21st St, 21218
1/8 - 1700 block Harford Ave, 21213
1/9 - 600 block N Wolfe St, 21205 (Johns Hopkins Hospital)
1/9 - 1200 block E North Ave, 21202
1/12 - 400 block E 22nd St, 21218

Southwestern District:

1/1 - 3400 block Clifton Ave, 21216 (two victims)
1/8 - 1800 block N Rosedale St, 21216
1/8 - 2700 block Walbrook Ave, 21216
1/9 - 4700 block Dartford Ave, 21229

Southern District:

1/10 - 3600 block S Hanover St, 21225
1/13 - 100 block S Schroeder St, 21223

Southeastern District:

None (!)

January 22

19-year-old Anton Jones Jr. has been identified as the 20th muder victim in the city. According to Galt, he had no criminal history and was guilty of nothing more than going grocery shopping.

Welcome to Baltimore, the city where a chauffered-at-gunpoint crime spree warrants 131 words in the Blotter. On top of that, two other shootings and a stabbing.

The State's Attorney's Office is questioning the effectiveness of the blue light cameras.

Closing arguments are scheduled today for Jemini Jones' case.

In Queen Anne's county, sentencing is scheduled for Christopher Tribbitt, a former physical education teacher who is charged with molesting a 12-year-old girl.

If you want a tattoo in Westminster, you'd better get it quick.

A good article about how two people can make a difference.

January 21

Two men were murdered yesterday: An adult male [19] was shot in the head at 1000 E. Baltimore St. at 3:50 on Saturday afternoon, and a man [20] was shot in the Northeast neighborhood of Cedonia at 11:00 last night.

Rodricks is trying to rally the masses.

A man in a stolen Volvo was killed when he crashed into an SUV in Annapolis.

January 20

More on Thursday's murder/suicide [18] on North Calhoun Street.
Fox reported last night that the eight-year-old daughter was the one who called the police.

Jemini Jones: "I never had sexual intercourse with that woman."

The civil-rights lawsuit against the city goes on. Former Baltimore Police Internal Affairs Chief Zeinab Rabold testified that she found a dead rat and racist flier on her car.

A teenaged suspect was shot to death by MoCo Police.

City cops are searching for an aging queen, European playboy or other "fashion-conscious gentleman" who burgled Gian Marco Menswear.

The scrunchie has left the building: top jailer Mary Ann Saar is out, and Gary Maynard, 63, is in! (Isn't it unusual to hire someone who's two years from retirement?)

Back by popular demand, the stolen Pug link.
The Pikesville Molotov cocktail is none too comforting, either ...

[mocking of Mike Schuh deleted out of respect for the dead]

Scratch that!

I woke up with a sore throat and might not make it but I'll try...
ps., if anyone has a copy of yesterday's post, in their cache or whatever, please send it to me.

January 19, evening

Rodney Thomas, aka "Skinny Suge," 31, of the 2500 block of Edmondson Avenue, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault on Wednesday before the Honorable Martin P. Welch. Thomas was sentenced to 15 years in prison, however, Judge Welch suspended all but three years, ordered a three-year-term of probation and $1,471 restitution to the victim. While outlining the facts of the plea to the court, prosecutor Rita Wistoff-Ito noted that the victim recognized and knew the defendant from his appearance in the "Stop Fucking Snitching Vol. 1" DVD. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Thomas May 1, 2006 for first-degree assault. Court documents allege that on February 13, 2006 following an argument with the victim, Thomas assaulted an employee of the USA Boutique in Mondawmin Mall striking her in the head. The victim also sustained a chipped bottom tooth, black eye, bruised lip and a fractured nose from the attack. In a separate incident on February 18, 2006, Thomas was charged with robbery. That case was nol prossed following the plea agreement in the above matter, says the SA's office.

Today in Circuit Court a Baltimore City jury found Terrance Wynn guilty of robbery with a deadly weapon; plain old robbery; first-degree assault; two counts of second-degree assault; theft over $500; wear, carry, transport and use of a handgun during a crime; two counts of reckless endangerment and and two counts of false imprisonment. Say the facts:

In the late afternoon of Sunday, August 28, 2004 Terrence Wynn entered the home of Curtis Stokes in the 3100 block of Ravenwood Avenue under the guise of purchasing a T-shirt. He and an accomplice robbed and assaulted Mr. Stokes, Ms. Darlene Richardson, and Ms. Sagundra Poole of approximately $40,000 in cash, goods, CD’s, clothing, a cell phone and jewelry. Terrence Wynn and his accomplice then falsely imprisoned the three victims in Mr. Stokes' basement while fleeing the scene. Terrence Wynn faces a possible 170 years of incarceration at sentencing scheduled for March 26, 2007 in Part Four.

