It's no secret that most people in jail want to get out. But what if you can get out and you escape anyway?

Just try to figure Davon Newton's saga today that led to him being shot. Yep, authorities say he tried to escape the Baltimore City Detention Center even though he had no reason to even try. And prson officals are just as perplexed as you will be:

Typically, prisoners on work release leave the inside of the jail to work outside the fence, and then go back to jail.

David Newton, on home detention awaiting trial on drug and burglary charges, charted an opposite course. He would leave his home outside the fence to work inside the jail, and would then return to his house at the end of the day.

So prison officials were a bit perplexed Wednesday afternoon when they said the 19-year-old Newton, not cuffed or shackled, ran from correctional officers escorting him to the laundry room at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

Authorities said he scaled one fence was climbing over a second fence along East Monument Street when a correctional officer shot him twice in the leg. He was hours away from the end of his shift, at which point he would’ve climbed into a prison van and been driven home.

“He woke up in his own bed and he could’ve gone back to his own bed tonight,” said Rick Binetti, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

Binetti stressed that there could be extenuating circumstances that prompted Newton to bolt. Maybe he had an open warrant or feared he’d be locked up on another charge. But as of Wednesday evening, Newton’s reasons for running remain a mystery.

Binetti said the correctional officer who opened fire and another officer who participated in the chase are on desk duty while internal investigators probe the shooting. Binetti refused to identify the officers.

According to Binetti’s statement, the correctional officer shot Newton after the detainee refused an order to stop and as he tried to flee by climbing over the second fence. The statement does not say whether the officer felt in danger or whether it is permissible for officers to shoot escapees running away.

Newton had been on home detention since January and has his trial on the drug and burglary charge scheduled for August. He now faces an additional charge of escape. He was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Albert "Mad Dog" Marcus is everywhere.

He's dressed in his pin-striped, double-breasted suits and fedora, standing over a body, working his regular beat as a Balitmore homicide detective. He's keeping fans safe at an Orioles game. He's in his uniform on hot the concourse at Pimlico on Preakness Day -- hoping some other cop sloughed off his overtime shift so Marcus could grab it. In case you haven't guessed it by now, that's him on the left, in a photo by The Sun's Amy Davis.

Who can blame him?

He only earned $173,791 last year. Most of it came in overtime -- his base salary is $70,176.

Marcus consistantly tops the overtime list and last year only three other city employees made more than he did -- the finance director, the state's attorney (technically not a city employee as she's elected to office) and his boss, the police commissioner. Yes, Marcus has made more than the mayor in each of the past three years.

Annie Linskey details overtime expenditures in her story today in the Baltimore Sun. Some departments used overtime because they couldn't afford to hire new people. The Baltimore Police Department has reduced overtime from $31.7 million in 2007 to $14.2 million this year. Police also note that crime, including homicides, has dropped to historic 30-year lows.

Annie's story includes a sidebar on Marcus, (and a searchable database of city overtime) the dapper detective who was profiled in a 2001 fashion column. He wears custom-made shirts with french cuffs. He also puts down murders -- including one allegedly committed by a 14-year-old boy this year -- and that requires working aroundt he clock after the body falls.

His boss, Maj. Terrence P. McLarney, defended Marcus' work ethic: Marcus hums like a bird," the homicide commander told Annie. "He loves to put the uniform on. He's a good cop. He works very hard."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Confronting crime, Top brass
        

THIS JUST IN: We just learned that the shooting (referenced below) Tuesday night on Carswell Street in Northeast Baltimore was fatal. More details can be found in the news story. 

Baltimore police have continued their efforts to seize illegal guns from city streets.

On Tuesday, police got two loaded handguns and arrested two people in the 800 block of E. North Avel. Later that same day, police arrested a man in the 3500 block of Horton Ave. with a loaded handgun. That night, cops busted made a drug arrest in the 1300 block of E. Lafayette Ave. and seized four handguns.

Wednesday, police arrested three people and siezed a sawed-off shotgun during a raid at a house in the 3200 block of Ravenwood Ave. But also on Wednesday, police reported three victims in two shootings.

A man was shot in the 1500 block of Carswell St. and about 6:30 this morning two men walked intoan undisclosed hospital suffering from gunshot wounds. Police said the shooting had occurred at West Baltimore and Carrollton Avenue.

A victim of a double shooting Monday night in East Baltimore had been a star soccer player for Archbishop Curley High School and later for Patterson High.

A city police spokesman confirmed that one of the victim’s is Bash Kamara, who came to the United States from Sierra Leone, and had played for the high schools. Another man, who police did not identify, was shot in the abdomen in the same incident.

Police had few details of the double shooting that occurred about 9:15 p.m. Authorities say they believe the men were shot in the 1700 block of N. Montford Ave. and ran a few blocks to East North Avenue and Belair Road, where they were found by police.

Both victims suffered non-life threatening injuries and were being treated at an undisclosed hospital. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said detectives have made no arrests and knew of no motive in the attack. 

In 2009, Kamara was named a player to watch for Patterson. The previous year, the forward was named all-city for the school. In 2007, he was named all-city for Archbishop Curley.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Top brass
        

Baltimore's mayor has just released details of a new sexual assault hotline, an effort by city leaders to address a problem raised in Sunday's Baltimore sun that showed detectives "unfound" more rape complaints than in any other city.

City officials have already announced they will audit rape complaints and reports to ensure that victims aren't being shortchanged. We'll have a complete story up shortly. Meanwhile, here is a statement from the mayor:

Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld, III announced the creation of a new hotline for victim/survivors of rape and sexual assault to connect with services and report past incidents or mistreatment that may have occurred while reporting a crime of sexual assault.  The hotline, 443-279-0379 will be operated by TurnAround Inc., an established Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Center with more than 30 years of experience in providing support services to victim/survivors in the Baltimore region. The hotline will be operational beginning ay 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 30.

“We need to do everything in our power to ensure victim/survivors of rape and sexual assault feel safe reporting incidents,” Mayor Rawlings-Blake said.  “TurnAround will help victim/survivors of rape and sexual assault access support services.”

Rosalyn Branson, TurnAround’s Executive Director, said that the agency is pleased to offer support and assistance to victims as they tell their stories.

The new hotline will be staffed 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday by experienced advocates who can connect victim/survivors with supportive services and counseling. When calling the hotline victims will have the option of telling their story and receiving confidential support or submitting their case for review in the audit.  TurnAround will refer case information to the Mayor's Office on Criminal Justice to be included in the audit of sexual assault cases ordered by Mayor Rawlings-Blake and Commissioner Bealefeld.  The audit will be conducted in partnership with the Baltimore Police Department and the Baltimore City Sexual Assault Response Team (SART).

“The Baltimore Police Department is committed to working with leading sexual assault experts and organizations, including TurnAround, to develop and implement new best practices that encourage victim/survivors to come forward,” Commissioner Bealefeld said.  “This new hotline is just a first step of many to come to improve our investigative practices and response to incidents of rape and sexual assault.”

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Breaking news, City Hall, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

Baltimore authorities are planning a new hotline for women who are victims of sexual assaults. This comes after Sunday's Baltimore Sun report that showed city police lead the nation in "unfounded" rape reports.

Women are complaining that detectives sometimes try to talk women out of filing reports. Officials have already announced they will audit the police department's sexual offense unit. This hotline is one way for victims to talk with someone more sympathetic. Details will be announced later this afternoon.

Here is what we know so far from the mayor's office:

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld are to announce the creation of a new hotline for victims/survivors of rape and sexual assault to connect with services and report past incidents or mistreatment that may have occurred while reporting a crime of sexual assault.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Breaking news, City Hall, Confronting crime, Top brass
        

Channon Goolesby was too young to be charged with murder. Only nobody seemed to realize it before it was too late.

He was arrested Friday, hancuffed and charged as an adult. He saw homicide detectives, a district court commissioner, a prosecutor, his own lawyer and a judge. None bothered to check his date of birth and compare it to the date of the shooting for which he was charged.

Though 14 at the time of his arrest, he was 13 when 14-year-old Juan Johnson was shot in the back of the head on a Northwest Baltimore street in a dispute over a girl. Witnesses told police they saw Goolesby hand a gun to a 20-year-old who pulled the trigger. That man also has been arrested.

Maryland law says you have to be 14 at the time of the offense to charged as an adult with murder. Because he was 13, prosecutors are now working to drop the charge and move him to juvenile court.

This isn't a major goof, and it's not like the youth is going to be back on the street. But still, lots of people, including his own advocate, had a chance to stop this before it became an issue. Nobody noticed.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system
        

The first meeting of a task force charged with auditing Baltimore police rape reports is due to meet July 8. This comes after Sunday's Baltimore Sun article that reported city police have one of the highest rates of unfounding rape complaints made by women.

The audit is being led by the mayor's criminal justice head but will involve top police commanders. As chief police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told me, "The commissioner wants to dig deep. We have to work hard to restore public trust in the fact that we're going to investigate these rapes."

The spokeswoman for the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office, Margaret T. Burns, said prosecutors have heard that nurses at Mercy Medical Center, where most sexual assault victims are taken, have complained about strong-armed tactics of detectives who investigate the cases.

The problem is also born out of pressure to reduce crime, at least on paper. Police commanders are under constant pressure to produce good crime stats, and that reaches down to the patrol cops and the detectives. Even if they're not specifically told to find ways to not write reports, and thus count crime, they understand the pressure to keep crime low. The easiest way to do that is to record it, or record it such a way that it doesn't count toward the stats.

Sheldon F. Greenberg, who runs a polic executive training program at Johns Hopkins University, said, "The problem is national, not just in Baltimore. "Police officials have difficulties defining the value of what their people do on a day-to-day basis other than through statistics. They give the politicians what they want — statistics as a way of measuring success."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

Baltimore police charging documents filed in connection with Sunday's Inner Harbor shooting detail a chilling series of events that begins with a petty stare down that leads to five shots fired on the crowded waterfront prominade, and ending with cops shooting at one of the gunmen:

Here are the documents, with the name of the victim blacked out. Police asked us to withhold his name due to concerns of gang retaliation:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Downtown, Gangs
        

Howard County police say they arrested 17 people, seized three vehicles with drugs and got $10,000 at two weekend Phish concerts at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia. Here is their statement:

Investigators focused enforcement efforts on drug distribution and seized controlled dangerous substances including marijuana, ecstasy and psilocybin mushrooms. Police work in partnership with Merriweather Post Pavilion to ensure lawful conduct during the concert season.

Additional resources were allocated for the Phish concerts, which have historically shown increased drug activity at the venue. Police seized:

• A Toyota truck from Adam Drew Kandel, 29, of Baltimore (charged with: possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, drug distribution and drug possession)
• A Volkswagen Jetta from William Scott Lunny, 32, of Richlandtown, Penn. (charged with: three counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled dangerous substance, drug distribution and three counts of drug possession)
• A Mazda 3 from James Aaron Smith, 21, of Athens, Ga. (charged with: possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, drug distribution and two counts of drug possession)

Additional drug-related arrests:
• Cory James Baumgardner, 21, of Ballston Spa, N.Y. (possession with intent to distribute CDS, drug possession)
• Gregory George Beauregard, 22, of South Hadley, Mass. (possession with intent to distribute CDS)
• Nicholas Aase Brevig, 23, of Austin, Texas (possession with intent to distribute CDS, drug possession)
• Dustin Jesse Bruhns, 29, of Gansevoort, N.Y. (possession with intent to distribute CDS, three counts of drug
possession)
• Brittani Nicole Cawley, 21, of Cockeysville (possession with intent to distribute CDS, drug distribution)
• Michael David Charbonne, 28, of Clifton Park, N.Y. (three counts of possession with intent to distribute CDS, three
counts of drug possession)
• Benjamin Kahl Derose, 23, of Street (Md.) (possession with intent to distribute CDS, drug possession)
• Brian Charles Lanasa, 25, of Parkville (possession with intent to distribute CDS, drug possession)
• Jeffrey Michael Moore, 22, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (two counts of possession with intent to distribute CDS, two
counts of drug distribution, two counts of drug possession, resisting arrest and second-degree assault)
• Janis Elisabeth Pitman, 29, of Atlanta, Ga. (drug possession, drug paraphernalia possession)
• Jack Alan Ray, 40, of Centre Hall, Penn. (possession with intent to distribute CDS, drug possession, resisting arrest
and second-degree assault)
• Lloyd Hasan Wilson, 30, of Easton (three counts of drug possession)
Non-drug arrests:
• Samuel William Harvey, 23, of Philadelphia, Penn. (indecent exposure and disorderly conduct)
• William Christopher Schools, 28, of Ellicott City, Md. (trespassing)

Officers from special operations, vice and narcotics, traffic enforcement and patrol provided security at the event, which drew nearly 19,000 concertgoers on Saturday and 15,000 on Sunday.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)
Categories: Breaking news, Howard County
        

Baltimore County police are searching for a suspect in a sexcual assault in Woodlawn. Here is there statement as to what happened:

Baltimore County police are looking for the suspect who sexually assaulted a 43-year-old woman in her residence after breaking into it. The incident occurred on June 26 in the 6300-block of Monika Place, 21207.

Investigators were able to obtain a forensic artist’s rendition of the suspect who is described as a black male, approximately 24 years old, 5’8” tall, with an average build, and medium complexion. The suspect was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans. He may have a fresh abrasion or cut on his head.

