Thursday, August 30, 2012

Bullets, knives, hands

A suspicious dead body was found on Rockrose Ave

Two shootings Monday night, in Barclay and Dru Hill,* on the 2200 block of Guilford Ave and near Pennsylvania Ave and Baker St., respectively.

Councilman Nick Mosby visited the 9-year-old who was shot Aug. 20* and says he's "progressing well." (Isn't it nice that district now has a councilperson who does stuff?)

The Patch has the backstory of the shooting of Rodney Pridget outside the Towson Nordstrom, courtesy of a snitch informant; apparently it was a gang hit, ordered by a higher-up in the Black Gorilla Family whose cousin Pridget had allegedly shot. Yesterday jurors got to see video of the last moments of Pridget's life, courtesy of Towson Town Center's 268+ cameras.

A dispute at a card game in Harwood led to a man being cut in the neck.

Yet ANOTHER inmate accidentally released from Central Booking, but he's back now.

Far-flung locales:
In AAC a woman dropped her keys at the MD Live Casino, the guy who found them, Daniel Lee Miller, 50, allegedly stole her car and burgled her house. (How did he know it was her car and her house?)

Muderous UVA lax brah George Hughely is pleading for a lesser sentence for the murder of Yeardley Love. Good luck with that, brah. If you wanted to not do time for murder should've killed her in Baltimore city. Brah.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Shooting, smoking & selling hot dogs

The CP has last week's seven murders, and notes last week we had the 11th police-involved shooting of the year

Van Smith has deets on "Operation Log Jam," the DEA investigation that led to the bust of the Dragon's Den smoke shop

And how did I miss the story of the courthouse hot-dog vendor who conspired with a cop to sell heroin?

Baltimorean Wade Coats and a Texan defendant got 45 years for conspiring to sell cocaine that they bought from the Mexican Las Zetas drug cartel. Here, have a picture of a leg in a tree. You're welcome.

Twenty years for Barry D. Lee, who was found to have violated his probation by dealing drugs whilst out of jail on probation for murder

Activists Sharon Black and Courtly Witherspoon, arrested at city hall protest, refuse to take a plea deal

From the counties:
Stepfather of school shooter Bobby Gladden, one Andrew E. Piper, was arrested yesterday on weapons and weed charges; said weapons and drugs were discovered while police searched the house for evidence related to the school shooting.

911 tapes following Rep. Don Dwyer's drunken boat wreck have been released. He's still not been charged with anything, apparently.

Remember the murder of 19-year-old Rodney Pridget last December at Towson Town Center? (Photo left from a Tweet) William Ward III, 44, and Frank Theodore Williams, 31, are on trial in Towson.

"Naked Suspect Shot By Police At Beltway Motel." Appropos of nothing, has anyone else noticed that PCP seems to be making a comeback? Or does it just seem that way b/c I've been reading Cat Marnell lately?)

In HarfCo, a grandma used OnStar to bust her carjacker*

Editorial note: the murder toll has been removed because it's too time-consuming to maintain. Murder lists are available on the City Paper web site.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

School shooter to be charged as an adult

Robert "Bobby" Wayne Gladden Jr., 15, will be charged as adult with attempted first-degree murder and assault in the Perry Hall High shooting. For what it's worth, Gladden's father has a criminal history on the JIS that includes assault with attempt to murder, battery, malicious destruction of property, theft, "marihuana" possession and "not marihuana" possession. County police say bullying was *not* an issue, and that Gladden had brought a disassembled 40-year-old shotgun, 27 rounds of ammo and a bottle of vodka to school on the bus that morning. His victim is out of surgery, still in critical condition, and apparently has Down syndrome.

Meanwhile, Gawker reports that the shooter's Facebook page status has been shared over a thousand times. And a picture. Says Gawker, "he looks like your standard Skrillex-listening mall-goth." Or rather a Rammstein-listening mall goth (guy on his Facebook cover = Till Lindemann-Rammstein, see below.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Barksdale dissed! Batts in!

