Wednesday, March 8, 2006

March 8

Did you know? You can track the custody status of offenders online, and find out when their upcoming "court event(s)" are.

Curtis Lomax, 22, was fatally stabbed with a mystery implement on the 1200 block of W. North Avenue, bringing the YTD total to 49.

James Reid pled guilty today to one count of witness intimidation. He was sentenced to five years in prison, to be served concurrently with a life sentence he recieved last July. Court documents allege on March 8, 2005 Reid wrote a letter to an associate identifying the victim of a non-fatal shooting and instructed the associate to "deal with" the witness. Reid had been identified as the suspect in the non-fatal shooting.

Ink: Five murders last week-- and for the first time this year (unless you count the week when there were no murders) The Sun managed to report them all!

A teenage girl was stabbed by a illegal cab-driver. Mark B. Walker, 79, was charged with attempted murder and possession of a deadly weapon.

Dept of Bad Excuses: "I didn't do it for that long, you weren't even awake." -- Midshipman Lamar Owens

Five children, including a boy who says he's the son of death-row inmate Vernon Evans Jr., were found home alone in the Pimlico area.

Speaking of child molesters, if Teri Hatcher is typical, that means one in four molestation victims will prosecute-- 30 years after the fact. Which means that there are about 400 child molesters in the 21218.

Correction: Judge John Glenn is not elfin.

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

March 7

Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services report: 21,721 African-Americans in Baltimore were arrested but not charged in a year (!). Grand Jury report: arrests without merit border on constitutional violation. (Maybe we should just classify them as "enemy combatants.")

Mere days after Ronald Ector was indicted for impersonating a deputy U.S. marshal, scary-looking felon Karl Glenn Salenieks of Crofton was arrested for impersonating an officer and illegally possessing handguns and a taser, among other things. Yipes.

Blotter: Man stabbed in the lower back in the Southeastern, a woman robbed of $40 after being struck on head with metal pipe, a robbed High's, a robbed McDonald's, a stolen Soviet rifle.

A 13-year-old boy robbed a man getting off of a bus in the Northeastern, using a semi-automatic weapon with a laser sight and a 33-round clip.

"Benjie" Evans, wanted for murder in Annapolis, was apprehended.

The Pumpkin and Honey Bunny of Dundalk, James and Carol Sparacco, were arrested and charged with eight counts of armed robbery.

A 26-year-old man, Ramon Pena, was pulled over on 95 for tailgating ... and was arrested when cops found 174 pounds of cocaine bricks (79 kilograms? Welcher Kontinent das WBAL an ist?) and $22,000 in cash in the car.

How cute: in Carroll County a boy faces suspension for bringing brass knuckles to school.

Where are all these pedophiles coming from? Brian Trimble pled guilty to attempting to buy child pornography from a postal inspector.

In Landover, the death of Calida Williams, a 28-year-old mother whose body was found in her burning apartment, was ruled a homicide.

Monday, March 6, 2006

March 6

Should the Rice brothers potentially get away with double murder because they made a plea agreement for a previous bunch of charges? One wouldn't think so, but it sounds like that was the norm ... until Rod J. Rosenstein came to town. Love him.

Blotter: A 17-year-old boy was shot in the back and a woman was shot in the knee in the Northeastern.

In Jessup, 27-year-old James Darnell was indicted on eight counts related to an attempted rape and burglary allegedly commited within a day after he was released on bail while awaiting trial on similar charges.

In Bel Air, trial for involuntary manslaughter is scheduled to start Wednesday for a second defendant, Elaine Bulter, in the case of the 16-month-old boy who died of a methadone overdose.

Sunday, March 5, 2006

March 5

Larry Haynes, 30, was found shot to death on the 2400 block of Jefferson Street. Joseph Schlick, 25, was shot in the head in the Southwestern and remains in "grave" condition. Joseph Schlick, 25, was shot in the head in the Southwest during an argument.

Police are seeking Derrick Lamont Brown, 21, for the murder of Benjamin Philip Evans in Annapolis.