Police responded on June 26 at approximately 11:42 p.m. for the report of a sexual assault. The victim advised that the suspect broke into her residence through a window and forced the victim to commit a sexual act. During the assault the victim fought back and injured the suspect by hitting him on his head with an undisclosed object. The suspect ran from the location after the attack and the victim contacted police. She was transported to GBMC Hospital where she was treated and released.

Shortly after the sexual assault, police received a call for an attempted burglary in the 1000-block of Coleridge Court, 21229 at approximately 2:04 a.m. on June 27. The victim advised police that he was awakened by noise and observed the suspect attempting to break into the apartment through the sliding glass doors. The suspect fled the area when the victim appeared, however, the suspect’s description was similar to the suspect described in the sexual assault earlier. Detectives are not sure whether the two crimes are connected at this time.

Anyone with information about the identity or whereabouts of the suspect is asked to call Baltimore County Police at 410-307-2020 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCKUP (1-866-756-2587). To text a message to Metro Crime Stoppers, send to "CRIMES" (274637), then enter the message starting with "MCS," or e-mail a tip to www.metrocrimestoppers.org. Those contacting Metro Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous and might be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore County, Breaking news, Confronting crime
        

The shooting at the Inner Harbor overshadowed yet another weekend filled with shootings. The Baltimore Sun's Julie Bykowicz gives readers a good summary of some of the shooting since early Saturday:

-- A 23-year-old woman who was four months pregnant and whom police described as a gang member was shot early Saturday morning on Arsan Avenue in Curtis Bay. She lost the baby but is expected to recover from her injuries, police said.

-- About 10 p.m. Saturday, in apparent retaliation for that shooting, an 18-year-old man was shot in the 300 block of nearby Annabel Avenue, police said.

-- A 23-year-old man was shot and killed at 3:30 a.m. Saturday in the 3300 block Noble Avenue in East Baltimore, police said.

-- A triple shooting at 9:40 a.m. Saturday in the 2200 block of Guilford Ave. near city school headquarters left one woman and two men injured, police said. One victim is related to a gang member who was killed earlier this year, leading police to believe the triple shooting was retaliatory.

-- Police discovered the body of a 47-year-old woman in the 5200 block of Charles St. about noon Saturday. Police said it is a possible asphyxiation and appears to be a domestic-violence homicide. Her husband was being sought by police.

-- An argument over an MP3 player, police said, led to a shooting at 10:30 p.m. Saturday in the 2100 block of Patapsco Ave. in South Baltimore. A 30-year-old man was shot twice in the stomach and is expected to survive, police said, adding that they have suspects and were preparing arrest warrants in the case.

-- About midnight Saturday, a 19-year-old was shot in the hand at the Inner Harbor.

-- Early Sunday morning, one man was shot to death in what police said appeared to be a home-invasion robbery of a drug house in the 2600 block of W. Fayette St.

-- Police also were investigating a suspicious the death of a 43-year-old man in the 2800 block of Rockrose Ave. north of Druid Hill Park. His body was found Sunday with an injury to the back of his head.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Confronting crime, Downtown, East Baltimore, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, South Baltimore
        

Baltimore Police Commissoner Frederick H. Bealefeld today made his first public comments on Justin Fenton's Baltimore Sun story that concludes city police detectives "unfound" more rape reports than another big police department in the country.

According to The Sun's Julie Bykowicz, here is what the commissioner had to say:

"It certainly draws attention to a situation we've been focused on ... " He said the police have been working with women's groups since Jane Doe legislation passed to "bring structure" to the way rapes are investigated. "It's a good opportunity to evaluate our practices."
 
He said he would "evaluate the leadership and officers assigned to the unit" and added, "We are going to try to do our job better," referring to how rapes are categorized and resolved.
 
He also said the story points to a public relations need to build "confidence that reports are taken seriously." If that is not happening, he said, "we need to shake ourselves hard."

Earlier, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued this statement on The Sun investigation:

“I am deeply troubled to learn about the high number of unfounded rape complaints and the decline in reported rapes over the past decade. The data shows the critical need to immediately address the issue with a comprehensive review of investigative practices and response. Sadly, rape is one of the most underreported crimes because women are often ashamed and afraid to confront their attackers. We need to do everything in our power to ensure victims of sexual assault feel safe reporting incidents to police. No victim should ever suffer in silence. The Police Department must examine their current practices and work with leading sexual assault experts to develop and implement new best practices that encourage victims to come forward.  Accordingly, I have tasked the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice to take a leadership role with the Sexual Assault Review Team (SART) to oversee the development and implementation of improved Police Department practices.  Commissioner Bealefeld has assured me that the Department is conducting a full audit of unfounded complaints and an internal review of training and investigative practices.”

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Breaking news, City Hall, Confronting crime, Top brass
        

This just in from Baltimore police on the Inner Harbor shooting:

3 Arrests made in Inner Harbor Shooting (The Baltimore Sun's Julie Bykowicz provides even more details):

On June 27th, 2010, at approx. 0004 hrs, Inner Harbor Unit received a call for a shooting at 401 E. Pratt Street. Upon arrival, Medic #23 was treating the victim for a gunshot to his left hand. Officers secured the crime scene and spoke with the 19 y/o victim advised that he was walking down a path on the 400 blk of E. Pratt Street with his brother when they passed a group of black males. A black male wearing an orange shirt and blue jeans stated, "What are you looking at, I want to kill someone tonight".  The victim and his brother started to run away from the group
when they heard at least 5 gunshots. 

Victim was then subsequently struck in the left hand. Medic #23 transported the victim to Shock Trauma for further medical treatment. Witnesses were located and transported to the Central District Detective Unit.

Further investigation revealed that after the shooting, the suspects entered the Charm City Circulator Bus which was traveling eastbound on Pratt Street. Descriptions of the suspects and the bus were broadcast Citywide and Southeast DDU Detectives observed three black males fitting
the description of suspects walking northbound on Central Avenue at Pratt Street.  Upon attempting to stop the possible suspects, a foot pursuit ensued and Mr. Domonick Holly m/b/04/14/92 (above left) brandished a silver Rossi revolver in the 100 blk of N. Central Avenue. All suspects were apprehended and Mr. Keiron Holly m/b/11/16/90, and Mr. Kesmond Lewis m/b/09/22/90 (above right) along with Mr. Dominick Holly, were all transported separately for further investigation.

Victim was treated and released from the Shock Trauma for a through and through GSW to his left hand. 

NOTE: SUSPECTS STILL BEING DEBRIEFED BY DETECTIVES AS OF 2:00PM. WILL
BE CHARGED UPON COMPLETION OF INTERVIEWS

Suspects:
Keiron Holly – DOB: 11/16/90 – Will be charged w/ Attempted First Degree Murder
Criminal History:
CDS - 6/17/10
CDS - 6/4/10

Dominick Holly – DOB 4/14/92 (Co-Defendant) – Will be charged w/Conspiracy / handgun violations [NO PHOTO AVAILABLE]
No criminal history

Kesmond Lewis – 9/22/90 (Co-Defendant) – Will be charged w/Conspiracy / handgun violations
Criminal History:
CDS – 6/16/2010
CDS – 10/23/08

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Breaking news, Downtown
        

Baltimore police have scheduled a news conference to discuss another spate of shootings this weekend, including one early today at the Inner Harbor that involved a shootout with police near the World Trade Center.

The violence began Saturday with three shootings -- a 23-year-old pregnant woman shot twice in the abdomen on Arsan Avenue in Brooklyn, a man shot on West Patapsco Avenue and a man shot several times and killed in an alley off Noble Avenue in Southeast Baltimore's Linwood neighborhood.

Then, starting 12:01 a.m. today, a man was shot in the arm and thigh on East 22nd Street, an 18-year-old was shot in the arm on Horton Street, another man was shot on West Fayette Street and, about 12:15 a.m., a man was shot in the hand in the 400 block of East Pratt St.

Coming just a week before the harbor will be jammed with people celebrating the July 4 holiday, police are no doubt concerned about a repeat of last summer when residents and tourists complained of attacks at the city's premier waterfront attraction.

Police said this morning that they arrested three people and seized a gun in connection with the harbor shooting. We're expecting more details after the news conference.

It was just week that Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III had to discuss another bad weekend -- one that left three dead and eight injured. He said then:

Nearly halfway through the year, Bealefeld said, police have taken 1,000 illegal guns off the streets and gun crime is down by double digits. That comes amid budget-tightening and deep concern over officers' pensions.

"Based on all the curveballs thrown at this police department in the last year, I think these men and women are doing a damn good job to be down in homicides and nonfatal shootings," Bealefeld said at a news conference Monday. "People have to balance facts against perception."

In recent weeks, shootings have come in spurts. Eight people were shot, one fatally, during the May 22 weekend. Over Memorial Day weekend, 10 were killed in one of the deadliest stretches since Bealefeld took over the department as crime soared in 2007.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Downtown
        

In today's Sun, we explore a troubling trend in sexual assault investigations in Baltimore: The city has for the past four years recorded the highest percentage of rape cases that officers conclude are false or baseless of any city in the country, with more than 30 percent of the cases investigated by detectives each year deemed unfounded.

But the problem in Baltimore may go even deeper. In four of 10 emergency calls that come to police for rapes, officers conclude that there is no need for a further review, so the case never makes it to detectives – a proportion that experts say is disturbingly high.

The increase in unfounded cases comes as the number of total rapes reported by Baltimore police has plunged - from 684 in 1995 to 158 last year, a decline of nearly 80 percent. Nationally, FBI reports show rapes have fallen 8 percent over the same time frame. We're one of five cities that record more homicides than rapes; most peer cities have a ratio of three to five rapes per homicide.

Police initially brushed off our findings, and the commander of the sex offense unit dismissed the high number of cases by saying, "We have a lot of people that are engaged in sexual activity in this city." He also said that the city's various services for women and victims led women to make up stories to take advantage of them.

In an attempt to solicit a more comprehensive response, I submitted various statistics to one of the mayor's aides. As the story was being finalized, I received an unsolicited three-paragraph statement from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, saying the data showed a "critical need" to review department policies. She said the police commissioner assured her that a full-scale audit would be conducted and she convened an existing task force to study the issue.

In many ways the story raises more questions than it is able to answer. The numbers were so jarring that, coupled with anecdotes from people engaged with victims and a review of dozens of incident reports, they warranted a long look. But serious questions remain about the number of cases unfounded in the field by patrol officers - or how many are recorded as other, lesser crimes.

Some officers told me privately that the many of the "unfounded" 911 calls are false but are just not being "coded" - or classified - correctly. Experts including the former head of sex offense investigations in San Diego said that was essentially impossible. As for the investigations by detectives, is it possible, as current and former officers said, that they simply do a better job investigating than their counterparts in other cities and face a far different class of alleged victims? The comprehensive audit may generate answers.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: City Hall, Top brass
        

The Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced today the sentencings of two gang members, including the infamous Ronnie Thomas, known as Skinny Suge, the producer of the Stop Snitching videos (link goes to YouTube, video contains offensive language).

In the video, Thomas said, "I can say what I want. F--- the police. F--- Patricia Jessamy. I can't go to jail for that. This is how I feel. What y'all getting me for? Freedom of speech?"  What they got him for was racketeering conspiracy, and he got nearly the maximum sentence.

The video came to symbolize Baltimore's witness intimidation culture, and got NBA star and native Baltimorean Carmelo Anthony in hot water for a cameo. The player later apologized and said he didn't endorse its message. 

Here is the statement from federal authorities:

U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Sherman Pride, a/k/a Dark Black and DB, age 35, of Salisbury, Maryland, to 292 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release; and sentenced co-defendant Ronnie Thomas, a/k/a Rodney Thomas, Skinny Suge and Tall Vialz, age 36, of Baltimore, to 235 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for participating in a racketeering conspiracy through the Tree Top Piru Bloods (TTP Bloods), which engaged in narcotics trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder and robbery.  Pride also was convicted of conspiring to distribute cocaine.

“Many dangerous criminals have been convicted and removed from Maryland as a result of superb work by police and prosecutors on the TTP Bloods investigation,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Racketeering cases often are time-consuming, but they make a dramatic contribution to public safety."

"Violent criminals are not only infiltrating our metropolitan cities, they are spreading their destruction to smaller communities,” says ATF Special Agent in Charge Joseph Riehl. “Unfortunately for the criminals, no matter where they set up shop, ATF will shut them down. We are more committed to getting them off the streets, than they are committed to being on the streets.”

For more information:

TTP Bloods, a violent gang, originated from a street gang known as “the Bloods” that was formed in Los Angeles, California in the early 1970s. The Bloods broke into individual  “sets” including a subset known as Tree Top Pirus (TTP).

TTP spread throughout the country, including Maryland. TTP in Maryland has its roots in a local gang which began in the Washington County Detention Center in Hagerstown, Maryland in about 1999.

The gang was formed for mutual protection in response to the aggression of other inmates from Baltimore and spread throughout Maryland mostly by recruiting from inside Maryland prisons.
According to testimony at their trial, from 2005 to February 2008 Pride and Thomas were  members of TTP.

In letters written by TTP leaders, Pride was identified as the leader of the Maryland Eastern Shore set of the TTP and Thomas was also identified as a gang leader in Maryland.   Thomas produced both “Stop Snitching” videos.  Thomas discussed with another gang member retaliating against a store owner who refused to sell his “Stop Snitching 2” video.

Testimony was also introduced at trial that: Pride was arrested after attempting to toss a bag containing crack and drug paraphernalia into a car to hide it from police; and that Pride told a fellow prisoner in a jailhouse that he was a high-ranking Blood on the Eastern Shore and had arranged the transport of kilograms of cocaine from California to Salisbury, Maryland.

