The Shooters Wore White

A man shot multiple times on Laurens Street has died. Cham found a photo (of the victim while he was alive).

Police released a video and Tweeted a chilling photo of the suspect who killed David Porter, 42, in a barbershop at 4419 block of Frankford Avenue. Related? (or not?) Jayne Miller reported that many of the BGF co-defendants are over the age of 40, even though higher-ups in the gang are in their 20s, because of the Guerillas' apparent belief that older guys are less likely to attract the attention of detectives.

Sullen teen rapist

Police are ISO a teenage boy who raped an 11-year-old girl (yeah, 11, that's not a typo) in the 1900 block of Pratt Street on Sunday the 3rd, they have released a sketch and say the suspect is a black teen, about 13-16 years old with orange headphones.

Also caught on camera: a portly-yet-lithe shooter in a beret (?) in the 1100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. Given his stance (and a lack of reports) I assume he didn't actually hit anyone.

Damon Williams, Adrian Walden and Solomon Dunn: three guys arrested in Towson for that string of robberies after they knocked over the 7-11 on Sherwood Road -- BoCo police say they could be connected to as many as a dozen.* (Non-Sun link)

Deltona Harrison

Cham found a photo of murder victim Delonta Harrison. The Internet says he's throwing the sign for the Latin Kings, but I'm not entirely sure the Internet knows what it's talking about.

The city jail is making a big PR push to prove it's less of a corrupt craphole these days.

Hannukah is coming! How about a gang sign USB drive or jewelry made out of a melted-down Newark handgun for under the menorah this year?

BGF escapee Tavon Lee has been recaptured by our Warrant Apprehension Task Force. #ASaferBaltimore
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 14, 2013

Mugshots du jour:

Tracy Truesdale arrested by #BPDSWD in the 1500 Block of Bloomingdale St. for a handgun violation #ASaferBaltimore pic.twitter.com/faoIwd7Q5O
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 14, 2013

Eric Truesdale arrested by #BPDSWD in the 1500 Block of Bloomingdale St. for a handgun violation #ASaferBaltimore pic.twitter.com/2amulmmR0j
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 14, 2013

Willie Fleming was arrested by #BPDNED in the 7000 Block of Marietta St. for a handgun violation #ASaferBaltimore pic.twitter.com/Cu1M7UV5E3
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 14, 2013

Out of Control

Because the holidays are approaching? Instability in the ranks of the BGF? The barometric pressure? Whatever the reason, Delonta Harrison, 19, was killed early this morning in the NW* on Arbutus Ave., yesterday's victim on Edgecombe Circle Drive was ID'D as Brian Curtis Sims Jr., 28. Fenton tweets that the Arbutus Ave. murder with the 9th in 10 days.

The Ink details last week's eight murders: The Berrain brothers, Kurt and Karl; Kenneth Ray Stowers, Tyree Taylor; Katria Drummond; Ricky Thomas; Tracy Love; David Henry Parker.

"It's coming in through staff's body orifices." Former guard at the detention center Shavella Miles dished the dirt to WJZ's Vic Carter. And the CP has some deets on lesser-known federal BGF cases.

The Brew's events page includes this Jennifer Bishop photo.
That is all.

What?! The Baltimore Guide claims that there were no robberies reported in the Southest between Nov. 3-9.

Norma Jean's Gentleman's Club has lost the lawsuit brought by a dancer who said the club was illegally calling her a "contractor," and not an employee, and now a second employee has filed a suit alleging she was fired for agreeing to testify on behalf of the first employee.

In Gambrills, a drug bust at St. Mary's Lane daycare.*

Drivers in Canton and Towson were scammed by a fake dent-and-scratch repair guy.

Del. Heather Mizeur has named the Rev. Delman Coates, a Baptist paster, as her running mate.

