The headline on this morning's on-line edition of the Washington Post: Like a war zone.

No, it's not another dozen shot at a Baltimore cookout. This time, it really is crime someplace else. Four dead, five wounded in front of an apartment building in Southeast DC on South Capitol Street (the crime scene picture at left was taken by The Washington Post and transmitted by AP).

From the Post story:

"The burst of gunfire, apparently a drive-by shooting, led to a police chase in which four D.C. officers were slightly injured. Officials later said three persons were arrested and a weapon was recovered, but no other details were immediately available. Initially, three people were reported killed in the shooting. D.C. police said early Wednesday that a fourth victim had died. Police were still looking for a motive in the shooting, in which at least nine people were hit."

That certainly reminds Baltimore residents of the day last July when 18 people were shot, and two killed, in shootings across the city, including a dozen at a backyard cookout for a family mourning the anniversary of another killing.

Here is video from WJLA-TV in Washington:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

[UPDATE, 1:45 p.m.: Charging documents show Green was stabbed in the heart and his underwear had been pulled down to his knees, though detectives do not elaborate on whether there was a sex-related motive to the crime. Detectives did say that the assault appeared to have occurred inside of a vehicle, and that they had "important physical evidence" that linked Douglas to the crime scene. They said Douglas later admitted that he got into an argument with Green that turned physical.]

Police said Tuesday night that they have made an arrest in the October 2009 stabbing death of Darren Green Jr., 25, who was wearing women's clothing when his body was found in the 1500 block of Montpelier St., near a small park. Larry Douglas, 20, has been charged with first-degree murder, and we're trying to track down charging documents to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the killing.

Green was recognized at a Nov. 20, 2009 ceremony at City Hall commemorating International Transgender Day of Remembrance, according to a post on the Baltimore Brew blog. One of the event's attendees, Cynde Kimbrough, founder and director of the Gender Learning Advocacy and Support of System, said Green was one of her clients.

Court records indicate that Green, at least for a time, was a prostitute, arrested a remarkable 11 times over a 24 day span between April and May 2004, including twice on the same day on two separate occasions, for loitering or loitering for the purpose of prostitution. More recently, three months before he was killed, Green had been given a hefty drug sentence of seven years, with all but four months suspended. Records from that case show an alias of "Kelly Bundy."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Northeast Baltimore
        

Sunday's shooting of an intruder in a Baltimore County home in Perry Hall is a reminder that people in Baltimore and in the suburbs sometimes use deadly force to protect themselves. But police and prosecutors don't always agree on how to proceed.

I pulled a list of what I think are the Top 10 self-defense cases -- most involve shootings, but who can forget one of the most recent, a Johns Hopkins student and his samurai sword? In most cases, prosecutors ruled the incidents justified. But sometimes they prosecuted, only to get a conviction that carried a lenient sentence or an outright acquittal.

I purposely didn't include domestic cases, where one spouse shoots or attacks an abusive spouse. That got a bit complicated and didn't fit the current scenario. But we do have a variety of cases, from homeowners and business owners surprised by gunmen in robberies to elderly men shooting at children for vandalizing cars.

As you can see, the cases are never totally clear-cut. In some cases, the property owners were criticized for laying in wait for burglars, raising the specter of vigilante justice. I'd love he hear your thoughts, and any cases I might've missed.

Read the list and judge for yourselves:

September 2009 — Johns Hopkins chemistry student John Pontolillo kills an unarmed intruder with a samurai sword. Prosecutors rule the killing near the North Baltimore campus justified. Police had earlier visited Pontolillo’s house and alerted the residents to a suspicious prowler. The student joined police and security on a quick search but found nothing. Later, before going to bed, Pontolillo went out again, this time armed, and confronted the prowler near a garage. He told police he swung when he was backed up against a door and feared for his lift.

March 2001 — Brothers Dominic “Tony” Geckle and Matthew Geckle shot three unarmed intruders at their concrete plant in Glyndon. Both had armed themselves with shotguns and spent the night in an unlighted warehouse after break-ins the two previous shifts. A grand jury declined to indict the men.

June 2001 — Two businessmen frustrated by repeated burglaries at their East Baltimore warehouse shot and killed a drug addict who broke inside and who they said appeared to be armed. Baltimore prosecutors charged Kenny Der and Darrell R. Kifer with first-degree murder because they laid in wait and shot the man several times with a shotgun and a handgun. Defense attorneys argued that the case “challenged the foundation of the right to defend yourself” and a judge in 2003 acquitted them of all charges.

1979 — Roman George Welzant shot and killed an 18-year-old boy and wounded another after they threw snowballs at his home in Eastwood. A Baltimore County jury acquitted the 68-year-old of murder. Known as a neat-freak, Welzant took photographs of kids who were drinking and the boy he killed had been drunk at the time.

October 1994 — Nathaniel Hurt, who ran a snowball stand behind his rowhouse on East North Avenue, kills a 13-year-old boy when he shot at youths vandalizing his car. The case drew sympathy for Hurt, a retired steel worker, and made him synonymous with vigilante justice in a case that became a referendum on out-of-control youths. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to vie years in prison, but Gov. Parris N. Glendening commuted his sentence after 14 months.

July 1998 — In a case eerily similar to that of Nathaniel Hurt, and one that attracted equal sympathy, 78-year-old Albert Simms shot and killed a 15-year-old boy who had thrown a brick at his Cadillac on Llewelyn Avenue in East Baltimore. Simms was found incompetent to stand trial.

March 2010 — William Bozman wakes up in his Perry Hall bedroom to find a convicted felon standing over him with a handgun and demanding money. The 68-year-old towing company owner someone gets his own gun and fatally shoots the gunmen when he refused to put down the weapon, according to his account to police.

August 2009 — A clerk at a Broadway vintage clothing store in Fells Point, along with her boyfriend, whacked a man with a baseball bat after he returned to the store for the third time to rob it. Police later arrested the man and said he was responsible for 17 robberies of city businesses in 22 days. The boyfriend, Mike Voorhis, said he hit the man on the head three of four times before he ran away. Other merchants, also repeated targets, had armed themselves with bats, knives and in one case, an ax. Police arrested the man before he was beaten again.

September 1997 — A Northeast Baltimore liquor store owners shoots and kills a robber as they struggled for a gun during a holdup. It was the second time that Sung Kim, 33, owner of Bay City Liquors, shot and killed a man who tried to hold him up. Both shootings were ruled justified.

December 2009 — Two men were charged with attempted first-degree murder after they wrested away an Uzi-style machine gun from a man who had just shot their friend in the head during a party at a downtown hotel on Fayette Street. Prosecutors said the men went too far by continuing to beat the suspected shooter long after they had him in control and he no longer posed a threat. The case is still pending, but defense lawyers complained it demonstrates a double-standard in justice because the Hopkins student was not charged.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

Police are searching for a man who held up an Ellicott City bank on Saturday. The picture's a bit blurry, but I've included it anway.

Here's the statement from Howard County Police:

Police seek public’s help to identify bank robber Reward of up to $2,500 offered for information leading to an arrest Howard County police are asking the public’s help in identifying a robber who struck an Ellicott City bank on Saturday.

Police received a call at approximately 10:50 a.m. for a robbery at Howard Bank in the 10100 block of Baltimore National Pike in Ellicott City. The lone suspect entered the bank and approached a teller. He gave the teller a note that implied he was armed with a gun and demanded cash. The teller complied with the demands, and the suspect fled with cash.
At the time of the robbery, there were three employees in the bank and no customers. No one
was injured.

The suspect is described as a white male in his early 20s; 5 feet, 8 inches tall; very thin; wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, a gray baseball cap with a black bill and thick black gloves.
A reward of up to $2,500 is being offered for information that leads to the suspect’s identification and arrest.

Police ask anyone with information to call 410-313-STOP. Callers may remain anonymous.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Howard County
        

Baltimore County police are saying that a homeowner's statements add up and that his shooting of an intruder in his Perry Hall home this weekends appears justified. Police and prosecutors still have to complete their investigation, but they're saying William Bozman woke up to a gun pointed in his face.

The 68-year-old Bozman shot the suspect,d Marvin Cook Jr., who died later at a hospital. Police said Cook demanded money from the towing company operator. Authorities are still trying to determine if Cook, who has a long criminal record that includes a conviction for attempted murder in 2002, knew each other.

Bozman hasn't yet publicly spoken about his ordeal.

In other suburban crime news, police in Howard County have arrested four people in connection with two separate holdups.

One occurred in Columbia's Long Reach neighborhood when a man struck a victim in the face with a gun and demanded cash. Police said the gunman fired at the man but missed. The other occurred in Laurel when three men forced their way into a home and robbed its occupants at gunpoint.

For more on the robbery in Long Reach, here is a statement from Howard County Police:

Columbia man charged in armed street robbery
Suspect fired shot at fleeing victim

Howard County police have arrested a Columbia man for an armed robbery in which he fired a
shot but did not strike the fleeing victim.

Adina Dehenda Bowen, 21, of 8919 Tamar Drive in Columbia, is charged with armed robbery,
robbery, first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of theft.

Police received a call from the victim at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Friday. Tyrone Duncan
Harmon, 25, of Columbia, reported to police that he was walking home in the vicinity of Long
Reach Village Center when a man approached him, displayed a gun, struck him in the face with
the gun and demanded valuables. The victim gave the suspect money and an iPod and fled on
foot. As the victim ran away, the suspect fired a shot in his direction.

Through investigation, detectives identified Bowen as the suspect. Police are investigating his
possible involvement in other robberies in the area. Bowen was arrested on Saturday and is being held in lieu of $200,000 bond at Howard County Detention Center.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

[UPDATE, Tuesday 1:15 PM: Prosecutors at Green's bail review this morning said Fenner was beaten and shot "for an unauthorized gang shooting." He had left his home with Williams, indicating that they may have known each other or were associates. According to charging documents, Williams confessed and said the pair were supposed to punish Fenner by beating him, but that Green took out a gun and shot him in the head. Williams told detectives that they were all members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang, and prior court documents have indicated some sort of connection between YGF and BGF. I'm told the investigation is continuing.]

Police have arrested two suspects in the killing of a reputed gang leader who was gunned down in a Charles Village alley earlier this month.

Tavon Williams, 25, and Byron Green, 28, were arrested in connection with the March 12 death of 22-year-old Donatello Fenner, who was said to be a ranking member of the Young Gorilla Family gang and was found shot to death in the 2600 block of N. Charles St.

Details of the arrest were not immediately available, but they bring, for now, a resolution to one of two recent murders in the Charles Village/Remington area, where homeowners pay extra taxes for private security and street cleaning. Three days after Fenner was shot, 37-year-old Asia Carter was killed in a drive-by shooting at the intersection of N. Howard St. and W. 25th St. Police did not believe those cases were linked.

Fenner has eluded serious prison time, but in June 2008, Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III singled him out as a “catalyst for violence” and someone police were watching as part of an increased effort to target the city’s most violent people. The Barclay neighborhood, where YGF was said to be based, accounted for 10 killings in 2007 alone.

Fenner was charged a few months later with attempted murder, stemming from a May 2008 shooting in which police say a man was led into an alley by people he knew and shot at. The charges were dropped by prosecutors in August 2009, and he was released. In November, he was picked up on an assault charge and was awaiting a March 25 court date.

In a recent interview, Fenner’s aunt denied that he was a gang member and said he was trying to turn his life around. She said police were harassing him with frequent stops and raids.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

With all the talk of possibly hundreds of officers being laid off in Baltimore, here's a story out of New York City where Mayor Michael Bloomberg is concerned over an increasingly thinner "thin blue line," as the article puts it.

New York has attracted much attention for its dwindling murder rate, but so far killings are up 22 percent, and shootings and rapes are up as well, the New York Post reports. (Bloomberg notes that even an increase this year is still well below the city's crime levels from a decade ago; NYC's murder rate is about 1/6 of Baltimore's 2009 rate)

Officials believe the NYPD's shrinking manpower is playing a factor. The department had about 41,000 police in 2001, which is down to 35,000 today, the Post reported. The city expects to shed 1,300 officers in the upcoming year through attrition, and is threatening to lay off 3,150 cops if state slashes funding. In Baltimore, though the proposed budget calls for layoffs, Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake is vowing that it will not come to that.

How has Baltimore's sworn strength fluctuated in recent years? Baltimore counts 3,119 sworn officers for fiscal year 2010, down about 6 percent from a high of 3,329 in 2003, according to statistics obtained by The Sun. That's a difference of nearly 200 officers, which is the equivalent of an entire patrol district. The number has been pretty steady under Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III's entire tenure, and crime is down nearly across the board this year. 

Click below for the annual breakdown:

Year/Positions

2000: 3,274

2001: 3,145

2002: 3,320

2003: 3,329

2004: 3,323

2005: 3,238

2006: 3,190

2007: 3,128

2008: 3,118

2009: 3,110

2010: 3,119

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: City Hall, Crime elsewhere, Top brass
        

There were two murders in the city this weekend -- the latest Sunday night in West Baltimore when a man was found shot to death in a van in West Baltimore. Late Saturday afternoon, a 16-year-old teen was shot in the body and killed in East Baltimore.

And on Sunday afternoon, two people were shot and wounded in South Baltimore's Cherry Hill neighborhood and police were trying to determine if the incidents were related.

[Note from Justin: One of my colleagues recently told me that we are "trend killers" - that is, when we pick up on a trend and write about it, that trend abruptly ends. Last week in this space, we noted that juvenile deaths were down and the Southern District had only two shootings all year, and what did the weekend bring? The death of a 16-year-old and two shootings in the Southern...]

In Baltimore County, a man was fatally shot at an apartmen complex in Owings Mills. And in Perry Hall, police say a homeowner shot and killed a supsected intruder. The man who broke into the house, according to police, also had a gun.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Baltimore County, East Baltimore, South Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

The image of 5-year-old Raven Wyatt's little pink sandals next to a pool of blood and surrounded by crime scene tape last July was a grim reminder that while gun violence in the city is down to levels not seen in decades, it remains an all too common in some neighborhoods - and doesn't exclusively affect warring drug dealers. Raven was critically injured, and sources told me at the time that the prognosis was bleak.

But her family never accepted that as an outcome, and I'm happy to report in today's paper that Raven, now six, has been quietly progressing well in her recovery. With a bullet still lodged in her cerebellum, she emerged from a coma, began speaking, and is now up and walking and out of the hospital. She attends therapy five days a week, and she's quite independent. We watched her go up and down the steps of her family's home, and snack on cheese, crackers and juice without any help. As her mother told me repeatedly, "She's like anybody else."

The trial of the 17-year-old accused of firing the bullet is scheduled to begin Monday. But that's far from the mind of her family, who are focused on Raven's recovery. I met her mother, Danielle Brooks, 31, who is raising five children alone, and her grandfather, Wallace, who is looking forward to taking Raven to the National Aquarium - it will be the first trip there for both of them. Colleen Smith, a 29-year-old missionary from Kansas who works in Southwest Baltimore, and Sonya Johnson-Branch, a physical therapist at Mt Washington Pediatric Hospital, also talked about their work with the family.

Part of my reporting included re-visiting the Carrollton Ridge neighborhood where the shooting occurred. It's described as one of the city's most troubled, and after Raven was injured the city set up a "Safe Zone," flooding the area with code inspectors and other officials in an effort to clean up the neighborhood.