Oooh, The Sun now has a way to filter just the Baltimore City news. So handy for those of us who don't like to waste time thinking about anywhere else!

Cap'n Karl Hickerson was charged with 95 counts of being a pervert.

Apparently, Kenneth Trivett thought drugs and helicopters would go together like peanut butter and chocolate.

"...But I don't think that any of us want to think of Baltimore as a city that knows how to make excuses." Actually, Sheila, I don't want to think of Baltimore as a city where nearly 300 people are murdered each year. Do you think you can help with that, or will we get more excuses?

Wow... we've sunk to stealing pugs. That's wrong on so many levels, I don't even know where to start.

January 18, part II

21-year-old Dante Watson is murder victim #17. He was stabbed in his Northeast apartment on Monday night and died on Tuesday.

Jennifer Ann Kruszynski is missing and suspected dead; her ex-boyfriend implicated himself in his suicide note.

A federal cop and a Virginia State Trooper were beaten and robbed in Canton. Both were in town to attend Det. Troy Chesley's funeral and show support to the Baltimore PD.

Good to know that the Navy and the Secret Service are unofficially protecting our malls.

Armed robbery at the Rotunda, and a 17-year-old in a stolen Jeep tried to run down the police.

Things are looking bad for Jemini Jones.

Careful with that O'Douls: you might get charged with an open container violation

A transgendered woman got busted during her attempt to become transidentified.

The state has four years to fix the city jail.

There's a joke in here somewhere about the crime of O'Malley being governor and Dixon being mayor. It just isn't feeling funny to me this morning.

January 18

A woman was punched in the face and had her purse stolen at the Waverly Giant.

January 17

The funeral was held for Detective Chesley, who "lived well and lived right."

One of the guns found with Chesley's accused killer was confiscated by police in 2001.

Vehicular manslaughter was added to the charges against Lazara Arellano de Hogue in the dragging death of 3-year-old Elijah Cozart.

A 52-year-old city cab driver was shot in the neck by one of his passengers.

A 23-year-old man was shot in the leg in Annapolis this morning.

Okay, so it's Trooper Rafeal Reyes, not Rayes. And it's not merely teenage girls he likes, it's teenage relatives. Nice.

Luvine Summers got 10 years for robbing a bank in Ellicott City.

Badges and uniforms are missing from BWI: Dutch is pissed but the TSA says it's all good.

Sometimes it's hard to know which end of the knife is pointy.

Note to car thieves: It's much easier to get away if you don't take a shortcut through someone's living room.

This way, my teeth can fall out before they get too yellowed from all the coffee I drink.

Sheila likes Hamm's "ability to provide stability and consistency..." Interesting.

"The Modell's Give Disadvantage Kids An Education". I wonder if headline writer's at WJZ are included in those being educate.

Hi, Clubhouse!

Well, that wasn't so bad... Anna Ditkoff certainly seems to share the collective outrage r.e. the lack of outrage...
ps. Burg, you look just like Jason Schwartzman <-high compliment!

We call it "the Baltimore"

"Its many features include compartments for emergency morphine ... Built into the forearms are a small recording device, a pepper-spray gun and a detachable transponder that can be swallowed in case of trouble."

January 16

Two teenage girls, one of them pregnant, were shot in Park Heights.

David Wesley was arrested for trying to kill his brother-in-law and setting fire to his front lawn.

State Trooper Rafael Rayes has been suspended and charged with liking teenage girls way too much.

Questions remain about activist/businessman Robert Clay's alleged suicide, and police continue to be uncooperative.

Sheila's going to bring us a "more holistic approach to crime". This should be good.

Convicted murderer Lawrence Borchardt doesn't want to be murdered killed by the will of the people of Maryland.

Cynthia Putty has returned home safely.

The Examiner headline says it all: "Columbia Mall seeing increase in crime and accidents as it expands."

It's like Romeo and Juliet, but with the guards as the Montagues and the inmates as the Capulets.

We cant spel.

Skateboarding is not a crime. Stealing skateboards, however, is.

Lots of purse snatchings, cell phone robberies, and stolen computers.

Serious, starting next month...