This case is the result of a long-term joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Baltimore City Police Department, the Baltimore County Police Department, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office. Twenty-two defendants have been convicted of the RICO conspiracy and 16 of those have been sentenced to between 21 months and 30 years in prison.

Four other defendants have pleaded guilty to related charges. Charges filed against two remaining defendants are pending.

In addition to Thomas, eight other individuals connected with the nitching” videos have been prosecuted in federal court. Co-defendant Van Sneed, who appeared in the original video, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges.  His sentencing has not yet been scheduled. Akiba Matthews, the cameraman who appeared in the original video, was convicted of drug and gun offenses and sentenced in August 2008 to 30 years in prison.

Sherman Kemp, who was prominently featured in the original video, pleaded guilty to drug and gun offenses and was sentenced in October 2008 to 15 years in prison. George Butler, who appeared in the original video, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute drugs and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Warren Polston, who speaks in the original video, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and was sentenced to five years in prison. Eric Bailey, who proclaimed “rat poison” the cure for cooperators in the original video, was sentenced to 37 months for a gun crime. Former Baltimore City police officers William King and Antonio L. Murray, whose names were featured in the original “Stop Snitching” video, were convicted of robbery, drug trafficking and firearms offenses and sentenced in June 2006 to 315 years and 139 years in prison, respectively.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: Breaking news, Gangs, Witness intimidation
        

Police said they have made an arrest in a weekend shooting that left four men injured in East Baltimore.

The suspect, Michael Montgomery, was picked up this morning by members of the Warrant Apprehension Task Force outside his home in the 1200 block of N. Broadway, said Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman. Montgomery was in possession of a 9 mm handgun, the same type of weapon used in the shooting.

The shooting occurred in the 1300 block of N. Montford Ave. and came amid 12 shootings last weekend that left four dead. A 17-year-old was shot in the ankle; another 17-year-old was struck in the ankle, foot and right arm. A 53-year-old man was shot in the shoulder, and a 21-year-old walked into Johns Hopkins Hospital with a gunshot wound to the right ankle.

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said at a news conference Monday that a canvass of the crime scene turned up a pair of green dice, indicating that a dispute over gambling might have been the motive.

Guglielmi said Friday that there was also a basketball game going on at the time of the shooting. “The motive is petty – petty arguments and disputes over leisurely activity that resulted in four people being shot,” he said.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, East Baltimore
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced today that he was speeding up the implementation of an alert system to notify the public when police are searching for suspects in violent crimes against law enforcement officers. The move comes a few weeks after police spent days searching for suspects in the fatal shooting of off-duty trooper Wesley Brown in Prince George's County.

The so-called "Blue Alert" will "rapidly disseminate information" to assist in "locating and apprehending an offender suspected of killing or seriously injuring a law enforcement officer, whose disappearances [sic] poses a serious threat." It was sponsored by Del. Curt Anderson and was set to go into effect on Oct. 1, but O'Malley's executive order speeds up that timeframe to enact it immediately.

The system joins the Amber Alert system, designed to locate missing children, and the Silver Alert for missing seniors. The latter was implemented in 2009.

"We’ve dedicated every resource available to ensuring our officers have the equipment they need, the best available crime fighting tools, and the latest technology to keep Maryland families safe," O'Malley said in a statement.  "This alert system will ensure that if any of our law enforcement officers are harmed, the fugitive will be captured swiftly and brought to justice.”

I'm interested to see how the system will be implemented. Personally, I've only seen an Amber Alert once - during the Olympics - and never a Silver Alert. And in the case of Brown's shooting, police disseminated information through the media about a person of interest but didn't have - or at least didn't release - a name of a suspect until he had been picked up. Perhaps the intended use is to help further spread the word that a reward is being offered.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Witness intimidation is a big problem in Baltimore, and many high-profile cases have been prosecuted -- from the firebombing of a city house that killed an entire family to the murder of a man in Baltimore County who saw a man killed in a city alley.

But the killiing of Kareem Guest in Westport in 2009 sets a new standard. A year earlier, the 39-year-old sat down with FBI agents and outlined drug dealing in the community. As a result, the feds busted eight people. Six pleaded guilty -- the ringleader went to prison for 22 years -- but two others held out for trials.

That meant prosecutors had to give two attorney's copies of Guest's statement to the FBI because was was a potential witness. Federal prosecutors say one of those lawyers gave a copy to his client and to his client's mother, who distributed it throughout Westport.

Guest was killed three months later.

And now a woman authorities saw Guest get shot is refusing to cooperate and lied to a grand jury about seeing the shooting. Prosecutors charged her with perjury. Here is a stunning court document filed by the lead prosecutor arguing that the worman should be incarcerated until her trial. It details this horrific killing and highlights the problems police face in solving many of the city's killings:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Confronting crime, South Baltimore, Witness intimidation
        

Thursday's arrest in the killing of an 88-year-old Dundalk woman exposed a horrific yet perplexing motive. Police allege that Michael Hester stabbed Eleanor Marie Haley in her home even after she had given him thousands of dollars to pay off credit card debt and to mow his lawn.

Baltimore County Police say Hester also was getting or buying the elderly woman's prescription medicine and maybe she cut him off from the drugs or the money or both. But police say Hester engineered a wild scenario in which he put a lawn sprinkler in her bedroom and pretended to flood the home as a pretense to using his key and go inside.

There, he told detectives he found the woman's body and then called police. His story quickly fell apart and he was arrested, exposing a perplexing set of events. Here is the detailed police charging document and you can read this one for yourself:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore County, Confronting crime
        

More than two dozen Baltimore police officers received awards on Wednesday for saving lives and performing other heroic acts.

They included Officers Jerome Shaurette and Curtis McMillion (pictured from left to right in the photo by The Sun's Lloyd Fox), who were involved in a wild-west like shootout after responding to a routine domestic call. Both were wounded but managed to returned fire.

Two other officers, Kimberly Hanline and Monica Nashan, were awarded life saving medals for helping save 5-year-old Raven Wyatt, who was shot in the head last summer on South Pulaski Street. She survived, in part because of the work thiese two officers did in performing CPR and holding her near life-less body until paramedics arrived.

After the ceremony, Hanline told me how after work she rushed home to hug her son. "He just looked at me, but he knew that I had cried," she said.

A touching moment you don't often see from cops.

Here is a complete program with details of all the awards (my apologies for the picture): 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Top brass
        

Baltimore police since Wednesday have seized even more handguns on city streets. Meanwhile, authorities announced four more shooting this morning -- a double on East Jefferson Street in which a man was shot in the leg and a woman was hit in the shoulder, and another double shooting at McMechen Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Late word is that one of the victims from McMechen, a 34-year-old man, died at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Overnight, a man walked into Good Samaritan Hospital suffering from a gunshot wound to the lower back.

But also on Wednesday, police said they arrested Jonathan Oliver, 21, in the 4200 block of Rogers Ave. in Northwest Baltimore and charged him with illegally possessing a loaded handgun. Later, police said they raided a house int he 2500 block of Arunah Ave. and seized a handgun, a shotgun and drugs.

Wednesday night, police said they arrested David Reid, 21, and charged him with possessing a handgun at Pennsylvania and Lafayette avenues. Hours later, police arrested two suspects during a traffic stop on Harford Road and seized a loaded handgun.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

The ACLU and NAACP held a news conference today outlining the reforms that will take place within the Baltimore Police Department as a result of a settlement in a lawsuit over thousands of arrests made during former Mayor Martin O'Malley's tenure of "zero tolerance" policing. The city is paying out $870,000 and agreed to several reforms including re-training of officers, supervisory reviews, and an outside auditor who will pore over arrest data for the next three years.

O’Malley, now governor, maintained Wednesday that there was “never, ever a policy that asked police officers to go beyond the constitution or to engage in illegal arrests," according to The Sun's Annie Linskey.

Asked if the settlement was a rebuke of his policies as mayor, he said: “I don’t see this as any rebuke. I do see it as a settlement where the city solicitor’s office decided on a cost benefit analysis to settle these 14 cases rather than go to trial with them.”

Rocah said O’Malley’s comment ignored the policy changes agreed to in the settlement, in addition to the city’s general shift away from his strategies in recent years. “Those kinds of reforms are simply not part of nuisance settlements,” Rocah said.

Arrests reached 108,000 – one for every six people in the city – in 2005, but have dropped by more than 30,000 since former Mayor Sheila Dixon and Bealefeld focused on a “targeted enforcement” strategy to combat the city’s stubborn homicide rate. Arrests continue on a downward trend this year, falling 7 percent, and fewer people are being released without charges.

O’Malley said that he never wanted officers to engage in illegal arrests.

“In fact, there were many instances where you saw our administration at the time through the [police] commissioner’s office retrain and correct those incidences where there would have been or there was overzealousness,” O’Malley said.

He brushed off the lawsuit as par for the course:

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

A 25-year-old man shot last month in Cherry Hill has died from his injuries, and officers were investigating the discovery of a decomposing body in a vacant Pigtown rowhouse.

Larry Griffin, 25, was walking in the 2900 block of Spelman Road at about 3 p.m. on May 22 when two unknown men drove up in a newer-model Dodge Magnum with tinted windows, chrome rims and a North Carolina tag, police said.

The suspects chased Griffin and began shooting with a semiautomatic handgun, striking him in both legs and his abdomen. When police arrived at the scene, they saw Griffin lying on the ground with a crowd of people gathered around him.

He was listed in serious condition at Maryland Shock Trauma, where his condition deteriorated, police said. Griffin, of the 900 block of Coppin Ct., was pronounced dead on June 14. The case remains open.

Detectives were also investigating the discovery of a decomposing body Wednesday afternoon inside a vacant rowhouse in the 1200 block of W. Cross St. No additional information was immediately available.

There's been 92 homicides so far this year. Here's how many homicides the city had recorded at the same point in prior years:

2009:  107

2008:  102

2007:  151

2006:  130

Posted by Justin Fenton at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: South Baltimore
        

Michelle Hebron, 25, also known as "Michelle Hell", of Hagerstown and Annapolis was sentenced in federal court today to 30 years in prison for participating in a racketeering conspiracy through the Tree Top Piru Bloods. A piece of evidence in her trial was a poem prosecutors say she wrote after killing David Leonard Moore in 2007:

"I guess just shot a n---a in the head cause he wear blue but claim red

Plus I just wanted the satisfaction of seeing a n---a dead."

 Here's more from the U.S. Attorney's Office's press release:

"According to trial testimony and her plea agreement, from 2007 to February 2008, Hebron was a member of TTP and regularly met with other TTP gang members to discuss, among other things, past acts of violence and other crimes committed by gang members against rival gang members and others; to notify one another about gang members who were arrested or incarcerated; to discuss the disciplining of TTP gang members; to discuss police interactions with gang members; to share with one another the identities of individuals who may be cooperating with law enforcement and propose actions to be taken against those individuals; to plan and agree upon the commission of future crimes, including robberies, drug trafficking, and assaults, and the means to cover up these crimes; and to reinforce gang rules.

According to Hebron’s plea agreement, she was one of the leaders of the Tree Top Pirettes and corresponded on a regular basis with Steve Willock, the TTP leader in Maryland, regarding TTP business.  Hebron also admitted committing the murder of a person she believed to be a rival gang member.  Law enforcement recovered the gun used in the murder and a poem that Hebron had written about the murder during a search of her apartment on October 10, 2007.

This case is the result of a long-term joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Baltimore City Police Department, the Baltimore County Police Department, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office. Twenty-two defendants have been convicted of the RICO conspiracy and 16 of those have been sentenced to between 21 months and 30 years in prison.  Four other defendants have pleaded guilty to related charges.  Charges filed against two remaining defendants are pending."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Gangs
        

The Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office has announced six arrests in a series of mail box explosions in Harford County. Here is a statement:

A joint investigation involving investigators from the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Aberdeen Police Department has resulted in charges of; Manufacture, Possession and Use of Destructive Device and Malicious Destruction of Property being placed on two adults and four juveniles from Harford County.

A total of nine rural style mailboxes in the Aberdeen area have been damaged as a result
of the suspect’s actions. One mailbox was exploded three times and another was exploded twice.
Seven other mailboxes were also exploded during a criminal spree that occurred on three
separate nights this month.

Alex E. Brainard (18) of Aberdeen, Andrea L. Siedlarczyk (18) of Abingdon and four juveniles from Aberdeen are facing twelve counts of each previously listed charge. The two adults will be served with criminal summonses and the juveniles were charged and released into the custody of their parents.

Such devices are referred to as, “Improvised Explosive Devices.” The penalty for each
device is twenty-five years imprisonment and/or $250,000 in fines. Malicious Destruction of
Property has a penalty of sixty days imprisonment and/or $500 in fines. Twelve devices were
detonated in the nine mailboxes.

The construction of these devices in this and similar incidents have been misrepresented
as pranks, however, the destructive effect and potential of serious bodily injury is extremely
high.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Harford County
        

The Baltimore Police Department's zero-tolerance policing practice -- a policy of a past administrations -- is costing the city $870,000 in settlement costs with the NAACP and the ACLU and will result in yet another outside monitor to watch over the cops.

The settlement could be approved this morning by the Board of Estimates, the city's spending board, and will end four years of litigation from people who were arrested for minor crimes and spent hours if not days in jail facing charges prosecutors never planned to pursue.

Funny, because back in 2006, when the suit was filed, here was the city's response, from a former city solicitor:

City Solicitor Ralph S. Tyler said the plaintiffs "will not be able to prove their truly wild allegations. ... The illegal arrests claim rests largely on a false equation. The fact that the state's attorney declines to charge in many cases does not suggest that the arrest was illegal."