Death-faking, gambling, suspicious fires... Cynthia Jean McKay of the Millersville body-burning case is starting to sound like MD's answer to Sante Kimes. And ladies, should you ever be accused of a horrible crime, try this: "a detective told McKay's then-lawyer that he had planned to question her about the embezzlement and the fire. But McKay became distraught and began to cry."

Human remains were found in Dorchester County.

The arrests at Kawasaki buck a national trend: though Maryland's illegal immigrant population has doubled in the past four years, the INS fines for businesses employing illegal workers about 10 times less frequently than in '92.

In Columbia, an employee at the Lonestar Steakhouse stabbed another worker with (what else?) a steak knife.

Crimes against our culture dept: John Travola has been cast as Edna Turnblad in a Hairspray movie remake.

Saturday, March 4, 2006

March 4

merrittPolice are seeking 36-year-old Irvin Merritt, left, who allegedly slit the throat of Frederica Moseley on N. Bond Street two weeks ago.

Antoine Edward Adams, 32, was acquitted of the robbery and murder of Justin Michael Gaglione, 29, last January in "Lower Waverly" near North Avenue. The "good" news is that Adams is already serving three consecutive life sentences plus 60 years for the murders of Penelope Medina, Theresa Moore and Michael Mick.

Friday, March 3, 2006

March 3

Joseph Miller, 26, was shot to death in front of a house near Druid Hill and Forest Parks. Also in the blotter, Warrant Task Force was busy, arresting a kidnapping rapist, an attempted murderer and an insurance company defrauder. And someone robbed the Little Tavern again (for at least the third time in a year).

A man's body was found in a burning rowhouse on the West side.

A Federal Grand Jury indicted 28-year-old convicted felon Ronald Ector for impersonating a police officer.

Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs and Democrat Delegate Jill Carter are persuing a law to make it a crime for local police departments to knowingly report false crime statistics. They also want whistleblower protections to shield street-level officers who refuse to report false numbers.

The Sun apparently finds it more newsworthy that some tourists can't find a sushi restaurant than that, oh by the way, the three owners of Kawasaki, Tzu Ming Yang, 48, his wife, Jui Fan Lee Yang, 49, and Jack Chang, 41, all face more than 30 years in prison for money laundering and housing undocumented workers in "squalid" conditions.

The Cordish Co. was fined a paltry $800 for allowing underage drinking at Power Plant Live.

All charges have been dropped against Kevin Ackwood, who spent a month in jail and whose dog Trigger was shot to death by Baltimore City Police officers.

Police are looking for armed-and-dangerous Tracy D. Fletcher of Bowie, wanted for stealing ATM machines.

Perv patrol: Paul George Page, a former teacher at Sykesville Middle School in Carroll County, got no jail time for downloading child pornography on school computers during the school day. And in Columbia, students at Cradlerock School reported a flasher.

Messenger Blotter: a man was jumped while getting on the elevator at Union Memorial Hospital. A car was stolen, recovered, then stolen again the next day.

Thursday, March 2, 2006

March 2

Milburn Henson, 42 and wheelchair-bound, was fatally shot in the head. Donte Bellamy, 22, and Duraye Cole, 36, were identified as the two men fatally shot on E. 25th street.

Jayne: Comparing the first two months of this year to last using the Mayor's own numbers, violent crime is up in almost every category: shootings are up 55 percent; robberies 20 percent; burglaries 27 percent; aggravated assault, 6 percent. The only reduction was in homicide: there were four fewer this year.

In Essex, Thomas Rawls, a burglary suspect, died during a struggle with police.

dollarWhat kind of group home would let a mentally impaired man go to the North Avenue McDonald's? Now Nicholas Dollar, 23, of Randallstown, is missing.

Blotter: Derrick Brown, 29, was arrested with intent to distribute marijuana. A man robbed the M&T Bank on South Broadway, plenty of muggings, and ... why do the car thieves seem to favor the late-model American cars? And what's a 'black powder' handgun, like a mini-musket or something?

Michael Branch, 23, got 25 federal years for selling crack. And Grayson Ramsburg Jr., 45, got five years' probabtion for child porn.

Baltimore City School Police recovered the fourth gun of the year on school property, this one a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic at William H. Lemmel Middle School in the Northwest.

Two Catholic-school teachers have been accused of sexually abusing a male student at Our Lady of Pompei High School in the '90s.

A clean-shaven black man with crooked teeth allegedly sexually assaulted two teenage girls in two different incidents last Monday and Tuesday in the Northern.

Police caught an Annapolis 17-year-old, Matthew J. Haarhoff, on the Eastern Shore, and arrested him for first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing and burning of Anthony Fertitta.

The Towson student who was feloniously touched in her sleep talked to the Towerlight about the extremely creepy incident.

In AA County, Linda Lee Nichols got a five-year sentence for the drunk-driving crash that killed two 16-year-old boys, Kevin Durm and David Snyder, of Arnold. After the fatal crash, instead of trying to help the victims, she walked to a convenience store and bought a pack of gum.

In Frederick, an officer shot and killed a suspect. Also, a sex offender Richard Sherry got 18 months' probation for failing to register his address.

In PG County, a second suspect, Sean Wallace, 19, was arrested for kidnapping youngsters and forcing them to rob banks.

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

February 29

It looks like the two men murdered yesterday were shot on East 25th Street, but one was driven to Hopkins Hospital and left in the car. Assuming the men were murdered, the incident brings the year's murder total to 43. Amazingly, says the CP, no one was murdered last week.

hayesKenneth J. Lighty, 23, is now formally the second federal death-row prisoner in Maryland. Lightly was convicted of abducting and murdering Eric Hayes, left, who was the son of a DC police lieutenant.

Marcus Bell, 22, was arrested for the attempted murder of Craig Bigger, 49.

Is it un-Christian to sell liquor at a party for a porn star? Not necessarily, according to the experts of Modern Drunkard magazine.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

February 28

There were two murders last night, one on East 25th street and one near Hopkins Hospital.

Allegation: a man was carjacked and beaten. When he reported the incident to the police, they called him a liar, threatened to arrest him, refused to report his vehicle as stolen and made him walk home, injured.

Federal Judge Motz has refused to delay trial for officers Antonio L. Murray and William A. King, accused of shaking down drug addicts, stealing their cash and reselling the drugs on the street.

The City Council approved a resolution backing a task force of "academics" to audit crime statistics.

Blotter: last November's death of George Davis was ruled a homicide, bringing the total number of homicides reported by the coroner's office for 2005 to 276. A man was arrested for the attempted murder of Terrance Devillassee, 23. A man was hit on the head with a gun near Power Plant Live.

Coram nobis: safety valve or legal loophole?

Why does the strip club Night Shift have a van? And why did the driver of said van pick up the attacker of Carl Schoettler and drive him to West Baltimore?

In Harford County, Jonathan Felix Knight, 21 and a suspected member of the Bloods, is being held for attempted murder after a shooting in the Edgewood area.

Police in Towson are seeking the public's help in locating a man who broke into a woman's apartment and attempted to sexually assault her while she was sleeping.

In Baltimore County, a student with a gun was removed from a school bus and arrested.

In Montgomery County, Shirley Lumbao, the mother of two Rockville teenagers, will serve two days in jail because of her sons' truancy.

Monday, February 27, 2006

February 27

A 72-year-old Sun reporter was robbed near City Hall and is in critical condition at Shock Trauma.

In the Blotter, a man was arrested for trying to choke a woman with a phone cord, a man shoved a woman from a moving Pontiac, in Dundalk an SUV driver was shot when he tried to run down a police officer.

The Feds don't mess around. Bryant Warren, 34, got more than 12 years for heroin conspiracy-to-distribute.

In Baltimore County, "Big Thick" John Gaumer was indicted for the murder of Josie Brown.

AA County police have arrested Cynthia Jean McKay, the "girlfriend" of the man whose burned body was found in Millersville.

In Calvert County, prosectors will not seek the death penalty against Graham D. Buckmaster.