Toddlers Toting Guns Now

Last night a man was shot twice in the 200 block of Collins Ave* (but he's still alive);  a man shot in the arm in the 2200 block of Parkton Street in Yale Heights; a man shot in the leg in the 4200 block of Fairhaven Avenue; a man shot in the thigh* in the 5100 block of Park Heights Ave. Friday night: a fatal shooting in the 4400 block of Frankford Avenue,* the victim was ID'd as David Porter, 42; a double shooting on Athol Avenue, a man shot on W. Preston Street. Yet no shootings on Saturday or Sunday night? Odd, if true.

Eleven raids, er, executed search warrants, on the East Side near 1600 E. Lanvale. Justin George reports that about 150 officers were ISO 20 people*: three shooting suspects and two homicide suspects, the rest being drug dealers, I guess. So how did it go? "Police arrested at least one suspect."

Robert Long

Last weekend the Sun ran Ian Duncan's interview with Demetrius Smith*. Smith was the guy who was wrongfully convicted of killing Robert Long in 2008. Smith was released in May, and Jose Morales was convicted of soliciting the murder. Duncan's account hangs the wrongful conviction on two lying witnesses, but as Ed Ericson Jr.'s article in the CP detailed last month, there was a whole lot more to it than that.

117 days without a cause or manner of death for Tyrone West. Medical examiner says they won't provide any clarity at all until it's all done
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) November 12, 2013

Huh? Whut? Erica Green reports that last year city schools suspended 33 3- and -4-year-olds from pre-K. "Most of the students were suspended for physical attacks on teachers or students, though a handful were suspended for offenses such as sexual activity, possession of a firearm or other guns, inciting a public disturbance, and vandalism.*" What??? Possession of a firearm?  Sexual activity? At 3? How is this even possible?  ... in other education news, an audit found that the state neglected to distribute $17.2 million in financial aid to college students.* Could have given it out, didn't.

Dan Rodericks revisits Smith v. MD,* a 1976-1978 purse-snatching case that was eventually to provide justification in the secret FISC court for the NSA's mass spying programs.

Oh geeze, so for years this guy Colin Flaherty has been writing me, Salon, and apparently any and every functioning e-mail address he could get his mitts on to promote his book "White Girl Bleed a Lot," a screed that has as its hypothesis that there are roving mobs of black people are going around attacking white people on the regular, with claims are based on a cherry-picked collection of  YouTube clips and anecdotes (because the press is "ignoring, condoning and denying" this secret rapacious pandemic, of course). Pretty nutty. But guess who's taking it seriously? The Washington Times, for one, and now the American Family Association's One News Now, which is apparently doubling down on its race-baiting strategy.

Oh, and 800,000 gallons of raw sewage flowed into the Gunpowder Falls. Eww!

'I can't believe he was so stupid!"

Minor detail: while the city Grand Jury has indicted 48 alleged BGF members, only 35 of them are in custody.

Shooting: 500 block W. Preston Street. Man reported to be shot in the stomach. Central District detectives investigating.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 9, 2013

Curtis Green,
via Epic magazine

Curtis "chronicpain" Green, a disabled grandpa from Utah, pleaded guilty to cocaine charges down in Greenbelt yesterday. Green was the Silk Road site administrator whose death was faked by the FBI to ensnare Ross "Dread Pirate Roberts" Ulbricht. Al Jazeera theorizes that Green was the one who brought down the whole organization when he used his real home address on a package of party powder. ("I can't believe he was so stupid!" Ulbricht groused to the undercover agent.) If you're following this case, here's a remarkably detailed timeline of events.

Speaking of the "cyberbiz" (oh BJ, you're so 'with it!'), remember that data breach where 12,000 Baltimore County employees had their personal information stolen? There's been another one, this time 6,600 employees had their bank account routing numbers stolen. "Baltimore County said last week that effective immediately, employees were no longer allowed to download personal information on their county hard drives." Hey there's an idea.

There's a story: Anthony Rackley, who escaped from a Maryland prison in July 1980, turned himself in in Oklahoma. Rackley was apparently being extorted by someone who was threatening to turn him in and decided "enough was enough."

The tiny tiny arc of justice

Have you seen this man? Tavon Lee (04/12/90) is wanted by the BPD. pic.twitter.com/CM3uQQiuio
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 8, 2013

Oh, and look who he was-- an alleged BGF member who escaped in handcuffs during a raid* in the 400 block of Pittman Place.

A man was shot to death in the 1100 block of McKean Ave on the west side.

Fox Baltimore covered the Keifaber kerfuffle, "a drama that he says captures an assault." He's filing charges against Conway, and the video does seem to show her hand receding from the area of his face. Conway denies touching him and says, "I just feel really bad for him. I think he's delusional and has been traumatized by his loss."

Heather Mizeur was on Rodericks. She talked education, made no swipes at O'Malley or DG (that I heard), said "um" a lot and kept it pretty cerebral. In other words, she's got zero chance.

Anne Arundel copper thief arrested.. she apparently needed the copper to make tiny tweezers to sculpt her brows into tiny tiny asymmetrical arcs.

Black 48

edited video capture
of uncredited Tribune photo

Apparently while they were out of jail the OG BGF and Young BGFs held their meetings at Mund Park at E. 24th and Greenmount, where Batts and StephRB press conferenced yesterday.*

View Larger Map

200th homicide, 48 indictments

Bernstein, Batts and the mayor held a press conference with some large news: 48 indictments against members of the familia de guerrilleros negros. The Major Investigations Unit has been majorly investigating this bunch since 2005, and has tied that various alleged members to drugs, murder, guns, witness intimidation and various and sundry other gangly activities. 

     For those of you keeping track, murder victims of the gang are alleged to have included Neil Davis, Donatello Fenner, Carlos Williams, Justin Kendricks, Moses Malone, Trevon White, Lamarr Tucker, Dante Jordan, Rakim Muhammad, Adrian Holiday, Anthony Taylor, Gregory Rochester, Keenan McCargo, Byron Dickey, Kevin Hodges, and Lamontae Smith.
There are a lot of redacted names-- the snitches, I presume?
     Besides the number of indictments and corpses, it's also noteworthy that they were prosecuted under the Gang Prosecution statute of 2007, chapter 496, which makes having an "ongoing association" with a gang engaged in criminal activity a crime itself. While most of the defendants are also facing additional charges, some-- Warren Commodore, Tayvon Jefferson, Kashif Kittrell, Tavon Thompson, Jesse Tate, Marquise McCants and three defendants whose names were redacted-- are charged only with being in a gang. This would seem to be a clear violation of the Constitutional right to free association, and it'll be interesting to see what a judge will think about that. 

A woman was shot to death early this morning in the 1500 block of W. Baltimore Street, she was the city's 200th murder of 2013.

A priest who worked at Archbishop Curley High in the 70s, Michael Kolodziej, is being investigated for ... do I even need to finish this sentence? At this point can we just call it "the usual"?

WTF? Our state has the 4th-highest marijuana arrest rate, paying $106 million in just a single year to enforce pot laws that the majority of citizens don't agree with. And while the arrest rate for white people has stayed about the same over the past decade. the arrest rate for black people has more than doubled, I guess thanks to O'Malley's devotion to the much-debunked "arrest everybody" theory* of crime reduction.

Gus Stone Got Stoned

Karl Berrain

Two brothers, Kurt Dewayne and Karl Berrain, un-named men shot in Upper Fell's Point*-- while shootings are rare in that area, robberies, assaults and property crimes are rampant.

Also one Kenneth Ray "Caveman" Stowers, 50, was killed in the 1200 block of Oliver Street. And look, there are victim photos -- and the photos are mugshots. Point taken, BPD communications. Indeed the Berrain brothers were not unknown to the civil or criminal justice system, with charges including armed robbery, assault, battery, drugs, domestic assault and failure to pay child support. For his part, at the time of his death Stowers was awaiting trial on drug charges, was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1993, was sentenced to 13 years, but was out by 2002 to face drug charges every few years since.

Officer Andrew Fitzgerald of Juvenile Booking was charged with assault and misconduct after allegedly punching a kid in the face.

Augustus Stone

The founder of Silk Road and local dealer Jacob T. George IV* may be in the hoosegow, but the site is back.

A robbery suspect crashed his car into a building on North Avenue* while fleeing police

Augustus Stone of the Deener had 158 pot plants in his house.

A third attack on a student in Towson, a Goucher student was robbed on Burke Avenue. Police think it's the same guys.

Morning work soundtrack

Luke Broadwater, Evan and Dennis the Cynic talk FOIA requests, speed cameras (FF to @ minute 40) "the city is pretty fed up... they paid [Brekford] about $700,000 for cameras that don't work" -- the city's all-thumbs PR machine, the Hilton boondoggle and Harbor Point on the City That Breeds podcast.

Hipster Oppression

Yadina Morales

Life in prison for Karla Porter, whose husband was killed at her behest in front of the Towson Hess station.

Yes, it's okay to drink a little bit when you're breastfeeding. Not okay: getting blackout drunk and passing out on top of the baby, smothering it to death, as Yadina Morales of Hagerstown is alleged to have done.

You know that weirdo "sovereign citizen" defense that Robert G. Moore was trying on for size? Apparently said defense is being brought back* courtesy of the Moorish American Science Temple.

Remember when Towson was a sleepy suburban burg where not much ever happened? Those days are apparently muerto -- a Towson student was stabbed on Burke Avenue and taken to Shock Trauma, and on Friday two students were robbed on Aigburth Road.

Sad: Terry Douglass, the woman who was mauled to death by her pit bull suffered from cerebral palsy. And the dog, "Boosie," had also attacked her as well as her grandson in the past and been taken by animal control but had been returned to her. Daughter: "she's probably in heaven saying he didn't mean to do it."

Sometime CP photographer Noah Scialom was arrested after not removing his "monkey ass" from 322 Howard Street, which police allege was operating as an illegal bottle club. Fenton has the police report, which includes rather more incriminating details and a certain "green leafy substance." Police seem pretty hot to trot lately when it comes to busting bootleg party spaces, or maybe it just seems that way because they're busting talkative and connected hipsters.

Detective Joseph Walker

Remember the cop from New Jersey who shot a motorist in a road rage incident on 97? He's claiming self-defense and gave an interview to the NY Post.

Lt. Parker Elliot, who was in charge of the NE District the day Tyrone West died* last July 18, has been reassigned to an undisclosed position. Still no cause of death has been released.

The CP's got the EPA's remarks on the Harbor Point site, and they're doozies: "[air and water test] results that are impossible, mathematically and practically," and references to obsolete equipment and improperly placed equipment. The Brew has more deets as well.

Gun arrest: 200 block E. 24th Street. Northeast District officers arrest 26-year old Lindell Session with a loaded handgun.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 3, 2013

Shooting: 3200 block Normount Ave. Man reported to be shot in the hip. Southwest District Detectives investigating.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 2, 2013

Shooting: 1300 block Ensor Street. Man reported to be shot at location. Detectives investigating.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 2, 2013

The Hand that Fed You

A 56-year-old woman in CHUM died after being attacked* by her own pit bull.

Sterling Ford

One Sterling Ford has been charged for a non-fatal shooting of a 50-year-old man that happened in the 2000 block of Homewood Avenue last Thursday, shooting that police didn't Tweet and doesn't appear to have been reported anywhere. Police are ISO two more suspects.

Fernandez

Another case of a church leader allegedly sexually abusing kids-- this time at Greater Grace Church, the accused is one Raymond Fernandez, said incidents happened in the late 90s and Towson police are ISO any other victims.

Shooting: 1300 block Ensor Street. Man reported to be shot at location.  Detectives investigating.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 2, 2013

The case against the Jarrettsville lady accused of unlawfully screwing the pooch has been dismissed,* the HarfCo prosecutors have declined to prosecute for whatever reason.
Dayum, Ray Lewis lost $3.7 million of his money on bad investments and is suing BB&T Bank.

How's that curse I cursed you with, Kirstie?! Harbor Point construction has been delayed* by environmental agencies, which found "artificially high" levels of hexavalent chromium near the site. How they know it's artificial I have no idea.

A Lotta Ladyparts

Whoa, the Nikita Levy class action lawsuit could have as many as 9,000 plaintiffs, and guy had 10 servers' worth of recorded material (though it's hard to know exactly what that means, as servers hold different amounts of data. But even if the servers were 10 years old, though, that's still a LOT.). Fortunately, victims are being identified by billing records, and presumably not by picking out their ladyparts portraits from a line-up.

Prosecutors are in trouble* after arranging to have two witnesses in the Robert G. Moore murder trial* have lunch together. You may recall, Moore is the sovereign citizen *who, with his "crew," "the untouchables,"* allegedly threatened the lives of prosecutors while awaiting trail for charges of ordering the deaths of seven people to avenge the murder of wrestler Darian Kess.*


In the county, Laquesha M. Lewis was found guilty* of conspiracy to commit the murder of her baby's father. (She looks *much* better on Facebook. What a difference makeup makes. Too bad you can't put concealer on your soul.)

County employees had their personal information stolen.

Shooting: 700 block E. 21st Street. Man reported to be shot in the back. Eastern District Detectives investigating. Dispatch time 5:58pm.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) October 31, 2013

Sterling Ford arrested for the Non-Fatal Shooting in the 2000 block of Homewood Ave.,10/31 #ASaferBaltimore pic.twitter.com/UUlzT3PqFT
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 1, 2013

James Harrington was arrested by #BPDSES in the 1600 Block of Appleton St. for a handgun violation #ASaferBaltimore pic.twitter.com/ltQ2ZdUVTF
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) November 1, 2013

50 Ways to Cleave Your Lover

Fifty-five years for Larry Holly for the murder of Ryshawn Cox on N. Belnord Ave. in 2011.

Ninety-five and 110 years for Don Pulley and Terrence Rollins-Bey, who killed DeAngelo Bass and set his car on fire to conceal the crime, which was caught on camera.

Shawn Stevenson

Two life sentences for Shawn Stevenson in the death of Somchanh Sipayboun, the mother of his children and partner of 13 years. Stevenson raped her, bound her with duct tape, broke her spine and stabbed* her 14 times.

In the meantime, human tofu slice Anthony Brown has a press release re. his domestic violence plan, which involves a network of screening centers* and changing the standard of proof for victims to get a restraining order, and somethingsomething about cell phones. For his part, Doug Gansler, the guy who sent his son to a $33k school that's the source of the local saying "never drink from a cup from a Landon boy" has fired back with some blahblah about cheap political points. And our Bro-torney General may be onto something: as governor Brown won't be in any kind of position to change legal burdens of proof, and "setting up centers" = throwing money at the problem, while training health care providers and officers to assess domestic violence risk would be a lot simpler, cheaper and is backed by evidence that it's effective. Anyway, there's also a lady and some kind of Republicans in the governors' race, but they were apparently too busy blow-drying hair/reading from the Necronomicon to talk to Mike Dresser.

Rodney "Noah" Hubert of Pikesville was indicted for pimping a 16-year-old 

As one might expect, the family of Anthony Anderson has filed a lawsuit* against the BPD for an undisclosed amount. Anderson died of internal bleeding while being arrested in September of 2012.

Your exes will be so sad: a bill coming up next year could make it a felony to post explicit pictures of someone without their consent.

TIL Molly and ecstasy are not the same thing. Wait, or are they? Quit confusing me and just tell me what to freak out about, Internet!

SRB's still claiming no knowledge of the dirty "Smart Meters" bidding process.