The neighborhood is blighted with seemingly endless vacant properties. The garbage in the alleys and gutters was mind-boggling. At one point, we saw a vacant home with a tree growing through it, the bricks on the side buckling. There was another home where the backyard was, literally, filled to eye level with garbage.

Poverty and abandonment haven't gone away, and will take a more significant commitment by various stakeholders if it the neighborhood is to truly turn around.

But I also saw something that I didn't necessarily expect to see eight months after that flood of resources hit the area.

Many of the alleys were clean - by any city neighborhood's standards. The yard with the eye-level garbage was cleared out from that one property. And the home with the tree growing through it had been partially knocked down, the tree removed. Can these aesthetic improvements be sustained? Only time will tell.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

City police last night moved to padlock another city club that they say is linked to violence, this time Club Uzo on Belair Rd, the site of a triple shooting this month. Uzo is just three blocks from Club 410, one of the first clubs to be padlocked last year and whose manager was later indicted on charges that she was an associate of the Black Guerrilla Family gang. At the time, 410's management claimed much of the violence that occurred outside of its club was likely the result of the actions of Uzo's patrons. A hearing is set for mid-April in which Uzo's management can plead their case or work out an agreement with police to bolster security.  Police, meanwhile, have taken heat for their use of the padlock powers, which critics say unfairly targets black-owned businesses.  The department says clubs that remain open despite incidents of violence are working with police to improve the situation.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Northeast Baltimore
        

A few days ago, I talked about improvements to our city homicide map, and today I got to playing around with my database and saw some notable trends for the 37 homicides recorded through March 25. (You can find the map along the right side of this screen)

-First, homicides are down 24 percent.

-For the first 37 victims last year (a number the city hit on March 1), two were female and five were juveniles. There were 31 black victims, four white victims, one Hispanic victim, and one Asian victim.

-This year, there have been no females killed, one juvenile (one-month-old Rajahnthon Haynie), and all victims have been black. If those first two trends continue, you will continue to hear officials tout their work on domestic violence and juvenile offenders, as both areas have been on the decline not just this year but last year as well.

-Through this date last year, each police district had recorded at least one homicide. This year, and let's cross our fingers, the Southeast District has yet to see a murder. The Southern District has just two total shootings, including one homicide.

-As for non-murder trends, it can be summarized like this: Everything is down by double-digits, except home invasions, which are up considerably. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Confronting crime, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore
        

Investigators raided several pawn shops in city and Baltimore County on Thursday, as part of a crackdown on a money-laundering scheme involving the transportation of more than $20 million in stolen goods, according to WBAL and the US Attorney's Office.

Police raided a shop in the 3500 block of South Hanover Street in Brooklyn. Two blocks away, Easy Money Pawn Shop on West Patapso Street was also raided, as well as Shawn's Quik Cash at Fifth Street and East Patapsco Street, and Instant Cash, located at 10th and East Patapsco Street.

WBAL said investigators carried out bags containing possible evidence, and a gun. The lead defendant in the case is Jerome Stal, 40, of Baltimore, who was convicted in 2002 of transportation of stolen property and sentenced to two years in prison, and the indictment calls for the forfeiture of $20 million, 58 bank accounts and 10 businesses.

Coincidentally, in today's paper Peter Hermann profiled law enforcement and legislative efforts to crack down on pawn shops. 

Here's more from the US Attorney's Office's press release on the indictment from yesterday:

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Baltimore County, South Baltimore
        

The news was bad enough earlier this week. The Baltimore mayor's proposed budget could mean eliminating up to 200 city police officers, ground the helicopter and the marine unit and permanently stable the horses.

But Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III made a far more dire pronouncement on Thursday (he's at left in a photo by The Sun's Amy Davis). A $16 million cut would actually mean cutting up to 300 police officers. That's because the folks suggesting the cuts picked cops from units such as tactical, where some of the department's most experienced -- and thus highest paid -- officers can be found.

City police are unionized, and that means cuts come from the bottom up. You'd have to fire two rookie cops to meet the salary savings of one veteran. And you wouldn't be eliminating specialized units -- you'd be cutting from patro, the backbone of the department.

"They're pushing radio cars in districts," Bealefeld said at the City Hall meeting. "They serve in the patrol division. They staff the midnight shifts in the neighborhoods." He said the cuts would throw away years of progress, set the department back a decade in crime fighting. It would jeopardize the 20-year low in homicides the mayor trumpets and would counter the mayor's promise to keep patrol fully staffed.

And, many of the new hires were made possible by a $10 million federal grant, which the commissioner said might have to be sent back if the cops get fired.

So, is this budget merely a scare tactic to convince citizens to back new taxes and fees? Did the budget people target the most sensitive and sacrosanct agencies on purpose, thinking that cuts suggested in less noticed places would be met with indifference? Is the whole thing staged? If so, it's a troublesome way to lead by frightening residents and workers.

The budget was cobbled together, at least for the Police Department, without police input. Now, Bealefeld and other department heads are firing back, an almost unprecedented response from department heads against the city leader who can hire and fire them. It would've been far better had the mayor simply presented a realistic budget plan complete with whatever new taxes or fees she thinks necessary to work.

Lead instead of scare.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: City Hall, Top brass
        

The Velvet Rope nightclub near Baltimore's Inner Harbor, scene of a recent disturbance and then a shooting linked to patrons who had been kicked out for fighting, was fined by the liquor board today. But the troubled club staved off harsher penalties.

As you might recall, Baltimore's police commissioner called for the club to be shut down after patrons stormed the doors after a show was overbooked, leaving paying customers stranded outside. It took officers from several districts to quell the disturbance and club security guards sprayed mace on the crowd. The shooting occurred about two weeks later.

Here is some of what Brent Jones reported from todays Liquor Board hearing:

Police had publicly petitioned to shut down Velvet Rope after that incident on Feb. 25 and a shooting authorities say spawned from a fight inside the club a week later. But Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III and the bar's owner reached an agreement announced at the liquor board hearing, and Velvet Rope will operate under a new security plan and employ valet parking for certain events.

The deal also calls for the club's management to actively discourage illegal activity within or nearby the business in the 200 block of E. Redwood St. About 10 other minor liquor violations were postponed until May 1.

Asked why police reached an agreement with the club to remain open, department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said: "The bottom line is we're concerned about violence. We're not concerned with putting people out of business, we're concerned with making them safer."

Paul W. Gardner, the club's lawyer, said he was disappointed with the amount of the fine but pleased he was able to find common ground with the Police Department.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake's proposed budget has done something quite unique - it's got Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, Baltimore City State's Attorney Patricia A. Jessamy and Fraternal Order of Police Robert F. Cherry to agree on something, with each issuing, to varying degree, a rebuke of a budget Rawlings-Blake's people have been scrambling to warn is only a worst-case scenario. 

Union leaders accused the mayor of "posturing" and attempting to frighten residents into accepting new taxes by presenting the doomsday scenario. Cherry said this wasn't what "real leaders" do.

"It's unfair to play games with city employees who are nervous about being laid off," said Cherry. "It's even more disingenuous to play these games with the citizens and taxpayers of Baltimore City who demand real answers from the leaders of the city during these tough times."

Jessamy went a step further, calling Rawlings-Blake's proposal "unconstitutional." She said the city can cut her budget but not instruct her specifically how to do it.  About $1.5 million would be cut from the Baltimore state's attorney's office, including about $800,000 in funding for 14 community outreach positions in the city's District Court. She claimed SRB was the first mayor to try such a manuever and said they were "usurping" her authority.

Bealefeld, as we noted here last week, got out in front of the proposed cuts, saying they were "unconscionable." 

Read full text of Cherry and Jessamy's statement below:

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)
Categories: City Hall, Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

Budget cuts in Baltimore that threaten 600 jobs also could mean the elmination of Foxtrot, the seemingly omnipresent police helicopter that flies over the city. A department spokesman has said its loss -- it costs the city $4 million a year -- would be "devastating."

This morning, police said the helicopter helped officers arrest suspects in a carjacking in Baltimore County and made it unnecessary for officers on the ground to engage in a high-speed pursuit. The observer in Foxtrot kept track of the car from above.

Here are some details from Baltimore police:

On March 24, 2010, at approx. 1630 hours, P/O Mark Verkest,  noticed a black Acura w/o front bumper traveling in the Diener Place area (SWD has had several discharging calls in Diener Place area involving a black Acura w/o a bumper).

Verkest attempted to pull over, but vehicle fled. For safety reasons, officers disengaged and enlisted support of aviation unit for following. After short distance, driver and passenger bailed,but were quickly apprehended. It was learned during this that the vehicle was involved in an armed carjacking in Baltimore County.

During the following and subsequent foot chase, FoxTrot did an excellent job positioning the SWD units and tracking the suspects for their eventual capture. Everything was accomplished w/o injury or accidents.

Arrested were:

Marvin Kosh, 19, of the 100 block of Diener Place

Joseph Butler, 18, of the 300 block of Marydell Ave.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

I knew publishing an article on the family of the man accused of shooting two Baltimore police officers would generate anger. It's never easy to write about somebody involved in such a tragic crime, and readers intrepret any space given to unsympathetic characters a waste and an indication that we at the paper endorse their stance.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

We simply try to explore every angle possible (we also published a story today looking at the troubled McElderry Park neighborhood). Today's story notes that the mother, grandmother and cousin of Thomas Tavon Miller -- who police said shot two officers early Sunday on McElderry Street during a traffic stop and then was killed by the officers -- were angry at the way their son was portrayed and that the city's top cop called him an "idiot." (the 80-year-old grandmother challenged the police commissioner to fight!)

The story notes Miller's long record that includes just one alleged violent act and convictions for marijuana in Maryland and Texas. I'm very careful here to not let the family accuse police of executing their son or to say anything about the actual shooting that they did not witness. I tried to track down one of the other people in the car but I couldn't. But if it's the person I think it is, he has a far more violent record for guns than does Miller. Police didn't charge the two others in the vehicle.

This story was but one small piece of a larger story published over the past several days. These sorts of stories tend to dribble out. Read it and be angry -- at the family for what they say, at Miller for what police say he did. We try to explore every aspect of the shooting, and that includes trying to learn why Miller might've opened fire on police Sunday morning. And that means talking to his family to learn all we can. I'd love to talk to the two police officers who were wounded as well.

Here are some of the comments posted on the story: 

Peter Hermann is a hack of the lowest order. Only he could write a piece trying to make someone who would be a cop killer but for a bad aim and the grace of God out to be some sort of hero, and would write something that would question the actions of officers who took a bullet to the face and nearly had one's finger severed. I hope if Hermann ever needs the assistance of the BCPD they tell him to [expletive] off. But since they bravely do their duty, they would probably save even his pathetic butt.

Settle down. Herman isn't saying a thing about the police, and certainly isn't trying to make this guy into a hero. He is merely and rather objectively reporting what the family has to say. Christ, for everyone whining about the fact that the press isn't objective enough, you wouldn't know a straight piece of objective reportage unless it bites you in the butt....

Objective reporting is reporting the facts, not the hysterical and inaccurate ramblings of a family that fails to acknowledge that their relative is a gun-toting thug. These people don't need a forum to air their grievances about an event they know nothing about. Or even a person they know nothing about, since they refuse to acknowledge that their kid/grandkid/etc is the type of person who shoots copsThe word idiot was a poor choice... your son was a low life who felt he was entitled to fire a weapon at police officers with the intent to kill them. Idiot does not come close to a true description of the result of your extremely poor parenting skills. To the officers of the Baltimore Police force... you are not paid enough.

Call it what it is...the guy wasn't an idiot....he was a THUG !..He shot at Police officers...He tryed to kill those officers...an idiot is someone who jumps off a bridge with a bed sheet thinking its a parachute....I don't understand Bealfield....is he afraid to call it what it is ?..its a THUG !!

Anthony Guglielmi. "I think there are many people who feel that 'idiot' and 'moron' doesn't go far enough." Mr. Guglielmi, THANK YOU!!!!!

Anyone that loses a loved one grieves and sometimes say things they do not mean. However I would hope in the next few days the whole family needs to come foward and wish the officers a quick recovery and recognize that they have no idea what would cause their grandson, son or father, what made him commit such a hienous crime and hope the Lord will forgive him.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
Categories: Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Police shootings
        

The Baltimore Sun city homicide map got a makeover today, with Sun developer Stephen Mekosh adding Google charts below the map to help keep some of the key figures in perspective. A bar graph now shows the monthly total and contrasts it with the prior year, while also breaking out manner of death. There's an arrow on the right hand side that takes you to prior year data. The new bells and whistles, which were Stephen's conception, really put in perspective how much homicides are down so far this year. But it prior year data also shows how some of these figures can fluctuate wildly.

What other features or crime databases would you like to see us add? Keep it reasonable - everything we create has to be maintained, and I'd still like to, you know, write some articles every now and then.

(Disclaimer: some of our monthly totals pre-2009 may be off slightly from the official count. The BPD lists homicides on the day that they received word from the medical examiner that the victim's death was the result of an unjustified homicide. Prior to mid-2008, we listed them on the day of death. At some point I'm going to try to sync them up.)

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

A 39-year-old Edgemere man who claimed to be a police officer while waving a gun outside a Southeast Baltimore bar last fall pleaded guilty in Baltimore District Court today and received a suspended three-year sentence, the state's attorney's office announced.

Arthur Campbell, of the 2500 block of N. Snyder Ave. told police that he was trying to break up a fight at the Angel Inn in O'Donnell Heights and showed a membership card for the Police Emerald Society, a fraternal organization for area police officers of Gaelic descent, charging documents show.

Under the terms of a plea deal, District Judge Catherine O'Malley (yes, that's the governor's wife) sentenced Campbell to a three year suspended sentence. Campbell had to relinquish the weapons seized by police, and will be included on the city's gun offender registry.

When we wrote about Campbell's arrest in the fall, we were told that he owned a trucking company and that he was a member of the Police Emerald Society who had been sponsored by a police officer member. Here's more from that original story:

Witnesses told police Campbell had displayed a gun in the parking lot while arguing with a group of men. Officers spotted a vehicle about 1 a.m. in the 1200 block of Bonsal St. matching a description given by witnesses. After Campbell denied he had weapons, police conducted a search of the vehicle - which had Emerald Society license plates - and found a loaded .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol inside a black holster, a loaded Browning .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun and a loaded .44-caliber Magnum revolver, officers wrote in charging documents.

Police also recovered nearly 40 live cartridges of ammunition in the vehicle, records show. He told officers that the guns were not registered, according to documents. Campbell was charged with two handgun violations and released on $50,000 bond, according to records.

According to its Web site, the Police Emerald Society includes active and retired law enforcement personnel, non-law enforcement members who are sponsored by an active member, and auxiliary memberships that are open to the community.

    Michael May, an attorney who works with the Emerald Society, said Campbell owns a trucking company and his membership was sponsored by a city police officer.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Southeast Baltimore
        

Another shooting in East Baltimore to report from Monday night:

An officer responded to a 9 p.m. report of a shooting in the 2600 block of Grogan Ave., in the Berea neighborhood, police said. The 20-year0old victim was found lying in an alley behind the even side of the 2600 block with a gunshot wound in his torso, according to police. The man was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:31 p.m.

That's many blocks north of where two police officers were shot early Sunday in McElderry Park.