More on the Charles County murder/suicide involving Safiyyah Malik and Marvin Marshall.

Thirty years after he killed his wife, mother and three sons in Bethesda, then dumped the bodies in North Carolina, police are still seeking Bradford Bishop.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

February 26

Benjamin Evans, 25, was 2006's third homicide victim in Annapolis.

A lot of burglaries in Cedarcroft.

The WBAL "unreported crimes" story will actually run tomorrow at 6 and 11.

The body burned in Millersville belonged to 50-year-old Anthony Fertitta.

Rabbi David Kaye of Potomac and elementary-school teacher Steven Benoff lost their jobs after being busted by Dateline NBC (and mentioned on Larry King by Judge Judy) for trying to solicit sex from minors online.

A cop on Craigslist rants about "worthless annoying scumbags" and the "miserable process of Balt. City justice."

Saturday, February 25, 2006

February 25

Gene Foreman, 16, pled guilty to the murder of Darrell Winston after he was caught by one of those police cameras.

This story is structured so poorly you have to read it more than once to figure out what's going on. But basically, the defense attorney for one of the McAbier firebombers plans to appeal the conviction, arguing that the case should have been brought by the state, not the Feds, because Edna was snitching to local police, not the FBI. Rod Rosenstein says that because drug trafficking was involved and trafficking is a federal crime, the venue was appropriate. Which, let's hope, may be a sign that the U.S. attorney's office is going to start going after more intimidation cases.

Sigh, another murder-suicide, or possibly a double homicide, this time in Glen Burnie.

Friday, February 24, 2006

February 24

There will be another WBAL "unreported crimes" story aired tonight at 11.

In the Western, a man was stabbed in the neck, arm and shoulder with a kitchen knife. A third teenager, 17-year-old Corey Jones, was arrested for the murder of Kwane Walker.

The O'Malley Administration is stepping up its efforts to boost public confidence in the numbers. Hamm released numbers showing that the police's record of gunshot injuries jibes with what local hospitals and EMTs reported in '05.

In the County, Baltimore County Police have arrested and charged Richard Nelson Foltz IV, 16, for the shooting of Angela Holyfield, 15.

Meanwhile, a sexual assault went blatantly unreported by city police in this story by Jayne Miller. Anne Arundel County police notified City police that they had physical evidence of a sexual assault that took place in the city. The city detective replies that police won't be needing that swab, thanks, because no crime took place.

Felon Alonzo Briscoe got 17 years for a gun charge.

Richard Schildtknecht, 30, got one and a half years in jail for downloading child pornography on his office computer.

In Charles County on Wednesday, Marvin Charles Marshall, 24, shot Safiyah Yasmeen Rashid, 25, and then killed himself.

Three men were arrested for Cecil County's first murder of the year, the stabbing of Jose Rodriquez, 25.

Daniel Lanahan, 27, of Woodlawn, is charged with beating his father Frank in the head and face with a metal pole.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

February 23

MTA: outdated police communications equipment failed during the Harbor Tunnel threat last October, leaving emergency responders unable to communicate with law enforcement.

Ricky K. Wilkins, a senior member of the Bloods, was arrested in Elkridge for stabbing and beheading Terrance J. Williams last September.

James Smith, 19, was arrested and charged with the murder of Brian Sampson, 19. Tyrell Fleming and Davon Jones, both 18, were arrested for attemped murder, accused of shooting William Lowe, 43, of Rosedale.

Carlos Davila, 60, was shot in his home near Pikesville Middle School. Police are seeking a 20-something short Hispanic male suspect with a mustache.

A teenage girl was shot in the chest in Reisterstown.

The body burning in Millersville belonged to a 50-year-old man.

Gerald Jordan stole about $300,000 from an old folks' home.

A day after a Navy quarterback was charged with rape, the naval academy is investigating another sexual assault charge. According to a Defense Department study, 94 women have reported a rape at the Naval Academy in the past 10 years, and 142 female cadettes reported a sexual assault.

