Saturday, November 26, 2005

November 26

Along with two armed robberies, the Sun's Police Blotter reports that a 79-year-old man was arrested for attempted murder.

Police are still puzzled by those pesky light pole thieves. And thanks to John for pointing out that our missing light poles are now receiving national coverage on CNN.

Civil disobedience is alive and well, unless you try it at the mall.

Friday, November 25, 2005

November 25

More about Jeryl Anthony Singleterry, the kidnapping victim who was murdered despite the fact that his ransom was paid.

Updates on the double homicide in West Baltimore and the shooting at the Glen Burnie restaurant supply company in the Metro Digest.

More on witness intimidation in the Sun: Baltimore County police have spent over a year looking for witness Ronald Patrick Johnson, Jr., but he can't be found.

Speaking of witness intimidation, John posted some interesting comments under yesterday's post.

A newly launched campaign to stop human trafficking in Montgomery County this week.

A bank robbery in White Marsh lurks amidst the theft and burglary in the Sun's Police Blotter

There must be something in our fine city that is more deserving of an In Depth Investigative Report than a dirty bathroom in a Wal-Mart...

Thursday, November 24, 2005

November 24

Two men in two adjacent rowhouses were shot to death in West Baltimore.

35-year-old John Lewis escaped from PG Corrections officials who were transporting him between facilities. Lewis jumped out of the van while it was stopped at a traffic light. Maybe it's just me, but doesn't it seem as if the Corrections officers might have been prepared for something like that?

Dissent in the legal system over the fact that victims aren't being called to testify at their attackers' trials. Circuit Judge Alfred Nance said, "The state has a responsibility not simply to seek and obtain a conviction, but to seek justice." Does getting killed or having your house torched because of your testimoney now qualify as justice?

Judge John M. Glynn declared a hung trial for William Crudup yesterday. One of the jurors apparently made up her mind at the beginning of the trial and refused to consider any evidence. Crudup is accused of attempting to kill to police officers in March.

The Sun's Police Blotter tells of stolen money from St. Frances Academy (a private school that primarily serves inner city kids who are dealing with extreme family/personal difficulties) and stolen money from an 84-year-old woman who was shoved to the ground during the theft.

A Cecil County robber has expanded her territory into Pennsylvania.

Jeremy Justin Lepone is facing state and federal charges after his Harford County carjacking stunt, which included stealing a car from an elementary school staff member and then crashing through the gates of a military facility.

Ehrlich has agreed to pardon 12 prisoners, including two women who were convicted on charges of theft and/or shoplifting, and one man who has served 44 years for murder.

Harvey Edward Brown, a man who attacked one woman and pursued four others on the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail, was sentenced to life in prison.

The yet-to-be-determined fate of the Charm City Church gives a microscopic glance into the ongoing class struggle in Baltimore.

Ten police officers were required to restore order (if not sanity) to a throng of unruly shoppers at an Elkton Wal-Mart who were waiting to buy the Xbox 360.
Biffy will be away until November 30. Please leave stories of interest.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

November 23

Four murders last week brought the total '05 body count to 242.

Kidnapped 26-year-old Anthony Singleterry was found dead after his family paid ransom. Detectives have no suspects or motive.

Three people were shot at the Glen Burnie food distribution company Wagner & Sons, including the gunman.

A fight between two off-duty Baltimore police officers ended with one guy going to shock trauma for stab wounds.

An attempted murder arrest for the Sunday shooting of William Delrio, robberies, shootings and arson in the blotter.

A former Towson police officer, Samuel Chambers, will serve five years for sexually abusing a young girl.

Future voter on the hot-button juvenile civil rights issue of today: "curfews are so gay." Speaking of juvenile rights &tc, there are 15 Marylanders serving life-without-parole sentences who committed their crimes as juveniles. And chilling stat (which I would like a source on because I just don't buy it, but I'm sure the real number is no great comfort either): "reports show that 92 percent of cases filed in adult criminal courts in Baltimore City involve minority juveniles."

A CP story traces the retelling of the Steele Oreo Urban Legend.

Mayor to Councilman Keiffer Mitchell: the help of state troopers would not do much good. Also re: local politics, Councilmania really caputres the feel of the slow grind of government. That would be great if they abolished ground rents ... but you get the feeling it would take a quarter-century for anything that ambitious to happen.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

November 22

Ellis Lee Hickman, Jr., 33, was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida for the murder of his neighbor, Rakiyya States.

How many macabre claims to fame can one city have? Now it turns out the nerve gas and mustard gas used on the Kurds by Saddam's regime came from Baltimore.

A 14-year-old, Haymond Burton, was arrested and charged as an adult on two counts of attempted murder for shooting Lewis Jefferson, 18, and Mark Smith, 25. Also, two teenage boys were shot on Hillen Road.

PG County has set a new murder record with 155 killings so far this year.

25-year-old Dale Brown of Easton is charged with abuse and assault for allegedly shaking his five-month old son to death.

Corey Grant of the North Avenue Boys pled guilty in Federal court to gun charges.

Hopkins freshman: an e-mail about Michael Bryant's body in Wyman Park "would have been nice."

I'm so bored of hearing about cameras.

University of Maryland students protested against rascism following the Nov. 13 violent arrests of two students living off-campus.

In Laurel, 15-year-old David Jahangiri was arrested for wearing a "Stop Snitching" shirt to school. He's suing, of course.

Wow, remember that 90's ecoterrorist group, ELF? Someone repping them claimed responsibility for burning down townhomes in Hagerstown. Other retro institution apparently still alive in the area: the gay bathhouse.

November 22-- Promoted from Comments

We [ED: The people of the Park Heights Community Meeting? Baltimoreans in the last election?] had such an outpouring of homeowner sentiment for basic crime control. Martin O'Malley took up the charge and became Mayor promising to impose 'zero tolerance' upon the criminals here. That's a direct quote.

He later turned around and claimed that we all 'misunderstood' what zero tolerance is.

The first step in politically organizing is.. to sack O'Malley for the lying politician he is. Not Governor. Not even Mayor.

The platform is Safety First. All other considerations take a back seat until Baltimore is no longer in the top ten most dangerous major cities. No junket to Rome for Agnes Welch. No raise for City Councilmembers. No municipal hotels. No below-market city land deals. No grants to nonprofits. Mandatory across-the-board cuts in total payroll for DPW and DHCD.

Within the police department:

  • 311/911 operators must be dedicated dispatchers, not disgruntled officers being punished by having to answer calls for service.


  • Responding officers must be charged with filing accurate incident reports. If the victim disagrees with the report, the officer should automatically be required to appear before an independently appointed quasimunicipal board, which will determine whether the report was incorrectly filed. If so, (maybe at least x number of times) the officer will be dismissed. Wherever the officer's write-up is materially at odds with the victim's recollection of facts, the officer must refer it to the Board, with written notice to the victim. Failure to comply will result in dismissal.


  • The State's Attorney should refuse consent to supervised probation where the terms of probation do not provide for a nightime curfew barring supervised probationers from being in the public easement after dark except en route to a verifiable job, a meeting with a parole officer, or a verifiable medical emergency (including drug treatment).


  • The State Legislature should eliminate the distinction in penalties between misdemeanor Breaking & Entering and felony Home Invasion. If you're caught in another's property unlawfully, you go to jail. If you think you 'might' be Breaking & Entering, you probably are. Stay out or go to jail.


  • The State Legislature should adopt a provision doubling the penalty otherwise applicable to a felony if the offender is under the influence of drugs or is found by a court of law to have been engaged in a drug offense at the time of the felony, including simple possession. The same should apply wherever a felony is accompanied by a high-speed automotive chase.


  • Any drug conviction or factually proven possession or distribution on or within 100 feet of a subsidized housing unit by any person who has been granted access by the tenant should disqualify the tenant from the program henceforth.



  • Any offenses committed on the premises of a public school which would otherwise constitute a felony if committed by an adult should necessarily require immediate removal of the juvenile from the school.


  • Maximum sentences for both misdemeanors and felonies should be ratchetted up in proportion to the number of offenses adjudicated to have been committed. You want judges motivated to treat career offenders more harshly than very occasional offenders. This invokes the law of seven and seventy.


  • The State's Attorney and Judiciary should be forbidden to take into account resource constraints at Dept. of Corrections when seeking a just penalty.


  • City Council should adopt a resolution each year fixing the number of officers necessary to Adequately Provide for the Public Safety. The appropriation for the police department should be created a Fund, whose contents do not revert to the General Fund of Baltimore City. Thus, the Mayor's Office would no longer have any incentive to undersupply policing so as to fund pet projects, such as economic development.


  • Contributions to the local police district's coffers should constitute a tax credit against a taxpayer's tax bill to the City. This ensures that City government cannot divert taxes which taxpayers intend should provide public safety.


