Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Pooch Screwed

Time to pick up the leavings of the dog-burning case in an inverted plastic bag. Twin brothers Travers and Tremayne Johnson were found not guilty of dousing a dog with gasoline and setting her on fire. Bernstein's office released a statement: "While I respect the jury's decision, I'm disappointed that we didn't achieve the outcome that we fought for during two challenging trials. .. Animal cruelty is a serious crime of violence."

A Teen Sex Headline Gets More Page Views

Two guys shot in the hand in the 500 block of West Lanvale Street last night

A mentally ill man with a weapon shot in the stomach by police yesterday morning. How many police-involved shootings is that so far this year? At least three...

Anna Ditkoff says the homicide toll was at 47 three days ago, including the removal of home-shooter-upper Brandon Washington.

The CP covers a kid sucker-punched at school. God help the children and parents who must contend with these lawless schools. More kids need to get arrested, I say. We need to legalize drugs then fill those empty beds with rotten children.
OMG. HarfCo woman "Engaged To Fla. Teen She Met For Sex." .. So, savvy readers, is the individual on the right the woman, or the teenage boy? Or Jonah Hill?

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Our pervert is #1!

Since Osama Bin Laden departed this mortal coil, apparently we've been without an FBI's most most wanted fugitive. Now there's a new one, Eric Justin Toth. And guess where he's from! Maryland! And guess what he did? Pervy stuff with underage students involving a hidden bathroom camera! Does that put him at Osama level? Apparently so...

Monday, April 9, 2012

46, 47

Two men were killed in separate Easter Day shootings. An unidentified man was shot and killed in the 1400 block of Holbrook St. Sunday evening. Another man, 33-year-old Robert Laney was shot and killed near Kirk Avenue and Fillmore Street. Laney did a ten year prison bid stemming from a '98 conviction for attempted murder.

The new "Phylicia’s Law" has passed in both the MD House and Senate. .

A 28-year-old is recovering after being knifed in West Baltimore. .

The family of slain delivery driver Chong Wan Yim speak out after the conviction of his killer William Carr. .

The pedophiles have been out in full force recently, now an Indianapolis man is accused of sexually extorting several minors online, including one in Maryland. Richard Leon Finkbiner, 39, is being charged federally with a bevy of crimes.

The Towson patch has a recap of the various crimes plaguing the community, including an escaped inmate and Stoneleigh burglars proving criminals always return to the scene of the crime... apparently to steal more stuff.

Cost of Living

The estate of Philip Parker Jr. won a $18.5 million settlement after his murder by fellow inmate Kevin Johns; naturally Maryland has no interest in paying. I can almost see Jack Young's point-- the state just keeps not avoiding the avoidable and keeps paying and paying. Not that the Parkers should have to pay for their son's funeral. ... but how do you put a monetary value on a human life? How much did Kevin Johns get to kill him?

Sunday, April 8, 2012

To Catch a Predator: Baltimore County Edition

Did the Baltimore County Police Department hold their own child predator sting operation?

Since March 21st, six men have been charged in Baltimore County with Sexual Solicitation of a Minor.

It seems a bit far fetched that this is all coincidental, and that each man happened to be caught in a sexual conundrum with a minor like 26-year-old Rahn Freeland was.

Since March 21st, these men have been charged with one count of Sexual Solicitation of a Minor:

Matthew Riley, 34, of Dundalk Maryland, Charged on March 21st.

Jose Ramos, 22, of Augusta Georgia, Charged on March 21st.

Ryan Gerhardt, 27, of Bel Air Maryland, Charged on March 23rd

Wlliam Bertazon, 28, of Rosedale Maryland, Charged on April 4th

Todd Hunter, 21, of Laurel Maryland, Charged on April 4th

Thornie Phillips, 37, of Rosedale Maryland, Charged on April 4th

Due to the number of individuals charged on the same day, and the fact that a man all the way from Georgia was charged, this has all the indications of a sting operation, possibly charging internet predators. It's a curiosity why nothing has been mentioned by the department as of yet. If you have any info, feel free to pass it along.

A Magical Easter Holiday

This years 45th murder victim is 37-year-old Jermain Shuron, shot to death in the 1700 block of North Calhoun St. Police are looking for two suspects.