The policy of locking up everybody for everything resulted in some years with more than 100,000 arrests, a figure that has dropped significantly under Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, who touts targeted arrests that have led to historic drops in crime.

Today, the ACLU plans a news conference with some of the people arrested on the so-called quality of life crimes. As Justin Fenton points out today, they include a 19-year-old Morgan State University engineer student, a Parkville elementary school teacher, a doctoral candidate in neurobiology from Texas and two Pennsylvania residents visiting Baltimore for a bachelor party.

In 2005, so many people were arrested that judges were forced to release detainees from the detention center because it became impossible to process them with in the 24 hours required by law. Arrests hae dropped from 108,400 in 2005 to 77,600 in 2009.

Here are some of the stories from the people who filed suit, from a 2006 Baltimore Sun article by Julie Bykowicz:

Evan Howard, the Morgan State student, and his friend Tyrone Braxton, 19, were arrested April 15 of last year outside Howard's home on Poplar Grove Street in West Baltimore. The men were told they were being arrested for loitering. They were taken to Central Booking, strip-searched and held there, Braxton for 36 hours and Howard for 54, the lawsuit states.

Donald Wilson, 21, was arrested April 10 on the front steps of a the Barclay home of his girlfriend and toddler. A crowd gathered when an unmarked police car raced past chasing a dirt bike, the lawsuit states.

Officers turned their attention toward the crowd when they did not catch the cyclist. One officer "threatened" Wilson after Wilson "firmly" responded to a question, the lawsuit states.

Wilson was arrested and held at Central Booking for about five hours before being released without charges. A soon-to-be groom and six friends were celebrating his coming wedding near the Inner Harbor in May 2005. As they walked from the Power Plant Live entertainment area back to their hotel, a marked police car approached.

Officers told the group to keep walking.

"All of a sudden I see the cop hit my one buddy in the chest with a nightstick and he grabbed my other buddy and threw him up against the wall," said Robert Lowery, 27. He and the groom, Aaron Stoner, 27, of Chambersburg, Pa., were arrested and taken to Central Booking for "failure to obey" an order to stop loitering, the officers told them. They were strip-searched and held for about 17 hours. Neither was prosecuted.

Lowery, of Greencastle, Pa., said he had never had any trouble with the law and the experience soured his view of the city. "Before, I enjoyed coming down to the Inner Harbor and hanging out for the day and walking around," he said. "Now I don't want to come back down."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Breaking news, City Hall, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

A Baltimore man accused of ordering several murders as a leader in a high-profile gang was sentenced to two life terms in federal court Tuesday, The Sun's Brent Jones reports.

Terrence "Squeaky" Richardson, 30, was convicted by a jury in March of racketeering and conspiring to sell drugs, as a leader of the Pasadena Denver Lanes set of the Bloods. Prosecutors also allege that Richardson ordered several murders, including the execution-style shooting of Brandon Everline in July 2008, incidents U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles heavily relied on in handing down his sentence.

During his sentencing, Richardson denied having anyone killed, reiterating his stance in a three-minute diatribe addressed to the court. He railed against the prosecution, detectives and state's witnesses who testified against him during the five-day trial.

"I sat through this whole trial and watched people lie," Richardson said. "I know they've all been offered plea bargains, and in actuality, the whole thing was made up. … I apologize to my family. And to the [Everline] family, I want to let them know I didn't have nothing to do with their son's murder, nothing at all."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Gangs
        

Nearly 1,000 people had their open warrants cleared during the four-day Safe Surrender program, but it was not without glitches. A refresher: a small army of law enforcement officials took over a church and community center last week, recreating the criminal justice process within the hallways and small rooms of the buildings. The idea was to help clear a large amount of low-level, non-violent warrants that clog the system and could result in the fugitive's arrest on the streets. Many people took part in it and walked out pleased. But it wasn't a positive experience for all. The court wasn't set up to handle Baltimore County Circuit cases, only district court, and some people didn't read the fine print and tried to turn themselves in on warrants from other counties and were arrested.

Then there were experiences such as this, from mother Pam Butler:

"I took my 19 year old son to the safe surrender program because he had a warrant –which was my fault because I got the court dates mix up instead of june 10 I went with him on june 14th. All [went] well as we went to the surrender program. He was given a piece of paper and told to keep it on him at all times until the paper work shows  up in their system. We were happy and pleased. That same day the police stop him and his friends search them and found nothing  but my son showed that he had a warrant. He showed them the paper work and the wonderful Baltimore city police threw the paper to the side and arrest him. Now he is at central booking. I went the local district where the held him and was told they knew nothing about the program and laughed in my face and told me to let my child grow up. What a group of caring offices we have. I have lost of respect."

Sun reporter Jessica Anderson followed up with prosecutors to try to figure out what happened and got this response:

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

The final numbers for Operation Safe Surrender, in which Baltimore authorities encouraged people with outstanding arrest warrants to turn themselves in and in return get "favorable treatment" with their cases.

The effort, copied from other cities across the country, attracted hundreds people looking to clear up old cases. Prosecutors dropped many cases, citing age and dead or unavailable witnesses, and dealt with others. They set up in a church and held court in a community center across the street.

The Baltimore Sun's Jessica Anderson documented the final day on Saturday. Here is a statement from authorities on the program:

US MARSHALS FUGITIVE SAFE SURRENDER DEAMED A SUCCESS

The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Safe Surrender program closed its doors on Saturday, June 19, after four days of strong turnouts. This first implementation of the program in the Baltimore area proved a great success due to the cooperation of Federal, State, and local agencies and the great efforts of the community.

Fugitive Safe Surrender offered individuals with open warrants for their arrest a safe, secure, and faith based location to surrender themselves and receive favorable consideration with the courts.

During the four days of the event, 979 individuals surrendered themselves on outstanding arrest warrants, 989 misdemeanor warrants were cleared, 50 Felony warrants were cleared [and] 159 individuals who believed that they had open warrants for their arrest proved to have no warrants.

The daily breakdown was as follows: Wednesday; 175 Surrendered, 164 Misdemeanors, 15 Felonies, 27 No warrants, Thursday; 267 Surrendered, 266 Misdemeanors, 9 Felonies, 50 No warrants, Friday; 240 Surrendered, 244 Misdemeanors, 12 Felonies, 36 No warrants, and Saturday; 297 Surrendered, 315 Misdemeanors, 14 Felonies, 46 No warrants. 

The oldest voluntary surrender was an 85 year old man who was escorted to the site by his two daughters.  He had three misdemeanor warrants issued in the early 1970’s.  He reported a great amount of pride for finally having a clear record and conscience.  The daughters were elated that they could help their father.

There were a number of significant felony surrenders including warrants for Murder, Attempted Murder, and Child Pornography.

The overall atmosphere of the program was positive. Participating agencies worked together toward one goal, illustrating the ability of Federal, State, and Local agencies to work together effectively and efficiently. The community was pleasantly refreshed with the friendly interactions they had with the law enforcement and court staff on site. Many individuals surrendering themselves reported surprise that something that had been plaguing them for year could be resolved in one day, at one location, and in a friendly, receptive manner. 

One young woman reported monumental relief as she made her way through the process. She had a minor warrant hanging over her head for years and was set to graduate from a nursing program within the next couple of days. She had jobs on hold fearing to complete the application process due to the fact that she would not pass the background checks.

A young man in the process of military recruitment was elated after having his charge dropped. He left the program with his request for expungement to going directly to his recruiter to report the results. The US Marshals would like to thank all the involved agencies for their superb cooperation and hard work, and would like to especially thank the Baltimore community for its enthusiastic participation.  979 individuals can now move toward a second chance to be productive members of the community, and the streets of Baltimore are safer for both the citizens and law enforcement at large.

• Funding for FSS was provided by the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention through the Byrne/JAG Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; the US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance; the US Marshals Service; Maryland Transit Administration; and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

Responding to a violent weekend that left three dead and eight injured — one critically — Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III urged residents to keep the city's overall crime declines in mind and not to "dwell on the negative."

A sociologist who once worked as an officer in the Eastern District said Bealefeld is right to underscore the overall crime figures, though community leaders warned that satisfaction with the numbers could breed complacency.

Nine people were shot over a period of 24 hours Saturday, and the violence continued with a man killed Father's Day morning and another fatally shot in the back early Monday. Late Monday, another man was shot in the head just a block away from one of Saturday's fatal shootings. But Bealefeld said homicides remained down 14 percent from last year while nonfatal shootings, which plummeted in 2009, were also off last year's pace, albeit slightly.

Nearly halfway through the year, Bealefeld said, police have taken 1,000 illegal guns off the streets and gun crime is down by double digits. That comes amid budget-tightening and deep concern over officers' pensions.

"Based on all the curveballs thrown at this police department in the last year, I think these men and women are doing a damn good job to be down in homicides and nonfatal shootings," Bealefeld said at a news conference Monday. "People have to balance facts against perception."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: East Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, Top brass, West Baltimore
        

You've seen it countless times in crime briefs about shootings in the paper or on the news: "Police had no suspects, no motives."

The truth is, often times detectives do have suspicions about what may have prompted a shooting, whether its intelligence about the victim and their associates and family members, or word on the street, or evidence, such as a stolen wallet that would suggest a robbery. They withhold that info as they probe the incidents, trying to keep the information close to the vest for investigative purposes or simply because they're uncomfortable releasing it because it's not confirmed.

In response to the 12 shootings over the weekend, police released to the media a three-page document listing what they know about the shootings and the possible motives. Here's a few:

-Four of the victims were struck in a single shooting incident on Saturday night in the 1300 block of N. Montford Ave. A canvas of the crime scene turned up a pair of green dice, and the commissioner said he “wouldn’t be surprised if that was some sort kind of motive.” 

-A man was shot while riding a bicycle in the 400 block of N. Luzerne Ave. on Saturday afternoon, and police said he is a relative of a suspect in two of the fatal Memorial Day weekend shootings, raising retaliation as a possible motive.

-A man who was shot late Sunday in the 200 block of S. Fulton Ave. had been with a group of men who were shot at earlier in the evening. Police said they do not believe the man was targeted in the first incident but was in the second, in a dispute over a scratched vehicle.

-A man shot and wounded in the 2400 block of Stoddard Alley early Sunday morning is known to deal drugs and was robbed of his stash two weeks earlier, police said. They said he had retaliated by robbing the suspects prior to Sunday’s shooting.

-A Saturday afternoon shooting in which a 23-year-old man was shot by masked men while talking to a woman was believed to be linked to a dispute between neighborhood crews on McCabe and Beamount Avenues. The man was struck in the back and taken by friends to a local hospital. Eighteen shell casings were found at the scene.

-Police believe the motive in the shooting of Marquell Turner was a “dispute between acquaintances.” Turner was only 19, but had already racked up five adult criminal cases and a handgun conviction in January in which he received two years of supervised probation.

-Detectives also have obtained warrants in a shooting from early Thursday in which a man was shot by two men he “regularly” gives haircuts to. “The victim began arguing with one of the associates and a fight broke out. One of the suspects then shoots the victim,” read an account of the investigation provided by police.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

He hit 10 banks in 25 days, and two banks in six minutes.

And now he's going to prison for 12 1/2 years.

The Maryland U.S. Attorney's office announced today that 39-year-old Frederick McMillan stole $23,956 from banks he robbed starting July 2, 2009, and ending July 27, 2009. It's a prolific spree, to be sure.

But he really went all out on his last day. He tried to rob a Citibank at 6 St. Paul Street at 11:30 a.m. but ran out when a teller pulled the alarm. Six minutes later, he walked into First Mariner Bank at 300 N. Charles St., about three blocks away, and stole money.

Here is the statement by the federal prosecutor's office:

U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Frederick McMillan, age 39, of Baltimore, who was previously convicted in federal court of bank robbery, today 151 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for bank robbery.

The sentence was  announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy; and Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III.

According to McMillan’s plea agreement, from July 2 to 27, 2009, McMillan demanded money on 10 occasions from bank tellers at M&T Bank, Bank of America, Wachovia Bank, Suntrust Bank, Citibank and First Mariner Bank, all located in Baltimore. McMillan threatened to shoot one teller, and claimed in seven of his demand notes that he had a gun. McMillan stole a total of $23,956.  On July 27, 2009 at 11:30 a.m., McMillan entered Citibank, located at 6 Saint Paul Street, and fled without any money after the teller pulled an alarm and walked away.  At 11:36 a.m. that same day, McMillan entered First Mariner Bank, located at 300 North Charles St., where he stole money.

Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok, who prosecuted the case.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Downtown
        

A  man was fatally shot in East Baltimore early this morning, adding to a list of gunshot victims that turned city streets into a battle ground this weekend. That and another shooting early today brings the weekend total to 12 shot, three fatally.

The Baltimore Sun's Meredith Cohn wrote:

On one of Baltimore's most violent weekends so far this year, 10 people were shot in incidents across the city, with two confirmed dead. The police have no suspects in any of the shootings, which spanned early Saturday through Sunday morning, and can't say whether any are connected. But spokesman Detective Jeremy Silbert said the department is following leads and speaking to witnesses. "In these areas where the shootings occurred, we'll be increasing patrols," Silbert said.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, East Baltimore, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

Baltimore police are confirming a break-in at Jenna Bush Hager's rowhouse in South Baltimore.

And an intense search is now for the bikes owned by former President Bush's daughter and her husband that includes officers from the Southern District and detectives assigned to the Regional Auto Theft Task Force.

Police confirmed today that cops responded to the Charles Street rowhouse for a burglar alarm but didn't find anything amiss. The alarm company called the Hager's, who were out of town, and they asked a neighbor to check. That's when they found the bicycles missing from a rear garage. Police then noticed two small pry marks on a back garage door.

Police described one bicycle as a men's black and red Trek Fuel-style worth $2,500 and a female blue Trek worth $1,000. Baltimore Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said nothing else was taken and the burglars did not get into the rowhouse.

The couple had Secret Service protection when the initially moved to the neighborhood. But Guglielmi said the couple, who are now married, no longer have that protection.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Breaking news, Neighborhoods, South Baltimore
        

Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy may have a challenger in the fall election - and it's an intriguing one.

Word is that former assistant U.S. attorney Gregg Bernstein is testing the waters, and Adam Meister at Charm City Current blogged that a reader had received a phone call from a pollster asking questions about a possible Bernstein candidacy. Bernstein may be best known for successfully defending state Sen. Larry Young against bribery and extortion charges.

But he is also the husband of Sheryl Goldstein, the director of the Mayor's Office on Criminal Justice, which is essentially the mayor's crime czar. In that role, Goldstein works closely with the police department and other law enforcement agencies, and is an integral part of programs such as GunStat and issues dealing with juvenile justice. Obviously, she has a lot of insight into the innerworkings of the criminal justice system, and that would include the state's attorney's office.

Goldstein was brought in during the Dixon administration and is a close ally of Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, and may have to step down or take a leave of absence if her husband's candidacy comes together.

Goldstein declined comment, and Bernstein could not immediately be reached. Jessamy, for her part, said she believes Gov. Martin O'Malley "recruited" Bernstein and said she confronted O'Malley with the claim at an event over the weekend.

"I've heard from a lot of different sources that he's been recruiting. I told him, 'I'm ready for it,'" she said. "I think I have an outstanding record; I'm going to run on my record. I don't know what [Bernstein] is running on, but my record, it's a good one."

Jessamy was appointed in 1995 after then-State's Attorney Stuart O. Simms stepped down to head the state juvenile services agency, and she became the first woman to hold the position. A fiery leader, she's been a lightning rod for criticism over the years but hasn't faced much opposition come election season.

She ran unopposed in 1998, and in 2002 defeated two challengers in the primary - city councilwoman Lisa Stancil and lawyer Anton Keating - by capturing 45 percent of the vote. In 2006, current liquor board commissioner Stephan Fogleman mounted an unsuccessful challenge with the slogan of "fight crime, not cops," highlighting Jessamy's often-tense relationship with the police department. 

Prominent defense attorney Warren Brown considered running in 2002, and thinks Bernstein has a legitimate shot if he decides to enter the fray.

He said few public defenders or state's attorney's have the name recognition or pull to mount a credible challenge, and that many prominent private attorneys can't justify taking a pay cut to run for public office.

"Pat Jessamy is a lovely lady, but I don't think there's any enthusiasm out there for her. She's just never really faced a formidable opponent," Brown said. "If [Bernstein] is talking about getting in the race, I can tell you [Jessamy] is going to have some problems."

Jessamy said she's active in the community and believes her office has been on the forefront of addressing issues that later become national criminal justice concerns. "Anyone who knows me knows that I get up every morning excited about what I do," Jessamy said. "I probably have more initiative, innovation and energy than any elected official in the state."

According to campaign finance records, Jessamy had $28,000 cash on hand as of January. Brown said Bernstein could easily match or exceed that in the coming months if he puts together a "well-oiled machine." Bernstein has until July 6 to file for the primary election. If he decides to run as an independent he would have to file a declaration of intent by July 6 and submit the rest of his paperwork by Aug. 2.

[Speaking of the campaign finance database, records show Bernstein contributed $250 to Jessamy's campaign in 2006. He's contributed the most money to Rep. John Sarbanes, with contributions of $500 in '06 and $1,000 in February of this year]

Brown said his concerns about the state's attorney's office remain today. "Morale is low, and their priorities are way off," he said. "You have prosecutors tying up courts for a bag of weed or a roach, where violent crimes keeping getting postponed to the point where when the time comes for trial, there's no witnesses, the case is old. They're missing the mark." 

"She's had long enough to make an impact, but she really has not," he said.

Jessamy said she's "here to do my job."

"If everybody else did their job as well as I do mine, I think we'd have a better city," Jessamy said. "I'm hardworking, honest and fair."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, State's Attorney Campaign
        

Another Marylander has been arrested for recording police under the state's wiretapping laws, this time a woman in St. Mary's County who recorded police who were responding to a noise complaint, according to the Southern Maryland News.

Sheriff's Cpl. Patrick Handy wrote in a statement of probable cause that he was talking to people in the neighborhood when he and another deputy spotted Shaw standing about 12 feet away and holding her cell phone "in a manner suggesting she was recording our activity."

Handy seized the cell phone, reviewed its camcorder content and "could hear my voice and the voices of the other subjects I was talking to," the officer wrote in the charging papers, and he questioned Shaw.

"She did admit to recording our encounter on her cell phone," the corporal wrote, "for the purpose of trying to show the police are harassing people."

Shaw said Tuesday that she recorded the incident to show the conduct of the law officers.

"I honestly did not know that I was not able to do that," Shaw said. "He just snatched my phone from me and locked me up."

St. Mary's Sheriff Timothy K. Cameron (R) said Monday that the case will be presented to county prosecutors.

Peter Hermann has written extensively on this topic, which has been embraced by the Maryland ACLU, which is representing a Harford County man charged by Maryand State Police with recording a traffic stop and posting it on YouTube (see video here). Later, during the Preakness, a Baltimore police officer was captured on video warning a bystander to turn off his camera while recording the arrest of a disorderly woman. That man was not arrest, nor was his equipment seized.

Maryland law does make it illegal to record a voice conversation without that person's consent. But it also makes exceptions for conversations conducted in public, where speakers have no expectation of privacy. A person may not "willfully intercept" what the law calls "oral communications." It defines "oral communications" as "any conversation or words spoken to or by any person in private conversation."

Then we can argue what is private. The ACLU argues that virtually any coversation between a cop and a person, such as during a traffic stop, is public because the cop is performing a public duty. The St. Mary's case appears even more clearcut -- it's problematic when law enforcement tells people not to record in public places.

As ACLU attorney David Rocah told The Baltimore Sun after the Preakness incident: "That cop at the Preakness couldn't possibly have thought his arrest was a private act. It simply wasn't. There is nothing the slightest bit illegal about a citizen taping it. What's improper is the cop telling people they can't do it." He said such demands "have the intimidating effect of wrongly telling citizens they don't have the right to record what police officers do."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)
        

A consultant has been hired and started work on evaluating the Baltimore Police Department's internal disciplinary procedures, a requirement as part of a multi-million dollar settlement in a class action lawsuit that alleged institutional race discrimination.

James Outtz, who specializes in race discrimination and personnel practices, was hired a few months ago and is in the process of digging into police disciplinary data, said Peter D. Isakoff, the attorney for the plaintiffs. He's getting a late start - according to the settlement, which was finalized in June 2009, the consultant was supposed to have submitted his first written report to the police commissioner by Dec. 31, 2009, and was supposed to receive his first set of exhaustive disciplinary records on July 1. He'll receive updates every six months for the next three years.

Will his reports be made public? Outtz, who is pictured at right and has consulted or testified in cases involving Abercrombie and Fitch, Boeing, Johnson and Johnson and Ford, declined an interview. Isakoff was unsure, referring me to the settlement agreement, which only specifies that the data itself is protected by a confidentiality agreement and doesn't state whether his reports to the commissioner or mayor may be available. If history is a guide, the city will surely seek to withhold the reports unless the plaintiffs insist on their release. The agreement makes no such distinction.  

"In our view, we accomplished what we wanted with the settlement, and we're continuing to monitor the progress of Mr. Outtz," Isakoff said in an interview.

[UPDATE, 1:36 p.m.: Don't expect to see those reports. Says police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi: "Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement itself and the Agreement between the BPD and the consultant (Dr. James L. Outts), all reports generated by the consultant, as well as any BPD responses thereto, are deemed confidential .  Additionally, all materials and reports prepared by the BPD and shared with the consultant for the purpose of carrying out the terms of the Settlement Agreement are deemed confidential.  There is no provision for public reporting contained in the Settlement Agreement or Agreement between the BPD and Dr. Outtz."]

The plaintiffs, who unsuccessfully sought class action status for the lawsuit, had accused the department of condoning a hostile workplace, blocking black officers from promotion, levying uneven discipline and retaliating against officers who spoke out against discrimination. The settlement cost taxpayers about $4.5 million, including a $2.5 million payout to the 15 plaintiffs. The lead plaintiff was Sgt. Lou Hopson, who was fired in 1996 after being charged with perjury but was reinstated after a city judge reversed his termination.

Information sent to Outtz will be broken down by demographics and will include the substance of complaints against officers, the source of the complaint, and the findings of the internal investigations division and trial boards. He's entitled to meet with police officials to discuss the information, and will submit reports to Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III detailing area of progress or concern, along with recommendations. Bealefeld is required to respond within 60 days, and if Outtz isn't satisfied with the response, he can send his reports to the mayor.

[Photo from the Washington Post]

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Top brass
        

Among those indicted today in the Gilmor Homes drug conspiracy was Romesh Mustafa Vance, 20, who along with his brother was one of four high-risk students whose journey to attend the Baraka School in Kenya on scholarship was captured in the acclaimed documentary, “The Boys of Baraka.”

When the filmmakers caught up with the boys in 2006, they learned that Vance (seen at right, with his brother Richard Keyser) was cutting school, living with friends, and spending too much time on the streets. He “faces the Herculean task of rejecting the offerings of the street and making a productive life for himself,” they said in an update on the PBS web site.

Vance was already being held on first-degree murder charges after being picked up on a warrant on June 13 in connection with a kidnapping and murder from April 2009; the federal indictments adds heroin and crack cocaine conspiracy charges to his pending legal woes.

Vance’s murder charges are connected to the April 20, 2009 kidnapping and murder of Quonta Waddell, 24, who was hogtied and carried away screaming in front of his mother, according to court records. His kidnappers took $40,000 and attempted to extort more money before he was shot multiple times, records show.

Police initially charged 32-year-old Sherman Anderson in the crime, but prosecutors dropped those charges after a DNA hit on a piece of evidence linked another man to the crime. Since then, at least five men have been charged in the crime.'

[Thanks to Tim Johnson for the tip]

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: West Baltimore
        

Baltimore police have arrested two 10-year-old boys in connection with an attack on a puppy at a city golf course. Another youth has been detained in a separate animal cruelity case.

The Sun's Brent Jones and Jill Rosen (see her pet blog Unleashed) detail the case and give this account:

Police say a witness at the Carroll Park Municipal Golf Course watched the kids beat the puppy with belts and sticks on May 16. The names of the boys were not released. The incident happened about six weeks after police say a 13-year-old boy tied up a pit bull and pelted it with rocks in the 3700 block of Greenspring Ave., in Northwest Baltimore. The teenager was arrested on Tuesday and charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a felony. Police say the boy confessed to the beating, and he was transferred to the juvenile detention center.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, South Baltimore
        

The DEA and US Attorney's Office for Maryland just sent out this press release about a federal grand jury indicting 22 people in connection with a drug conspiracy at Gilmor Homes, a persistently troubled housing project in West Baltimore. There's not much in way of details, but officials say 12 of the defendants were arrested today and three were already in custody.

Their nicknames include "Dummy," "Sunny," "Pudge," "Fat Boy," "Big Man," "Big Boy," "Gotti," "Wimp," and "Slinky." There's also an apparent father/son duo, Dione Fauntleroy, 26, and Dione Fauntleroy, 46.

The younger Fauntleroy appears to have been charged in 2004 with the shooting an MTA officer but went free after the officer recanted part of his account of the shooting and said Fauntleroy was not involved, prompting prosecutors to drop the charge. He had been charged with being a lookout. The elder Fauntleroy has multiple drug convictions in his past, including a 10-year sentence from 1996. He's been charged multiple times since then.

The press release about the indictment is posted below:

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: West Baltimore
        

The city Fraternal Order of Police union is a step closer to covering the legal costs for Officer Gahiji A. Tshamba, charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Tyrone Brown. The FOP's Judicial Review Committee voted unanimously to recommend to the full board of directors that the union support Tshamba with legal coverage, president Robert F. Cherry told me in a text.

This is notable as there were rumblings that the union was leaning toward not helping him in that area. But it's common for the union to help officers in legal troubles with representation and fees (the union also recently voted to cover costs for three officers charged with abducting a teen and leaving him in Howard County with no shoes or cell phone). Many officers choose to go with the union's preferred counsel. Tshamba has two attorneys, Adam Sean Cohen (who referred to himself as "The Prodigy" on his firm's Facebook page) and James Rhodes, as of the last we heard.

Tshamba remains held without bond after turning himself in early Sunday. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 13, though he will likely be indicted by a grand jury before then. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Gahiji Tshamba, Police shootings
        

James E. Ball Sr. tried to protect a friend and got shot while standing guard at a downtown Bank of America in February. I remember talking with his friends and family who told of how the man struggled to escape Baltimore's troubled streets and make a better life.

It was a touching story of a man who had done all the right things to beat the odds. So it's refreshing to see that the Wellwood International School created an award in Ball's memory. In this picture by The Sun's Barbara Haddock, Sahrata Camara, left, a fifth-grader, shows off after winning the James Ball Citizenship Award at the school's 5th-grade farewell ceremony. Here, she holds her award plaque and flowers while sitting with Ball's son, James Jr., who is a kindergartner at the school.

Here is a little bit about Ball from an earlier post (police have made an arrest in the case):

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.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Downtown
        

Baltimore police have taken a bunch of guns off city streets this week, bringing the yearly total to 979 illegal weapons and more than 400 arrests.

Here is a look at some of the seizures made since Sunday:

A man at Water and Gay streets, near City Hall and Police Headquarters, was arrested with a loaded handgun on Sunday. That same day, police said they executed a search warrant in the 600 block of Wildwood Parkway in Southwest Baltimore and found a shotgun.

On Tuesday, police arrested a man in the 500 block of N. Ellwood Ave. and charged with illegally possessing a loaded .40 caliber handgun. On Tuesday, cops arrested another man with a loaded handgun, this time in the 3200 block of Tivoly Ave. in Northeast. (less than an hour later, a man was fataly shot several times at North Fulton Avenue and West Lanvale Street in West Baltimore.

Also on Tuesday, police arrested two more people and seized a loaded handgun and drugs at one location and then, at another in the 600 block of East 41st St., they arrested a 37-year-old man carrying a lodaded handgun.

On Wednesday, police arrested a 21-year-old man in the 200 block of N. Monroe St. on a burglary charge. Police said he also was carrying a loaded handgun.

And earlier today, a 17-year-old was reported shot during a fistfight in Northwest Baltimore.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, Top brass, West Baltimore
        

Marines in dress uniform came out on Wednesday to pay tribute to their fallen comrade, Tyrone Brown, who was shot a dozen times any off-duty Baltimore police officer on June 5. The officer, Gahiji A. Tshamba, has been charged with first-degree murder.

The photos here are by The Sun's Lloyd Fox. At left, mourners gaze into the casket. Below, Curtis Warren, a friend of Tyrone's, plays a musical selection.

The funeral services at Morgan State University was filled with sorrowful remembrances. Baltimore Sun reporter Jean Marbella (her full story here), wrote this:

Among those who spoke at his funeral, held in an auditorium at the Murphy Fine Arts Center on the Morgan State University campus, were friends from Mr. Brown's rough East Baltimore neighborhood and his Marine unit — with both groups noting wearily how often they found themselves at funerals for someone whose life was cut too short. "We came through a neighborhood, [if] you get to 32, 34 [years old], you don't die like this," said Taavon Stewart, a friend. "We graduated from this."

Jean ended her moving piece this way:

Soon, it would be time for his fellow Marines, some dressed in the same uniform that Mr. Brown was buried in, to assemble for a final march. His former boss, Gunnery Sgt. Ken Johnson, told the crowd that he'd made sure Brown's ribbons and buttons were straight and that his brass shone because he would't let him check into heaven looking bad — although, being a Marine, he used a more colorful term.

"Marines never die, we merely go to heaven and regroup," Sergeant Johnson said to appreciative chuckles. "I do believe God prepares a special place for Marines."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Gahiji Tshamba, Police shootings
        

About 70 people queued up outside the New Metropolitan Baptist Church in the rain Wednesday morning, ready to clear their outstanding arrest warrants and move on with their lives. The Safe Surrender program runs through Saturday, with officials hoping to clear some of the 40,000 warrants in the city and county.

The first few people through that I talked with her delighted to have the issue behind them. Two women who had never met high-fived as they rode an elevator together to go get their cases expunged. Octavia Talbert, 54, was first in line and got there three hours early to get her driving with a suspended license warrant cleared. Prosecutors have said they will give "favorable consideration" to those who take advantage of the program, which is aimed at non-violent crimes but will accept those with violent warrants. Violent fugitives just shouldn't expect such an expeditious and favorable process.

The program seems like an incredible feat, logistically, with so much court staff displaced and operating out of makeshift offices.

My only gripe: the exterior was crawling with cops, and after the initial line died down, there was no "friendly" staff outside to greet fugitives. Any notion that the church would feel like a safe haven and comforting atmosphere seemed neutralized by the roadblocks and enormous police presence, which is not captured in the photo above.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Courts and the justice system
        

The Baltimore police homicide detective who led the investigation into the fatal shooting by an off-duty police officer of an unarmed man in Mount Vernon has his own strggles to deal with. His teen-aged son is battling cancer.

I first met Shawn M. Reichenberg Sr. back in 1997 (left) when he was out locking up armed robbery suspects and gunmen in Federal Hill after a rash of holdups in the upscale neighborhood. Little did I know I'd meet him again so many years later, at the heart of one of Baltimore's most controversial shootings.

I couldn't talk to him this week -- the department didn't want him to be interviewed in the midst of such a big case. The plight of his son has been well documented in local media in Anne Arundel County and on WJZ-TV.

Meanwhile, today is the funeral for the victim in the shooting. Tyrone Brown is to be remembered at a service at Morgan State University. We'll have much more on this story here and in the news section later today.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Police shootings
        

The Sun's Nick Madigan reports on a guilty plea in a cancer scam that duped a professional skateboarder, who paid for her family to take a trip to Disneyland as part of her "bucket list": 

In the beginning, she fooled everyone.

When Dina Perouty-Leone began telling friends and acquaintances that she had terminal stomach cancer and that she needed help paying for treatment because she had no health insurance, there was little reason to doubt her word.

"She was very kind, sweet and pleasant," Jennifer Lasek, a former classmate in Dundalk who donated thousands of dollars, recalled on Tuesday. "She kept saying, 'I love you. No one helps me like that.' "

But Lasek and others in Perouty-Leone's circle were deceived, according to Baltimore County prosecutors, who charged the former real estate agent with four theft counts. She never had cancer, Assistant State's Attorney Adam Lippe said, and had created an "elaborate scheme to obtain money from her friends to fund her lifestyle and not because of an illness."

On Tuesday, Perouty-Leone, 37, pleaded guilty to a single count of felony theft. A 1990 graduate of Dundalk High School and the mother of two teenagers, she faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. Baltimore County Circuit Judge John G. Turnbull II ordered her jailed until she is sentenced Aug. 31.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

The alleged leader of a Southeast Baltimore Bloods gang was indicted by a federal grand jury on drugs and weapons charges, federal prosecutors announced.

Kevin Chambers, also known as “BK” and “Kaos,” is alleged to have led a gang called the Rollin’ 20’s Bloods that sold large quantities of crack cocaine and heroin along Fayette Street, around one of the city’s most persistently troubled areas, and in Patterson Park.

The indictment comes about two weeks after two men were shot within an hour in the nearby McElderry Park neighborhood, and two sources told The Sun at the time that the shooting was believed to stem from a dispute between the Rollin’ 20’s Bloods and a group called the Lueders Park Pirus.

"We are pulling out all the stops to accelerate federal violent crime and gang cases in an effort to head off additional shootings this summer and continue to build on the positive momentum of recent years," said U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein in an e-mail.

Court papers allege that Rollin’ 20’s members possessed and distributed firearms and committed acts of violence, including armed robberies and assaults, though it does not detail those incidents.

Chambers, 29, of the 1100 block of N. Milton Ave. faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for drug conspiracy charges and a maximum of 20 years for gun conspiracy charges.

He was indicted May 25 in Baltimore Circuit Court on several drug-related charges. He was convicted on handgun charges in 2007, receiving a suspended sentence and three years probation, and has prior drug convictions.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Gangs, Southeast Baltimore
        

Howard County police just announced the arrest of a man in a 2004 rape. Here is their statement:

A Connecticut man is in custody for a 2004 rape in Howard County, thanks to a recent hit from a national DNA database.

Gary Sental Taylor, 30, of 303 Washington Village in Norwalk, Conn., was arrested May 10 in Connecticut and faces charges of first- and second-degree rape. He was extradited to Maryland on June 9 and is being held at Howard County Detention Center on no bond.

The case dates back to Aug. 6, 2004, when a woman was raped at knifepoint in a laundry room at Grande Point Apartments in the 5700 block of Stevens Forest Road by a stranger.

“This was a rare case of stranger rape in Howard County,” said Police Chief William McMahon.  “We are glad that with the help of the Maryland State Police, we’ve been able to take this suspect into custody.”

For more:

During the initial investigation, police collected DNA evidence from the victim’s clothing and submitted it to the Maryland State Police crime lab to develop a DNA profile. The profile was compared to known offenders, but there was no DNA match at the time. With a limited suspect description and few leads, the case went cold.

Nearly six years later, on April 30, the Maryland State Police crime lab notified Howard County police that a DNA match had been identified in the case.

“This case closure is clearly the result of great collaborative work by county and state law enforcement,” said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.  “I’m pleased to see our officers working together to bring justice for this victim.”

The suspect’s DNA was collected by the Connecticut Department of Public Safety for a 2007 child endangerment felony conviction, for which he was sentenced to 18 months in jail. The sample was collected in 2008 at the time of his release and was recently entered into a national database.  Maryland State Police check unidentified DNA profiles against a national database weekly, and the match was detected.

Howard County detectives contacted the Norwalk (Conn.) Police Department and advised them that Taylor was wanted and residing in their jurisdiction.  Norwalk officers apprehended him at his place of business, a fitness center.  Taylor resisted arrest and was charged locally before being extradited to Maryland.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Breaking news, Courts and the justice system
        

A 22-year-old woman was injured early Saturday after a vehicle fleeing police drove onto the sidewalk after the second night of the Greek folk festival, police said.

Police were called to the 4800 block of Eastern Ave. about 2 a.m. after a woman said a man who made a lewd comment at her pulled out a handgun and pointed it at her and her boyfriend, according to an incident report. As witnesses notified security for the Greek Folk Festival, the man and three others fled in a 1999 BMW.

With the 500 block of S. Ponca St. closed to traffic because of the festival, the car veered onto the sidewalk and up a ramp in front of St. Nicholas Church.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Southeast Baltimore
        

The head of Baltimore's NAACP sent out a missive demanding answers to questions revolving around the off-duty police shooting of an unarmed man in Mount Vernon. Marvin "Doc" Cheatham complained that a letter sent to Baltimore's police commissioner, the mayor and others went unanswered.

City police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told me this morning that he got in contact with Cheatham to let him known Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III is on vacation and would respond when he returns. Meanwhile, Guglielmi said he's trying to answer as many questions as he can but most revolve around policy issues that would have to be reviewed.

The NAACP head wants to know whether the officer charged, Gahiji A. Tshamba, gets more protection in shootings like these than afforded other suspects. The officer was not arrested immediately after the shooting, refused to make statements or submit to a breath test to see if he had been drinking and was given the chance to turn himself in when a warrant charging him with first-degree murder was issued. The officer surrendered after a 30-hour manhunt.

Here are Cheatham's concerns:

We have not received a response to our request from Police Commissioner Bealefeld to have an Emergency Commission, including community leaders, to discuss and review the Rules and Regulations governing the Baltimore City Police. In the absence of such we are asking you, the Mayor, President of the Council and the Head of the Community Relations Commission to have an immediate discussion on this matter. We believe we need to scrutinize the language dealing with off-duty officers and weapons and other related matters. The community’s voice and opinion must be heard.  Blood, drug and alcohol test must be discussed, as well.

We would also like to have an immediate discussion, as well, with the City of Baltimore and with our State Legislative representatives regarding Officers ‘Bill of Rights’ as well.  In this recent police shooting it appears as though officers may have more rights than those of us private citizens.  A discussion needs to be had and now. Doing nothing at this point is not the solution.

Usage of the Grand Jury is needed in this discussion as well the city’s arrest policies.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Gahiji Tshamba, Police shootings, Top brass
        

One of the suspects arrested in the fatal shooting of Maryland State Police Trooper Wesley Brown is a parolee with a long criminal record. The Washington Post details the case and notes that the main suspect had once been the state's list of most closely watched offenders.

Cyril Cornelius Williams, 27, is charged as the person who pulled the trigger after getting angry the off-duty trooper had tossed him an Applebee's restaurant in Prince George's County because he had not paid his bill.

Because of his record, The Post reports that Williams had been on the state parole and probation department's Violence Prevention Initiative, in which the most violent offenders are closely watched while free from prison on parole or probation. The idea is that any misstep -- such as missing a meeting or a drug test -- can land the person back in prison.

But the newspaper says Williams was taken off that strict supervision list in December because he had adhered to the rules and kept a job. So when he missed a meeting with his parole agent in March, it was no longer a violationt that would trigger a warrant, the Post wrote.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere, Police shootings
        

A U.S. Census worker was killed while dropping off a co-worker in Southwest Baltimore last week, according to police and the census bureau.

Spencer Williams, 22, was found shot June 7 inside his vehicle, which had pulled onto a median in the 1100 block of New Hope Circle, police said. He died Friday morning at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Williams was a crew leader responsible for a group of census takers who are doing follow-up visits to homes of people who did not mail in their questionnaire by April, a Census bureau spokeswoman confirmed. Malkia McLeod confirmed a Washington Post report that Williams was returning home after driving a co-worker home at the end of the day, and was considered to still be on the job.

Police and census officials said the shooting is not believed to be related to any census field work but is considered an on-the-job death. Officials were exploring whether it the shooting was domestic related.

Since the census began making follow-up house calls in late April, workers have been harmed or threatened 252 times, McLeod said. That includes 11 times when shots were fired at them, and 86 times when they were threatened with weapons such as guns, axes and crossbows.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Southeast Baltimore
        

From the AP:

Prince George's County police have charged two men in the slaying of an off-duty Maryland state trooper.

Authorities said Monday Cyril Williams and Anthony A. Milton are charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 24-year-old Trooper Wesley Brown.

Brown was shot early Friday while working as a security guard at an Applebee's restaurant. Brown, who wore a jacket that identified him as an officer, was talking on a phone in the parking lot at the time, state police said.

Officials did not identify which man pulled the trigger, but said a semiautomatic handgun was used in the shooting. They say Williams was the person of interest who Brown had escorted out of the restaurant just a half-hour before the shooting.

Both men have criminal records.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Crime elsewhere
        

The Baltimore police officer charged with first-degree murder in the off-duty shooting an unarmed man outside a Mount Vernon club was ordered held without bond Monday morning as his attorney began hitting back at the accusations, saying the officer "did what he had to do."

Addressing the incident for the first time, a defense attorney for Officer Gahiji A. Tshamba, 36, described his client as a decorated veteran who has been devastated by the allegations. He said the June 5 killing of Tyrone Brown came after the officer put himself on duty to respond to a sexual assault.

Brown, a 32-year-old former Marine from East Baltimore, was shot 12 times after Tshamba fired 13 rounds from his service weapon, according to charging documents. Police have previously said Brown was struck nine times.

"A police officer in fear for his life has to do what he has to do," attorney Adam Sean Cohen told reporters outside Central Booking. "If one shot doesn't work, if two shots don't work … you fire until the threat is gone."

Prosecutor David Chiu called Tshamba an "extreme risk to public safety."

"The last time I checked, I don't believe its police policy to shoot an unarmed suspect, particularly surrounded by patrons leaving a bar area," Chiu said.

For more, click the link. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Breaking news, Gahiji Tshamba, Police shootings
        

Baltimore police issued this statement on a gun arrest Saturday:

On 12 Jun 10 at 0126 hrs., Ofc. King responded to Water and Gay Streets after being notified by Citiwatch camera operators of a fight in progress at the location. Upon his arrival, Ofc. King observed several males fleeing the area on foot. He pursued one of the subjects when he observed the male throw a handgun to the ground. After a brief foot chase the male was apprehended and the firearm recovered.

Suspect: Clifford Carroll Butler Jr.
                m/b 6-3-91
                7103 Manilla Ave.

Weapon: Colt .25 cal handgun loaded with 5 rounds
                no visible serial number

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Police charging documents have now been released in the murder case against Baltimore Police Officer Gahiji A. Tshamba (left), who is charged in the shooting death of an unarmed former Marine in Mount Vernon nine days ago.

The information in the document is sparse. Top police commanders have already said that the victim, Tyrone Brown, had his hands in the air when he was shot by the officer who was angry that the man patted the rear-end of a female companion. Police have also said there is no evidence that the off-duty officer feared for his life when he opened fire.

This is is one of the few cases when police leaked more details about their case than they put the official document that charges the officer with first-degree murder. The union president, Robert Cherry, has denounced the leaks from police and the Baltimore Sun's articles that he said has already convicted the officer.

There is one important detail change that shows up in the charging document: It says Brown was struck 12 times. We had known from the start that the officer emptied his clip of 13 bullets (it holds 14, but he had loaded it with one shy of full clip). At the very beginnging, police said Brown was hit six times. After a preliminary autopsy, they said he had been hit nine times. Now police say he was shot a dozen times.

Meanwhile, Tshamba is due in court for a bail hearing this morning. We may hear more from his attorney. Here is the police charging document:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Breaking news, Courts and the justice system, Gahiji Tshamba, Police shootings, Top brass
        

Baltimore police officer Gahiji A. Tshamba (left) is due in court this morning for his first bail hearing.

His attorney are to argue that the officer charged with killing an unarmed former Marine in Mount Vernon should be freed before trial. That might be an easier argument to make had the 15-year veteran turned himself in on Friday instead of leading his colleagues into a weekend manhunt. He surrendered Sunday about 1:30 in the morning.

Meanwhile, the funeral for the victim, Tyrone Brown is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Morgan State University auditorium. This case now moves to a new arena and new phase (check here for complete coverage of the case) Hopefully, at some point, we'll here his side of why he shot Brown nine times in the chest nine days ago outside the club after Brown touched the officer's female companion on the rear end.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Courts and the justice system, Gahiji Tshamba, Police shootings
        

The reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction in the killing of off-duty state trooper Wesley W. Brown is up to $75,000, the AP is reporting. And this morning, police said they had located a "person of interest" who is being questioned. Here's a link to an update from the Washington Post.

Authorities say Brown was killed early Friday at an Applebee's restaurant. County police spokeswoman Cpl. Erica Johnson said Saturday that officials continued to gather surveillance video in the area and follow any leads.

Police were offering $50,000 from the State of Maryland, Metro Crime Stoppers and Prince George's County for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the killing of Trooper 1st Class Wesley W. Brown, and Applebee's Services Inc. has offered an additional $25,000 toward the reward, Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Saturday.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Crime elsewhere
        

The police officer being sought on a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of an unarmed man outside a Mount Vernon bar turned himself in early Sunday. Here is a story posted just a few hours before the officer surrendered just after the Baltimore Sun's final deadline

Police have released many details, but here is brief statement:

Suspended Police Officer Gahiji Tshamba, a suspect wanted for Murder, has turned himself in to authorities at the Central Booking Intake Facility in Baltimore around 1:30am on Sunday morning.

Tshamba's surrender comes hours after Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III ordered an intensified manhunt after Tshamba went missing Friday afternoon. Police attempted to negotiate a peaceful surrender with Tshamba on Friday and when contact was lost with the officer, an apprehension task force was mobilized.

Tshamba surrendered with his attorney and will face 1st degree Murder charges as well as charges of using a firearm in commission of a crime of violence in connection with last Saturday's shooting death of Tyrone Brown.

Bealefeld commended the BPD Homicide Section and Warrant Apprehension Task Force for their diligence and swift action in investigating this case and organizing a complex manhunt to bring Tshamba to justice.

"The Baltimore Police Department is committed to holding itself
accountable to the citizens Baltimore," said Bealefeld. "The men and women of the agency protect and serve our City with the highest integrity. The allegations against Gahiji Tshamba in this incident are an aberration and affront to us all." 

The Commissioner also acknowledged the hard work of Homicide Commander Terrence McLarney and lead Detective Shawn Reichenberg who literally worked around the clock since the onset of this investigation. McLarney and Reichenberg worked closely with city prosecutors to secure Friday's arrest warrant.

The BPD will continue to work with Baltimore States Attorney's Office to support this investigation.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Breaking news, Courts and the justice system, Gahiji Tshamba, Police shootings, Top brass
        

No details at this late/early hour, but Officer Gahiji A. Tshamba has turned himself in to Central Booking, according to messages sent over Twitter by the Baltimore Police Department and the Fraternal Order of Police.  Earlier in the evening, police mobilized extra detectives to fan out and search the community for Tshamba, who they hoped would have turned himself in Friday evening after police obtained a warrant charging him with first-degree murder. But for more than 24 hours, no one was able to make contact with him, and police declared him their "no. 1 suspect for the weekend." Tshamba's attorney said he believed his client would turn himself in shortly and said he thought the delay was likely something more innocuous, such as Tshamba avoiding news reports about the shooting and not knowing he was being sought. Still, he had been reachable all week and suddenly no one could contact him via cell phone.

Turning himself in brings a peaceful end to the incident.  He will likely be ordered held without bond by a District Court commissioner and have a bail review hearing first thing Monday. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Gahiji Tshamba
        

Baltimore police tonight released a poster and photos of Officer Tshamba A. Gahiji, who is wanted in a warrant charged with first-degree murder. The 36-year-old officer is the subject of an intense manhunt tonight in connection with last Saturday's fatal shooting of an unarmed former Marine outside a Mount Vernon nightclub.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Gahiji Tshamba, Police shootings, Top brass
        

It was quite a Friday for police across Maryland, particulary for Baltimore police. It seemed everything happened at once -- with a cop acquitted of manslaughter, another found guilty of civil rights violations, yet another the subject of a manhunt on a first-degree murder charge.

In one courtroom, a Baltimore police officer was acquitted of manslaughter charges in the shooting death of an unarmed man. I'd love to talk to jurors in this case. The officer had tried to move the trial out of the city, arguing that widespread mistrust of police in the city would prevent him from a fair trial. He lost that bid and chose a judge to hear his case, but when a different judge got assigned, one who has been openly critical of the police commissioner, Tommy Sanders opted for a jury instead. Circuit court jurors found him not guilty in less than two hours. What I want to know is whether jurors trusted a cop charged as a criminal more than the cops who tried to put him away?

In another courtroom, this one federal, jurors convicted a city cop of obstruction and civil rights violations in the beating of a handcuffed teenager. Two of his colleagues, who had left the force, pleaded guilty and testified against Gregory M. Mussmacher. that case was brought by the U.S. Justice Department.

Meanwhile, after much public bickering and leaks concerning evidence, police issued an arrest warrant for Gahiji Tshamba, who shot and killed an unarmed former Marine in Mount Vernon a week ago today. City cops are now engaged in a manhunt for one of their own on a first-degree murder charge.

The day started with sad news out Prince George's County, where a Maryland State Police Trooper, 24-year-old Wesley Brown, working an overtime security shift at a restaurant was shot and killed, possibly by a disorderly man he had ejected for not paying his bill.

Meanwhile, Baltimore County police are stymied in trying figure out an apparent cult and police in Anne Arundel County made another arrest in a human trafficking case linked to prostitution, the second in just a matter of days. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Breaking news, City Hall, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere, Top brass
        

The charges come seven days after police say a night of clubbing ended with Tshamba's shooting former Marine Tyrone Brown nine times at close range. On Friday afternoon, State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy met with senior prosecutors and authorized a warrant for his arrest.

Authorities attempted to negotiate a surrender with Tshamba's attorney, Adam Sean Cohen, but were not initially successful Friday evening. Police then authorized the Regional Warrant Apprehension Task Force to begin searching for the officer. He had not been located in the first hours of searching.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Breaking news, Police shootings
        

A Baltimore Circuit Court jury has acquitted Police Officer Tommy Sanders of manslaughter in the shooting death of an unarmed man at the Hamilton Shopping Center in 2008. The officer had taken the witness stand and testified that he was positive the man he shot was reaching for a gun.

"I am damn certain," an emotional Sanders told jurors. "I was damn sure."

Sanders was the first city officer since 1996 to be charged with a duty-related police shooting.

Also today, a federal jury convicted Baltimore Officer Gregory Mussmacher of civil rights and obstruction charges related to the 2004 abuse of a 17-year-old hand-cuffed prisoner. Two of the officer's colleagues, no longer on the force, pleaded guilty in the case and testified against Mussmacher. The officer had been convicted of assault by a city Circuit Court jury but that conviction was overturned.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

Baltimore County police say they've been stymied in investigating injuries to a teenage girl at a Pikesville house that is owned by a suspected religious cult leader from Wisconsin. The 18-year-old is not providing many details about the Tuesday incident that has left her hospitalized, and neither are witnesses, according to police, The Sun's Brent Jones reports..

That doesn't surprise some people familiar with the Samanta Roy Institute of Science and Technology, whose leader owns the house where the incident occurred.

The victim and witnesses are likely doing what they are told by their leader, according to a former group member and a man who has studied and testified on cults. Leader Avraham Cohen, also known as Rama Behara and R.C. Samanta Roy, has unquestioned authority over the 150-member nonprofit organization, they said yesterday.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

An off-duty Maryland State Trooper working security at an Applebee's in Prince George's County was shot and killed early today.

This just in from the Associated Press:

Officer Henry Tippett said Trooper Wesley Brown escorted a disorderly customer Thursday night from the Applebee's on Donnell Drive in Forestville. Tippett said when Brown was leaving the restaurant around 12:40 a.m. Friday, the customer shot him in the parking lot. Brown was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Gov. Martin O'Malley issued this statement not long ago: 

“Early this morning, TFC Wesley Brown was tragically shot and killed while serving security detail at a local restaurant in Forestville.  Tragedies like this remind us all how fragile life can be, and that the men and women of our public safety agencies risk their lives on a daily basis to keep the people of our State safe.  I’ve visited with Trooper Brown’s family this morning and extended my most sincere condolences.  The thoughts and prayers of all Marylanders are with them on this very sad day.

“The Maryland State Police, Prince George’s County Police, local and federal law enforcement are working tirelessly to investigate this incident, capture the suspect, and bring this killer to justice.”

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Crime elsewhere, Police shootings, Top brass
        

Even the judge didn't quite know what to do with Donnel Lamont Covington.

He sliced someone's throat on a city street yet was so polite during his trial that he kept asking about his attorney's sick wife. He impressed the judge, the prosecutor and the clerks with his demeanor.

Before sentencing, he stood and told the court: "The American judicial system is the best judicial system in the world. I can't complain. I got a fair trial. My lawyer did his job, and the prosecutor did his job. I accept it."

Circuit Judge Emmanuel Brown was understandably taken aback. In a good way. He talk about seeing street thugs taking the street into his courtroom. The defense lawyer said his client's demeanor proved that there is a chance at redemption .

But Brown just couldn't buy all of it. Some things can't be overcome by niceness. Said the judge: "The one concern I have about you is that the person I see in my court is not the person on the street."

His ruling: Life in prison.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, West Baltimore
        

More details spill out by the day on the shooting by the off-duty city officer of the unarmed former Marine during a dispute outside a Mount Vernon bar. Today we learn that the victim, Tyrone Brown, may have had his hands in the air when Officer Gahiji A. Tshamba shot him nine times.

Also, police sources tell us that Brown's shirt had a heat imprint from the muzzle blast of the gun, indicating one or more of the shots could've been fired from as close as 5 inches away (Tshamba is at left, in a WBAL-TV photo).

Detectives have interviewed seven key witnesses -- three who were with the officer and say he identified himself as a cop and that Brown shoved him after Brown patted the officer's female companion on the rear end. Two were with the victim and say Brown apologized and tried to walk away but Tshamba wouldn't let him. Two others described as independent backed the latter version of events. And police sources say that evdience found at the scene, including shell casings, are inconsistent with the events as described by the officer's friends.

It's unusual to have this much detail in an unfolding case. But cops are leaking like crazy because they hear angry public sentiment over why prosecutors haven't yet charged Tshamba with a crime. They also seem to believe that this is one of the worst police-involved shootings they've seen in a long, long time.

Brown's funeral is Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Morgan State University's auditorium. By then, maybe they'll be an arrest and charges. Prosecutors are hanging tough, saying they want an air-tight case before moving foward.

Part of this is a continuing fight between Jessamy and police that has gone back years to the O'Malley administration. Who can forget when Jessamy dropped charges against a city cop accused of planting evidence on an innocent man? O'Malley fumed in a profanity-laced tirade while Jessamy complained that the police investigation had failed.

They don't want a repeat.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Confronting crime, Gahiji Tshamba, Police shootings, Top brass
        

Well this isn't something drug detectives see every day.

After a month long investigation, detectives from the Baltimore police Violent Crimes Impact Section executed a search warrant on a home in the 2900 block of St. Paul Street in Charles Village and found a .357 semi-automatic handgun, a .50 caliber Desert Eagle Revolver, a .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun, one and a half kilos of powder cocaine, and a half kilo of crack cocaine. Joseph Batson, 39, a convicted felon, was arrested on the street with a .10 mm Glock pistol and 4 1/2 ounces of crack cocaine, and inside the apartment, his wife, Jamie, 25, who just a month ago was put on a home monitoring system for a drug conviction, was also taken into custody.

The apartment was otherwise empty, except for a TV and the machine you see at right.

It's a 20 ton hydraulic compressor, and a cursory web search shows you can get one for as cheap as $200. It's used to straighten, stamp and bend metal for automotive and general shop work, according to web sites that have them for sale.

Detective Donny Moses, a police spokesman and drug cop, said it's also used by mid- to upper-level drug dealers to easily shape kilos of cocaine into neat and tidy, ready to package bricks. 

"You know how you pour hot metal into something to shape it?" Moses said. "They liquefy the drugs, pour it into that shape, and then they compress the drugs into the form of a kilo block while it dries."

In the raid, police found baking soda and other cutting agents. "He was taking the raw cocaine, adding the cutting agent like baking soda or creatine, liquefying it and making a kilo, then selling it for a full raw kilo price." 

In layman's terms? "He was ripping people off."

Police seized four vehicles from Batson: a 2008 Toyota Tundra, a 2005 Harley Davidson, a 2007 BMW, and a 1991 Ford F150. They also seized another $34,000 from his bank account and are looking to seize other properties that he owns (both Batsons' addresses are listed in the 3800 block of Birchview Avenue, in Northeast Baltimore). Joseph Batson has been charged with 22 counts of drug and handgun related crimes.

For more pictures of the detectives' haul, continue reading:

Joseph and Jamie Batson:

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (42)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Sometimes it appears the Baltimore Police Department can't catch a break.

Here's a police twitter announcement from last night: "POLICE INVOLVED SHOOTING - Fenwick / 29th St. Prelim info, officer shoots dog, bullet passes through and strikes juvenile in leg."

Everyone turned out OK, but coming just days after the controversial shooting in Mount Vernon, this one came as a shock. Police shoot a dog attacking a teenager and a bullet hits the teen. The dog also died.

Police said the teens had been harassing the dog in a Northeast Baltimore neighborhood.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Northeast Baltimore, Police shootings
        

A Baltimore police officer took the witness stand in his own defense on Wednesday, saying he felt threatened by a suspected drug dealer who he thought was going for a gun when he shot him in the back on the parking lot of a Northeast Baltimore shopping center two years ago.

Officer Tommy Sanders told jurors about growing up in troubled Park Heights and how that formed his opinion policing the drugs and violence in the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. Prosecutors say the officer needlessly shot the man in the back after stopping and searching him.

The trial at the Baltimore Circuit Courthouse comes amid the furor over the shooting on Saturday in Mount Vernon in which an off-duty officer killed an unarmed former Marine over a slight to the officer's female companion. Sanders is the first city police officer to be charged with manslaughter for an on-duty shooting since 1996.

But that's not all.

Adding to this week's bad news for the department, in yet another courtroom in the city, this time with the feds, Officer Gregory M. Mussmacher is being tried on civil rights charges and obstruction of justice in connection with the beating of a 17-year-old boy five years ago. The U.S. Justice Department is prosecuting, and the case is expected to conclude soon.

Mussmacher was found guilty by a Baltimore Circuit Court jury in 2005 of misdemeanor assault and misconduct in office for striking the teen in 2004. But his conviction was overturned on appeal, and the feds took up the case. Two other officers, now retired, also faced charges but pleaded guilty in federal court and testified against Mussmacher.

Here is some background from a Baltimore Sun article by Tricia Bishop published in April 2009:

According to the six-count federal indictment, unsealed Wednesday, and other court records, Benjamin Ruben Rowland, now 22, was arguing with his sister at their former home on Glengyle Avenue in Baltimore. She called police, and among the officers responding was Mussmacher, who arrived late to the scene and took charge, questioning Rowland.

When the teenager complained about his handcuffs, Mussmacher is alleged to have handed his service weapon and badge to another officer, uncufffed the teen and challenged him to a fight, which the youth declined. Mussmacher then sprayed him with pepper spray and hit him in the face with a baton before transferring him to the Northwest District station, the records state.

There, Officer Guy Gerstel, now retired, hit the teenager in the back with a pool stick from a recreation room and then lied about it to the FBI and on the witness stand, court papers allege. Sgt. Wayne Thompson, also now retired, is charged with obstructing justice, accused of writing a false statement and persuading other officers not to fill out required reports.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Police shootings, Top brass
        

The Baltimore police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man who slighted a woman has a long history of questionable behavior both on and off the force.

Today, the Baltimore Sun documents part of this officer's life that includes two other shootings -- one that earned him an award for saving a colleague's life, another committed while drunk and angry over getting cut off in his vehicle. He also has a string of personal and financial problems (he's at left, in a WBAL photo).

Police have turned their investigation over to prosecutors and are pushing for charges soon. But word is prosecutors might push the probe into next week, saying they want to conduct more interviews and gather more evidence. Meanwhile, the public seethes as the officer continues to work a desk as questions rise over whether he's being shielded from arrest because he's a cop.

And questions still are being asked about why Tshamba kept his job -- with only an 8-day suspension -- for shooting a teenager in the foot while being off-duty and drunk. That shooting seems to fit the pattern what happened Saturday in Mount Vernon.

In both cases, the officers appears to have gotten angry over personal slights -- in Mount Vernon, the former Marine patted the officer's female companion on the rear-end, and in the 2005 shooting, a group of young men shouting racial slurs cut him off. And each time, Tshamba took it upon himself to act instead of calling for help.

Police in 2005 ruled the shooting of the teen justified but suspended him for being drunk with a firearm. It's hard to imagine that the police force still wanted him around when he's shooting while drunk (his blood alcohol was .12 percent). We still haven't gotten answers from commanders on that questions (it was a different police administration at the time).

We've obtained the letter sent by prosecutors to police in the 2005 shooting, indicating they declined to prosecute. This is for the purposes of criminal prosecution, not adminstrative sanctions, which would come later and result in the suspension. Still, I would think the fact the officer was legally drunk when he opened fire might play a role in whether he was neglegent:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Baltimore County police are warning Towson residents of a cat burglar. Sgt. Stephen Fink, a member of the department's community outreach team, sent along these details:

Since March of this year there have been nine (9) residential burglaries plus a suspicious condition targeting single homes, townhomes and apartments. Between PC06 Officers and Detectives, Burglary Detectives and Crime Analysis we've learned these burglaries are occurring from late afternoon to very early morning hours during the week--mostly Mondays and Wednesdays.

The person(s) responsible have targeted rear entry points--windows or doors--and they've unscrewed exterior lights on some homes to hide the activities. Property taken has been electronics--televisions, laptops, ipods--and money, mostly small items, close to the point of entry, easily removable and even concealable (smaller items).

With everything that has been determined thus far we are asking that you, once again, get the word out to your residents to properly secure their homes, outbuildings (sheds, garages), and belongings to protect against these types of crimes.

Should anyone observe suspicious vehicles or persons in the area please call 9-1-1 so an Officer can respond to investigate. As expressed in past messages by doing their part to secure and protect their property the residents are truly helping to reduce the frequency of crime in the Towson area. We all want the entire Towson community to be as safe and peaceful as possible and by everyone taking an active part we can accomplish this goal.

Possible person and vehicle of interest: 30-40 year old African-American male with a scruffy beard; a bright red car, possibly a Honda or Nissan. No further descriptions on either presently, but will update you as the information comes to us.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Baltimore County, Breaking news, Confronting crime
        

Twenty months after Kareem Kelly Guest sat down with federal agents to talk about drug dealing in his neighborhood, documents proving Guest's cooperation started showing up on the streets of Westport last summer, and Guest was shot dead, reports the CityPaper's Van Smith. Who shot him and why remain unknown, though aspects of law enforcers' efforts to answer those questions surfaced on June 1, when an obstruction-of-justice indictment was unsealed in U.S. District Court against Raine Zircon Curtis, an alleged witness to Guest's murder, Smith reports. 

The documents resulting from Guest's interview with police - a form 302 - were not the only ones that ended up on the streets, a violation of the discovery agreements with defense attorneys. One of the attorneys denied leaking the documents when contacted by the CityPaper; the other did not return calls.

"The 14-page Curtis indictment illustrates the pitfalls and dangers of seeking justice in Baltimore, where anti-snitching culture is rooted deep and wide. It also provides a glimpse into the frailties of criminal prosecutions built on cooperating witnesses," Smith wrote.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Witness intimidation
        

Baltimore County police just announced an indictment in a 13-year-old unsolved case in which a young girl was raped as she walked home from school. It's yet another case using DNA evidence.

Here is the police statement:

A Baltimore County Grand Jury issued an indictment against Robert D. A. Kirby, 27, currently serving a life sentence in Virginia. Kirby is charged in the February 1997 rape of a 12-year-old girl. The rape took place in a wooded area off of a roadway in the area of Tyler Road and Railway Avenue, 21222.

Police were called to the area of the 1900-block of Tyler Avenue, 21222 in Precinct 12/North Point at 3:39 p.m. on February 11, 1997 for a reported attack.

When they arrived, they found a 12-year-old girl who advised police that she had been forcibly raped by a white male, approximately 17-20 years of age. She stated that while she was walking home from school, the suspect approached her from behind, placing his hand over her mouth, and forced her to the ground in a wooded area just off of the roadway.

He forcibly raped, physically hit and choked her, and threatened to kill her if she contacted police. The victim told police that after attacking her, he ran away. A search at the time did not find the suspect.

Detectives continued the investigation for months, but lacked leads to continue actively investigating the case. In August 2008, after a re-examination of the victim’s clothing, semen stains were found on the clothing and a male profile was developed. This unknown male DNA was submitted into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in March 2009 which at the time revealed no matches.

However in April 2009, investigators were alerted that a tentative match surfaced in CODIS matching the DNA of Robert D. A. Kirby, who would have been 14 at the time of the attack. A further investigation revealed that Kirby was incarcerated in Virginia for an unrelated offense. Based on facts and evidence obtained by detectives, the case was submitted to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for review. The investigation was ultimately presented to the Grand Jury on June 1, and the Jury handed down an indictment against Kirby charging him with first-degree rape.

Robert Kirby is serving a life sentence in Virginia, and the indictment will serve as a retainer until he is extradited back to Baltimore County for prosecution.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Baltimore County, Breaking news, Courts and the justice system
        

It's difficult for anyone to second guess the actions of an officer made in the heat of the moment of a potentially life-threatening situation. Officer Gahiji Tshamba, under scrutiny and likely facing serious charges for killing an unarmed man over the weekend, faced what sounds like a harrowing situation in September 2005: The way he tells it, an SUV full of men pulled up next to him, with its occupants hurling racial epithets, spitting on his car, and throwing a beer bottle. As he followed them, they turned around, and slammed into his vehicle before getting out and coming towards him in a menacing manner. He fired five shots, striking one of them. The men offered a different take, though they admitted driving at him. And the victim was so intoxicated he claimed to have no memory of the events at all.

Was Tshamba's decision to shoot justified? The state's attorney's office felt that it was, and cleared him of criminal wrongdoing. 

But what seems less debatable and may cast some doubt on his account is the fact that, according to investigative records, Tshamba was driving drunk at the time of the incident.

When an Eastern District lieutenant arrived on the scene, he suspected Tshamba was impaired and ordered him to submit to a Breathalyzer - something Tshamba refused on Saturday - and he registered a .12 blood alcohol level. That's above the legal limit of .08.

Though Tshamba was cleared in the shooting, the department disciplined him for being intoxicated.  A year later, Tshamba wrecked his car after losing control and crashing into a gas station. