Baltimore Crime Beat: Afternoon crime update - Baltimore crime news: Police, courts and police stories in the city and central Maryland

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December 18, 2009

Afternoon crime update

The two West Baltimore teens charged with animal cruelty in the burning of a pit bull puppy pleaded not guilty at an arraignment today. The puppy, nicknamed Phoenix, had to be euthanized due to its injuries. In a separate case, the teens face handgun and drug charges.

And two men have been charged by the BPD homicide unit's cold case squad in the death of a man found duct-taped and shot to death in Leakin Park in October 2007. One of the defendants has a prior handgun conviction and was acquitted of an earlier attempted murder charge. I've been unable to track anyone down who can explain what this kidnapping and killing was motivated by. The victim was from Ghana and appears to have been in the country for quite a few years without running into any trouble other than traffic tickets.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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About Peter Hermann

Peter Hermann started covering news for The Baltimore Sun in 1990, first in Anne Arundel County and, starting in 1994, reporting on the Baltimore Police Department. In 2001, he was assigned to Jerusalem as the Baltimore Sun's Middle East correspondent. He returned in 2005 as an assistant city editor overseeing crime coverage. In 2008, Peter returned to the beat as a daily reporter and blogger. A recent BBC report featured him in a segment on the harsh realities of covering crime in Baltimore.

Coverage will focus on crime trends, problems in neighborhoods in the city and elsewhere, profiles of victims and police officers and try to offer readers a fresh perspective on one of the most vexing issues facing Baltimore and its future.

Contributing to this blog is Justin Fenton, who joined The Sun in 2005 and has covered the Baltimore City Police Department and the criminal justice system since 2008. His work includes an investigation into Cal Ripken Jr.’s minor league baseball stadium deal with his hometown of Aberdeen, a three-part series chronicling a ruthless con woman, coverage of the killing of five Amish children at a schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and a job swap with a British crime reporter to explore differences in crime-fighting. A special report looking into how city police handle rape cases led to sweeping reforms that changed the way sexual assaults are investigated in Baltimore. He was recognized as the best reporter in Baltimore by the City Paper in 2010 and by Baltimore Magazine in 2011.

Follow @phscoop, @justin_fenton on Twitter