What the hell, why bother calling the police at all? Crime reports don't actually accomplish anything, paper and ink won't bring your stolen stuff back, un-rape you or remove that bullet from your lung...

Blogger "Huff" tracked down various online incarnations of "big thick" Christopher Gaumer (aka the myspace murderer), and some (disturbingly naïve) coeds who claim that he liked to drop his drawers in front of his webcam.

"It's about 10 p.m. ... young women sprint toward musty corners of the garage to urinate."

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

February 22

Remember Kevin Clark? Commissioner until November 2004 until fired abruptly after it was revealed that his wife had allegedly beat him about the head with a telephone 14 years prior? Now BAL's Jayne Miller's tracked him down in New York, and he's got not only allegations, but numbers from an internal audit in 2002 that pointed to "significant problems" in rape and robbery numbers that led the crimes to be underreported by 15 to 20 percent. Clark says the Mayor was aware of his concerns, but he was told by the O'Malley administration to drop the issue because it made the Mayor look bad. The mayor's press office responded to the story by calling Clark a liar and disgruntled employee. Meanwhile, Hamm's playing chief bulwark of uncomfortable meetings.

Five murders last week brought the 2006 toll to 40. The Sun reported four of the five.

Michael Lynn, 15, was arrested for the murder of Kwane Walker, 16. Three days after Walker's murder, another 16-year old boy was shot in the stomach on the West side of town. In the Northwestern, a 26-year-old was shot in the face. And on the West side Carrington McNutt, 18, was arrested and charged with attempted murder for shooting Eric Baker, 28.

A 15-year-old high school student stabbed a 16-year-old student shortly after the school day ended at W.E.B. Dubois high school in the Northeast.

Last Friday the BCGJ indicted Anthony Miller for the murders of Jason Convertino and Sean Wisniewski. Miller had been arrested repeatedly and was even charged with two murders, but he got away no less than five times because the State's Attorney's office declined to prosecute.

At a hearing today, Judge Edward Hargadon sentenced Lamar Johnson, 22, to life in prison plus 20 years for first-degree murder and the use of a handgun in the commission of a violent crime. On March 26, 2004, Johnson shot Carlos Sawyer, 31, multiple times next to the Tilghman Elementary School and Recreation Center in the 2200 block of McElderry Street as school was being dismissed for the day. After the first shot, while Mr. Sawyer lay in the gutter, and as schoolchildren looked on, Johnson continued shooting.

Kathryn Brown's grinning headshot looks just a little inappropriate next to a story about how a policeman discovered a burning body near Old Mill High School in Millersville, Anne Arundel County.

The grandmother of 17-year-old Jeremiah Brown Hall, accused of kidnapping a 14-year-old boy and forcing him to rob banks says her grandson is no criminal.

Navy football quarterback Lamar Owens Jr. has been charged with rape.

Are ugly teenagers more likely to become criminals, or just more likely to get in trouble?

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

February 21

Kwane Walker, age 16, was shot in the stomach and died on Friday.

The body of Dorine Smith, 67, was found in the basement of her West Baltimore home on Saturday, and her death has been ruled a homicide.

Terrence Smith, leader of the gang that firebombed Edna McAbier's house, got 80 years for the attack.

keenanPolice are looking for convicted child rapist and unregistered sex offender Matthew Patrick Keenan of Dundalk (at left).

What a great idea: DUI plates.

Family law = one depressing mess.

Hung-over editor issues honest headline:
"Death Penalty issue gets confusing."
(If you want anything explained you have to ask somebody else.)

Terrance Hawkins of Upper Marlboro took 70 elderly Oprah fans for a ride.

Slow news day: with government offices and courts closed Monday but reporters at work, local papers filled pages with reader mail and transcibed voice messages, and Cheshire's ex wrote an article about how O'Malley's office broke the law by not responding to her letters in a timely fashion.

Monday, February 20, 2006

February 20

New York Daily News: Baltimore's port is "in the hands of a firm owned by a sheikdom suspected of connections to Al Qaeda terrorists, Iraqi insurgents and Iranian flame-throwers." The storm-in-the-Port story is so hot the Mayor made Al-Jazeerah, and Ehrlich jumped on the bandwagon with Pataki to be one of two GOP governors questioning the sale.