Californian Anthony Batts, left, is expected to be named as new police chief,* report Sharper & Fenton -- the former Commissioner of Oakland, no less. Batts resigned his post there last October after only two years on the job (he beefed a month later, "the body politic looks at this police department as not a part of the city—that it’s the bad child that you’re putting on the side and beating.") By the time he left, he was the boss of only 651 officers. Prior to that he served in Long Beach for 27 years (the place where drama made it so hard to be Snoop Dogg and Sublime lived easily). After Oakland Batts will surely find Baltimore's boundless civic apathy a great relief (and we certainly know all about child-beating), but is he well-qualified to represent a staff of 4,250ish?

.. and police have ID'd the owner of the Rottweiler that mauled a woman near the Waverly farmer's market as Omar McDee of McKewin St., who, curiously, has no Internet footprint whatsoever. (But there's an Omar McGee with a long resume...)

Perry Hall School Shooting

[update: now that we know what the shooter looks like, who the heck is this guy?]

WBAL reports that a student shot another student in the back in the cafeteria; students say the shooter was a bullied loner who retaliated after food was thrown at him. WJZ reports teachers tackled the suspect and the 17-year-old victim is alive but in critical condition, the Sun is reporting the shooter is 15,* and the guy at the hardware store says he had a rifle. The streets around the high school are shut down and parents are advised to pick up their kids at the Perry Hall Shopping Center. Today was the first day of school for city and county public schools.

WTF?

From Reddit, via a reader. Real? Photoshopped? What do you think?

In other news, three people shot Saturday.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

139

Fenton reports that 11 people have been killed over the past 9 days and the current homicide toll for this year is 139.* Sorry but I don't have the time to update our toll on the right, maybe TAB or another volunteer could pitch in? The death of the woman in Charles Village, Kristie Hufnagel, 41, has been ruled a homicide. You may recall her neighbor was living in her apartment with her body; police say she was asphyxiated. A victim on Thursday was ID'd as Terrance Gough, 26, who rapped under the name "Twitty Sparks" (video right). And yesterday Lindale Carrington was stabbed to death in the 600 block of Brisbane Road, Fenton says by his teenage daughter's boyfriend, WBAL reports Carrington was 33. Uhm, whut?

Early this morning police shot a man on Maisel St. after he shot at them, he's in stable condition.

This morning a woman was mauled by a Rottweiler-type dog near the Waverly Farmer's Market

Three career drug dealers, Marvin Jackson, Derick Fallin and Johnnie Davis, got 15 years in the federal hoosegow for racketeering and trying to kill an "Omar" who robbed them: "In 2008, two individuals stole $250,000 from one of the stash houses. After learning the identity of the robbers, Fallin entered into a conspiracy to murder them, initially for $10,000 and gradually increasing the bounty over time. Davis conspired with Fallin to look for and kill the robbers, but they were ultimately unsuccessful."

"Del. Dwyer's career hurt by boating accident, experts say*" One would hope! "Lawmaker who thinks gays a threat to children crashes boat into children." Doesn't sound like Dwyer could be removed from office even if he's charged and found guilty, though. We have that ballot measure to strip lawmakers of their office when found guilty of certain crimes (which Dwyer supported) coming up for vote in November, but he could only be charged with misdemeanors here, unless, heaven forbid, one of his victims should die.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Flying pigs, drunken skunks, grounded rats

Could've sworn a few years ago the police dept. was so broke they were thinking of getting rid of the helicopters. But now they've got four spankin' new ghettobirds-- actually they're ghetto oiseaux , assembled in Marignane, France with various parts made in China, Singapore and Australia.

Alleged pimp Daniel O'Brien Burton, left, was arrested in SC. "Police say they searched Burton and his car and found a total of $14,888.04, both on his person and hidden in a purple Hennessy box in his trunk."

Wouldn't ordinarily care about a boat crash in Anne Arundel county, but this particular boat was the Legislator, crashed by hardcore homohater Del. Don Dwyer, who was drunk as a mutharfrackin skunk with a .20 -- more than twice the legal limit. The crash injured six, including four children, one who suffered a fractured skull. Dwyer is perhaps best known for trying to impeach Doug Gansler when he said he'd recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere and chestnuts like "if a law's not in concert with the laws of nature and of nature of God, and I would hold that, therefore, it is no law at all."