In other news, this time from the suburbs:

Towson University police were searching for two men who robbed students at gunpoint in their dorm room Monday afternoon. According to a campus crime alert, police said two students were in their dorm room in Glen Tower B, a co-ed residence hall, about 3:30 p.m. when they responded to a knock at the door and two men forced their way inside. During the incident, one of the men suffered a minor injury in the forehead when he was struck with a metal crow bar.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Baltimore County, Breaking news, East Baltimore
        

The Sun's media partner, WJZ, tracked down the father of Rajahnthon Haynie, the one-month-old who police say was killed and buried in Druid Hill Park by his mother, Lakesha Haynie. Police say the father, whose identity is being concealed by WJZ because of threats made against him, told detectives of the child's death and showed them where he had been buried. Rajahnthon was Haynie's fifth child; the first four had been taken away by social serivces. He said Haynie was so fearful of Rajahnthon being taken away that she gave birth in his apartment; "I cut the umbilical cord," he said.

"I did everything in my power that I could to help her make it right, but this is one thing that I just couldn't fix.  It was out of my control," the father said.

He claims his girlfriend is bipolar and was off her medication.

"There's certain instincts that she didn't have, you know, that a mother should have," he said.  "That nurturing thing that a mother's supposed to have for her child, especially a newborn.  Lakisha had four of her kids taken from her and she really wanted to keep this one."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Southeast Baltimore
        

The Baltimore Police Department needs to continue exploring redistricting, is "top heavy" and needs to phase out the rank of deputy major, and should disband its neighborhood services unit, according to recommendations made by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's transition committee for public safety.

The report, released today, is notable not only for the recommendations made by the transition committee, but for the "major immediate action items" compiled by the BPD in its own assessment: police leaders want the city to lift a hiring freeze in the crime lab and for 911 personnel, and would like to give district commanders, who in some cases earn less than the lieutenants below them, a pay bump. The agency has in the past boasted about cutting overtime spending significantly, but officials say that additional cuts cannot be sustained and that additional spending would "significantly bolster the crime fighting efforts for the department."

The agency also criticized the city's new approach to budgeting, called Outcome Budgeting, describing the approach a "labor intensive process that leads to arbitrary results" and saying it asks "groups of people who are unqualified in policing" to rank budget proposals.

In a separate assessment, the transition committee recommended that the Mayor's Office on Criminal Justice, which works hand-in-hand with the police department, look to bolster the city's surveillance camera network by wiring in public and private camera systems, and said it should explore the creation of a volunteer program to assist in running the juvenile curfew center.

Here are the transition committee's recommendations, followed by the action items that the BPD submitted. There's little overlap:

List of Committee Recommendations for the Baltimore Police Department:

1. Study the impact of transferring the responsibility for serving BPD's information technology needs to the Mayor's Office of Information Technology. There could be economies of scale savings by having a centralized OIT instead of the BPD having their own staff memberse providing these services.

2. Develop and pursue a more aggressive strategy to secure more grant funding opportunities from both public and private sources. Maximizing the use of these funding sources will enhance the city's public safety without placing additional pressures on the annual budget.

3. Establish a Task Force to direct a comprehensive work study that will evaluate the pros and cons of reconfiguring the nine police districts across the city. This study should examine the feasibility and impact of establishing a permanent foot patrol unit, as well as evaluating the level of resources needed to continue the Police Department's mission in further reducing crime. Participation in this task force should include a representative of the FOP.

4.  Explore additional ways to make positive advancements in the department's recruiting efforts to hire more city residents and further diversify the city work force. These efforts should include looking for more ways to incentivize police officers to be city residents as well as complete the development, with community input, of a written cultural diversity program for the department.

5.  Increase the funding for the tuition reimbursement program within the department. There are no funds budgeted for FY2011 for this program despute the fact that tuition reimbursement remains funded for those employees in the non-public safety sector.

6.  Consider phasing out the rank of deputy major once all current deputy majors are either promoted or retire. The Police Department appears top heavy and it may be unnecessary to staff two command members at each of the department's nine police districts.

7.  Consider disbanding Neighborhood Services Units, instead assigning a major or deputy commissioner whose portfolio contains neighborhood outreach. This strategy should be coupled with the goal of establishing increased invovlement with the community and local places of worship.

Major immediate action items reported by the Police Department: In its analysis, BPD reported 11 "major items that are ripe for immediate action or are in-progress":
1.  Command appointments are needed in the Southeast District, which has been operating with an Acting District Commander and without a deputy major position since September 2009 (The BPD has since elevated Deputy Major Bill Davis to major and promoted a lieutenant to fill his role).

2.  Juvenile Booking reform should be continued. Piloting of remote charging of juveniles continues in the Southeast. A new software system has been developed, and officers can electronically send paperwork for juveniles to Booking. Paternship with Mayor's Office on Criminal Justice has been established to increase police diversion. MOCJ will hire three assessors who will work with BPD to divert low-level, non-violent juvenile offenders.

3.  Increase concentration on violent crime pattersn. BPD is currently redesigning their operational plan for the Monument Street corridor.

4.  Examine and monitor the effects of the newly implemented patrol schedule that was rolled out January 17.

5.  Complete updating Court Matrix and developing plan to manage court overtime. Currently, officers are earning comp-time instead of overtime up to a 40 hour maximum. BPD should track court overtime expenditures where the maximum comp-time threshhold is reached.

6.  Overtime budget limits need to be increased. BPD has cut their overtime budget significantly, while still managing not to compromise officer safety or the fight on crime. Additional cuts cannot be sustained. An increase, however slight, would significantly bolster the crime fighting efforts of the department. Note that the budget director has proposed allocating federal asset forfeiture funds to offset overtime spending. The Commissioner opposes this idea, believing the practice would jeopardize the city's receipt of future forfeiture funds.

7.  Outcome budgeting is flawed as applied to law enforcement agencies and does not serve the public safety mission of the BPD. The commissioner opposes the implementation of outcome budgeting for the BPD as a labor-intensive process that leads to arbitrary results. Groups of people who are unqualified in policing serve as reviewers asked to rate proposals.

8.  Do not cancel or delay the 4 classes scheduled for 2010. The commissioner also strongly opposes officer layoffs.

9.  Lift the hiring freeze for lab personnel. The BPD crime lab has 16 vacant positions. Lack of these resources is negatively impacting investigations and prosecutions. Finance has approved waiver of 7 of these vacancies but the rest need to be waived as well.

10.  Waive the hiring freeze for 911 personnel. Waivers have been requested for 13 positions. Only 3 of these requests were granted by the Budget Director.

11.  Increase annual stipends for Deputy Majors and District Commanders. These increases are necessary to reduce pay disparity and as incentive to remain in the district and promote stability.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: City Hall, Top brass
        

City police arrested a man on a gun charge on March 16 after a car stop in Northeast Baltimore. Cops said they found a .45 caliber handgun loaded with 10 rounds of hollow-point bullets, a 10-round magazine and a brown-leather holster.

Police then searched his home on Holder Avenue in Northeast Baltimore and said they found a .38 caliber revolver, a .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun, a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun, a .22 caliber revolver, a .32 caliber Colt semi-automatic handgun, a 12-guage shotgun, a .22 caliber rifle and a grendade (the grenade is an old World War II weapon passed down through his family, police told me)

Michael Hudlicka, 59, was charged with several gun violations. Here is the police report: 

Seized Property

1 Para Ordinance .45 caliber HandGun serial number P109829
1 10 Capacity Magazine
1 Brown Leather Bianchi Holster
10 Live .45 Caliber Rounds Hollow Point

                          Narrative
On March 16th, 2010 @ 1600hrs, this officer was dispatched to the 1100 block of E. Belvedere Avenue in Baltimore City to assist Baltimore County Detective Stephen Fox in reference to an armed person inside of a vehicle. Information receieved by this officer was to assist a Baltimore County Detective headed eastbound on E. Belvedere towards The Alameda following a white male driving a gold colored Chevrolet Corvette armed with a handgun. 

I upon turning off of the 5600 block of the Alameda onto the 1100 block of East Belvedere Avenue observed a white male seated behind the drivers seat of a gold in color Chevrolet Corvette stopped at the red traffic light. Believing this to be the individual and vehicle in qwuestion, a pulled my marked patrol vehicle in front of the 1999 gold corvette blocking its path. Upon exiting my vehicle, Detective Stephen Fox of the Baltimore County Plice Department also exited his vehicle which was positioned directly behind the gold colored Corvette.

I approached the drivers side of the gold Corvette, and ordered the driver identified as being a Mr. Michael Joseph Hudlicka w/m/59 02/08/1951 to cut the vehicle off put it in park and throw the keys out of the window and then to place both hands on the steering wheel. Mr.Hudlicka complied with this officers orders and then placed both hands on the steering wheel of the vehicle.

I opened the drivers side door of the vehicle reached in and while securing Mr. Hudlicka's left wrist asked him to step from the vehicle while keeping his right hand on top of his head. As Mr. Hudlicka stood up from his seated position, I could clearly see holstered on the left side of his waistband, a black automatic handgun.

Mr. Hudlicka was placed in handcuffs at that time for safety reasons, and was then escorted to the rear of his vehicle. I removed the black automatic hangun from the brown leather holster an immediately rendered it safe. Mr.Hudlicka was asked by me if he possessed a handgun permit to carry the handgun at which time he advised me that he did not have a permit to carry the handgun and used it for hunting and range practice.

Due to the handgun being carried on his person while loaded having a live hollow point round in the chamber and 9 additional hollow point rounds in the magazine which was seated in the reciever of the handgun, Mr. Hudlicka was placed under arrest and charged with Handgun on Person and Transporting a Handgun in Vehicle.

Mr.Hudlicka was transported to the Northern District where he was debriefed by District Detectives.Investigation revealed that Mr. Hudlicka did have a 45 caliber Para Ordinance Handgun registered in his name bearing serial number P209829. All events ocurred in Baltimore City State of Maryland. Handgun submitted to E.C.U. for safe keeping. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Northeast Baltimore
        

Update: Both police officers were released from Maryland Shock Trauma Center this afternoon.

A day after two Baltimore police officers were shot on a traffic stop on McElderry Street, nothing but anger (and new word of another shooting Sunday night of a pregnant woman in West Baltimore's Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood):

Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld: He calls the gunman, who was shot and killed, an "idiot" and says: "These guys are walking and riding around the streets of Baltimore armed. They pose an incredible danger to all of us. ... the adjectives can't be harsh enough. And the penalties can't be harsh enough."

Police union chief Robert Cherry:  "If they are willing to use [gun] against three armed police officers, what is going to stop them from using it on someone else?"

Ernest Smith, president of the McElderry Park Community Association: "We've been working toward changing the mind-set and changing the community. As these things, these numbers go up again, it's a concern. It's quite discouraging."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Police shootings
        

UPDATE: The two officers wounded in the shooting were Officer Keith Romans (shot in the face) and Officer Jordan Moore (shot in the hand), according to a law enforcement source. Both officers appear to be very new to the force - neither has any arrests in the court database prior to February 2009, meaning they've likely been on the streets for just over a year. No word yet on the victim's identity.

Baltimore police say two officers were shot during a traffic stop and are in serious but stable condition. The suspected shooter was killed by return fire.

Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the shooting happened about 12:21 a.m. Sunday. Three officers, part of the BPD's Monument Street initiative launched last year to combat a spate of violence in that area, had pulled over the suspected shooter for an unknown traffic offense and smelled marijuana. Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said the officers were taking the occupants into custody when one of the officers and the 30-year-old driver of the vehicle got into an altercation.

"The struggle quickly became so violent that the other two officers went to his assistance, and all three were trying to get that man under control," Bealefeld told WBAL Radio. 

The suspect was able to break free and get back to his vehicle, where he drew a .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun and opened fire, Bealefeld said. One of the officers was struck in the right cheek, with the bullet lodging in his jaw, and another was hit in the hand, nearly severing his finger, in the ensuing gun battle. The suspect was hit several times and died at the scene, Bealefeld said.

The Monument Street corridor is one of the city's areas that is both high-traffic and high-crime, and last year police deployed additional resources there after 18 people were shot at a cookout and several people were fatally shot in separate incidents.

We don't know the names of the officers or the suspect, but we'll update as we learn more. I don't have my spreadsheets with me, but if my memory serves me this is the third police-involved shooting of the year, which is behind last year's pace.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Police shootings, Southeast Baltimore
        

With Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake's first budget proposal due next week, Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III is getting out in front, saying the target amount the mayor wants to cut from the police budget will force layoffs of up to 300 officers, something he calls "unconscionable."

His comments come with a huge caveat: no one seems to know what exactly Rawlings-Blake's budget proposal actually calls for, other than that she's told members of the council that the department's helicopter, marine and mounted units are on the chopping block. What Bealefeld is saying is that City Hall wants to cut $15 million from his agency and that he can't fathom how his agency can achieve that figure without resorting to layoffs.

Aside from the obvious negatives, laying off cops would be no simple task from a logistical standpoint, given the police union's contract and the fact that the city recently accepted millions in federal funds to hire new officers, funds which would have to be given back. The head of the federal agency that gave them that cash was just in town at BPD headquarters for a press conference to boast about that funding as part of a series of events to promote stimulus spending.

As for what the budget actually calls for? The mayor is holding her cards close to the vest until next week, but her aides are saying that it will represent something of a worst-case scenario as new revenue streams are discussed.

UPDATE, 3:55 PM: Rawlings-Blake's office just released the following statement, saying it is her goal to maintain every "police patrol officer."

"The Preliminary Budget to be presented by the Finance Department next Wednesday contains no new revenues and is balanced completely with spending cuts.  We need to be upfront and honest about the $120 million dollar deficit facing the City—it is a brutal, life changing event that will require painful sacrifices by everyone.  Tough choices must be made.

Many of these proposed cuts are unacceptable – especially in the areas of public safety. 

We did not create this problem but we have to solve it. This is the beginning of the process and the budget is not final. 
 
Now more than ever, City government must tighten its belt and get more value for every single tax dollar.  I began this process first by slashing my own office budget by 10%.
 
I will work with the City Council on a comprehensive plan to balance the budget while fully funding our obligation to public education and public safety.  It is my goal to maintain every police patrol officer, fund efforts to dismantle gang networks and reduce gun violence, and reduce firehouse closings – all without raising the property tax.  

I will continue to meet with the City Council in the coming days and weeks and will present an honest, balanced, comprehensive plan.”

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: City Hall, Top brass
        

Federal authorities in Baltimore announced this morning the arrests of nine people in an alleged multi-million smuggling ring that authorities say imported through the Port of Baltimore counterfeit  Coach, Nike, Gucci and Cartier merchandise.

Here is an edited version of a statement from the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office:

Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury has indicted nine individuals, including two Malaysian citizens, four Chinese citizens and three naturalized citizens of the United States, on charges arising from a conspiracy to smuggle into the United States counterfeit shoes, handbags and wrist watches manufactured in Malaysia and China.

“Intellectual property crimes are among the Justice Department’s top white collar enforcement priorities,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.  “This case demonstrates the impact that we can make with coordinated law enforcement operations that involve our domestic and international partners.”

More details and information from London Police:

According to the 72 count indictment, the defendants contacted individuals, who unbeknownst to them were ICE undercover agents, to import and clear shipments of counterfeit
products into the United States without payment of the required federal taxes and customs duties. 

The defendants acted as manufacturers, brokers, middlemen and distributors of counterfeit Nike, Coach and Gucci shoes, Cartier wrist watches and Coach handbags, typically manufactured in Malaysia and China.  These goods were shipped to the Port of Baltimore to be “cleared” through U.S. Customs for sale in the United States. 

The indictment alleges that on 33 occasions from May 2008 to December 2009, defendants Yong, Yang, Kee, Zhou, Xu, Zhang and Ng directed the shipment of containers of counterfeit goods to the Port of Baltimore. The defendants allegedly directed that the goods be transferred to locations in New York and New Jersey, or had the goods picked up in Maryland. For example, Hsieh, Jaing, Zhou, Ng, Xu and Zhang received some of the containers at locations in Brooklyn, Ridgewood, College Point, Hicksville, Maspeth and New Hyde Park in New York, or Linden and Newark, New Jersey.

The indictment alleges that the co-conspirators, including Yong, Jiang, Xu, Ng and Zhou, paid a smuggling fee, either directly to undercover officers or through electronic transfer.  The indictment charges that the co-conspirators often paid an additional amount of money, either in cash or electronically, which was to be “laundered” through the undercover agents. Yong directed that the “laundered” money be wired to accounts in Malaysia or to a company in Asia.
        
The indictment alleges that at one point, on September 29, 2009, Yong sent a sample of counterfeit “Viagra” pills to the undercover agents hoping to facilitate future sales of the drug. Yong also is alleged to have wired money to the agents on October 27, and December 9 and 17, 2009 for three containers to be shipped to England.  Yong allegedly met with ICE undercover agents in London, England on November 4, 2009 to discuss expanding the smuggling of counterfeit goods to England.

As a result of this scheme, the indictment alleges that the defendants illegally smuggled into the United States a total of 120,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes, 500,000 counterfeit Coach handbags, 10,000 pairs of counterfeit Coach and Gucci shoes and 500 counterfeit Cartier wrist watches.

As part of the investigation, City of London Police arrested six suspects yesterday and seized 50,000 items of counterfeit clothing, footwear, handbags and hair straighteners including Nike, Uggs, Gucci, Adidas, Versace, Ralph Lauren and other brand names, and £350,000 in cash during searches at more than 30 locations in the London, England area. London law enforcement believes that the searches resulted in one of the largest seizures of counterfeit goods in England.  The arrests resulted from an international collaboration between City of London Police, the UK Border Agency and ICE.  The London investigation continues.

City of London Police Commissioner Mike Bowron said,  “We have listened to the concerns of the business community which has resulted in a determined international effort to combat an aspect of financial crime which has far reaching implications for UK, the rest of Europe and the USA. By working in close collaboration with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the UK Border Agency we have made a significant break through in this joint investigation”

London Police issued this statement:

The City of London Police, working in collaboration with the US authorities, has made what is believed to be one of the biggest seizures of counterfeit goods in UK history.

Following a long-term trans-Atlantic investigation into a sophisticated international organised crime group, the force yesterday arrested six men in the Greater London area. On the same day the US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE Baltimore) made nine arrests.

More than 60 officers from the force's Economic Crime Directorate seized approximately 50,000 items of counterfeit clothing, footwear, handbags and hair straighteners during searches at more than 30 premises in the Greater London area.

The multi-million pound haul included brands such as Nike, Uggs, Gucci, Adidas, Versace, Ralph Lauren and GHD.  During the searches a total of £350,000 in cash was also discovered.
At a press conference held in Baltimore today it was also announced the nine people arrested in the US had been indicted by a federal grand jury.

In the indictment, the defendants are alleged to have illegally smuggled a total of 120,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes, 500,000 counterfeit Coach handbags, 10,000 pairs of counterfeit Coach and Gucci shoes and 500 counterfeit Cartier wrist watches into the US.  

The arrests are the culmination of a money laundering investigation targeting the trafficking and importation of counterfeit goods into the UK and US. This work represents a unique international collaboration between City of London Police's Economic Crime Directorate (ECD), UK Border Agency and US Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE).

Initial assessments suggest that a significant criminal network has been disrupted and that officers have made one of the largest seizures of counterfeit goods in the UK. The six people have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Breaking news, Crime elsewhere
        

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with robbing a man of his cell phone and then killing him on the grounds of an East Baltimore elementary school earlier this month, the youngest person charged with first-degree murder in the city so far this year.

Police said in court documents that the youngster was arrested on Thursday after he used the victim’s phone to call his girlfriend at her house on Braddish Avenue in Northwest Baltimore. Detectives, who learned of the victim’s cell phone number, had been monitoring calls after the killing.

Kwauntre Javar Crudup, who lives in 1700 block of McCulloh St. and turns 15 in May, was charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, assault and using a handgun in a violent crime. He was being held without bail on Friday at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

Here are some details of the killing and the arrest:

Police found the body of Kenly Oscar Wheeler, 29, of the 1700 block of E. Lafayette Ave. near a walkway and basketball court of Dr. Bernard Harris Sr. Elementary School shortly after 8 a.m. on March 3. He had been shot in the chest, and police said they found a gun underneath him and a "half ski mask."

Authorities did not release many details of the case on Friday, but Detective Albert Marcus of the homicide unit wrote in charging documents filed in court said investigators "determined that the victim’s cell phone was taken during the robbery." Police did not details how they learned that nor did they say how they obtained the number.

The charging documents say that police put a trace on calls made to and from the phone. Police said calls were made from the victim’s phone to a number in a house in the 2000 block of Braddish Ave. Police went there and found the suspect, Crudup, with his girlfriend, who lives at that address, the charging documents state.

"The suspect did not admit to shooting the victim," the court documents say, but "only to robbing him. Mr. Crudup admitted to using the victim’s cell phone to contact several of his friends including his cousin ... and his girlfriend."

The young suspect has no adult criminal record. The victim, Wheeler, has an extensive list of arrests, most for petty crimes and drugs. In 2001, he pleaded guilty to distributing drugs and was sentenced to seven years in prison, with all but two suspended.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news
        

The latest Baltimore slaying occurred Thursday night when a 25-year-old man was gunned down while walking along Belair Road near Clifton Park. Cops tell me he was with two other men when one of them took out a gun and shot him in the head and body. For a comprehensive look at city slayings, go to our homicide map.

Other than that, it's been a slow Friday, and let's hope it stays that way.

In some other crime news, we report on discipline at Cheltenham Youth Center in Prince George's County, where last month a teacher from Belair was found dead and cops are investigating a 13-year-old detainee in her murder.

State officials were quiet on details of the discipline -- refusing to say whether the two staffers fired, two other suspended and one top administrator demoted -- were directly responsible in any way for the teacher's death. I did reach the superintendent, who we learned was the "top administrator demoted -- and found her in New Orleans. She told me she was "clueless" about the investigation.

And one more bit of good news on the crime front:

Our education writer Liz Bowie reports:

The Reginald F. Lewis High School in Baltimore has received a $3.4 million federal grant to support programs aimed at reducing violence at the school.

The federal money is being given nationally by the U.S. Labor Department to six high schools that were named "persistently dangerous" under the No Child Left Behind Act. The label was applied by states to the schools in their areas that had the highest number of suspensions.

In the past two years, 2.5 percent of the high school's students have been removed or suspended for a serious offense, including having weapons or being violent, according to Principal Sylvia Hall.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Northeast Baltimore
        

Even an apartment on the 10th floor is vulnerable.

Baltimore police are looking for one man they believe has burglarized as many as two dozen apartments and residences in Mount Vernon and Mid-Town neighborhoods over the past two months by scaling fire escapes and breaking in through unlocked or open windows.

In one case, authorities said someone got into an apartment on the 10th floor of a building. In an e-mail alert sent to residents on Thursday, police noted that “building height or apartment level by itself is not adequate security.”

Jason Curtis, president of the Mount-Washington Belvedere Association, which covers Mount Vernon and Mid-Town, said city police gave a presentation at their meeting earlier this month and warned people to lock windows and doors.

This spate of burglaries comes 16 months after a rapist broke into several homes in the two neighborhoods, also using fire escapes, sparking fear and extra police patrols. The rapist has not been arrested, but police said he has not struck in more than a year. Curtis said “police were unable to give us a definitive answer” as to whether old rapes and new burglaries are by the same person.

“But regardless if it’s a rapist or a burglar, people need to lock their windows,” Curtis said. “The weather is nice and people have cabin fever. They want to crack their windows and let in fresh air, but they don’t think about closing them before they leave for the day. It just makes them more vulnerable.”

Police said one of the most recent burglaries occurred March 12 the 1000 block of N. Charles St. A resident left for work at 6:30 a.m. and returned at 9:30 p.m. to find her apartment ransacked. Police did not say what was taken, but a department spokeswoman said a person scaled the outside fire escape and got in through an unlocked window.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news
        

The bad blood between the city state's attorney's office and the Baltimore Police Department is well-documented, but in recent years there's been a calculated effort to present a public united front even as much of the frustration continued behind the scenes. The gloves may be close to coming off again. In the past week, prosecutors decided to take the unusual step of issuing a warrant for an officer who had failed to appear in court, which resulted in her having to spend the night in Central Booking. Before that, word broke that Jessamy's office was looking into placing a veteran homicide detective on the dreaded "Do Not Call" list of untrustworthy cops - a distinction that is a career-ender because they can no longer testify - based on a 19-year-old incident that police say has been no secret to prosecutors.

The Fraternal Order of Police tweeted this ominous message last night in response to the recent developments: "Message to the State's Attorney's Office: "A city that makes war against its police had better learn to make friends with its criminals."

Observers are tracing this supposed offensive by the prosecutors office to an incident that occurred last week in Annapolis, when State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy was in town to testify on gun legislation. Former federal prosecutor Steve Levin, who was there to give his own testimony, blogged about the incident, saying Jessamy left in a huff and without giving her prepared testimony. Others who were there claim Jessamy was frustrated that Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake did not give her office enough credit for its work on pursuing repeat gun offenders.

Jessamy's office denied this account when I asked about it last week. Spokeswoman Margaret Burns said there were several meetings on their agenda and that they had to leave for an appointment in the House of Delegates building.

I asked Burns to elaborate this morning, and she said the belief that Jessamy was angry may stem from a comment Burns herself made to James Green, a former prosecutor who works on special projects for the police department. Burns said Green wrote Rawlings-Blake's remarks and made a mistake when discussing penalties for gun offenders, and acknowledges she was "incredulous" about it. 

But she was adamant that it had nothing to do with Jessamy and Co. leaving the hearing, and insists that there's no motivation in throwing the officer in jail other than preserving justice.

"It is a known fact by everyone in the system that when a police officer fails to appear, the state's case suffers and can be irrevocably compromised," Burns said. "It was essential that the officer testify at the suppression hearing. If we lost the gun, we lost the case."

Police and City Hall officials told The Sun's Tricia Bishop yesterday that more could have been done before deciding to seek a warrant for the officer, and today they disputed that the officer was material to the suppression motion. Burns said instances of police failing to appear is a longstanding problem and the prosecutors went to "extraordinary lengths" to find the officer. She said the decision to seek a warrant came down to the prosecutor working the case, who she said "has no political agenda. He's trying to do his job." Burns later called back and said the officer in question has missed court 17 times since 2006.

"We're trying to prosecute criminals, and do a lot of things in the city of Baltimore in the interest of public safety," Burns said. "If we didn't get that conviction, two weeks from now people will be asking this off why the state dropped the case, why prosecutors weren't able to get a conviction. We took an extraordinary effort, but it had to be done."

The Police Department has tried to walk a fine line with Jessamy and her prosecutors, often frustrated but learning from past regimes that a public fight is a fight they can't win. Jessamy, meanwhile, says the fact is that most of the cases her office is criticized for dropping stem from issues with police. Along the way, the FOP has been quietly trying to urge Jessamy to back off from the "Do Not Call" list, and City Hall and the Police Department have been deliberate in making their concerns about the court system as vague and common-sense as possible, to avoid any direct hits at Jessamy. But one wonders, with budget woes stretching resources and fraying nerves, if this moment may serve as a turning point of sorts.

Rawlings-Blake's spokesman sent this statement this afternoon in response to this blog post: "Mayor Rawlings-Blake respects and admires the State's Attorney Jessamy for her tireless efforts to strengthen state gun laws.  Reducing gun violence by strengthening state gun laws is an issue that both the Mayor and State's Attorney care deeply about. Mayor Rawlings-Blake looks forward to continuing a strong partnership with all of the City's law enforcement partners, regardless of what is said on blogs, chatrooms and Twitter."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

Breaking news from this morning: Three men were shot early Thursday inside a bar in the Gardenville neighborhood of Northeast Baltimore, according to city police.

An officer on patrol heard the gunshots about 12:30 a.m. from Club Uzo (check out the club's Youtube video) in the 4800 block of Belair Road. He and other officers went inside and found a 20-year-old man who had been shot once in the leg. He was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital in serious condition.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said officers found a second victim on Belair Road, just outside the bar's front entrance, also suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg. The 30-year-old was also taken to Hopkins in serious condition. The third victim, 23, managed to get out of the bar on his own and was taken by a friend to Hopkins. Police said he had been shot twice in the legs and was in critical condition.

Detectives have no suspects.

"All we know is that it was some type of altercation," Guglielmi said. "It's unclear whether these victims were targets of the gunman or were innocent bystanders."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Northeast Baltimore
        

With this month's 10-year anniversary of the 97-hour Joseph Palcyznski hostage siege on Lange Street in the Berkshire community of Dundalk, I learned from residents that not much had changed there. Politicians had promised to get rid of the drug dealers and crime, eradicate the rats and clean up the streets (complete coverage of the 2000 standoff and a special anniversary retrospective).

After I wrote that last week, Mike Mohler, Baltimore County's chief code inspector, took umbrage and along with Jerry Chen (left and below, pictures by The Sun's Amy Davis) walked an alley with me between Lange Street and Berkshire Road. Lange Street is mostly rentals; Berkshire is mostly home owned. The difference was startling.

The backs of the Lange Street homes were littered with trash, broken fences, rat holes and garbage cans without lids. There were some exceptions, as there were on the other side of the alley -- where one homeowner stuffed beer cans into rat holes -- but for the most part those residents secured their trash cans and lids and had neatly kept yards.

I'll have a more detailed look at the neighborhood in Friday's Crime Scenes, but here are some stats. Mohler wanted me to know that complaints from residents don't fall into a black hole. He said that on most weeks, 40 percent of the county's entire inspection crew is assigned to Dundalk, Essex and Middle River:

Mohler spread out a large map over the hood of his county car. Since January 2008, his officers have investigated 15,128 complaints in the 21224 and 21222 zip codes. Each complaint requires an inspector to visit a location up to four times.

The numbers are startling: 2,419 complaints of animal feces, 1084 for cars without license plates, 4,354 for tall grass and weeds, 6,083 for junk and debris and 4,655 for trash cans without lids. Since 2004, inspectors have handed out 168 citations on Lange Street alone, which is just two blocks long.

In a one-day crack down in the nearby Colgate neighborhood on March 10, inspectors wrote 308 tickets just for lidless trash cans. Mohler said $25 fines weren’t getting anyone’s attention, so he upped the first offense to $150. Even with that, Mohler said, “We haven’t hit the threshold” to convince people to stop. Fines can go as high as $500. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

Even on a TV show, this would be impossible to believe:

A judge overseeing the prosecution of a man charged with beating his girlfriend allows the man to leave court, get a marriage license and then marries the couple in his chambers 20 minutes later. Then, citing marital privilege, the newlywed wife refuses to testify and the very same judge finds the man not guilty.

District Court Judge G. Darrell Russel Jr. announced in court: "Earlier today I sentenced you to life married to her."

Authorities promptly reassigned the judge and women's rights groups appropriately expressed outrage. The Baltimore Sun's Nicole Fuller reported:

"Police were called to Wood's home in the first block of S. Hawthorne Road on Nov. 29, and his fiancee told police that Wood smacked her in the face, kicked her and banged her head against a wall and then dragged her. The officer noted, according to the news report, that the woman had a bloody nose."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

News coming out about budget cuts sounds dire for the Baltimore Police Department. At the moment, the police helicopter known as Foxtrot is on the chopping block.

Police already are mounting their defense of the $4 million a year expenditure, with a spokesman calling its loss "devastating." The Baltimore Sun's Julie Scharper noted that Baltimore could be just one of three cities with more than a half million people without a police aviation unit. And given we're consistently among the cities with the highest crime, that does not bode well.

Foxtrot flies almost 24 hours a day and is used to help officers chase suspects on the ground and makes car chases, at least the kind you see on TV out of LA, obsolete. Officers use the powerful light to illuminate crime scenes and to guide officers through streets and alleys.

I suspect in the end that Foxtrot -- which gained unwanted notoriety last year when its pilot helped a state delegate propose marriage during a stunt that involved a mock police raid on a boat -- will remain. It's too high profile to cut, and might just be included on the list as a scare-tactic. Some city council members say the proposed cuts, which include closing three fire stations and the police marine and horse units, are designed to make other fees more palatable.

The mayor is to present her formal budget on Wednesday. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Top brass
        

A federal grand jury has indicted Milton Tillman, Jr., age 53, and his son, Milton "Moe" Tillman III, age 35, both of Baltimore, Maryland, for conspiracy to defraud the Treasury Department, making false statements on tax returns and unlawfully engaging in the business of insurance.  Milton Tillman is also charged with wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud Ports America Baltimore, Inc., where he worked as a member of the International Longshoremen’s Association, prosecutors said.

Tillman Jr. is a well-known businessman with two federal convictions, vast property interests (several of which were recently foreclosed on), and a major chunk of the city's bail bonds market, including holding insurance policies for a slew of others in the industry. The CityPaper in August 2008 described Tillman this way: "To white-collar prosecutors he's a target. According to Drug Enforcement Agency documents and a deceased narcotics prosecutor, he's a violent drug trafficker. But to people he's done business with and public officials who know him, he's a plain, soft-spoken, and successful minority businessman." (Photo at right is a booking photo from aforementioned CityPaper articles)

“The indictment alleges that Milton Tillman Jr. and Milton “Moe” Tillman III conspired to defraud the IRS and operate a bail bond business in violation of federal law, while Milton Tillman Jr. collected pay for a no-show job at the Port of Baltimore,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.   “Because the bail bond industry plays a major role in Maryland’s criminal justice system, the integrity of the system is jeopardized by corrupt bail bondsmen.” 

(As an aside, I just stumbled upon Big Boyz Bail Bonds' entertaining blog, which for awhile has been swiping at Tillman, saying things like "With so many shady bail bondsmen in the state..." and linking to articles about his legal woes.)

Here's more from the US Attorney's Office:

"According to the 28 count indictment, Moe and Milton Tillman operated 4 Aces Bail Bonds, Inc. (4 ACES) with offices at 2332 E. Monument Street in Baltimore and 1101 North Point Boulevard, Suite 121 in Baltimore.  4 ACES engaged in the bail bonding business, securing the release of individuals who were charged in the District and Circuit Courts of Maryland and elsewhere.  Beginning on December 28, 2004, 4 ACES also did business as Global Surety, incorporated by Moe Tillman.  In return for assuming the risk of an arrestee’s future appearances in court, 4 ACES collected a fee, usually a percentage of the bail amount set by the court.  A percentage of each fee collected by 4 ACES was forwarded to the surety insurance company insuring the bond.  4 ACES’ share of the fees constituted virtually all of the company’s gross receipts.  Between 2001 and 2006, the number of bail bonds written increased quickly, so that the company’s gross receipts reported to the IRS went from $188,337 in 2000, to $5,822,588 in 2006.

The indictment alleges that from 2001 through October 2007, Milton and Moe Tillman structured the ownership and business operations of 4 ACES in ways that concealed from the IRS Milton Tillman’s control of the company and the amount and disposition of the income Moe and Milton Tillman derived from the company.  The indictment alleges that Moe and Milton Tillman failed to report to the IRS the use of 4 ACES funds to pay some of Milton Tillman’s personal expenses, such as payments on life insurance policies, car payments on his 2004 BMW, and payment of his personal income taxes.  In addition, Milton and Moe Tillman allegedly transferred 4 ACES funds to themselves or corporations they controlled and used the funds for their personal gain.  The Tillmans allegedly used the pretense that some of the transfers were non-taxable loans, then used the funds to invest in real estate through the payment of earnest money deposits, closing costs and monthly mortgage payments, as well as for other purposes.

Milton Tillman was also a member of the International Longshoremen’s Association AFL-CIO and was assigned to particular shifts to unload or load cargo vessels on behalf of Ports America Baltimore, Inc., a stevedoring company.  The indictment alleges that in addition to misrepresenting to the IRS the extent to which he worked as a longshoreman, Milton Tillman allegedly defrauded Ports America, obtaining wages and fringe benefit payments for hours that he did not work at his job.  The indictment alleges that Tillman obtained approximately 64 payroll checks that included payment for hours he did not work, including hourly wages and benefits he received while on vacation in Brazil, Spain and Las Vegas.

Specifically, the indictment charges that Milton Tillman filed false tax returns for 2002 through 2006, substantially underrreporting his total income, and that Moe Tillman did the same with his 2005 and 2006 tax returns.  In addition, the indictment charges that Moe Tillman filed false corporate tax returns for 2004 through 2006.  Furthermore, the indictment charges that Milton Tillman was prohibited from engaging in the business of insurance due to a previous conviction involving dishonesty and that Moe Tillman was aware that his father was prohibited from engaging in the business of insurance, but still permitted his father to participate in the bail bond business.  Finally, Milton Tillman is charged with wire fraud in connection with the scheme to defraud Ports America.

U.S. Attorney Rosenstein gave special thanks to Acting Maryland Insurance Commissioner Beth Sammis and Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler for the work of their agencies in the investigation and prosecution of this case. 

The Tillmans face a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge; three years in prison on each count of filing a false tax return; and five years in prison for unlawfully engaging in and permitting a prohibited person to participate in the business of insurance. Milton Tillman also faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each of 15 counts of wire fraud. "

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Breaking news
        

Well this won't be good for the historically frosty relationship between the Baltimore Police Department and city State's Attorney's Office. An officer assigned to the Southwest District spent a night in jail Monday after a Circuit Court judge issued a "material witness" warrant against the woman - at the request of the city's State's Attorney's Office - when she didn't appear for a gun trial that afternoon.

Prosecutors called Victoria Wingfield's testimony "crucial" in fighting a defense motion to suppress certain information. As for the trial itself, the officer was not called as a witness for the prosecution but did get on the stand eventually - as a defense witness. A police spokesman called the arrest a "literally extraordinary event." Officers we talked to said she had no history of missing appearances and expressed concern that putting an active duty officer in jail exposes them to significant danger.

UPDATE: The State's Attorney's Office announced that the defendant in the case in question, 35-year-old Kinte Johnson of Crofton, was convicted this afternoon of prohibited possession of an unregulated firearm and was sentenced to five years without the possibility of parole.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Courts and the justice system
        

I started my day with penny Guinness stouts at 6 in the morning.

Well, actually, I drank a cup of coffee and watched others do the drinking. I was at No Idea Tavern on South Hanover Street, where that special bled into a another special that later today will launch a four-bar pub crawl (money raised is supporting a local elementary school).

At left, Megan Brooks, 22, Catonsville, and Jason Royer, 24, Halethorpe, start the morning with a drink, in a picture by The Sun's Kim Hairston.

A stabbing a few weeks ago after a pub crawl along Fort Avenue has rewnewed discussion on whether such events can and should be regulated. South Baltimore neighborhood groups are seeking permits, while bar owners say it's impossible to regulate or permit people from hopping from one place to another. I'll have a more detailed story on this hot topic on Thursday.

The liquor board might try a compromise by requiring any liquor license holder to notify the board whenever it sponsors an event involving more than one licensee. But trying to regulate an impromptu party or even a pub crawl organized by a person would be next to impossible.

Neighborhood residents have legitimate concerns about bands of rowdy, drunken people roaming through neighborhoods, breaking planters and being loud in the early afternoons. Some are responsible, such as the Irish Stroll in Federal Hill this past weekend that attracted up to 3,000 poeple. Organizers hired extra police and paid to clean up the streets.

But the stabbing on Covington Street involving the Hitmen bar crawl -- which raised money for a flag football team -- prompted many concerns. While I was out at No Idea, bar owners and patrons said the same thing: it comes down to personal responsiblity. Don't overserve, for the bartenders, and act reasonable, for those indulging.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, South Baltimore
        

The state took Lakesha Haynie's first three children away from her and she gave up custody of a fourth. But nobody from the Department of Social Services knew she had become pregnant again -- and now she's charged with killing her newest son, Rajahnthon, and burying him in Druid Hill Park.

A new law took effect in October to prevent just this scenario, but because Haynie (left) became pregnant before then, it didn't apply. So social workers who now have to check up on women who had babies taken away to determine if they're pregant with more couldn't check on this woman.

It's a gaping loophole that is now closed but doesn't help this dead infant, as the Baltimore Sun's Brent Jones reports in today in a follow up to the killing and the murder charges filed against Haynie.

Brent wrote that Rajahnthon's death - he was at least the 11th child to die of abuse-related causes in Baltimore since 2004 - is the latest in a series of incidents some activists have called preventable:

In June 2007, 2-year-old Bryanna Harris died after being given a lethal dose of methadone and being beaten by her mother, Vernice Harris, whose older children were in state custody. Harris was arrested in the toddler's death.

Three years earlier, Emonney and Emunnea Broadway, twin girls who were less than a month old, died of malnutrition while living with their parents in an abandoned rowhouse. Six months earlier, the girls' parents lost custody of a 2-year-old girl removed from their care for abuse.

Legislators introduced bills in 2006 and 2007 that would have matched up caseworkers with troubled families before, or shortly after, a new child was born. But those bills died in committee because of several factors: political disputes between state and city officials, budget woes and concerns that they might prove too invasive for families that had rebuilt their lives.

Support built in the General Assembly, and the law to extend parental supervision passed in 2009. Although the law's backers say it should keep unfit parents from raising children, social-services workers stopped short of saying a removal in all cases would be imminent.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime
        

Maryland is a violent state, but today's deluge of major crime news around the region was a bit overwhelming.

In Carroll County, police were investigating a murder-suicide in Hampstead that involved a man who killed his ex-wife's fiance and then took his own life. Michael Leo Swift III had been charged in January with possessing unlicensed machine guns, rifles and explosive devices and was out on bail.

In Baltimore County, the boyfriend of a 23-year-old woman missing since Thanksgiving was arrested and charged with murder, two weeks after her body was found in Virginia. County police also identified a 48-year-old man found outside a Cockeysville home.

In the city, we've already blogged about the Remington drive-by shooting, the killing of a Johns Hopkins Hospital security officer in a robbery, and the case of a month-old infant buried in Druid Hill Park by his mother who had four other children taken away by social services. As I type this, police are investigating a stabbing at the Inner Harbor that sent a juvenile to the hospital in serious condition. And the AP also reported that Raymond T. Taylor waived extradition in West Virginia and will be transported back to Maryland, where he escaped from a prison last month.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Baltimore County, Crime elsewhere, Downtown
        

I first met Baltimore Police Officer Hikeen D. Crampton when he graduated from the police academy in 2001. He stood with his mother and his mentor, Officer Steven Sturm, a member of a group of Western District officer who called themselves "Big Bad Cops." At far left, Crampton makes his first arrest  Above, Sturm takes a picture of Crampton at his police graduation, in pictures taken by Baltimore Sun's Amy Davis.

Sturm took Crampton under his wing, let him wear his cap and watched over him through high school and into the police academy. I went out with Crampton as he patrolled his childhood neighborhood in West Baltimore and confronted the drug dealers who had so bothered him in his youth.

Then, last year, Crampton got charged with trying to pass off as stolen a car he had traded. He pleaded guilty in November, but through a legal agreement with the police union, he's eligible for back pay that had been taken away when he got suspended. All because he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor instead of a felony: 

A Baltimore police officer who was suspended without pay in September after being charged with falsely claiming his car had been stolen to obtain an insurance settlement could get more than $11,400 in back pay despite pleading guilty to a charge in the case in November.

The Board of Estimates, the city’s spending panel, is to vote on Wednesdya on whether to pay Officer Hikeen D. Crampton three months salary. He is eligible because he pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of attempted theft, and not more serious felony charges. He was sentenced to two years supervised probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

Prosecutors with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office dropped felony charges of attempted theft and insurance fraud.

Under an agreement with the city police union, officers can be suspended without pay only for a felony criminal charge. His plea to a misdemeanor charge means the city must reimburse him for the time he was suspended without his salary, which amounts to $11,435.96, according to city police and union officials.

Anthony Guglielmi, the Police Department’s chief spokesman, said Crampton remains suspended with pay pending the completion of an administrative review and possible internal trial board, after which he could be fired or face a lesser sanction.

Crampton, of Rosedale, was profiled on the front page of the Baltimore Sun in 2001. He had graduated from the Baltimore Police Academy and requested a patrol assignment in his old neighborhood, a notorious drug area. The youngest of 10 children, who grew up looking over Mosher and North Calhoun streets, had overcome the odds of growing up in an impoverished, crime-ridden block by befriending a tough police officer, Steven W. Sturm.

Sturm watched Crampton grow up, got to know his family and attended his graduation, boasting that the young officer would "make major before I make sergeant." Crampton kept a cherished photograph of him as a young boy wearing Sturm’s police cap, which nearly covered his entire head.

In 2005, while working plainclothes in the Western District, Crampton arrested one of the stars of the infamous "Stop Snitching" videos. In 2008, Baltimore County police honored Crampton or catching a suspect who had just held up an armored car driver.

But last year, authorities charged him with fraudulently claiming that his Cadillac Escalade had been stolen. They said he had traded it in for another vehicle.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Breaking news
        

Passing along an email from reader "Charlotte" about recent shootings in the Remington and Charles Village neighborhoods. Below that is an update sent out by the Charles Village Community Benefits District on its list serv:

"Mr. Fenton

I was there also (after the incident).  I just wanted to ‘thank’ you for including the man’s comment, “An hour ago, that guy was alive.”  It’s just so sad . . . .  My Pastor shared a saying from Martin Luther King, Jr., with me:  "The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.”  (He was paraphrasing Mahatma Gandhi). 

To continue MLK’s quote, “It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding.  It seeks to annihilate rather than to convert.  Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.  It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible.  It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue.  Violence ends by defeating itself.  It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers."

I just wanted to share, as the ‘eye for an eye’ quote came to me last evening while I watched the paramedics try to save the young man’s life.  I just kept thinking that he would not be going ‘home’ ever again to, perhaps, a significant other, a little child, his mother.  It’s all such a waste.  Perhaps he was part of something he should not have been involved in, but cold blooded murder is not a way anyone deserves to be taken from this earth.  Retaliation of some type, I am sure, is already being planned.  When/where does end?
I realize you didn’t ask for comments, but I just had to share with someone who might understand.  Thank you.

From the Charles Village Community Benefits District email:

Another Homicide in the District:
 Howard & 25th Streets
On March 15, 2010 at approx. 6:44 pm an unidentified man was shot in the area of Howard and 25th Streets. The unidentified man died as a result of being shot while he was sitting inside of a vehicle. The victim is not a resident of the district. The suspects in this incident allegedly fired shots from an unidentified silver vehicle.
According to my sources within the BPD it is too early to determine if this incident is related to the incident from Friday at Calvert & 26th Streets. At this time there is a limited amount of information. As it becomes available it will be disseminated accordingly.
If you or anyone you know has any information in reference to this incident please contact me (Walter Brown) at the CVCBD Community Safety Office so that I may forward it to the BPD Homicide Section.  Your identity will of course remain ANONYMOUS.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Authorities have linked rapes in Denton, Annapolis and Frederick to one man through DNA. Now, police just need to attach a name to the forensic evidence for crime that occurred over a span of 70 miles and three years.

Andrea F. Siegel reports today on the surprise link that could help finally catch a suspect, starting with an attack in Annapolis on Nov. 25, 2004, whena 41-year-old woman heading home on Forest Drive was pulled inside a small red car and attacked by a passenger.

The other attacks occurred Feb. 6 2005 in Brooklyn in South Baltimore and April 9, 2007 by a man who gave her a ride. In each case, the woman was pulled or lured into a car while walking along a street.

Anyone with information is urged to call 410-222-1740 in Anne Arundel County, 410-396-2076 in Baltimore or 410-479-1414 in Denton.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Breaking news
        

A man was killed Monday night in an apparent drive-by shooting in the Remington neighborhood, just blocks from where Donatello Fenner was killed last week. Police were called to the intersection of North Howard and West 25th streets just before 7 p.m. and found an adult male who had been shot multiple times, said police spokesman Donny Moses. Homicide detectives were dispatched to the scene, which is an area of businesses and car dealerships that is the proposed site for a new Wal-Mart. Officers blocked off an intersection where a red Ford sedan was parked with its lights on, partially on the curb, with its drivers side window smashed out. It was not immediately clear whether there were any links between the shooting and Fenner's death on Friday in the 2600 block of N. Calvert St.

At the crime scene, I watched along with a local businessman as police surveyed the scene. 

"It's amazing, isn't it?" he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "An hour ago, that guy was alive."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

The shooting death of 22-year-old Donatello Fenner (left), a reputed gang leader, has sparked safety concerns in Charles Village and fear of retribution by police. Fenner, who was shot in an alley behind a school in the 2600 block of N. Calvert St., had long been on police radar as a "catalyst for violence" in the nearby Barclay neighborhood and in late 2008 was charged with attempted murder. We've obtained charging documents from that case that shed more light on the ongoing violence police believe Fenner was involved with, as we try to determine why his case was dropped in court. It's cliche to say this, but the allegations in the case read like they're right out of a script for "The Wire." Quiet, intimate, chilling.

Police accused Fenner was being involved in a "gang-sanctioned hit" ordered by members of the Young Gorilla/Guerrilla Family and Black Guerrilla Family in May 2008. Charging documents outline how the victim, Neal Davis, was hanging out with someone outside a home referred to as the "Honeycomb Hideout" by members of the BGF and YGF, when the man went inside. Another man, known to him as "Jay," asked to speak with him and ushered him down an alley in the 2200 block of Barclay St.

"Not realizing what was happening [Davis] walked with Jay down the alley and stopped just short of the part that has no lighting, next to a parked truck," Detective Dawnyell Taylor, then of the Eastern District detectives unit and now with homicide, wrote in charging documents. "Jay began to ask him what he had spoken to the police about and what he said to them concerning Jay and other BGF and YGF members. The victim, confused, began to dispute ever speaking with police. As Jay continued with his allegation to the victim, he noted that Jay would not stand directly in front of him, but off to the side. It was at this time that the victim saw out of the corner of his eye a figure come from the rear yard of 2200 Barclay Street."

"The victim stated he got a funny feeling and began to try to make out who the figure was and where it had gone. It was at this moment that the figure stepped from beside a parked vehicle and pointed the gun directly at his head and began to fire. The first bullet grazed the victim in the left temple. The person identified as Jay simply stepped aside and the victim began to run out of the alley but not before he was struck twice by bullets."

As luck would have it, Davis' brother was nearby and saw him collapse, and took him to Johns Hopkins Hospital. He survived.

Taylor wrote that the shooting was a gang-sanctioned hit, ordered because Davis had testified in a homicide that occurred in August 2000 in the 2100 block of Barclay St. In July 2003, the suspect in that case was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Taylor said Fenner was "observed leading the gang meeting discussing the sanction against the victim in futherance of this gang conspiracy." Police searched his home, in the 1400 block of Gorsuch Ave., and recovered a .22 caliber revolver, five .22 caliber rounds, and four .38 caliber rounds. Fenner was among at least six people who were charged.

In August 2009, the charges against Fenner and several others were dropped. Jermaine Johnson, who is identified in court papers as "Jay," and Kenneth Jones, who is accused of firing the shots, is scheduled to go to trial April 21 on charges of conspiracy to commit first degree murder.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Gangs
        

UPDATE 3: Here's our updated story, which quotes an email circulated among judges about envelopes containing white powder and bullets. The letter warned the judges to be careful what they touched or ate. "Judges on the Baltimore City Circuit Court have their lives threatened all the time," said Judge M. Brooke Murdock. But "not quite like this. This is pretty dramatic."

ORIGINAL POST: The Associated Press, citing information from the city Police Department, said authorities were investigating a report of white powder found in an envelope. Police said three threatening letters were sent to City Hall and the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse by Priority Mail, and are being investigated by them and U.S. Postal inspectors. Baltimore's City Hall was evacuated for about 40 minutes after a mail clerk found a "suspicious" package and notified authorities, a Fire Department spokesman said. The package was found to be harmless and employees returned to work about 12:40 p.m., Cartwright said.

We'll update as this story develops..

UPDATE: Threatening letters were sent to four judges, including Administrative Judge Marcella A. Holland and Judge Wanda K. Heard, said Angelita Plemmer, a spokeswoman for the court system. At least one of the letters arrived Friday and one arrived today, she said.

The Baltimore Sun obtained an e-mail, purportedly sent by Heard to Holland, which stated that she had received a bullet and a threatening letter in a Priority Mail envelope.

Plemmer said that she could not comment on the contents of the envelopes. An employee in Heard's office directed questions to Plemmer.

UPDATE 2: The Sun's Tricia Bishop confirmed through the city sheriff's office that Heard received a bullet in the mail; Judge Brooke Murdock also confirmed that she received an envelope containing a bullet. It's not clear what the motivation behind the letters was.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: City Hall
        

It's a busy day, so I'm ripping this straight from the press release while chasing down some other leads. The funding includes $1.1 million for the gun trace task force, $200k for juvenile diversion programs and $500k for a prisoner re-entry program to help ex-offenders get jobs:

(Baltimore, MD) – Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) today was joined by Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) in announcing $1.8 million in federal funding for several crime prevention and enforcement initiatives. The funding will help Baltimore City Police disrupt the gun pipeline, combat gangs and encourage students to stay in school. A portion of the funding will also help ex-offenders develop new skills to land – and keep – a job, helping them to become productive members of society.

The announcement was made from Northwood Plaza, the site of the murder of former Baltimore City Councilman Ken Harris, who was shot to death September 20, 2008, in what police say was a botched robbery. Three suspects, including two teens, have been charged in the crime. The Northwood community was identified by Baltimore City Police as an area that could specifically benefit from this funding.

“Ken Harris could see a better future for his city and wasn’t willing to sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to make it a reality,” said Congressman Ruppersberger, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “His murder was a senseless example of the destruction that guns and gangs can cause, robbing our city of a great leader. It is my hope that this funding will take Baltimore one step closer to Ken Harris’ dream – getting illegal guns off the streets, keeping kids in school and helping ex-offenders avoid lifetimes of crime.”

“Talking tough about crime is cheap,” Congressman Elijah Cummings said.  “It’s time for us to focus on programs that work, provide the funding that they need to be effective and get the job done. These federal initiatives that we are announcing will not solve all of our challenges. However, each represents a well-thought-out response toward achieving a safer community for our families.”

“We have an obligation to keep our communities safe so that families can feel secure in their homes,” said Senator Mikulski, chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations subcommittee that puts funds in the federal checkbook for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “We also have an obligation to the kids who need to be kept safe and who need to be given alternatives. I am committed to giving law enforcement the tools they need to clean up the streets, protect our families and keep Baltimore’s neighborhoods safe.”

“I would like to thank Congressman Ruppersberger, Congressman Cummings and our entire Congressional Delegation for their steadfast commitment to making Baltimore a better, safer and stronger City,” Mayor Rawlings-Blake said.  “This federal criminal justice funding will go a long way to reduce gun violence and recidivism, dismantle gang networks and keep our City’s young people out of trouble and out of harms way.”

The funds were included in the collective spending bill known as the omnibus passed by Congress and signed into law in December:

• $1.1 million for the Baltimore City Gun Violence Reduction Initiative. The funds will be used to hire dedicated crime analysts to research and track known gun offenders and collect gun trace data and support Baltimore EXILE – a program that guarantees jail time for any felon who carries a gun in Baltimore.

• $200,000 for Baltimore City’s Juvenile Screening and Diversion Program. The fund will support a pilot intervention program for youth arrested for nonviolent offenses in two city police districts. The goal is to prevent juvenile crime, reduce gang involvement and improve school attendance and performance.

• $500,000 for the Jericho Reentry Program operated by the nonprofit Episcopal Community Services of Maryland to help ex-offenders in Baltimore develop employment skills, secure a position and keep the job. The funding will increase the capacity of Jericho’s existing program, making communities safer and reducing recidivism.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Top brass
        

Police are confirming that the body of a baby was found Sunday evening in a bag buried in Druid Hill Park. Shortly before 8 p.m., police were called to investigate a suspicious death at 700 Druid Park Lake Drive, according to the police department's chief spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi. An infant was found buried in a bag, and the body was sent to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy. There was not immediately any information on the gender or age.

I'm told that one of the parents tipped police off and directed them to the precise location. Homicide detectives are investigating.

On a separate but related note, we haven't been able to get any updates on the two-month-old who was reported in critical condition at a DC children's hospital after being struck by his father, who is accused of attacking the child's mother as she held the baby. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

The Sun's Tricia Bishop reports this morning that the Baltimore Police crime lab is amassing a troubling backlog of cases due to short staffing and a notable uptick in requests from detectives. Submissions to just the 10-employee serology section, which tests for the presence of bodily fluids, were up 42 percent last year. Roughly 3,100 cases are now awaiting lab testing for bodily fluids, 3,000 cases are awaiting drug analysis, and more than 400 cases need to have DNA analyzed by one of the six DNA analysts on staff.

Administrative Judge Pamela White said in court that she saw a stream of DNA delays in one week - roughly 10 cases.

"Whether it's because of manpower or whether it's because of bureaucracy, I am concerned about timely trials," White said in an interview last week.

Lab director Francis Chiafari acknowledges that staffing woes and the backlog are troubling. But anyone who has tracked a court case in the city knows that at least two postponements - and sometimes three, four, five and six - is the norm, whether it is a lack of available courtrooms, trouble with witnesses, or attorneys who are not ready for court. If not delays by the crime lab, its a near certainty that something else would have caused these cases to be postponed. Still, anything that contributes to the "gaming of the system," as Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III calls it, is problematic.

The backlog is also not unique to the city crime lab. By the end of 2006, the Maryland State Police crime lab had amassed a backlog of 24,000 untested and uncollected DNA samples from convicted felons. In January 2008, Governor Martin O'Malley announced that the backlog had been eliminated due to additional funding.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

It's not clear whether Fenner was targeted or whether it was a robbery gone wrong, but as always when gang leaders are taken out, police are bracing for retribution. Much of the city's violence is retaliatory, and a well-known gang leader's death is as likely to spur retaliation as anything.

For more on the Young Gorilla Family gang and crime in Barclay, try here, here, here, and here.

One of Fenner's handgun arrests came days after news reports say his cousin, Vic Fenner, was gunned down. Vic's death was profiled in USA Today in 2007; he was described as a success story whose death devastated his classmates and teachers. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (45)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

The city Board of Estimates this week approved a secret $200,000 settlement to a person who had sued the Baltimore Police Department, saying the terms and name would be kept confidential to avoid "unfair damage to the career and reputation of the plaintiff." It also keeps the public from knowing just what the police department did to harm this person so severely.

When questioned, officials first said they would provide a range - $100,000 to $250,000 - for the settlement, then later said that the exact figure could be disclosed and was wrongly left off the agenda by the comptroller's office. George Nilson, the city solicitor, provided the amount Friday but said the city agreed not to discuss the details of case. He called the secret nature of the settlement "extreme" but with good reason.

"It was an honest mistake, quite clearly, that resulted in unfortunate and unintended harm to a citizen's reputation," Nilson said. "The community reached a cruelly wrong conclusion about this individual, based on this mistake, and this individual was harmed in personal and professional ways. I'm just not going to participate in furthering that unfortunate harm."

Nilson said in his three years as city solicitor, such a private settlement was a first, and he did not anticipate the city handling future claims in a similar manner. He also said the plaintiff was not a city resident, but he declined to provide additional details, citing the settlement agreement.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: City Hall
        

Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III this morning took on concerns about the department's recent use of its padlocking powers on clubs and businesses, including addressing claims that it is unfairly used to target black-owned businesses.

Appearing on former state senator Larry Young's show on WOLB, Bealefeld said that police are not keeping a list of places to target, but react to incidents of violence and concerns from the community. "Every place that we've ever used the padlock, we've been engaged for weeks, months, sometimes years to remediate the types of things that go on there," Bealefeld said. "There are a series of meetings ... to try to resolve the problems before we even get the padlock."

The issue has been pushed to the forefront as the police department has sought a liquor license revocation for the downtown club the Velvet Rope, which is owned by Baltimore hip hop impresario Tracye Stafford and has attracted celebrities and well-known acts to downtown. But police say it has also been linked to several incidents of violence in recent weeks, including a shooting and a near-riot after the club oversold tickets to a show, and needs to be shut down.

Owners of a liquor store that was padlocked - and which has since re-opened - are challenging the legality of the statute in the state courts. (The owners of the liquor store, for the record, are of Asian descent).

Young's show this morning was set up with an audience so people could directly question Bealefeld. One woman said there were two other downtown clubs that had experienced a slew of problems, including dancefloor stabbings and nudity and liquor license violations.

"Both [clubs] are not black-owned. I know downtown is interested in gentrification and wants to clear us out - I mean, I don't want to make it a racial thing, but it is," the woman said.

A caller then reiterated the point. "I know there's been incidents at other clubs, and none of these other clubs have been threatened or tried to been padlocked. It seems our club is being targeted. It's just not fair."

Bealefeld said the reason those other businesses remain open is because they have been working with police. "We have historic problems at other clubs, and have relationships where we can work to make them safer," he said. "Where we don't have relationships, where the club owners and promoters are not working with us to make people safe, we're left with no other option.

"The proof is in your own assessment: these clubs aren't out of business. To link it to anything other than public safety is really a smoke screen."

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told me after the show that the police department has padlocked seven establishments, five of which were only temporary, including liquor stores and a motel. He noted that only three of them were black-owned businesses. Two of the highest-profile closings did involve black ownership, including the Suites Ultralounge in Mount Vernon, which was linked to a slew of unprovoked attacks in that neighborhood, and Club 410, whose manager was later indicted and accused of being involved with the Black Guerrilla Family gang.

Another person, who identified herself as being from the Greater Baltimore Black Chamber of Commerce, said police efforts to pre-empt violence sometimes go overboard.  She compared some incidents to scenes out of the 1960s. Another man spoke more broadly about challenges black business owners and hip-hop themed shows face, equating the makeup of businesses at Power Plant Live to apartheid.

Bealefeld said people need to make clear that they will not tolerate violence. "Tell hooligans not to come to the clubs, because the people who come to the clubs just want to have a good time. Tell people who want to bring guns and knives on the dancefloor, we don't want you in the city."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Downtown
        

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested and charged in what Baltimore police are describing as a gang initation killing in Northwest Baltimore.

The Sun's Justin Fenton reports today that the victim suspect was being initiated into a set of the Bloods gang, but the precise motive for the killing remains unclear. The victim's mother told Justin there is more to the story. The killing occurred on Oakford Avenue on Dec. 29 and claimed the life of 19-year-old Jeffrey Ward.

Also yesterday, state officials testified in Annapolis to broaden the definition of a gang member and add to the number of crimes eligible for enhanced sentences. Here is a statement issue by Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy on the proposed legislation:

Senate Bill 274 Would Prohibit Felons from Possessing Long Guns, Provide Flexible Sentencing and Up To 15-year Penalty in Felony Gun Possession Cases

Senate Bill 44 Would Expand Firearms to include Long Guns in Crimes of Violence

Senate Bill 563 Would Prohibit Felons from Possessing Ammunition

 Baltimore, MD March 10, 2010 – State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy will urge the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Thursday to pass Senate Bills 44, 274 and 563 to strengthen gun laws, protect public safety and support law enforcement efforts to continue the steady decline in gun violence and historic low crime rates achieved in Baltimore. 

 In testimony before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, State’s Attorney Jessamy will note the significance of several factors that have contributed to the steady decrease of felony gun possession cases, non-fatal shootings and murder cases during the first decade of gun prosecutions under the highly publicized Gun Safety & Responsibility Act of 2000.

Lauded at that time as the best and most comprehensive gun bill in the nation and enacted during a highly publicized visit by President Bill Clinton o Annapolis in May 2000, Baltimore prosecutors have charged hundreds of convicted felons with the illegal possession of a regulated firearm since the 2000 gun law took effect in October that year.  Upon conviction, the courts can sentence offenders to just one penalty; a minimum, maximum and mandatory no-parole penalty of 5-years incarceration.

 “Exactly ten years ago, I was here in Annapolis to shape a gun bill that has helped build a cumulative, positive momentum toward the reduction of violent gun crime in Baltimore,” said State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy.  “Baltimore prosecutors have secured hundreds of 5-year no parole sentences for violent felons caught with regulated firearms,” said Mrs. Jessamy.

  “I believe we are witnessing historic decreases in gun crime that can be attributed to the strategic enforcement and prosecution of gun felons under this new law, efforts at the Central Booking Intake Facility (CBIF) War Room begun in 2002 that focused on bail, the expansion of the EXILE program in 2006, and new city initiatives like GunStat and the Gun Registry Program,” says State’s Attorney Jessamy. 

“We are making progress, but more work remains,” said State’s Attorney Jessamy.

Jessamy will highlight a gun timeline that includes partnerships that have contributed to a decrease in gun violence in Baltimore:

War Room at Central Booking
Statistics indicate that in 2009, prosecutors at the Central Booking & Intake Facility (CBIF) and War Room identified 1685 violent repeat offenders arrested on new gun and felony charges. These offenders were identified based on a review of their prior criminal convictions and probation status.  Prosecutors made bail recommendations to commissioners and at district court bail reviews.  Statistics show that 1399 offenders charged with new gun and felony crimes were held without bail through the offender’s first court appearance in 2009. The War Room began operations in September 2002.

EXILE Partnership
Begun as Project Disarm in 1995, the State’s Attorney’s Office has worked with our federal partners to expand the federal Exile program to include 3 cross-designated Assistant State’s Attorneys acting as Special Assistant United State’s Attorneys. This partnership has allowed for the expansion of efforts to identify and prosecute violent repeat offenders – and includes better coordination and communication following the arrest of a violent offender and an expansion of electronic investigations involving gangs, and drug traffickers.  The FIVE Division (Firearms Investigative Violence Enforcement) serves as a clearinghouse for most gun cases prosecuted in Baltimore.

City GunStat Program and Gun Registry   - These new city initiatives have helped to identify and prosecute juvenile and adult gun offenders and monitor gun offenders in the community.  GunStat provides a useful forum to prioritize and streamline evidence and secure witnesses in upcoming gun cases to achieve the best possible outcome.  The Gun Registry has helped to closely monitor convicted gun offenders who live in Baltimore.

Collateral Division of the State’s Attorney’s Office – In a unique partnership with the State Division of Parole & Probation, prosecutors and probation agents work in the War Room, at GunStat and in regular meetings between prosecutors and law enforcement to identify offenders on parole and probation who have been arrested on a new charge. Using a network of technology alerts, these cases are carefully tracked by probation officers and prosecutors to obtain violation of probation warrants with pre-set bails for violent repeat offenders. Hundreds of hearings are scheduled annually by probation agents.

 State’s Attorney Jessamy will urge the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to pass Senate Bills 274, 44 and 563.  These bills address needed improvements to current gun laws.  Jessamy will testify in favor of a more flexible penalty for the violation of the restriction against possession of a regulated firearm by a person who was previously convicted of a specified felony and will recommend the 5-year mandatory no parole sentence be expanded to include up to 15 years incarceration. She will also urge the expansion of the definition of regulated firearms to include long guns and rifles to prohibit convicted felons to legally possess long guns and rifles.  She will testify in favor of a bill that prohibits convicted felons from possessing ammunition.  Federal laws prohibit felons from possessing ammunition.

 “These bills close loopholes, strengthen public safety and are needed to move us forward. For example, under the 2000 statute, it is still legal for a convicted felon to legally possess a rifle, and to walk down a street in Baltimore.  We need to change that,” said State’s Attorney Jessamy.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Gangs
        

Can a retired drug cop from Prince George's County oust the longtime delegate Joseph F. Vallario Jr., who has chaired the House Judiciary Committee in Annapolis for 17 years? It's possible. Police fraternal groups from across the state are expected to back Percel O. Alston, known as "Percy" in his primary challenge in September.

It could the first serious challenge that Vallario, 73, (at left, in a photo by The Sun's Amy Davis) has encountered since he became a delegate back in 1975. Vallario has incurred the wrath of police chiefs, prosecutors, victim's rights groups and women's organizations for repeatedly blocking legislation favored by law enforcement groups. He has stood in the way of proposed laws to broaden the definition of gang members, to stiffen gun laws and help get drunk drivers off the streets.

The defense attorney has been accused of putting criminals -- his potential clients -- ahead of the citizens, and Alston, a retired 24-year veteran of the Prince George's County Police Department and four-year head of its Fraternal Order of Police, calls that a "conflict of interest." He told me: "It seems that a lot of legislation that will affect him as a defense attorney is legislation he will oppose."

The latest flap came this month when Vallario shot down Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III and other police chiefs who want to change the way people who get tickets get court dates. As it stands now, drivers stopped by police automatically get a date assigned, and police say that means they're called into courtrooms for people who have no intent of showing up. Police want people who want to fight a ticket to request a date, believing they will be more likely to come to court. It could save Baltimore up to $100,000 a month.

In 2008, Bealefeld complained that Vallario's defense-lawyer stacked committee treated him and other city officials "pretty rudely" and that the "lines of reasoning" from committee members were "beyond the absurd." State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy, commenting on a watered down bill (done so to get through Vallario's committee) to allow witnesses scared to come to court to submit written testimony a "toothless tiger."

And this week, a woman's caucus complained that Vallario's "tyrannical leadership" has become intollerable. 

Vallario's committee has the ability to shelve proposed laws before they get to the floor in Annapolis, and in an interview with The Sun's Julie Bykowicz, he defended the panel's work, noting they deal with more than 300 bills a year on the most sensitive of subjects, from sex offenders to gangs to gun laws.

Fed up police groups seem to striking backing back with Alston, who thus far has $25,000 in the bank, compared with $126,000 for Vallario. Seasoned cop versus defense attorney. Should be interesting.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere, Top brass
        

The Baltimore Sun's Nick Madigan reports today that prosecutor in Baltimore County could seek the death penalty against Karla Porter, charged with entlisting three family members to help kill her husband, a Hess gas station owner.

Above are the mugshots of the suspects. From top left, Calvin Lee Mowers, the main suspect's brother; Karla Porter, the wife of the suspect victim; Seamus Anthony Coyle, Karla Porter's cousin; Susan Datta, Kara Porter's sister; Walter Paul Bishop, the alleged hit-man; and Matthew Brown, who police say went along for the ride.

Meanwhile, Porter's attorney plans to argue that Porter suffered years of abuse and is considering a psychiatric defense. On Thursday, Porter, a 47-year-old mother of three, was denied bail. Others charged include Porter's sister, accused of supplying the gun, her brother, accused of driving the hit man, and a cousin, accused of introducing the alleged hitman to Porter.

Police also have charged the alleged hitman and another man who went along for the ride.

The alleged scheme involving so many family members has captivated a community. At a bail hearing on Thursday, the prosecutor described Porter as "cold and callous."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

I'm a day late posting this, but hey, it's not like we're sitting on our hands over here. WBAL-TV was apparently profiling Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III's two-year old Diamond Standard training program, following 40 officers in training at Lexington Market, when two separate robbery attempts occurred right in front of them. (Watch the video link to see the arrest in progress)

"Either they didn't know and they didn't see us, or they didn't care," said Sgt. Dennis Raftery, a former homicide detective who works in the department's education and training section.

Bealefeld, who likes to talk tough about "bad guys," told WBAL's Kerry Cavanaugh: "If they want a fight, we're gonna fight."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Downtown, Top brass
        

Karla Porter, the White Marsh woman accused of enlisting her family members to help murder her husband, is considering a psychiatric defense and will argue that she suffered from decades of physical and emotional abuse, her attorney told The Sun's Nick Madigan this morning.

A prosecutor, meanwhile, said Thursday that Porter could face the death penalty for her role in the murder of William “Ray” Porter, who was shot outside his Towson-area gas station March 1 and died two days later.

His 47-year-old widow was denied bail for a second time Thursday, despite pleas from her attorney that she “desperately needs to meet with psychiatrists and her legal counsel.”

As details of the alleged murder-for-hire scheme continue to trickle out of the courts and police records, Thursday’s hearing offered the first glimpse at a suggested motive for the killing. Check The Sun's web site later for a more detailed account.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

You don't remember Dwight "Knight" Gilmore, but back in 1991 he was a fairly big deal.

He got charged in a drug-related murder, got bailed out, then promptly got charged with shooting another man 10 times. At the time, police said they suspected him in another double shooting that left a man dead, again, allegedly committed while he was on bail. And, while free on bail, Gilmore became a victim, getting shot, and he appeared at one court hearing bandaged and braced.

Back then, he was an example of Baltimore's revolving door justice. Now, he's just a blur -- more horrific examples have repeatedly surfaced over the years. Convicted felons returning to crime after brief stints in prison hardly seems news anymore.

But Dwight "Knight" Gilmore is back, charged on Wednesday in a new drug case after Baltimore cops raided his home in Southwest Baltimore. Here's a brief tease of his record:

* In 1982, at age 16, convicted in the killing of a security guard during a holdup at Westside Shopping Center (conviction overturned due to a judge's error during trial).

* In 1990, charged with killing a man in a dispute over drug money, released on bail, charged with shooting another man 10 times, suspected in another murder, and shot and wounded himself during an argument.

* In 1991, convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Charges in the shooting dropped when witness recants; never charged in other homicide.

* In 2006, convicted on first-degree assault and sentenced to 12 years in prison (details not immediately available)

* In January 2010, already out of prison, charged with drug possession but put on the inactive docket

* On Wednesday, charged in a drug bust at his home in Southwest Baltimore.

He's older now, 45, but he still lives in the same place he did when he was charged with murder nearly 20 years ago -- 2504 Emerson St. in Southwest Baltimore.

Wednesday night, Baltimore police said they raided that house and chased Gilmore. Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said members of the Southwestern District Drug Enforcement Unit caught Gilmore with 100 bags of cocaine and a 1/2 ounce of crack. He was charged with numerous drug counts and Guglielmi said the suspect "is a person of interest in several shootings in the SWD."

A check of Baltimore Sun clips reveals we have written about Gilmore before. David Simon -- of Wire fame -- penned an article on May 23, 1991, which began:

A Baltimore man who was granted bail by a District Court judge after being charged in a 1989 homicide has once again been indicted by a grand jury, this time for allegedly shooting a man 10 times last October while free pending trial on the murder charge.

This month's indictment of 26-year-old Dwight "Knight" Gilmore marks yet another instance in which a district judge's decision to grant bail in a drug-related murder has frustrated city prosecutors and police detectives, who say they are accustomed to seeing most homicide defendants held without bond.

"We didn't know that [Gilmore] was out on bail," said Ilene Nathan, a veteran prosecutor in the violent crimes unit of the Baltimore state's attorney's office. "We only found that out when the second shooting occurred."

At the time, District Court judges were more regularly releasing murder suspect on bail, outraging homicide cops. One man had been freed on $2,500 bail after charged with killing a rival dealer in which 70 bullets were fired.

Gilmore had been charged in the killing of Reginald Robinson after an argument over money for drug dealing. He was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced on June 4, 1991, to 10 years in prison. That sentenced was modified in 2008.

Court records show he was convicted again, in July 2006, of first-degree assault, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. I'll check state prison records later today to see when he got out, but city police told me he's on probation. UPDATE: The head of the state parole and probation office told me that Gilmore was released on March 27, 2008, but is NOT on parole or probation. Just how he got out of prison after having served just two years of a 12 year sentence? No one has been able to tell me yet.

Back in 1991, prosecutors said they didn't even know Gilmore had been bailed out on the murder charge when police arrested him again in connection with shooting of David Jones, 20, who was wounded 10 times. By then, Gilmore already had an impressive record, having been convicted of murder at the age of 16 for participating in the killing of a grocery market security guard at the Westside Shopping center in 1982.

Simon wrote that conviction was overturned because of a judge gave faulty instructions to the jury, and charges in the shooting of Jones were dropped when a key witness refused to testify.

The police spokesman Guglielmi said Gilmore is listed as one of the Southwestern District's most violent offenders.