There was a hearing yesterday on the troubled Detention Center; officials say cell phone blocking technology is going to fix stuff, because without cell phones there is no other way for human beings to communicate with one another.

Missing Person: Help us find 70-year old Gloria Plater. Missing since September. Call 911 w/ info on her whereabouts. pic.twitter.com/x5DtA5QTLD
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) October 31, 2013

Jason Crawford was arrested by #BPDND in the 300 Block of E 27th St. for a handgun violation #ASaferBaltimore pic.twitter.com/GLtmTVMoEm
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) October 29, 2013

David Turner arrested by #BPDCD in the 300 Block of MLK Blvd. for a handgun violation #ASaferBaltimore pic.twitter.com/o1bsAXWnNk
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) October 29, 2013

Help us locate this suspect wanted for a shooting on 9/28 in the 3700 block of Columbus Dr. Call 911 w/info. pic.twitter.com/r29GVLIfl5
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) October 29, 2013

Douglass Student Killed

Eighteen-year-old Darnell Moore, a student at Frederick Douglass High (not to be confused with columnist Darnell L. Moore) was murdered yesterday via shots in the back on West Preston Street near McCulloh homes. Another unidentified person was shot also.

The school administrator who allegedly sold students pot cookies was ID'd as Clyde Tatum, 40,* of Reach! Partnership School. A search of his house turned up a handgun and he was charged with being a felon in possession of a handgun-- Tatum had been convicted of gun and cocaine possession charges in the past. Super!

And Brittany Powers was charged with killing Gwendolyn Johnson, 24.

Brittany Powers

Zach Sowers' Attacker Arrested Again

Arthur Jeter

Police arrested Arthur Jeter for a handgun violation. Jeter, then 17, was one of the guys who assaulted/killed* 28-year-old Zach Sowers six years ago while he was walking his pug near Patterson Park. For agreeing to testify against fellow attacker Trayvon Ramos, Jeter had all charged dropped but armed robbery and got eight years. He also pleaded guilty to another armed robbery two days after the Sowers attack. At sentencing two of the attackers apologized to the Sowers family, Jeter was not one of them.*

Another guilty plea in the jail/BGF scandal: Kimberly Dennis, who was the first target of federal wiretaps, got down with two Guerilla guys (including inmate Derius Duncan, in a closet), allegedly smuggled in cell phones and tobacco and said of an inmate who was stabbed after not paying his smuggling tax to the BGF, "yeah, them niggas banged him. .. whoever catch, you gotta pay a bill." When Dennis was busted, the feds seized gel caps, condoms and her white Chevy Camaro. She faxes a maximum of 20 years.

Andrew Palmer

The Ink details murders 186-189: Steven Wayne Pearson, Durrell Gaskins,  Keith Holly Jr., Lance-Trenton Maurice Allen and Darrell Berry.

Remember Andy Palmer, 46, who got out of thousands of $$ of restaurant checks by faking seizures? Well he was arrested again... for dodging restaurant checks by faking seizures.*

Arrest made in the recent fatal shooting of Gwen Johnson on Abbott Ct. Arrested: Brittany Powers, 23, of Ashland Ave
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) October 30, 2013

Shooting: 600 block Cherry Hill Road. Male reported to be shot. Southern District Detectives investigating. Dispatch time 11:32pm.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) October 30, 2013

Arrest made in the recent fatal shooting of Gwen Johnson on Abbott Ct. Arrested: Brittany Powers, 23, of Ashland Ave
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) October 30, 2013

Progress!

Progress! A federal judge acknowledges that loosened marijuana regulations federally and around the country violates the equal protection clause, and handed down mere 18 month-11 year sentences to convicted pot distributors.*

The new state gun tax means a windfall for the Department of Natural Resources. ... everybody likes natural resources, but shouldn't that money rightly go to victims of gun violence?

Jacob Theodore "digilink" George IV was charged* with selling heroin and methylone on the Silk Road dark web site.