  • Baltimore City council should be obligated by resolution to refuse any requests for industrial revenue bonds (other than water treatment/pollution control) while public safety benchmarks are unattained.


  • Baltimore City Health Dept. should provide a single, lifetime treatment slot for drug abuse. Once used, the relapsed offender should be denied terms of probation unless he can provide for his own treatment.

-- JG

And Dan Rodericks would like to add, it's time to get serious about repeat offenders by using any tools that work.

Monday, November 21, 2005

November 21

Our Nation's President Geroge W. Bush will be at M&T Bank Stadium on November 30th for a fund-raiser for himself and Oreo-battered Tom-called Mike Steele. If you truly believe in Republican principles you'll be there with $5,000, by God.

The murder trial of Michael Johnson, 15, of West Franklin Street, is scheduled to begin at 9:30 tomorrow morning before Judge Edward R.K. Hargadon, 509 Courthouse East. The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Johnson for first-degree murder and handgun counts May 18. Court documents allege that on December 1, 2004 Johnson shot and killed Flenall Carter III, 19, in the 4100 block of 10th Street.

At a recent meeting the residents of Park Heights were all like, "we're so fartik with the shvartzers and farshlugginer slow police response times and the farshtunken unreported incidents" and the police were, all like, "what are you gonna do, sue somebody?"

The Court of Appeals struck down MD's prisoner-treatment laws. The problem was not legal content but the procedure of filing appropriate paperwork.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

November 20

Secret plea agreements for three of seven men in a drug-dealing gang in the Northern that tried to burn down Edna McAbier's rowhouse. Miss Edna, Harwood Community Association President, ran afoul of the local Bloods.

Dogs picked up the scent of flammible liquid at the building at the 2100 Garrison Boulevard apartment-building site where two people, including Thomasina Evans, died on Friday. Oddly, the building is owned by a company that appears to consist of a single New Jersey man.

Since Friday, eight people have died in fires in the city, most recently a mysterious rowhouse fire that killed three. Check those smoke-detector batteries and think about your escape plan, it's that time of year.

Justice will be delayed at the trial of Wayne Lavon Bond, accused of shooting Edgewood cab driver Derald Howard Guess, a 37-year-old father of nine, as part of a gang-initiation rite.

The conviction in the shooting death of Marcellus Maddox (also in a cab) is under Appeal in Wicomico County. The ruling could potentially help define assault sentences in the state.

In Carroll County, 40-year-old Anthony Hughes pled guilty to assaulting ex-wife Ellen Redifer with a claw hammer in 2002.

Another great date opportunity from the State's Attorney's office: a concert tonight at 6:30 p.m, in which the Baltimore City Police Choir will be singing with the Northwood-Appold United Methodist Church Choir at the New Metropolitan Baptist Church at 501 McCulloh Street. The free concert that will also involve eulogizing the state's fallen police officers. The most recent Baltimore City death was the July 3, 2004 shooting of Officer Brian D. Winder.

Life's bitter irony dept: the most recent MD police fatality, Grant Turner, had a heart attack while running a 5K in honor of fallen hot officer Duke G. Aaron III.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

November 19

A methadone addict in Dundalk is charged with murder in the death of her methadone-addicted 2-month-old daughter.

Arson in West Baltimore left two people dead and 27 people homeless. One of the dead is a 41-year-old woman who was homeless until a few months ago.

Alleged corrupt former senator Thomas Bromwell was taped by the FBI in a building downtown. JHU was apparently one of many victims in a kickback scheme.

Accusations of an ineffective police investigation have been raised in the Canton murder of Brian Jones.

Steven R. Chamberlain, CEO of Lanham-based Integral Systems, Inc., is charged with liking little girls way too much.

The Baltimore pastor who is charged with liking little boys and little girls way too much is also being investigated by police in Minnesota and Barbados.

Unlike Baltimore City's Northern District, Carroll County doesn't put up with home invasions. Great story by Sheridon Lyons.

Four Maryland convenience stores have been robbed of "cash, cigarettes, and cheap liquor" by a woman in her late 20s.

Drunk driver Rudi Vasquez of PG County will serve eight years for two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the crash that killed Juan Valle, 26, and Audelino Valle, 30.

Bea Gaddy's legacy is in bad trouble this year. To help with the shortage, the center at 425 N. Chester St. in East Baltimore will be open 24/7 until Thanksgiving to accept donations. The phone number is 410-563-2749.