Some things just never change.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Breaking news, Courts and the justice system, Prisons
        

A fugitive "Safe Surrender" program has been tentatively scheduled for June 16 through June 19 in Baltimore, officials said at today's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council meeting. The program has attracted thousands of fugitives to surrender in cities, including Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington, and is geared toward those with nonviolent felonies, misdemeanors and traffic crimes. A legal assembly line of intake services, case review with a public defender and disposition by a judge will be provided on-site at two churches, chosen because they're seen as a calming and nonconfrontational setting. The locations were still be finalized, though officials have previously said the New Shiloh Baptist Church had agreed to host the event. Police believe 5,000 warrants can be cleared during the event.

Those who turned themselves in elsewhere noted a desire to start over, a fear of being arrested, and a desire to obtain a driver's license or to get a job. It also helps law enforcement agencies clear a staggering amount backlog of unserved warrants in the tens of thousands.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, West Baltimore
        

Two months after Baltimore County police held a news conference (left, in a picture by The Sun's Algerina Perna) and painted a dog groomer as an organizer of dog fights, prosecutors quietly dropped abuse charges in the case.

The woman, 26-year-old Nicole Caruso, still faces drug and theft charges. But the case that damaged her reputation has now been thrown out. A county prosecutor told me that allegations that the dogs fought (based in part on a dug up yard, pictures of injured animals, a treadmill with paw prints, blood on an inside wall and a doggie medical lab) couldn't be supported.

Authorities said they believe the dogs were trained to be aggressive to guard a suspected marijuana den, which Caruso's friend's deny. Caruso and two others were charged with animal abuse, not dog fighting, but the implication from police charging docuemtns and the news conference was clear: police believed there was an organized dog fighting ring at the house on Lange Street in Dundalk.

Caruso's attorney told me the prosecutor's decision proves that county police made bloated claims at their news conference that unfairly tainted his client before trial. I called the county police on Tuesday and was told flatly, "No comment."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Baltimore County, Breaking news
        

James E. Ball Sr. tried to protect his friend's girlfriend and got shot. That was back in February, as Ball, working his second job as a security guard outside Baltimore's downtown Bank of America Building near the Inner Harbor.

On Tuesday, city police said they had arrested Eric Rose, a 24-year-old man who lives on East 33rd Street (police mug shot at left), and charged him with first-degree murder. We don't know too many details of the suspect yet, but it was the victim's family that really captured our attention.

 The picture by The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam shows Ball's brother Austin sits with his mother, Sarah, with pictures of James Ball's two children, 6-year-old James Ball Jr. and 10-month-old Justin.

Ball had grown up on Fulton Avenue where from an early age he shunned the streets, collected a group of like-minded friends and together they made a deal -- they would grow up successful, look out for each other, and, if necessary, raise each other's children. Two, including Ball, grew up without a father and none wanted that to happen again.

So after Ball was shot on Light Street, his friends came to his surviving family and helped his girlfriend break the tragic news to his two children. One of his best friend's works at the downtown Tremont Hotel; another has a federal job in Washington. Ball had worked as a postal carrier, a security guard and an engineer.

(The picture by The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam shows Ball's brother Austin sits with his mother, Sarah, with pictures of James Ball's two children, 6-year-old James Ball Jr. and 10-month-old Justin.)

Police say that the night he was killed, he was talking to a friend outside the bank on Light Street when a group of men confronted his friend's girlfriend who was sitting in a car. Ball and his friend walked over to confront the men, one of whom pulled a gun. Police said the gunman intended to shoot Ball's friend, but missed and hit the security guard.

One of his best friends summed up the tragedy of James E. Ball Sr.'s shooting death this past weekend outside downtown Baltimore's Bank of America building:

"He did all the right things, and he still suffered the fate we had all been trying to avoid."

As a child, Ball had tapped into a close group of friends to survive growing up on Fulton Avenue in one of Baltimore's most depressed neighborhoods. Together, they escaped the drugs and the shootings that claimed many of their classmates, going on to college or to hold down jobs, and to raise families.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Downtown
        

A few other arrests to report. The man accused of stabbing someone during a South Baltimore pub crawl last weekend has turned himself in, according to police. Joseph Larry Burr Jr., 35, of the 300 block of S. Bruce St., has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and related charges in connection with the Feb. 27 stabbing of Michael Kooser following a fight outside Taps, a bar at Fort Avenue and S. Charles St. Charging documents don't spell out how Burr is related to the group (the two women already charged were friends of one of the flag football team members) or how police identified him as a suspect. Police said he turned himself in at the Southern District police station, accompanied by a lawyer.

Also, city police made two homicide arrests, though they're keeping details close to the vest and there's not much to report.

Montez Faidley, 23, of the 1500 block of E. 29th St., has been charged in the Jan. 25 shooting of Michael Manning in the 1900 block of Aisquith St. Manning was found in the alley, face down and unresponsive. Faidley was picked out of photo lineups after witnesses were located, police said in charging documents.

Also, Kenyatta Basku McCoy, 35, of the 700 block of E. 43rd St., has been charged in the July 13, 2009 killing of John Woodies. Woodies, 38, was shot to death on a basketball court. Police located witnesses who identified McCoy as one of the suspects. Already arrested in this case was Dante Preston, 37, who was indicated March 4 on murder charges.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Breaking news, East Baltimore, South Baltimore
        

Baltimore police have arrested 18-year-old twin brothers in connection with a series of burglaries in six houses in the Southeastern District and seized stolen flat-screen television sets, radios, video game players and DVD players, authorities said on Tuesday.

Ronald (far left) and Ronnie Sinkler, of the first block of North Clinton St., were each charged with more than 50 counts of burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, theft and destruction of property and are being held without bail at the detention center pending a hearing scheduled for April.

Few details were immediately available, including the locations of the burglaries. Police said they raided the twins’ house and discovered “an enormous amount of stolen property” and that fingerprints from the house matches fingerprints taken at “one of the many houses that were burglarized.”

Among the stolen tems recovered, according to police, were two X-Box games, several DVD players, a golf bag, a 42-inch flat-screen TV, a video camera, an alarm clock and a laptop computer.

Here is a list of what police seized:

24 N. Clinton Street Property Listing

*Recovered from the rear bedroom:
1 - Proscan flat screen t.v., model #32LC30S57, serial #91155-32LC30557-00320
2 - X Box 360, serial #5051451745174405 and 617205762405
1 - X Box 360 dvd player, serial #018325265120
1 - Emerson dvd player, serial #21019595TN
1 - Wachovia bank information in the name of Ronald Sinkler
1 - large ziplock with 23 small purple ziplock bags containing a green plantlike substance w/large quantity of empty purple ziplock bags
1 - golf bag/trombone bag
1 - Sony dvd player, serial # 0681813
*Recovered from the front bedroom:
1 - Dynex t.v. 42" flat screen, serial #2499LC42KT46H08535
1 - RCA clock radio c.d. player, model #RP3765A
1 - JVC video camera, model GR-AXM18U, serial #142D1101
1 - Sony dvd player, model #DVP-SR200P, serial #2688755
*Recovered from the basement:
1 - Compaq HP laptop computer, serial #2CE849PQ813
Paperwork in the name of Ronald Sinkler
1 - Sharp flat screen t.v. w/remote, serial #907813847
1 - Sony alarm clock, serial #1043984
1 - purple suitcase Xpeno
1 - JVC VHS, serial #114F6427
1 - Sony VCR, serial #016190631905

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
        

William "Ray" Porter, the Towson gas station owner and contractor killed last week in a plot police say was hatched by his wife, was recovering from heart troubles and on crutches from a snow-related fall when he was lured to the gas station and shot in the head by a gunman recruited by his wife's family. Those are some of the details that began to emerge yesterday, though friends and family are still searching for any clues that might have hinted at what was to come.

Neighbor Betty Bailey told me that Karla Porter wasn't acting out of the ordinary at her husband's viewing on Friday, and in fact had gone "all out" to make it a nice occasion. The arrests went down Saturday during the day, and by the time Ray Porter's funeral service started that night, word had spread. At least one of his relatives lashed out, and police were called to the funeral home to calm things down. One friend said he knew it was important for police to "get their man," but wishes they had waited until after the services.

Police say the key players have all confessed to their involvement in the killing. A check of their criminal records shows nothing more serious than assault and drunk driving arrests.  Meanwhile, between their marriage and a prior marriage each, the Porters had five children who have now lost a father and a mother.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

Even as the city school police was sending out a statement lauding how well its force works with the Baltimore Police Department, a school spokeswoman was admitting that her department deliberately withheld information from the city force.

What kind of information? That school police had arrested an 8-year-old boy with a gun at Sharp Leadenhall Elementary School. That was on Thursday. Baltimore police didn't learn of the arrest until Friday.

And since it's Baltimore police tasked with researching the .380 caliber handgun and finding out how the kid got the gun, and whether any adults need to go to jail, that delay was costly. Detectives didn't even get to the 3rd-grader's house in North Baltimore until 28 hours after the arrest. By then, a search was all but useless.

Law enforcement agencies love to talk about how closely they work together, how they partner with each other, but in this case, when it really mattered, all that went out the window. What was especially suprising is that the school system told me they didn't tell city police on purpose.

Their rational: the suspect was just 8-years-old, and in a special needs school. So school officials talked to state juvenile services and to prosecutors about how to proceed. Meanwhile, the valuable time was being lost in figuring out how someone so young could come to an elementary school packing a loaded gun in his book bag.

Here is a statement from the Baltimore school system on how they handled this case:

City School police and school administrators were focused on supporting an 8 year old student that attends Sharp Leadenhall elementary school

On Thursday our priorities were to
1. Secure the weapon;
2. Ensure safety of the learning community; and,
3. Determine the appropriate course of action considering the sensitive nature of an incident with a student that was 8 years old ; worked with the State’s Attorney’s  office and juvenile justice to determine course of action.

On Friday school police began to focus on the origin of the weapon. Our priorities included:
1. Notifying BCPD  Friday morning (Southern district)
2. Providing BCPD with a copy of the arrest report so that they could begin a follow up investigation into this matter (arrest record sent to Southern District…later learned it had to be shared with Northern district where the child lives)

Presently BCPD is following up on more details pertaining to this incident through their investigative unit.

Typically this incident would have been transmitted via email but due to the sensitive nature of  the student and the need for input from the State’s Attorney’s office  and juvenile justice it was not.

School Police and City Police have a very good working relationship and are diligent about keeping everyone informed. However, due to the sensitivity of this particular case,  numerous factors required consideration prior to taking action.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Confronting crime, Schools
        

As part of her plea agreement, former Mayor Sheila Dixon agreed to have items that were seized as evidence during the state prosecutor's investigations auctioned off on eBay. It appears the first of those items is now on the auction block: an XBox 360 game console and Need for Speed video game. But it's so much more than just a video game console, isn't it?

As of this writing, there's been 7 bids, and it's up to $132 bucks. Only 9 days left!  Proceeds go to Youthworks of Baltimore, a summer jobs program Dixon pushed as mayor.

UPDATE: As soon as my colleague Julie Scharper "tweeted" the link (which I quickly "retweeted"), the bids started shooting up. There's now been 16, and it's up to $202.50.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: City Hall
        

Baltimore County police are planning to release more information today on the March 1 shooting death of William "Ray" Porter at the Hess gas station he owned on East Joppa Road. What was initially believed to be a robbery is now apparently an elaborate murder-for-hire scheme involving Porter's wife and several family members.

Wives paying to have their husbands killed is not that unusual, but it appears from what police have divulged thus far and court records that this was a family affair. Six people have been arrersted, including the victim's wife, her sister and brother, and even a nephew. The wife is accused of paying $9,000 to have her husband killed.

Details were first reported on WJZ-TV.

The incident recalls another sensational scheme involving murder and family ithat occurred in 1995. Here are some details of that case (the slain woman's nephew is serving a life prison sentence):

A nephew of a woman who was slain this month outside a Waverly bank was arrested yesterday and charged with setting up the killing by leaking her banking schedule to a violent gang member, city police said.

Danny Paul McGee, 39, who lives in the first block of Slavin Court in Parkville was fired from the family janitorial business two days before the slaying, police and family members said. Detectives said he was not at the shooting scene.

Police said they charged Mr. McGee with first-degree murder because he allegedly gave the killer "essential" information about his aunt's weekly trips to her neighborhood bank, several blocks from Memorial Stadium.

Local authorities, assisted by federal agents, were searching last night for an alleged accomplice. A warrant for first-degree murder was issued for Andre Edwin Allen, 34, of the 3400 block of Wabash Ave.

Investigators believe that the attacker only wanted to rob Pearl Elizabeth Moffett, 72, of the $1,500 she had withdrawn from the Nations Bank branch on Greenmount Avenue the afternoon of June 9. But the victim struggled with the gunman and the robbery "escalated into a homicide," a police spokesman said.

"We believe Mr. McGee conspired with Mr. Allen in making available dates, times and locations where Mrs. Moffett conducted her business," said Agent Robert W. Weinhold Jr., a city police spokesman. "The terms of the alleged conspiracy are unknown at this time, but what we do know is that Mr. McGee provided Mr. Allen with the essential details."

With the arrest in the Moffett case, police said, they also have broken up a "ruthless" gang believed to be responsible for up to 20 recent armed robberies in the city, including the abduction Sunday of a North Baltimore family.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County, Breaking news
        

In today's Baltimore Sun, reporter Tricia Bishop combines court testimony and interviews to paint a chilling, in-depth picture of a Baltimore cult, an "alternative world of brainwashing and dubious biblical interpretation, where one young woman was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital and a second ... agreed to let her beloved boy go hungry to rid him of demons, then spent weeks trying to resurrect him after he died." Four people were found guilty by a city jury this week in connection with the death of Javon Thompson.

Another twisted tale of murder is brewing in Baltimore County, where at least four people have been arrested in the fatal shooting last week of gas station owner William Porter. The kicker: WJZ reports that one of those arrested is his wife, Karla Porter. A tip from a source and a review of court records indicates that at least six people have been arrested in connection with the crime, but Baltimore County police won't discuss the case until Monday morning, when a press conference is scheduled.

And finally, former Raven Michael McCrary, who is in divorce proceedings with his wife while battling a number of business-related lawsuits, was slapped with a request for a protective order Friday in which his wife Mary McCrary claims he drives around with a .38 caliber handgun in his vehicle and has an explosive temper. The former Raven said he was "baffled and disappointed by these baseless claims."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County, Courts and the justice system
        

A Baltimore man convicted of raping a 59-year-old woman at gunpoint in 2007 in her Tuxedo Park home, a crime that terrorized the community, was sentenced Friday to life plus 93 years in prison. (The story says life plus 93, but a press release from the state's attorney's office says life plus 35. Case search doesn't clear up the discrepancy)

"The only appropriate sentence is life," said Baltimore Circuit Judge John A. Howard, who quoted from the opening of the "Law & Order" television series about sexual crimes being "especially heinous."

"If there's a case that demonstrates the truth of that statement," he said, "it is this case."

Also this week, Matthew Hooper, 27, was sentenced by Judge Lynn K. Stewart to 50 years in prison for the murder of two-time Purple Heart recipient Daniel Hoeck, 62. Prosecutors say Hooper broke into Hoeck's Northeast Baltimore home, in the 6100 block of Glenoak Ave., and was stealing items when he was confronted by Hoeck and stabbed him. Hooper received life with all but 50 years suspended after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and burglary. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Courts and the justice system