Speaking of old chestnuts, sounds like home invaders are using that "BGE worker" ruse again. Needless to say, get a peephole, use it, and don't open the door for anyone you aren't expecting.

Mitchell Courthouse employees protested unsanitary conditions today, which included "a dead rodent that was trapped between a window and Plexiglas in the office area ... their complaints to remove the rat were ignored until protestors took action ... someone finally removed it and put it in an employee's nearby trash can."

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Diminished facilities

Two more murders, both of sexagenarians*: Fenton reports Sterling Parker, 61, and his wife agreed to babysit two small children; the kids' parents never returned and after a few weeks the Parkers called CPS. Parker was assaulted in the 1900 block of Walbook Ave on the 4th and died on the 20th. And 65-year-old Charles Canty was found suspiciously dead in his home in the 1700 block of N. Carey St.

Fifty years for double-murderer Isaac Truss, who also serves as illustration of why putting a defendant on the stand is usually not a good idea.*

The copious number of unarmed, mentally-ill people shot by police this year calls into question the quality of BPD training when it comes to dealing with the mentally ill*. Not to mention our country's abysmal lack of services for the tetched, but that's another story.

Speaking of those a few sandwiches short of a picnic, former Senator owner Tom Kiefaber says he got himself arrested so the media would pay attention to him*. Hey, it worked!

WBAL reports Lt. Chris Jones of the sex offense unit was suspended for "vague" reasons. Hrm.

PA accused killer John Gonce was arrested in the county after raping two girls, 12 and 14, and killing their pet cat.

One Sharon Caslow of Cockeysville has been indicted for manslaughter after leaving her elderly mother on the toilet for days

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

133

Police Tweet that a man was shot to death in the 1700 block of North Carey Street.

Ten years for one Chauncey Harris for possessing a firearm, and here's an odd excerpt from the press release: "Baltimore City Police officers responded to a residence on Edgewood Street in Baltimore for a report of a rape, where they found Harris and a female. The report of rape was subsequently determined to be unfounded." I mean, if it was rape-y enough for her to call ... must have been one of those non-"legitimate rapes" we've heard so much about this week...

Kenyan Anastacia Olouch is supposedly coming back to Baltimore to face charges five years after being accused of elder abuse for beating on a 90-year-old man and fleeing the country.

Road Trippin

The BPD Tweeted: "Detectives make arrest in Bloom street triple shooting from Sunday which injured 9 year old boy. Donte White DOB 4/11/1989." They're also ISO a suspect in the car crash that killed Officer Morris in the PGC and have posted a picture (of a picture)

The Ink has last weeks' four murders

Vernon Evans: case closed, life spared (for now)

Bwhaha: the CP attempts to imagine the routes Rikki Spector must take to travel 53 miles to two events in her district. (Srsly, has no one mentioned this to the IRS? Do I need to call their cheater hotline myself?)

From last month but missed it: "Ex-marine brings his skills to the west Baltimore drug trade"

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Knowledge is Virtue, Y'all

# 131: man was shot to death* in the 3200 block of Walbrook Ave yesterday. And Tyrell "Buck" Martin was arrested for the murders of brothers Troy and Euclides Manly,* killed August 15. (Yes, Euclides.)

MD has dropped charges against a protestor who was pepper-sprayed in the face by Baltimore Police while handcuffed.

A man in Wilson Park was stabbed during a robbery

Charles Villager robbed of iPhone

Five years for a HoCo principal convicted of stealing credit cards from teachers.

In Anne Arundel County, a 38-year-old woman was held at gunpoint by her 19-year-old neck-tattoo'd ex-boyfriend Timothy Gray. Apparently all ended well after Gray was given a proper Tasering.

PNC bank inside the York Rd. Giant was robbed

The BBC (via the Brew): "Baltimore invites immigrants - no questions asked"

Oo, oo! Ballot questions!! Should the city borrow more money for museums and community colleges? Should convicted felons be removed from office? Should undocumented residents get in-state tuition? And do we care about the bar status of orphan's court judges?

Monday, August 20, 2012

Trikki Rikki

Oh, Rikki Spector. Not only does the septuagenarian councilwoman not live in her district (according to herself), she's also allegedly billing the city for the commute from her Harborview condo to her district and simultaneously deducting her mileage, and also claiming her house in her district as her primary residence for a Homestead Tax Credit. You may remember Rikki from such flapdoodles as the Case of the Missing Traffic Ticket and The Mold Horror.

Aquille You, Byotch!

Four injured in two shooting incidents over the weekend, Fenton reports that one of the victims was a nine-year-old boy* who was shot in the stomach and is in critical condition.

A man was shot to death by police after allegedly attacking them,* Fenton ID'd those involved in weekend police as Officer John Kosko, Officer Robert Persico, and 63 y/o Rudolph Bell.

Eighteen-year-old Kelvin Glasgow shot to death in the parking lot of the Catonsville Ramada after a 'fracas'

A traffic stop nabs phony-check-passer Keith McNeil

Remember "writer turned warrior" Matthew VanDyke, who went to Libya as a journalist, decided to become a gun-toting insurgent? Well, he's off to kill some more people for freedom, this time in Syria, and this time to make a film, he says.

Basketball phenom Aquille Carr was arrested for beating on his babymom; inquiring minds wonder if Seton Hall will revoke his scholarship (yeh, right!)

Three guys were arrested for stealing diesel fuel using Panera gift cards. How that might work I haven't a clue. Hey, thanks, Prashant Mali! I wish all news was delivered in a lilting accent.

Another floater

A suspicious corpse in Dundalk

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Lo Flo

An upsetting story online from a guy named Matt Fisher, whose sister was killed in a car accident in our fair city, then had her own insurance company, Progressive, hire a lawyer to represent the guy who hit her so as not to have to pay the claim. Tsk!

A woman's head found in Anne Arundel county was ID'd as belonging to missing person Jessica Lynn Lee, her death has been classified as a homicide.

Hall of famer Eddie Murray paid $358,151 to settle insider-trading accusations.

A car and copper pipes stolen in Overlea

Friday, August 17, 2012

130

A woman in the NE was killed in the 4200 block of Hamilton Avenue-- she was the mother of the suspect who killed two brothers* (127 & 127) in the 600 block of Linnard on Wednesday.

The 6th circuit has okayed warrantless mobile-phone GPS tracking.

Guys you should not date

Someone awesome vandalized a speed camera near Loch Raven high school by spray-painting the lens plus some choice commentary including "THieF go to Hell" and the f-bomb (pic at left from The City That Breeds).

The Baltimorean shot in Columbia in a police standoff August 9 was ID'd as Percy Holland of Preston Street; Holland broke into his girlfriend's house on Exeter street and kidnapped their daughter, fortunately neither the ex or daughter was harmed.

In Worser Waverly, two sisters took turns spraying Mace® brand oleoresin capsicum spray in the face of one of their husband's ex-girlfriends.

A would-be carjack victim crashed into parked cars like Wendy Kroy in the Last Seduction, plus stolen Marilyn Monroe dolls, a handicapped-parking placard, and oxycodone pills in the Guide Southern blotter; assault with a machete and another batch of horribly violent ex-boyfriends in the SE blotter, including a guy who rammed his ex's car, a guy who held a sword to his ex's neck and a guy who shot up his ex's house.

Timonium doc Daniel Alexander has had his license suspended under suspicion of running a "pill mill."

A man in Salisbury broke into a home, stripped off his clothes and baked a pot pie.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

128, 129

Two men, possibly brothers, shot to death on the 600 block of Linnard St.* in the SW last night. Reports Fenton, "officers were first called to the 600 block of Linnard St. about 9 p.m. for reports of shots fired but did not find anything suspicious. Later, around midnight, officers received a call from a man who said he was inside a home where people had been shot. When police arrived, the caller was gone and officers found the victims inside."

There's a surprise-- the 4th circuit is granting a new hearing on the "Crisis Pregnancy Center" ruling, voiding the decision in June that struck down the ordinance.