Tuesday, January 9, Hamm talks to Sentementes and Linskey for an article:
"Police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm said that officials who participate in the city's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council - a group of elected officials, law enforcement agency representatives and others - 'need to start getting serious about getting people off the street.'"

Wednesday, January 10, as in, the next damn day:
Hamm is a no-show at the CJCC meeting.
Only one person from the police department (James Green, director of special projects) bothered to go.

January 15

Richard Crane was shot to death on Saturday afternoon in an "ambush-style killing" on E. 29th St. Crane is the 16th homicide in 2007.

Wayne Baboolal was charged in the murder of Washeeda Ali Siahpoush, the Virginia woman whose body was found in Owings Mills.

47-year-old Cynthia Putty has been missing since January 4.

Funny how when people at the Harbor are targeted, a meeting about crime just isn't adequate. No, this time, they've called for a school assembly!!! (Oh, and students from Digital Harbor High are "no longer allowed to walk through the Harbor but must walk around it." How does one walk through a Harbor?)

Gun advocates are trying to give us the right to carry concealed weapons.

The mayor of Aberdeen is taking on the City Council over a date book.

I wonder if the possibility of a felony conviction is really worth $2?

January 14

A vieweing is scheduled today for murdered detective Troy Chesley.

Hammy wants more "community policing." He even took time from his busy meeting schedule to meet with career offenders and warn them.

Likes: federally funded trips to Miami Beach and San Francisco. Dislikes: Those annoying kids who keep causing trouble.

A look at the policies regarding alleged sex offenders in HoCo schools.

No, dammit... she said "Outrage," not "Outage."

January 13

Gregory Stokes was arrested in the Southeast and charged with killing Pamela Balk in Worcester County.

According to a WJZ headline, we're "Concerned Over High 2007 Murder Rate". The Almighty Sheila won't have recommendations until next week. Perhaps her suggestions will include that we stop killing each other.

Lawrence Borchardt is on his way back to death row.

Alvin Augustus Williams was convicted of second-degree murder in the unprovoked killing of basketball coach and software engineer Brian O'Neil Jones in Canton. Sentencing is on 2/26/2007.

Perverts in the HoCo schools, in the Klan, and in Carroll County.

Testimony continues against Jemini Jones, formerly of the Southwestern Flex Squad.

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Patrick Cavanaugh handed down a sentence in what he describes to the Sun as "the most heartrending he has encountered in his 33-year legal career."

A stolen trumpet, debit card, and bag of groceries.

January 12

Mother Jones revisits the 1963 murder of Hattie Carroll, made famous by the world's most overrated musician.
(Here's more)
Did you know? Before the Internets, crime blogs were performed in epic folk song form!

January 11

Marcus McDowell, 16, homicide #10, was killed while trying to help a friend who was being robbed.
11. Rodney Gardner, 21, 3100 Ravenowood(sp?) Road
12. Gregory Rochester, 25, 200 block of E. 25th Street
13. William Davis, 26, 1200 block of N. Caroline Street
14. Antwaine Curbeam, 30, 5200 block of York Road
15. Melissa Stefanski, 23, 600 block of Washburn Ave.
Dixon and Hamm are going to have a meeting, and Judge Glynn is forming a committee.
Ever get the feeling there could be 15 people left alive in the city, and the solution would still be a combination of meetings, committees and study groups?

Police are still seeking the two men who shot a cab driver in Brooklyn, one with a "'snake-shot' weapon."

A CA woman was indicted for bringing 77 pounds of khat through BWI (which, I hear from a friend in airport security at a more cosmopolitan hub, is an extremely common find-- most flights from Africa come with at least one passenger with a "big, light bag full of what looks like hedge clippings." Many people don't know it's illegal, and most of the time security just throws it out.)

January 10

So far, '07 has been bloody and sad-- 15 homicides in 10 days, five of them yesterday, including Detective Troy Chesley Sr.

A cab driver was shot in the throat by a man on South Hanover Street who's at large.

Sierra Swann got 15 years and Nathaniel Broadway 30 for the deaths of 30-day-old Emonney and Emunnea Broadway.

Tia Whitehead, the mother of a 15-year-old Baltimore girl who was chained to a bed for four days got no jail time for her role.

Judge Glynn: The city court system deals with about 10,000 felony cases a year, but has the capacity to hold only about 500 jury trials.

This just in

From Julie Bykowicz, who was there:

DJ Tommy = not guilty

of anything. He's being released right now.

Morning

"Two slayings push homicides to 13"
And two more since press time.

"Trouble is so easy to get into but it is SO hard to get out of," said accused cop-killer Brandon Grimes.