A brazen mid-day shooting puts two men in the hospital, and forces a city police officer to fire shots at the fleeing gunman. No arrests have been made so far.

How do you punish a 92-year-old man who accidentally killed his wife? The police are scratching their heads about it as well.*

Keep a lookout for the Baltimore County office burglars.

The trial of serial rapist Nelson Clifford, age 33, (Pictured Right) began Thursday. Cliffords, a previously convicted felon, has been liked to three cases through DNA left at the crime scene.

Have you seen 33-year-old John Robert McCollough? Police suspect him of committing a burglary in the 3300 block of Toone Street.

A two alarm Dundalk fire puts a 96-year-old woman in the hospital.

Two young men have gone missing recently. Adam Stewart Walter, 21, and Maxwell Robert Geroux, 19, have disappeared in separate incidents.

Even more missing local citizens. Police are also trying to locate 84-year-old Julia Brown. who went missing Friday.

The man killed in a tragic tractor-trailer accident in Rosedale has been Id'd as Jonathan Magill, 31.

The most recent crime blotter has paintball shootings, stolen car boots, and phone thefts galore.

Baltimore's very own homegrown terrorist Antonio Martinez, age 22, has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for trying to blow up an armed forces recruitment center.

21 years in the federal pen for local marijuana kingpin James Bestman, 38. Seems just a bit off-putting that you get only four more years for trying to commit an act of terrorism then you do for selling marijuana... even if it is by the tonne.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Blogs on Crack

A local crack smoker has taken to blogging: The Relapse Diary. I had no idea smoking crack made people want to take off their clothes.. well, now I know. And true story about Charles Village: "these poor students are getting the fur tore off them! ... funding a adjacent Open Air Drug Market and its not being talked about." Indeed, a JHU student is probably robbed or burgled at least once a day-- and that's conservative. JHU students are Greenmount crackheads' ATMs!

Not literal crack, but also a good read: Not All Baltimore Chicks are Stupid

Friday, April 6, 2012

Salon owners' hairdo saved her life!

Life plus five for Malcolm Pulliam, convicted of shooting the owner of the Blessed Productions Hair Salon four times in the head. But, amazingly, the victim survived to testify against him.

Also, Bernstein and Joshua Felsen scored a first-degree murder conviction against William Carr, who was found to have robbed and killed 55-year-old deliveryman Chong Wan Yim.

Preston and Jason: Standing their Ground

Brandon Washington, 26, #18, was removed from the toll after his killing was ruled justifiable self-defense. Reported Justin Fenton, "Court records describe Preston Feaster and Jason Ingram barricading themselves inside a home as a group of men armed with handguns shot into the house. Fearing for their lives in a neighborhood where calling the authorities is a last resort for some residents, they shot back from an upstairs window, killing 26-year-old Brandon Washington and injuring Darries Sommerville, who was 17 at the time, police say."

Recanting witnesses and gas can photos in the dog-burning trial, which is scheduled to continue on Monday.

The Court of Appeals today will hear the case of women married in California who hoped to divorce in Maryland and were turned down. Wacky fact from CBS: "Maryland law bars an uncle and a niece from marrying, but the state will recognize that marriage if it legally occurred in another state." Some news sources are reporting this story as unprecedented, but that's not exactly true. .. I swear I remember reading about a lesbian child-custody case in The Daily Record in Baltimore County in the late '90s, too, anyone else remember that one?

Down in the marshier part of the county, rough-looking duo John Joseph Leschefsky Jr., 27, and Carollyn Robin Duschl, 29, were charged with the murder of Jeffrey Jennings, 57, motive unknown.

In Cockeysville, two guys were arrested after trying to rob the Alpha Gold Exchange, and a copper thief was arrested in Pikesville.

A Parkton man is in hot water after pretending to be a teenager in an attempt to seduce a 14-year-old on Facebook.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Gun waving

An off-duty city cop pulled his gun and threatened a woman after a near accident.

44, 45

Two earlier shooting victims have been added to the homicide toll. 19-year-old Javell Heath*; "was found shot in the head March 27, on the grounds of the Yorkwood Apartment complex in the 1100 block of E. Belvedere Ave." Dion Brandon, 30, who was injured in a triple shooting back in 2005, died April 2nd of this year from complications related to his wounds.