Friday, November 18, 2005

November 18

A Baltimore City jury convicted Alphonso Graves, III, 36, of second-degree murder and handgun counts today following approximately seven hours of deliberation and three days of testimony. Judge Thomas J.S. Waxter, Jr. scheduled sentencing for February 17, 2006. On November 18, 2004 the body of Stacey Lynn Carter Graves, 30, was found in the downtown apartment of her estranged husband, Alphonso Graves, III. Surveillance cameras from the apartment complex captured both Mr. and Mrs. Graves entering the apartment complex on November 15, 2004. The camera also captured Mr. Graves leaving the apartment with a handgun in his waistband.

Walter Robinson, 27, of the 4800 block of Briarclift Road, is scheduled for arraignment at 9:30 this morning before Judge John P. Miller, 428 Clarence Mitchell Courthouse. A BCity grand jury indicted Robinson on October 24 on one count of sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 18; three counts of third-degree sexual offense; three counts of fourth-degree sexual offense; and four counts of second-degree assault. Sexual abuse of a minor carries a maximum prison term of 25 years and third-degree sexual offense carries a maximum prison term of 10 years. Court documents allege that Robinson sexually assaulted a 15-year-old student repeatedly between August 2005 to October 2005 at the Benjamin Franklin Junior High School.

Police are seeking the public's help in finding thieves who stole <$750k of jewelry and the chalice and paten of St. Ignatius Church in Forest Hill from JM Jewelers. Keep your eyes peeled for two Mestizo-looking 20-something guys with a very shiny pimp cup and dip plate.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

What to Do if an Officer Won't Take a Report

If you're a crime victim you should always call the police and you should always get a police report. You may need the report number for property or health insurance reasons. If a Baltimore City police officer won't issue a report, call the office of Colonel Debbie Owens at 410-396-2363. Owens is the Chief of Patrol of all Nine Districts in the city. Ask her assistant* what the chain of command is for your district. If you're in the Northern, the Deputy Major is Buzzuro (pronouced "Bizarro." Really), his boss is Major Lukasic and above those two at central command or whatever is the Area 1 Commander Beale Feld.

*Her assistant is very helpful but wouldn't leave a name: "I don't need my name to go in no paper."

Afternote: Debbie Owens, it turns out, e-mailed me back immediately after I contacted the office, giving me her personal cell-phone number-- it doesn't get much more responsive than that (I didn't see the e-mail b/c my mail program didn't know the address filed it under "junk" next to an ad for "enhansement".

In all of my experience I've gotten nothing but very fast responses and professionalism from the Baltimore city police, and I've called them at least 40 times since I moved here.

November 17

Rape and assault in the Western, robbery in the Northern.

Edward Lee, 36, made a wrong move trying to outrun the police and ended up flying off the 83 into the Jones Falls. Police say Lee claims to have "been chased by Baltimore police more than a dozen times for various offenses, but ... the police always backed off before." (cue Dukes of Hazzard theme)

Formerly reverend Gerald Fitroy Griffith has been arrested for holding dirty counseling sessions with four teenage boys and one girl(?).

And three of four unaccounted-for HoCo sex offenders have been rounded up. The one that got away was 49-year-old Karen Hammond.

Day One of the Irv Lorenzo "Gotti" trial features an "amusingly grizzled unlicensed Baltimore cabdriver."
Ellis
Kenneth Douglas Ellis, 25, left, is being sought for spray-painting sloppy, artless tags on houses around Keswick and Beech in Hampden.

O'Malley's for the the stopping and the frisking, as long as police are keeping accrate records.

Speaking of, I sent excerpts of howard somebody's letter to Matt Jablow on Tuesday. I haven't gotten a response:
Hi Mr. Jablow,
I have an online news service, http://baltimorecrime.blogspot.com/, and I've gotten more than one letter from readers about police not taking reports. This is actually the second letter I've gotten complaining about a policeman being reluctant to take a report:

"... last week my neighbor heard her window break. The house was entered and property was removed. It went on for quite a while. She was terrified and locked her bedroom door, calling the police.

They came about an hour later. They asked if she could describe the perps and she explained that she had tried very hard NOT to encounter them.

Since she couldn't identify the home invaders and they were gone (an hour delay will do that for a felon), the officer declined to write any incident report. Not forgot. Refused.

IT NEVER HAPPENED. At least as far as the police are concerned. So yes, statistically, Northern has less crime than the Corner. But then again, Northern lies. It is not unique in that respect.

Crime is not down. Crime reports are down. Partly because police won't take them, partly because they take too long to get there, and partly because victims learn after the first few incidents that they are wasting their time, so they just don't bother thereafter.


My question is, have you heard of anything like this?
And if a citizen does encounter an officer who won't take down a report, who can they call? Or where can they call if a police response time was slow?


So we'll see what he says.

Can you trust the police? Can a rattlesnake dropkick a football?
Today's lesson: Gregory Kane asserts what every Eddie's mom knows too well: "Some people do, indeed, need frisking. And ... some may need more than that."

In case you missed it: The Baltimore Sun is eliminating 75 positions, including 12 to 15 newsroom positions.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

November 16

The murder of Brian O'Neill Jones appears to be totally senseless (the third senseless Jones death this week). The victim left behind a wife and three children, ages 6 months, two and five years.

A member of the Cutthroat gang who was 13 when he shot Jerrod Hamlett, 23, will be tried as a juvenile. (See the June 16 conversation with Donny Moses).

Trail has begun in NY for Irv Lorenzo "Gotti" of Muder Inc. Records, accused of laundering money for Baltimore drug dealer "Supreme" McGriff.

Federal prosecutors have five years to file murder charges against Leeander Blake (famous as the 3rd Baltimorean to visit the Supreme Court since Thurgood Marshall).

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

November 15

Not a good adjective: Police are "baffled" by the shooting death of 34-year-old Brian Jones in Canton. His body was found on the 1300 block of Ellwood Avenue on the parking lot of Canton Harbor Nursing Center.

The victim found on Tudor Arms was named as Michael Bryant, 22, of East North Avenue.

Pulp novel waiting to be written: 58-year-old Diane Coffman, formerly of Towson, got five years' suspended and five years' probation for killing her five-year-old son, Edward Coffman, in 1972. The case was re-opened by Edward's surviving younger brother.

Ten people were charged with immigration fraud in Manhattan for helping Kenneth Adam Howard of Baltimore arrange sham marriages of foreign girls to sailors.

Murder charges against a Harpers Ferry man accused of administering a fatal heroin overdose have been dropped so Federal charges can proceed. "Richard Allen Ashbaugh, 38, originally was charged with murder after Jonathan Parks, 26, of Brunswick, Md., was found lying facedown between two beds in a room at the Towne House Motor Lodge."

HoCo police commander Tara Nelson, accused of trying to run over her husband, was cleared and has returned to work. The would-be speedbump refused to testify. Thought to ponder: if she was a guy, would she have gotten her job back?

In Glen Burnie, Tonya Denise Moulden, 22, stabbed her boyfriend with a steak knife during a fight.

ManaMore Tragic: The former drummer for Japanese band Shonen Knife, Mana "China" Nishiura, was killed in route from Baltimore to Brooklyn in a van accident! She and her new band DMBQ had just played a show at the Talking Head.

Baltimore Fun Fact! In 2001 an actual male human body part was found on the street in Canton.

Maryland Decision 2006
oreosYeah right, someone tossed Oreos at Michael Steele three years ago after the Morgan State vice-guber debate and we're just hearing about it now, for the first time, three years later. And no one saw it. Or took a picture. At the debate. That's the news head honky and Definer of Blackness Ehrlich had to report when he made contact with the college students of today, explaining "to the extent anyone is out there now saying, 'Well, no, those Oreo cookies really weren't thrown at Mike Steele, that's now an urban legend, whatever, made up by [lowest-common-denominator race-baiting] Republicans' ... these people have got to get real." Meanwhile there's allegations that Mike B. called Mike S. an "Uncle Tom" and now Carmelo Anthony is somehow involved. Does that mean that the West Side L-Heights Crips also endorse the Republicans? I thought the blue flag was only on the left side. I'm so confused.

Monday, November 14, 2005

November 14

BoCo Popos have arrested Brian Bartee, 18, Kion Coulter, 26, and Marcus Pettiford, 19 for the double murder of Howard and Dante Thacker in Owings Mills.

The attempted murder trial of William Crudup has been held over until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow before Judge John M. Glynn, 236 Mitchell Courthouse.

There have been 476 police-involved car accidents this year, including the one that killed 25-year-old mom Mary Jones.

Michael Turner, 36, pled guilty to stealing more than $40k from an Aberdeen security-guard union.

Gerard Holt got 10 years for carrying a stolen firearm.

It's hot to rob people of cell phones.

Two officers were injured trying to bust up a crazy-azz party in College Park.

WTF you talking bout Willis? After the largest gambling raid in Baltimore since Prohibition and sticking it to Vicki Mengel, cops are waging a "Cops for Slots" campaign (not to be confused with Norris' "Cops for Sluts" campaign). The gang = the government. Don't have enough money, puh-lease.