Irwin: A 26-year-old man was shot in the leg, a gaudy SUV was 'jacked and liquor and decorative plates were stolen.

Put ya lighters up for Time Magazine's "Looking For A Few Good Snitches", featuring quotes by Mrs. J, prosecutor Lisa Goldberg and Judge John Glynn and a reference to the Boyd/Meadows/Johnson intimidation case among others (and now Clyde is a free man). (Q: If a witness is killed, are their written or sworn statements still admissible in court?)

Baltimore Police embrace the lastest thing: video-tape-recordings of motion-pictures.

"The Centers for the Dignity of Women"-- how made up is that?... Is that where Elizabeth Krum can go for therapy?

Sunday, February 19, 2006

February 19

JZ: in the Flex Squad trial, will it be possible to seat jurors who can honestly "state under oat that they have formed no opinion on this case"?

Co-conspirator Hugo Arnaldo Aguilar-Mejia, 36, pled guilty in federal court to kidnapping 19-year-old Delmy Rivera in Frederick.

A 13-year-old boy was shot in a police officer's home in PG County.

Should felons be allowed to vote?

O to the M, Milkuski and other big-name Democrats are pig-biting mad over the sale of the Port of Baltimore to the Ay-rabs. Shows what I know-- I thought the Port was like a highway tollbooth where federal and state officials dilligently examined containers and collected taxes on their contents. But no ... less than five percent of containers are inspected.

Saturday, February 18, 2006

February 18

After a quiet few days, two people have been murdered: a teenage boy was fatally shot in the stomach on Druid Hill Avenue, and north of Fell's Point.

Fredericka Moseley died from a stab wound to the neck after a violent struggle.

Hamm stands behind the numbers.

In AA County, Savoy Stanley Saunders was found guilty of child abuse and two counts of second-degree murder for shaking his five-month-old son Jeremiah to death. Also, four people attacked and shot a 15-year-old boy.

Oh, classy. MD's perinneal "egomaniacal spectacle" and state comptroller sent an illegible note to the aide he ogled ... and simultaneously sent out Xeroxed copies of the note to the press.

Friday, February 17, 2006

February 17

A dead white female baby was found in a bag in Riverdale Park.

James Reigle, 46 and a five-time sex offender got a federal life sentence for child pornography.

In the first witness-intimidation verdict under the new post-Dawson laws, Clyde Meadows appeared before Judge John Miller yesterday and pled guilty to obstruction of justice. Under the terms of the plea agreement, announced in open court, Meadows had to admit guilt, which he did. Meadows must appear as a State's witness in the case of Amanda Johnson, scheduled for March 27 or 29 (there's confusion about the date since it was written down on the form as the 29th but verbally announced as the 27th...), and Meadows must stay away from the State's witness for the State vs. Timothy Meadows and Kenneth George, scheduled for April 12. Assuming the conditions are met, the agreement calls for Judge Miller to sentence Meadows to a suspended three-year prison term and three years of supervised probation on April 24. Meadows had been being held on bail but was released yesterday under terms of the agreement. That's right, he's out. Super!

Sun editorial: "accuracy in crime reporting is essential to assessing public safety". Which begs the question, how accurate of a sample is the "sampling of crimes" that is the blotter?

The allegation: After dirty doc Marc Fishman took over, conditions at Tamar's House in Park Heights got so bad a woman had to give birth unassisted on the floor.

WTF?! Are you kidding me?! As Baltimore cops were stalking war protestors on York Road, significant parts of The Port of Baltimore were sold to a Dubai company. Says Ruppersberger, "There could be weapons of mass destruction that could come into our ports, so we need to be on top of this." Yeah, ya think?

The story ain't over til we say it is, old man.

oraclEllisHampden residents may be interested to know that the trial of Kenneth "Oracl" Ellis, age 35 and charged with malicious destruction of property, is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, February 21, in courtroom one, Wabash Avenue District Court.