Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Dixon = Grim

The mayor had a "grim" expression on her face after the jury failed to deliver a verdict Tuesday

Beans and Dread:

A long-planned homeless center’s expansion got underway last week. Then, a Beans and Bread employee stabbed a client. | Baltimore City Paper
Charges were dropped today against city police officer accused of stealing money from a drug dealer
WA coroner reports that former Raven Tony Fein died of "acute opiate intoxication"

Oh, the suspense!

Will today be the day those jurors reach a verdict? Local celebutorney Warren Brown told Fox 45 he "suspects the Mayor will be convicted on at least one count"

Stay of eviction

Will the Mayor save Lakechia Rodriguez, a disabled woman who is facing eviction from her brooklyn homes apartment for drug charges that were later dropped?

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Brandon J. Benjamin, 22, shot in the face at 3100 McElderry St.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Plug tunin

Tune in to Slumlord Watch on WYPR's Midday with Dan Rodricks tomorrow from 1-2

No verdict for Dixon...yet

updates from the Dixon trial, says one juror, I need a smoke.

But I'm an ossifer!

Arthur C. Campbell, 39, was arrested after waving a gun outside of the Angel Inn in O'Donnell Heights, claiming to be a police officer; police found three unregistered, loaded handguns in his car.

Dang, bitches!

Police use pepper spray to break up a girl fight at Overlea HS

Two women were stabbed outside of Club International in West Baltimore, and two more claimed to be stabbed on Wellham St.

Three men were stabbed at around 2:30 this morning at the corner of Curley & Monument Streets

Dixon jurors say they're making "great progress"

Ugh, this law.
Disclaimer: This site offers links to local crime-related news stories, occasionally peppered with snarky commentary. It does not contain original-source reporting. This site usually can't tell you why Foxtrot was circling your block or why there were a bunch of cop cars at a given intersection. This site does not contain pictures of puppehs or kittehs or Levi Johnson in the shower. Etc etc etc etc, whatevs, I already bitched about this last week.

Hermann says a cop might lose his job over Del. Jon Cardin's dingbat boat proposal.

Jailed doctors

Two doctors jailed for leading a protest against insurance company talk about doing hard time in CB. Meanwhile, will the city finally cap parking ticket penalites????

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Police shoot robbery suspect

City police shoot a suspect after a car chase from the county goes into the city, WMAR reports the suspects are suspected in the murder of 52-year-old Brian Meise, killed in a Catonsville convenience-store robbery.

In Catonsville, a man carjacked and shot

A woman drove her car into the harbor at Fell's Point's Pier 5 and died

Gun-wielding road-rager arrested
on 95 inner loop

Who's your daddy?

daddy?NYTimes mag on DNA testing and the messy legalities of fatherhood

Dixon trial judge uses roastmaster skills, cookies to keep jury on task

"out of the thousands of drug addicts who either live in or flock to Baltimore (Black and impoverished) and the seemingly endless string of death that such a condition brings about, two white addicts are deserving of compassionate and humanized coverage, while the rest are consigned to irrelevance and anonymity."

Friday, November 20, 2009

Like father like son...

Black Guerrilla Family member Marlow Bates sentenced to 46 months in federal prison. If you may remember, his father, also named Marlow was a notorious Drug Kingpin in the 80's who is still serving out a life sentence in state prison.

And on the subject of Gangs...
Apparently Maryland has the Latin Kings nowadays, as 19 alleged members were indicted federally. From what I read, despite being a major MD gang the local Kings could not manage to actually kill anybody, try as they might.

In murder news;
Two more victims have been identified:
Carron Spruiel, 25, was the man murdered November 15 on Garrison Blvd.

Lykeisha Freeman, 35, was the woman found murdered in the vicinity of all the rapes on November 17 on 900 East Eager St.

Also in the news...
Police rescue a kidnapped 17 yr. old and possibly stopped a would be murder on Wenesday.

And finally...
Trouble in the suburbs, not even street wise New Yorkers are safe on the mean streets of Rodgers Forge.
Dixon has an odd encounter at Mitchell Couthouse. Meanwhile, more on the applause at her trial.

Woman murdered at funeral home

All lit up now on Twitpic
Virginia McGahee (or McGhee), 34, murdered at funeral for murdered boyfriend
Funeral director: war at home has made us master embalmers

Police address sex assaults: "If you live in East Baltimore and you have to be out walking overnight, to a bus stop or anywhere else, police say they will literally come to your home and escort you to where you are going."

Teen's lawyer: my client was just hanging around neo-Nazi for the beer

Dixon jury continues deliberations today, Fox tweets that the juror with all the questions is the white guy

Northern-district sergeant's son busted with half-pound(!) of giggleweed

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Pigtown drama continues

Activists working to throw johns out of their neighborhood get a brick through a car window.

Police manslaughter trial to begin tomorrow

edwardhuntThe manslaughter trial of Thomas Sanders III, 39, a police officer in the Northeast District, is scheduled to begin 2:00PM tomorrow before Judge Wanda K. Heard. The Baltimore City Grand Jury returned a two-count indictment charging Sanders with voluntary and involuntary manslaughter on July 15, 2008, alleging Sanders shot Edward Lamont Hunt, 27, right, on January 30, 2008 at the Hamilton Park Shopping Center at 2300 E. Northern Parkway. Sanders told detectives that he feared for his life, Hunt was unarmed and witnesses claim he was shot in the back while walking away. Sanders was one of the last officers involved in a shooting to be publicly named before the BPD changed its public-information policy; the shooting evoked a FBI investigation.
Hunt's family has retained attorney A. Dwight Pettit, who the Examiner reported won the largest single police excessive-force lawsuit in Maryland history in 2004.
Sanders was represented at his arraignment by police-union attorney Henry L. Belsky.

Judges, hairstylists agree: mayor to be acquitted

Buz sez 3 out of 4 judges agree no jury in town would convict our mayor. Jury's got the case now, so we shall see.

More dispatches from Pigtown

The drama in Pigtown continues, a dog put to sleep, real estate investment gone sour, and man allowing prostitutes to shoot up in his house who says he's misunderstood.
A 17-year-old rescued from a hostage situation in an abandoned house in the SW yesterday

Last week's nine homicides in the Ink

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Police are holding a "town hall" meeting at 6 p.m. at the Knox Presbyterian Church on 1300 North Eden St. to discuss the nine sexual assaults in the city. Police say there are at least two attackers, and the woman found behind a convenience store on East Eager Street was murdered.

31-year-old Christopher Parr received a life sentence for the rape and robbery of a 62-year-old woman at a Brooklyn Park laundromat.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The man shot to death during a convenience- store robbery in Catonsville was ID'd as Brian Michael Meise, 52. The killer is still at large, and it sounds like County police don't have a lot of info to work with.

The defense rested this morning in the Dixon trial, and WBAL's David Collins has some of the dirt the jury won't hear-- such as the gift cards being put in individual gift bags.

Is shopping a crime?

I.V. Editor Regina Holmes adds her perspective to the mix.

Questions

Why was Jason Mattison's aunt hanging around with a(n alleged) murderer? What was Jason doing there? And why did it take more than a week for anyone to properly spell the victim's last name?

Police wonder if a woman whose body was found in the 900 block of East Eager Street was a victim of the bus-stop rapist

Monday, November 16, 2009

Guilty pleas for adult abuse

From the SAO:
Moments before jury selection was about to begin, and with 100 potential jurors in the courtroom ready to begin voir dire, (a preliminary screening process for potential jurors) Sharon Jones, 26, of the 400 block of W. Franklin Avenue and Tia Sewell, 27, of the 5100 block of Darien Road pled guilty to first-degree vulnerable adult abuse.

Judge David Ross ordered a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for December 28, 2009. Under terms of the plea agreement, announced in open court, Jones and Sewell will face a cap of no more than six years in prison at sentencing. The state will argue for the full six years.

Sharon Jones and Tia Sewell admitted to the negligent care of their mother, April Montford, 40. Ms. Montford sustained severe injuries to her lower abdomen and legs resulting in bed sores, gangrenous open wounds and dehydration. She died March 14, 2008. The medical examiner ruled Montford’s death a homicide as a result of a 1985 gunshot wound. That gunshot wound left her a paraplegic.

Jones and Sewell each posted $75,000 bail in March 2008 and remain released pending sentencing. Assistant State’s Attorney Kelly Burrell of the Felony Family Violence Division prosecuted this case.

20 years for drugs, 7 years for murder of baby

Baltimoreiffic.
From the SAO:
Today the Honorable Judge Wanda Keys Heard sentenced Freddie Jackson, 47, of the 1500 block of N. Montford Street to 20 years in prison for distribution of heroin and 20 years for possession with intent to distribute heroin to be served concurrently.

A Baltimore city jury convicted Jackson on May 1, 2009 based on the following facts of the case: On July 1, 2008 at 4:30 PM in the 2500 block of East Biddle Street, undercover detectives observed Jackson conduct three suspected narcotics transactions. Officers observed Jackson selling suspected CDS from a nearby “ground stash.” When officers stopped Jackson they recovered the stash and found it to contain five gel caps of heroin and $268 in cash were on his person. At the time of these events, Jackson had a total of 10 prior controlled dangerous substance and battery convictions. He was on probation following his release from prison in March 2008 for a 2001 conviction for child abuse resulting in the death of his eight month old son in case number 100167020. Jackson is backing up 18 years in the pending violation of probation.

What are they thinking?

This abortion-disclaimer bill thing is just weird. How could that stand up to any kind of legal challenge, requiring a business to post services it doesn't provide? Prohibiting the dispersal of false medical information would make sense, or requiring a center to clearly identify its religious affiliation, maybe. But a disclaimer?
And why is Planned Parenthood worried about abortion access in Baltimore city? It's not exactly South Dakota.
All very odd.

Cardapalooza

The mayor's trial resumes, with testimony from a housing authority employee who pleaded guilty this year to stealing cards from her honor's trove, and developer Patrick Turner, who bought cards, he says, as a charitable gift for the "children of Baltimore," but never got a thank-you note. (What about a receipt so he could write off the donation?)

Hermann: "Sad tableaux play out in court"

Have you seen Damon Dameo Gray, 17 "recently released from jail on an unrelated crime ... wanted for the attempted murder of a 17-year-old on October 21"

Pigtown

The battle rages on in Pigtown as residents take on prostitutes, johns, drug dealers and even each other.

201

A violent weekend leaves the city at 201 murders, victims at the 1900 block of E. Lanvale St., the 2900 block of Garrison Blvd., and a 45-year-old man in a wheelchair shot in a home invasion in West Baltimore.

Teacher of Jason Madison/ Mattison, killed by Dante/ Donte Parrish, writes a letter to Peter Hermann

Saturday, November 14, 2009

194 - 197

Two homicides last night:
Sammie McCullough, Jr., 36, 1200 block of North Avenue, and an unidentified man in the 5100 block of Arbutus Avenue
and two more on Thursday: Michael Anthony McFadden, 51, 2000 block of W. Lanvale St.
and an unidentified man in the 3600 block of Gelston Drive

and yes, looks like the man The Innocence Project freed was that Dante Parrish.

Steala Dixon's new BF took the stand, called their relationship "very challenging."
Slumlord Watch: Accused pit-bull-burning brothers kept their dogs in a vacant house.
Tremayne and Travers Johnson, 17, of S. Pulaski Street were indicted on five counts of animal abuse and cruelty on Friday.
Baltimore PoliceDept Shooting,2400 Druid Hill, adult male shot
25 minutes ago via Twitter
Baltimore PoliceDept Shooting, Alameda/ Crestlyn, juv shot in leg
26 minutes ago via Twitter
Baltimore PoliceDept Shooting, 5100 Arbutus Av, adult male shot
3 hours ago via Twitter

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Not sexy

A new sketch of the bus-stop rapist ... Stan Stovall!?

Dante Parrish is still out there

"Md. Inmates Wash 6,000 Donated Bras ... It's something of an experience for men who have been locked up for years. Some told WJZ they haven't seen a bra in a really long time."

Dispatches

The deputy mayor's letter to the McCanns

"Drug prosecutions suffer after detective is accused of embezzlement"

Mark Hughes' readers: Baltimore violence is "a tragedy and a failure. False equivalence, and talk about crab cakes and neighbourhood restaurants, can't mask it."

Will the Dixon jury hear about a third source of gift cards? And even if the gift cards weren't stolen, should the mayor be hitting up developers for donations to her church in the first place?

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Dante Parrish Wanted

For sex assault and murder of 15-year-old Jason Madison Jr.
The news alert was deactivated at around 5:30 p.m., possibly indicating he's been apprehended
UPDATE: as of 10 a.m. 11/12, he is still out there, and was convicted of murder in 2000.

92Q Hearts Felon

Chris Beat-her-down Brown coming to town
Shame on you, 92Q!

Brooklyn score card

Apartment manager 1, drug dealers 0.
"Jewish medics claim discrimination by Pikesville Volunteer Fire Co."
.. the fire co says masks won't fit over beards

Harvard students to earn class credit for watching "The Wire"
Last week's four murders in the Ink

"Sniper executed with lethal precision"

Learn about informing the public

"A group of Iraqi police officers and representatives from the Pentagon are scheduled to visit with Baltimore police next month to learn about informing the public about crime and interacting with residents."
Lesson one: give lip service to transparency, but routinely ignore media requests, or charge exorbitant fees for public documents and/ or stall responses for years.
2. Fire officers who talk to the press and
3. Grant your department the sovereign right to police itself.

Grim


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Police believe the 15-year old boy found yesterday stabbed to death in a closet had been sexually assaulted.

... more from the Sun

Conviction for Murder Over Cardboard

From the SA's O:

November 10, 2009 – Today a Baltimore City jury convicted Edward Thornton, 55, of the 1900 block of Broadway of second-degree murder and wear/carry a dangerous weapon. The jury reached its verdict after deliberating approximately two hours after hearing two days of testimony.

Judge David W. Young ordered a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for January 7, 2010. Thornton faces a maximum possible penalty of 33 years; 30 years for the murder count and three years for the weapons count.

On September 18, 2008 in the unit block of West Pratt Street, Edward Thornton and Helen Reightler, 43, were involved in a verbal dispute over a piece of cardboard. Thornton, who was homeless, slept on the piece of cardboard. As the argument escalated, Thornton produced a knife and stabbed Reightler in the neck. Medics transported Ms. Reightler to Shock Trauma for treatment but she succumbed to her injuries on September 29, 2008 at Sinai Hospital.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Rapist sketch

have you seen this guy?

More on Clay

A congressional "inquiry" has been made into the death of Robert Clay.

Pip pip old bean

Fenton blogs from London
"Victims, Relatives To View Sniper Execution"
Accused sniper: "all you police and prosecutors can stand-down-’rushing’ to murder this innocent black man"

Policarpio Espinoza Perez and Adan Espinoza Canela seek a third murder trial from the Court of Special Appeals

Helen Holton gets a stay

Robberies in Guilford and Charles Village, a stolen leaf blower, yet another robbery in the 300 block of E. University Parkway.

$4500 for police escort to Miami?

I hope they stood by her beach chair, oiled and flexing

Why so murderous?

The New Yorker asks, "Why is American History so Murderous?"