PSAs

Perfect first date for match.com and jdaters-- the Renaissance Harbor Hotel, 202 East Pratt Street, Monday, November 21, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. for ... the spectacle ... the legal heavyweights duking it out in...
The Toothless Tiger

HEAR! Patricia Jessamy, fresh from a Puerto Rican vacation, pontificating on how much our total lack of protection for witnesses has led to them being shot at and having their houses burned down and whatnot.

REVEALED! Why the new witness intimidation law has been called flaccid by some and impotent by others.

BEHOLD! The Elfin and Honorable John Martin Glynn, who hears all of the juciest, skankiest cases on the 8th Circuit. That's b/c he's in charge of the docket!

and recently brought back from the dead from the basement of the law firm of Mead and Flynn, P.A., Margaret Mead! Speaking of skulls n bones, there's also some guy named James Wyda, who went to Yale.

So if you've ever wanted to get drunk on Monday night at a hotel bar and heckle smart, powerful people on a panel, call 410-385-3637 or send an e-mail to either
shaiber@milesstockbridge.com
bfish@stattorney.org
what the hell, it's free, sponsored by the creepy-sounding Federalist Society.

PSA #2 The head cybrarian will be live on WJSS am radio Thursday the 16th with Dr. Horrace Tittle from 8:50 to 9 a.m.

November 14

Two crime alerts near the TU campus (so watch yourself, Bilal):

On Sunday, November 13, 2005 at approximately 8:55 PM two suspects entered the KFC [on York Road and Willow Ave] and demanded money. After obtaining the money, the suspects ordered the employees to get in the freezer. No Weapon was displayed.
Suspect descriptions are as follows:

Black Male, glasses, beard, long sleeve white shirt W/ red stripes, baseball cap, with a blue letter.
Black Male, grey hoodie, black ski mask.

An unrelated incident occurred on Sunday, November 13, 2005 at approximately 12:10 AM where in a victim was assaulted and his wallet and other personal belongings were taken. This robbery appears to have resulted from a verbal argument earlier at the Dunkin Donuts just across the street. The suspects were described as follows:
White Male 19-20 yrs, 5'-9" Med build, dark sweatshirt, blue jeans
White Male 18-91[!] yrs. 5"-4" large build, red hair, white tee shirt, jeans

--cut n pasted from the Towson University Police

Sunday, November 13, 2005

November 13

Bet that goes over really well: cops are "aggressively stopping and frisking people", with six times as many blacks as whites being frisked, according to internal police reports.

A police officer was shot in the hand.

Friday, November 11, 2005

November 11

An unidentified man was found shot to death near Wyman Park at 3732 Tudor Arms Ave. (I think one can assume in the Northern "not from this neighborhood" = "black")

Florida police arrested Ellis Lee Hickman Jr., wanted for the murder of Rakiyya States in Overlea. States was found in her flaming house in the bathtub with her fingertips cut off.

The body of a man found under the 29th street bridge Nov. 1 was identified as Bradley Wilkinson, 27, of Pennsylvania. He'd allegedly robbed a bank five days prior.

Terrance Wynn, 21, was found not guilty of the murder of 15-year-old Marshall Giles.

Police have no leads in the October 25 fatal stabbing of Jermaine Morrison, 24.

Stephan High, 22, was charged with first-degree murder in the mistaken-identity stabbing of William Green III, 19.

PGCo jurors: death a-ok for Kenneth Jamal Lighty, who kidnapped and killed the 19-year-old son of a police officer.

An 18-year-old shot in the right eye, an attempted murder arrest, shooting suspects at large and plenty of robberies and burglaries in the blotter.

Norman Johnson, 47, got 12 1/2 years after he pleaded guilty to attempted carjacking.

An eight-year-old boy was almost abducted in White Marsh, but the plucky lad escaped by landing a well-placed kick to the kneecap of his dark-clad would-be captor.

A Loyola dorm room was burgled.

PG county's 151st homicide was a fatal shooting in Landover. Also, three family members in Ellicott City pled guilty to importing counterfeit NASCAR and Lord of the Rings merchandise.

Two Towson high schools were on lockdown this morning after police recieved a report of a person with a gun.

Murder in Baltimore County is up by a whopping 10 percent!

In Cecil County a police chase led to a fatal accident and the death of a DVD pirate.

At a 12-year-old girl was arrested for phoning in a phony bomb threat to Frederick Middle School.