A triple shooting last night in Cherry Hill

Good reading: "Fellow Inmates Ease Pain of Dying in Jail"

City to take more land for casino

Who says torts are dull? Jon & Kate, funky chicks and dirty movies in this week's TDR MD law roundup.

15 years

... for man who bit a chunk of his "girlfriend's" nose off.
From the SAO:

Bowers pled guilty September 8, 2009 to first-degree assault.
On September 27, 2008 police responded to the 300 block of South Street for a domestic assault call. Upon arrival the officer observed the victim with a paramedic; she was bleeding profusely from the nose and holding gauze to her nose in an effort to stop the bleeding. The officer asked the victim to remove the gauze pads and he observed that 1/4 to 1/2 of the victim’s nose was missing.  She reported that she and her former boyfriend, Darrel Bowers, were having a dispute over a house key that she had lent to him. During the course of the argument the victim told police that Bowers bit her in the nose so hard that he bit a portion of it off. Photographs were taken of the victim’s injuries and to date, she has had to reconstructive plastic surgeries, and will require several more.

Hollins homicide

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"Man shot on Hollins St. is city's 181st homicide" ... update: he was ID'd as Brock Tatum, 21

Man charged with with conspiracy to manufacture, possess or distribute a destructive device after setting off homemade "Drano bomb" on city bus.

The justice dept. has issued a new medical marijuana policy

City cop suspended for raising his voice at COMSTAT meeting is reinstated. Meanwhile the mayor has promised to investigate fake evidence planted in the officer's EEOC case file.

Barricade situation this morning

A reader listening to county police radio at 2:30 this morning reported a barricade situation last night in Owings Mills:

Though he wasn't mentioned by name, they referred to him
as the  just demoted police major from Baltimore  city. It was a pretty extensive thing, a staging area was set up at a local school, negotiators brought in, requests for floor plans of the house he was in and calling some friend of his from Rodgers Forge  to come and try to talk to him ... The original call was for a "suicidal suspect" and the address was on Eiderdown Ct,, 21117.

Unconfirmed reports ID the barricaded officer as a former deputy major from the central district.
Says a source, "The standoff started around 1:30 a.m. and lasted until 11:30 a.m.; he had to be Tased and was taken to a hospital."

Hit-and-run truck found... but not the driver

Hopkins student killed

Miriam Frankl, a 20-year-old Hopkins student struck by a hit-and-run driver at University and St. Paul, has died. Police are looking for a white Ford F-250 pickup with Maryland tag number 94W412.

The killing of a killer...

A man was stabbed to death Wednesday in city lockup, as he was awaiting trial for the murder of Antron Betts.

In better news, two have been arrested and two more are being sought in the murder of a county man.

Those Canadians sure are crafty, because today a man got 45 years in prison after Canadian police recognized glasses and beer in a child porn video as being from America.

And finally a TTP bloods member accused of stabbing and shooting a witness pled guilty in federal court the other day. But he is not going to be sentenced until April 2010, wtf?

Leading & Bleeding

Does "the media" give residents an outsize impression of the city's crime issues?
The mayor (and the running festival's coordinator) think so.

Officer suspended for raising his voice at meeting complained that dogs in his K-9 unit were denied treatment to force his ouster.

Gunman at large

A gunman who shot two people Thursday day morning at the Penn North subway station is still at large, for now

This just in ...

"Maryland’s highest court on Wednesday decided the buttocks are an 'intimate area,' but reversed a sex-offense conviction for lack of evidence that the man who allegedly touched a child’s backside in the toy section of the Hagerstown Goodwill store did so for his own gratification."


... home burglaries & robberies in the Northern = brazen and shameless. Lock up and be prepared!

If your GPS is stolen

Re-key your house STAT! Fox reports car break-in thieves are finding houses to rob by looking up home addresses on the devices.
ps., better yet, don't leave your GPS device in the car in the first place.

If you've got a briefcase full of money...

Theft from Auto – 3400 Block N. Calvert St. – Union Memorial Hospital – On Oct 14th at 11:30 PM, a non affiliate’s vehicle was broken into through the passenger window, a brief case containing money was taken by person(s) unknown. Baltimore City police responded.

Also, you may want to consider moving if:

• 300 Blk. E. University Pkwy (north side) - On Oct. 13th between 6:15 PM, and 6:30 PM, a JHU graduate reported that an unknown person(s) entered his apartment via an open 3rd floor rear bedroom window and removed his laptop.  Baltimore Police responded.  Investigation continuing.


• 300 Blk. E. University Pkwy (north side) - Between Oct. 13th at 10:00 PM, and Oct. 14th at 1:00 AM, a JHU junior reported that an unknown person(s) entered his apartment via a 2nd floor rear bedroom window and removed his laptop.  Investigation revealed that entry had been gained by removing a window air conditioner.  Baltimore Police responded.   Investigation continuing.


• 300 Blk. E. University Parkway (south side) – On October 8th between 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM, currency was taken from an undergraduate’s 3rd floor bedroom.  Entry had been gained via an unlocked rear 3rd floor window.  Baltimore Police responded.  Investigation continuing.


• 300 Blk. E. University Parkway (north side) – On October 8th between 10:00 PM to 11:24 PM, a laptop computer and a MAC book were taken from two 2nd floor bedrooms.  Entry had been gained via a unsecured front window that leads to the roof of the front porch.  Baltimore Police responded.  Investigation continuing.

- From JHU security via SpotCrime

Judge says an inmate's suit against city correctional officer can go forward-- the suit claims guard Antonia Allison was a member of the Bloods who brought rival gang-member inmates onto the victim's tier and opened his cell door so other inmates could beat and stab him.

Juvenile services officials "peppered" with questions in Annapolis about the effectiveness of GPS monitoring

Shiz! Three members of the BPD have come down with the hamthrax! Tweets the dept., "2 of 3 officers affected hv been cleared by docs to return to work."

Mark Castillo Pleads Guilty

... while jury selection was still underway, Castillo pleaded guilty to murdering his three children, Anthony, Austin and Athena, and received three life sentences without parole.
Amy Castillo to JZ: "I've lost my husband and three children ... Jesus .. has given me the power to forgive."
Are we nuts, or does it sound like she's still in love with him?!
Update: more horrible details in the Sun story, and a PDF of the statement of facts, which you should not read.

Three shootings in three minutes!

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Three unrelated shootings in three minutes, including a fatal early this morning at the corner of Ruxton Avenue and Baker Street.

Jury duty?

According to the Baltimore Clerk of the Courts, the jury "list" needs fixing.

No Jail Time for Murder Mom

From the SAO's office (typos corrected):

Today Melanie Blevins, 23, of Westminster MD, pled guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter before Judge John P. Miller. Judge Miller sentenced Blevins to 10 years suspend all but time served (1 day), with 5 years supervised probation. Conditions of probation include Blevins performing a minimum of 25 hours of community service with Habitat for Humanity each month for 3 years totaling 900 hours. Judge Miller told Blevins she also must continue in therapy.

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Blevins January 9, 2009 for first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. Blevins plead to the following facts of the case. On Saturday, October 4, 2008, Blevins went to Union Memorial Hospital for treatment of urinary pain. Following an examination, the treating physician reported to police that Blevins had just given birth hours before arriving to the emergency room for care.

Blevins claimed she delivered a stillborn following an undiagnosed pregnancy. The newborn was discovered in a dumpster inside a plastic trash bag behind 2640 St. Paul Street, St. Johns United Methodist Church. The medical examiner determined the child was born alive and took one breath. The medical examiner could not testify to a degree of medical certainty that the baby took more than one live breath.

More from Tricia Bishop
Quality article on neonaticide from The New York Times' Steven Pinker

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Unidentified man, white Chrysler, 3200 block of W. Lexington St.

Rodricks: "Why do they keep killing each other? Baltimore's most enduring question"

The Post has more on MD's Death Penalty limbo, and other states' methods

"Baltimore County Police are confirming the death of a man found inside his home in the 10200-block of Harrison Grant Drive"

Uptick in North Baltimore home burglaries/ robberies. (A detective told me that in the Northern they are up more than 20%)

2nd convict in the light rail rape & kidnapping case gets 40 years

We still haven't seen the last of lead-paint lawsuits

Labor dept. wins 11 unemployment-fraud lawsuits

On a LOLZ-ier note, how did "Doc" Cheatham get the idea that if Dixon's convicted, the governor "could appoint a white mayor" (or any mayor)? .. drum roll...
"... he heard an attorney on a radio program."