An off-duty Baltimore police officer shot a man who stabbed him at a strip club in Dundalk

City settles suit over 17 'rogue' officers on the East Side SET team; Daily Record now charging $165.36 for online access

County police officer Parker, shot during a deadly encounter in Overlea is doing “fine”, suspect is still dead

Trial postponed for man accused of beating 66-year-old Franklin Schissler to death in the bathroom of Morsberger’s Tavern in Catonsville

In AAC, Baltimore man convicted of double murder throws candy bar wrapper on floor

Sentencing commission: terms for fraud getting longer

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

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Joseph Leegreen Taylor, 28, and Allen Mark Johnson, 32, both shot to death in cars.

More on the five shootings last night

Another sexual assault

.. near a bus stop early this morning.

Five shootings yesterday

Pretty busy for a Tuesday

Last week's three murders in the Ink

Prison guard accused of smuggling cell phone gets real bail. Go Prevas!

Hellz yes, you should be able to get wine in the mail.

Media Blabber: The Sun's parent company is going to try to go AP-free next week. Will that mean no international news, and national news only from LA or Chicago? That'll be one thin paper!

The people on the mayor

A few days before Dixon's trial, city residents weigh in on the Mayor's legal woes. "We'd already be locked up"
"Last year the police charged nearly 55,000 people. Of these nearly 10,000 were declined by the prosecutor. A further 15,000 needed substantive changes. That means that in a signifcant number of cases the police were not doing their job properly when it came to charging suspects"

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

25 years for man who stabbed pregnant babymom

Today the Honorable Judge Gale Rasin sentenced Morris J. Pettigrew, 20, of the 2600 block of Frederick Avenue to 25 years in prison for the April 19, 2008 non-fatal stabbing of his girlfriend, under indictment number 208179002. A Baltimore City jury convicted Pettigrew of false imprisonment, first and second -degree assault and reckless endangerment on September 15, 2009. Judge Gale Rasin sentenced Pettigrew to 15 years in prison for false imprisonment, 20 years suspend all but 10 years, with five years of supervised probation for first degree assault. This sentence is to be served consecutive to the 15 year sentence, for a total of 25 years incarceration. The state requested a 20 year sentence for each crime to be served consecutively. Upon release, Pettigrew is to be on probation for five years during which time he is to have no contact with the victim or her son and he must successfully complete a batterer’s program at the House of Ruth or similar program.

At today’s hearing, the victim provided an impact statement in court. Judge Rasin recognized her courage in coming forward to save herself and her child from Pettigrew’s control. Based on the new conviction, Pettigrew also faces a violation of probation hearing on November 17, 2009 before Judge Shirley Watts for a second-degree sex offense which he pled guilty to in 2003.

The victim testified to the following facts of the case. The woman and her 8-year old son went to visit Pettigrew at his residence in the 2600 block of Frederick Avenue on April 19, 2008. During the visit Pettigrew became agitated with the woman because she did not want to move back in with him. The victim testified that initially she did not call the police because she was in fear for the safety of her 8-year old son. Pettigrew then took a knife and stabbed her in the right upper back. The victim testified that even though she began to bleed profusely, Pettigrew refused to allow her seek medical assistance, instead he continued to make repeated threats to her, forcing her and their young son to accompany him various places, holding them hostage. Finally, on April 22, 2008 in the early morning hours while Pettigrew slept, the victim was able to call 911. Medic #1 responded and transported the woman to University of Maryland, Shock Trauma. As result of the attack, the victim who was 24 weeks pregnant sustained a bruised lip, broken rib (right side) and a stab wound on the rear right shoulder.

Work that, lemme see you drip sweat

Baltimore PoliceDept: 2403 PICKERING, ADULT MALE SHOT WHILE SEATED IN CAR

Baltimore PoliceDept's Photos you'd rather not see - Ray Lewis Works out with Baltimore Police. None my business, but this free Israeli rifle training sounds slightly less humiliating.
Joseph Bonds entered an Alford plea from alleged murderer of former police commissioner Hamm's stepdaughter Nicole Sesker.

Rough housing.

Oh how I hate these stories: in Essex, mom's 21-year-old boyfriend arrested for murdering toddler, boyfriend says he was just "rough housing"

Rapist(s) Afoot

Five rapes in four days and eight over two weeks, mostly near bus stops in the early-morning hours.