Murders 40-43 in this week's Ink

The city will pay $95,000 to a 90-year-old retired schoolteacher who had her shoulder torn in a scuffle with police. “Jack” Young voted against the settlement.

A Baltimore beatdown video of WorldStarHipHop.com, not the same video as the guy stripped and beaten in front of the courthouse*

Trial starts today for Nelson Clifford, accused of three rapes.

A man was arrested for robbing the Edgewood Burger King drive-thru

Married dad Brian Funk has to register as a sex offender for sexting a student.

And speaking of students, anti-Semetic slurs and a noose found at the University of Maryland, echoes of the firehouse noose...? What are the odds of this not being fake?

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Internet Does Have a Soul...

Yet another video of a Baltimore assault has made it into the realms of the inter-web, but even the internet has standards. The video, which shows a man being assaulted and stripped has caused an uproar, and several cases of internet vigilantism. *

This weeks Murder Ink recaps another violent week, including two fatal officer involved shootings.

In another case of robbery stripping. Terrell Scott, 21, was convicted of kidnapping, beating, and shooting a man before setting his car on fire. Scott faces up to 261 years when sentenced.

It's all in the family. A mother-daughter identity theft team were sent to prison. Mother Gloria Canada, 55, got six years for stealing Johns Hopkins Hospital patient information while daughter Ayanna Devon Johnson, 39, got five years.

As expected the Maryland attorney general has filed an appeal to the recent gun permit ruling.

Police are ISO the scuzz-bucket who sexually assaulted a woman in the 1600 block of Johnson Street last week.

A Baltimore County man is dead after a truck fell and pinned him to death.

A unidentified body was found in a wooded area in Middle River.

50-year-old convicted sex offender Michael Nicholas Villa, who couldn't look more the part if he tried, was arrested and charged with various peeping tom incidents, specifically one in a Panera bathroom.

The most recent crime blotter has everything from eye pokes to bookshelf beatings.

H8Rs


So Dante Parrish got life for the rape, gagging and slaughter of fey 15-year-old Jason Mattison. His fine Christian mom and grandma kicked him out because they thought he was gay, leaving him to die like a pig while his junkie aunt and her friends nodded off nearby.

In other gay news, documents revealed the National Organization for Marriage's plans to divide gays, women, blacks and Latinos by un-defining marriage as a civil right (sound familiar?), calling women 'bigots,' embracing the traditional Mexican family and spinning a yarn about the marginalization and repression of Christianity. Mitt Romney, who won the primary here last night, gave NOM $10,000 in '08. NOM has pledged to spend at least $1 million to defeat same-sex marriage in Maryland, and are, of course, currently using those ducets to get gay citizens' civil rights put up for a vote in the fall.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Wut whoa Scoob

Sounds like it's a dog's life for prosecutors down at the animal-cruelty trial. Luke Broadwater reports that a key witness in the case against is refusing to testify. Tiera Goodman, 25 -- who, before she went to jail on unrelated charges, reportedly lived in the the 800 block of Braddish Ave. and (presumably) collected $1,000 for testifying against the brothers in the first trial-- now says she'd rather serve six more months than testify again*, and the judge granted her wish. Another young witness, Michael Taylor, 22, "spent much of the afternoon yawning at prosecutors' questions, mumbling barely audible responses and smirking with the defendants."

Dante Parrish Sentenced, Victims ID'd, & Broken Metro Dreams

Life without parole for rapist/teenage killer Dante Parrish. Parrish was convicted of murdering 15-year-old Jason Mattison less than a year after the "Innocence Project" helped him secure his release from prison after a 1999 murder conviction.

Just a few days after the first police involved killing of the year, another man, 29-year-old George Wells, has been shot to death by police after "drawing a sharp weapon" on an officer.

A multitude of shootings, resulting in one death this weekend. This years 43rd victim has been id'd as Marcus Williams, 29. Williams was shot to death in a car in the 1000 block of E. 22nd St. The years 42nd victim has been id'd as 59-year-old Chauncey Hardy, killed in an apparent "retaliatory shooting."*

What ever did happen to the investigation into two mysterious trash chute deaths?Peter Hermann had little luck finding any new information.*

Police are still looking for the hit and run driver who killed Towson U. student Ryan Bailey this past weekend.