Accused killer cannibal Alex Kinyua has been judged so hypermegacraycray he can't even stand trial. And check out the nutty writings on his FB page -- shiz so bananas Frank Conaway Jr. could have written it.

147 years for 50(!)-year-old Aaron Graham, who went on a robbery spree of five businesses with the help of his 49-year-old getaway driver in February last year. Fast-food peons were pistol-whipped, various clerks were in threat of their lives and $1,163.53 was absconded with, but a quick-thinking employee of a shop on West Franklin Street took a video of Graham's getaway car; so ends this sorry tale.

And 27 years for Curtis Allen Thomas, who robbed Nephew's Pizza and has eight previous armed robbery convictions.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Code Elmo

Some Sketchy McSketchmeisters poking around my alley reminded me to remind readers near the Loyola and JHU Homewood campuses in Charles Village, Evergreen and environs that freshmen-orientation season is upon us-- Xmas morning for burglars and grifters on the take. In addition to the rote numnuts advice to not leave junk on your car's seats or totter off drunken and alone down a dark alley, I'll also add:

Get an etching pen. The carbide-tipped ones are cheap and you can use it to skritch your name and phone number on stuff like computers, game systems, TVs and the like. Might not keep stuff from getting stolen, but will help you recover the items later and make them less fence-able.

Consider leaving your car unlocked.
Maniacal zombies may smash your window anyway, but if it saves you one $300 window-repair assboning, it's worth it. Plus it'll be a continual reminder to never leave anything in your car you won't miss.

Don't stop to talk to anyone, ever.
Nice, right? But someone on the street who approaches you asking for the time, directions or some sob story is most likely trying to distract you so a buddy can jack you. If you encounter some street-stranger trying to get your attention, immediately take a 180 of your surroundings. If a robbery is imminent, throw your stuff one way and take off in the opposite direction.

Don't wear flip-flops. Sporting flip-flops on the sidewalks and alleys of downtown will give you that fresh-off-the-boat appeal. The only city residents you'll see in flip-flops around town are those far enough gone to not care if they bump toe with dog turds, broken glass, used condoms, chicken bones and barf. Unless you can plausibly cultivate that kind of aura, go for a closed-toe.

And finally, don't stereotype. Sure, statistically in this burg your robber is most likely to be a 20-something black guy, but watch someone's behavior, not their outward appearance. Muggings by white perps, pairs of girls and groups of teenagers happen as well. There was an instance of a guy breaking into cars while wearing a suit and carrying his gear in a briefcase. And it's also not true that walking on the street is necessarily more dangerous for women, actually men are more likely to be victims of violence perpetrated by a stranger. In other words, while a woman is be more likely to get her purse snatched on the sidewalk, a guy is more likely to be injured during the course of a robbery.

So, any other tips, readers?

Winging it

The Ink recounts last week's seven murders

David Simon claims the homicide clearance rate is way down since Bernstein took over and the CP agrees-- 2009 homicides led to an indictment 38% of the time under Jessamy, and in 2011 under Bernstein, 30% of homicides were resolved by indictment.

Balding fraudster Kenneth Koehler faces federal fraud charges in SE mortgage-scam scheme.

Oh, crackheads/hairron zombies, must you rob the children? Somebody stole laptops from the Community School in Remington, please contact the school if you have any spare laptops you could donate so some poor hapless teenagers can get their GEDs.

Van Smith writes about Baltimore's high-flying "potrepreneurs" and their "pricey reckoning," which included the loss of a plane, 46 local properties used for various potly functions, and, of course, lots of cash and doobage.

Two years after the Justice Dept. agreed to oversee the city jail, and not long after the Sun's teens-wallowing-in-poop story, * federal officials are on the scene.

Bizarro: The Mayor's taking a family vacation in California, and taxpayers will be shelling out $2,000 so she can have a security team with her on vacation. Says BPD's spokesflak, "She's very visible in the national media." That's weird, b/c the only national story I see mentioning her in the past month is this thing about the BFD's terlit paper ("A bathroom-related prank against Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is causing a hot rash on the city's political buttcheeks"). So why the vacation security? Rabid stalker? Smokin hot security swain? Ploy to avoid having to be alone with the family? Hrrrmmm...