Study finds only 20 percent of MD college students have drug/alcohol problems.*And more shady dealings at the Liquor Board, including awarding a license to an LLC that doesn't exist.

County speeders are getting $56,000 worth of dropped tickets* thanks to Xerox not filing its calibration paperwork on time. .. and what of the city's Brekford cameras? They're still not up and running, in spite of the company's assertion that they would be functional by September 30.*

Remember how the city is poised to award a $martMeter contract to the Dynis corp, the shaky firm whose bid was $101 million more than the next-highest (and perfectly qualified) bidder? Well look who's powering up that bid: good old KO Public Relations, known for pushing citizen-pocketbook rapes such as corporate speed cameras, gambling and Harbor Point.

Today's mugshots:

Pete Harrison was arrested by #BPDND in the 5400 Block of Ready Ave. for a handgun violation #ASaferBaltimore pic.twitter.com/qDOxGBDkd1
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) October 28, 2013

Jordan Spikes was arrested by #BPDSED in the 5600 Block of ODonnell St. for a handgun violation #ASaferBaltimore pic.twitter.com/JmVaazZC2O
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) October 28, 2013

By Virtue, Not by Force

The Sun has more details of yesterday's murders of firefighter Andy Hoffman and Marie Hartman,* and they are horrible and sad. Hartman leaves behind a six-year-old, and her 18-year-old sister, who hid in a closet then jumped out of a window to escape. Hoffman's Station 14 was draped in black today.

Students from Reach Partnership School were taken to the hospital Tuesday after a school administrator allegedly sold them pot-laced cookies. 

Christopher Hilliard

Down in AAC police arrested Eddie Jenkins, 20, accused him of being a serial peeping tom/flasher.* And in Dundalk police arrested AWOL sex offender Christopher Hilliard.

Bail bondsmen were shot at, beauty supply stores were burgled and a whole lot of people got mugged at gunpoint in the Patch Franklin/Woodlawn/Pikesville blotter.

Seriously, Harford County? A drug takeback day there netted "hundreds of pounds"* of Rx's.

Jesus X. Christ, can't somebody shut Doug Gansler up? Or at least staunch the flow of Doug Gansler boner stories? Today's: the would-be gov remarking that when it comes to reporting teenage drinking to authorities "it has to do with if you have a boy or a girl.*" Not sure exactly what was meant by that, but here's a coincidence: Landon, the $33,565-a-year school attended by Gansler's hard-partying son, also happens to be the alma mater of convicted killer George Hughley V and is former home of the fantasy sex leagues the "Southside Slampigs" and the "Crackwhores."

Eight Federal Years for Kendell Richburg

Kendell Richburg, via MySpace

KR via MySpace

Kendell Richburg deserves his own novella and HBO mini-series, but it's Sunday night so this will have to suffice: At 36 he's just been awarded eight years in prison for conspiracy to distribute heroin and possession of a firearm.
    Is that too little considering how he framed grandmas with planted drugs* to boost his own arrest numbers? or is it too much, given that he started out as a good cop by partnering with an informant, yet evidently succumbed to BPD pressure to juke the stats *? Explains Slate,

Richburg did these things not for personal gain, but to benefit a confidential informant who fed him information that helped him make arrests. In order to keep his confidential informant on the street, Richburg gave him drugs that he could sell. Richburg tipped off the informant to police activity, helping him avoid arrest. But eventually, their arrangement took a more sinister turn."

Notably, Richburg was assigned to the VCIS,* the notoriously 'maverick' BPD department that groomed such mavericky mavericks as Jemini Jones. Richburg's defense: he was one of many* who "misrepresented facts." No doubt.
   So then what has became then of all of Richburg's many cases? And how has the police department changed procedures to prevent perverse incentives leading to malfeasance so police quit planting pot on grandmas? While O'Malley cabal's PR machine can find a high-schooler's personal photos from four months ago it can't muster comment on this case, apparently.