A woman was arrested for killing Freddie Thornton, 69.
And a man was shot and another stabbed in the Blotter.

Sentencing hearings today for Nathaniel Broadway and Sierra Swann in what must be the worst case of child abuse the city has ever seen-- and that's saying a LOT.
Meanwhile, the city is struggling to fix its $67-million foster child tracking system.

Ted Venetoulis swears the Sun will be his by March.

January 9

Sun: "City homicide count rises to 9"
Can someone please tell me which don't count or are the same person or something?:
1. Leon Nelson, 17, China Garden
2. Man, early 20's at Windsor Forest apt. complex, 4900 Challedon Road
3. Woman in 2000 W. North Avenue Rowhouse
4. Another 17-year-old on Belnord, SE? - disputed
5. Thomas Joseph MacKenney, the 5900 block of Northwood Drive near Chinquapin Run
6. Yule Antonio Henderson, 21, 1800 block of N. Montford Ave.
7. Un ID'd man, 5200 block of Ready Ave.
8. Ray William Alston, 27, 300 block of W. North Ave.
9. Edward L. Canupp, 500 block of Maude Ave.
10. 16-year-old boy 5100 block of Harford Road
11. An Un Id'd man shot in the chest at an unknown location and dropped off at the Johns Hopkins Hospital emergency room
12. Detective Troy Lamont Chesley Sr., 34. (whose alleged killer, Brandon Grimes, had been arrested 17 times. )

A 13-year-old girl took the stand against her accused rapist Charles Carroll.

Shocking!

WBAL has taken the very rare step of publishing a photograph of the body of the Jane Doe found murdered on Caves Road near Park Heights Avenue.

January 8

Raeshio Rice got 27 federal years for racketeering and drug conspiracy charges. Said ♥RJR♥, "The Rice organization is out of business, their fancy cars and other assets now belong to the government, and gang members will spend many decades in federal prison cells with no probation and no parole. If Raeshio Rice does not already regret that he chose a life of drugs and violence, he will regret it long before the year 2030."

Donta Allen, who pled guilty to killing Hopkins student Linda Trinh, was given a life sentence, though under the terms of the plea agreement he may be out on parole someday.

Bykowicz on the trial of DJ Tommy, which continues today in room 430 of courthouse east. With the speedy schedule of a bench trial, it could be over within two or three days. The last witness, we hear, was/will be the Medical Examiner, who will explain, presumably, why he was certain Ramasamy's death could not have been a suicide.
ps. says a source regarding the "profane" message, it said, "i'm fuck" (or actually, i'm fucc) as if she (or someone) was attempting to write "i'm fucked."

Three victims were shot to death and one beaten over the past weekend. And in the blotter, another shooting, a stabbing and an assault.

Eeeewwww.... Joseph Samuel Ellis, 25, of Elkridge, who taught at Glenelg High School, HoCo, was charged with sex offenses for exposing his dangly bits live and via cell-phone cam to two teenage girls.

It's God vs the Deuce!
The Managing Editor of the WMAR newsroom, Nicole Block, resigned January 3 and sent co-workers a memo explaining that working her job "does not please God," adding, "I have grown into a woman, that [sic]now understands her purpose in life and that is to serve God in everything I do."

January 7

A strangled woman's body was found in the County near Caves Road and Park Heights in Reisterstown.

Justin Wylbynzynski of Berwick, PA. fled officers, was shot to death in Essex.

The family of HoCo murder victim Ronald "Jay" Kinzer held a vigil.

Pardon our digression, but indeed, the pink elephant declares Atlas Shrugged "joyless" and John Galt "not worth knowing."[login: bushsucks psword: bushsucks]

"Business leaders consistently name it as one of their favourite books... Why the fuss? Because no other novel grants the enterprising chief executive such Nietzschean superman status. No other novel provides such a manifesto for money and the free market ... Atlas's prose is rambling, often wooden; its length is self- indulgent."

Yet bitch still sells six figures from the grave and she'll probably sell more than that this year, so it's hard to feel too bad about the panning!

January 6

Dept: of Scary Stats:
Says the D.C.-based nonprofit The Sentencing Project, "more than half of young black males living in Washington, DC and Baltimore are caught up in the criminal justice system on an average day— either in prison, jail, on probation or parole, out on bond, or being sought on a warrant."

Some New York mapmakers used info gleaned from prison entry forms to plot the city's "million-dollar blocks"-- those where the city spends that much (in a year, presumably) to incarcerate its residents. Suprisingly, the borough with the most million-dollar blocks is Manhattan.