For the second time in a week, a Baltimore man has been stabbed to death in the small area of Pumphrey, Anne Arundel County. 46-year-old Bryant Donell Bagley was found shot to death Sunday. Bagley has a criminal record dating back to the 80's, including convictions for attempted murder and issuing false documents.

Cigarette smuggling seems to be the hot new crime, and comptroller Peter Franchot wants to up the penalties for those caught smuggling.

30-year-old convicted felon Antoine Phipps has been sentenced to 75 years in prison for nearly killing another man outside a West Baltimore carryout.

The search is on for the masked man who broke into a home and raped an 18-year-old woman in the 3900 block of Frisby Street.

A man was critically injured after being stabbed and shot in the 5300 block of Bosworth Ave.


A Facebook group has been set up to remember 19-year-old Tyree Cypress, (Pictured Right) who was the 41st victim of the year.

Baltimore felon Kevin J. Johnson, 33, was sentenced to spend the next 18 years in a far away federal prison.

61-year-old Andrew Hamilton Williams, Jr., the leader of the "Metro Dream Homes" fraud scheme has been dolled out a 150 year federal sentence, the same sentence famed fraudster Bernie Madoff received a few years earlier.

...Hope everyone remembered to vote today

"but at what risk?"

A long North Baltimore crime blotter from the Patch: lots of larcenies from autos, and the CVS at 25th and Charles was robbed of prescription drugs.

Uhm, whut? "a former Baltimore police officer accused of killing his neighbor is now charged with possession of child pornography."

The headline ruins the story dept: "Police allow bystanders to tape* arrest, but at what risk?" .. the police don't allow it, the Supreme Court allows it. Maybe a better headline would be like "Some police officers made uncomfortable by people with iPhones." Comfortable schmumfortable. I'm not comfortable with drones over Baltimore, "security" workers reading everybody's emails and monitoring everybody's phone calls, strip searches for running a red light, people being held indefinitely in a network of foreign prisons with no charges ... but fuck me, according to the Tribune Co. we're all supposed to be worried about the risk of officers being weirded out by a guy recording stuff on his phone. I think they can handle it.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

42

Man, 59, 900 block of Valley Street near Latrobe Homes

Another man armed with a "knifelike weapon" shot by police! This guy was on Callow Avenue.

Gregg Bernstein is going to try another case-- this one = murder.

Prosecutors say they won't seek the death penalty* against the alleged killers of Cherrie Gammon. Why that would have even been on the table I'm not sure, was there a videotaped confession or DNA evidence?

What the fark? Three nine-year-olds and an eight-year-old were arrested at Morrell Park Elementary/Middle School and taken away in handcuffs. As IV posted, Keith Daniels interviewed the adorable little members of the Killer Hit Squad gang, one of whom allegedly held a kid's head underwater and threatened to drown him. "I didn't aggravate no one or assault no one," says little Mackenna, adding, "I was taught to hit somebody back when they hit me, so I did." More from the Sun

In Germantown, an abortion clinic landlord serves up Revenge Lite™ on protestors. More from the WaPo

Friday, March 30, 2012

Hit Squad speaks out

10 year-old members of the "Hit Squad" talk about treatment at juvie

Perverts!!

A woman was sexually assaulted in the Pen Lucy neighborhood last night

Not Baltimore but... can you imagine having your job be to look at child pornography all day? Gah! I wonder what Julie Drake does to not go insane. Related: child sex offender George H. Jones Jr. was convicted Wednesday for attacking his 10-year-old stepdaughter.

The man shot by police on Cold Spring Lane was not wielding a knife, but a "knifelike object." He's been identified as Sheron Jackson, 21, and for the first time in years the BPD has identified the officer: Michael Gordon, 25.

Testimony has begun in the re-trial of the Johnson twins, accused of setting a pit bull terrier on fire.

A 15th suspect has pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft charges in a scheme that stole credit card numbers from people who owed money to the Johns Hopkins School of Business. Here's a business question, who has to suck up that $880,000?

A decade in prison for a NJ guy who brought cocaine bricks to MD in a rental car.

Tweeted by Fenton: a court opinion defines "rough ride."

Yeah, I know I already blogged this story about the House passing a bill that will retroactively make the no-bid contracts for the $tate Center projects legal. But I am still pissed off so I'm posting it again.