Trial expected to get underway today for teen twins accused of setting dog on fire

188 months in prison for man who brought 80 kgs of cocaine and 100 gallons of PCP to MD

69 months in jail for David Cooley, who stole govmint checks out of the mail

Two charged in HoCo Halloween party shootings

Buz on the problems with drunk driving laws

"Neighbourhood"! "Churlish!" Oh, that's adorable. It's like a crime walk with Kipper!

Monday, November 2, 2009

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Eric Cromwell, shot in July, has been added to the toll

More on the case of Elda Vasquez Adorno, the lady down the manhole

A shooting and an officer pushed down the stairs in the blotter

Today's courthouse happenings from the SAO's office (links added):

Jabiera Handy is scheduled to appear at 11 am in Judge Nance, room 404 Courthouse East for 2nd degree murder in the death of her grandmother, Eunice Taylor, 69.

Lamont Davis is scheduled to appear in Judge Nance at 2 pm for the attempted murder of the 5 year old victim [Raven Wyatt] in a Southwest Baltimore neighborhood.

Thomas Meighan is scheduled to appear for a bail hearing at 2 pm in Judge Fletcher-Hill, room 464 Courthouse West.

Dajuan Marshall and Kedar Anderson are scheduled to appear at 2 pm in room 600 Courthouse West for gang related charges.
"Filings up; judges down in Baltimore County"

"Only a Scrooge would wonder why Whiting-Turner's donation for citywide recreation programs, was used, instead, on a mayor's inauguration party."

It was the best of times...

Link to the reporter-exchange blog, "A Tale of Two Cities"

Background checks

Should the city's homeless be banned from housing assisstance if they have a criminal record? Some adovcates say no, but the housing authority disagrees.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Another Halloween in Baltimore

Lots of crazy cats in the county...

A love triangle turned Workplace murder suicide in Eastpoint.

Followed by a police involved shooting in which a officer was shot.

In better news, a whopping 6 people were arrested
for the murder of a Liquor Store owner.

Meanwhile in City news...

A city man recieved 40 years for an attempted murder in Columbia.

The news looks even worse for a man who suffered a seizure after swallowing drugs in a police raid. Word of advice: Remember it's not worth it, your in Baltimore City, the odds are in your favor that you will be in little to no trouble.

And in final City News, a convicted killer is caught with a gun on Mangold St.

And as a little Halloween reminder, make sure It's candy that you're eating, because there are more and more Ecstasy Traffickers these days.
Part II of stop snitching, philly style

Monday, October 26, 2009

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A suspiciously dead body found behind a house in Winchester.

Man stabbed multiple times on the East side at around 8 p.m. tonight. Different incident than the person stabbed to death at 5 a.m. in CHUM.

Did the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center violate state law by isolating juveniles for long periods of time?
Also see "Is Solitary Confinement Torture?" .. and Ppatin's comments.

Heart-warming, yet stomach-churning: Lawyers step in to help victim impregnated by aunt's boyfriend

Hey whaddayaknow, that furry-moobed guy who threatened Keith Daniels with a shotgun was telling the truth-- he really isn't Thomas Meighan Jr.! The actual Meighan is still in the can and has only been charged with traffic violations so far. WTF? "Witnesses told police that after that accident, he drove to Northeast Baltimore, where he struck an SUV on Bel Air Road, and ran from the scene of that crash."

Unfortunate Day for Baltimore Police

An off duty county officer is killed in a tragic motorcycle accident.

In less tragic but still unfortunate Baltimore police news, a off-duty officer pointed a gun at a House of Screams employee dressed as "leatherface."


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And the news keeps getting weirder as a man in drag was found stabbed to death today in the 1500 block of Montpelier St. Baltimore police have not yet identified the victim.

Undutiful

According to city councilwoman Belinda Conaway, a whole lot of city residents skip jury duty, which is why she's calling council hearing on the subject her father vowed to probe two weeks ago.