There was a triple shooting up in the NE at 1130 Belvedere Avenue, none of the injuries are fatal.

Mayhem in Woodlawn! Students at Milford Mill Academy were pepper-sprayed by police after a post-basketbal-game brawl broke out, and a man barricaded himself in a home... tasering ensued.

Mood-> :(
In Kent County, a 12-year-old girl was given marijuana and cocaine by Dad and New Mommy on a holiday visit. The criminally trashy couple was busted after the girl posted about her fun times on a myspace forum.

"You are a horror to every sane adult in this community," said federal Judge Andre M. Davis to Danny Fleck, a 60-year-old former postal worker who spent "years trolling online for underage girls."
And, 21-year-old George Alexander Riegel of Reisterstown received a four-year prison sentence for e-mailing an undercover agent files of two videos of an adult male having sex with a young child.

Judge Davis also called AAC cop-shooter Calvin Ignatius Savoy "cold-blooded" and "depraved" and sent him to jail for life.

A catfight downtown and plenty of burglary in the Blotter.

Maryland State Police Superintendent Colonel Tim Hutchins stopped a PGC drunk driver by his very own self after a motorist dialed #77.

Thought we all agreed to stop blaming music lyrics for violent human behavior back in the heavy metal days, on account of the whole supposition being unproveable, and any effective remedies being unconstitutional and unAmerican (not to mention some listeners are able to grasp allegory). Ergo, this column is stupid.

January 5

FredCo police are looking for Robert Lee Burgess Jr., left, a murder suspect whose last known address was in HoCo.

[Case name redacted by request-- this person was found not guilty] Another Update: An available courtroom was found and Judge Paul Alpert was open. The defendant chose a bench trial* instead of a jury trial, so Judge Alpert will hear and decide the case. Pretrial motions will be heard at 2:00 p.m. today and the openings will begin 9:30 a.m. Monday, January 8. Judge Alpert is a retired Judge so we don't know yet where he will be sitting Monday.
Ghosts of the Internets: [defendant] last logged in to myspace a week ago. And someone logged on on behalf of his alleged victim, Anu Ramasamy, a few days ago.
Update: Judge Welch has a trial starting Monday, so court administrators have to find a new judge and courtroom. Why no one thought of that before today, dunno...

*Why might a defendant want a bench trial? Notes this legal article,

In the local slang of some courthouses, a bench trial is known as a "slow plea," meaning that the local culture understands that the purpose of a bench trial is to find the defendant guilty, and present details of the case to the judge for purposes of sentencing. In such a jurisdiction, a defendant who believes in her innocence would be ill-advised to waive a jury.

A sentencing hearing for Donta Allen, admitted killer of Hopkins coed Linda Trinh, is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday, January 8, 2007 before Judge Roger W. Brown.
Also scheduled Monday: the trial of Charles Carroll, indicted for second-degree rape, four counts of sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 18 and two counts of third-degree sexual offense, and the trial of Acurtiss Grimes, indicted Grimes July 15, 2004 for first-degree murder and child abuse in connection with the death of his 2-month-old daughter Kaitlyn.

A County man spent 14 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit, but he can't be pardoned because he's pled guilty to sodomy.

The future is now: gait-recognition software can detect suspicious pedestrians.

Andrea Siegel: "A Glen Burnie father shouted 'It's not fair!' and kicked his chair away yesterday after an Anne Arundel County judge sentenced him to 18 months in jail for a drunken-driving crash that killed two youngsters, one of them his."

Two homicide victims named: Larry Parks, 37, was shot in April and died in November (275 of 2006), and Eddie Golf, 26 (2), was the man found near Leakin Park.

Tug-of-Love maman Myriam Bédard is back in Québec, according to spokesmountie Sylvain L'Heureux (whose name means "The Happy Woods"). Thus ends MD's role in the tale of international scandal and intrigue.

The minivan-thief shot by police in PGC was ID'd as Mark Antonio Washington, 43.

The election may be over, but MD's voting-machine woes go on ...

You want flies with that? Says Health Commissioner Sharfstein, 16 percent of Baltimore City McDonald's restaurants have been closed on account of filth.

January 4 Insomniac Edition

Articles to think about while you lie awake:
More people are in jail in America than ever-- but death sentences are at a 30-year-low. What's up with that?

What should happen to officers like Lt. Ehren Watada who "fail to deploy for an illegal war"?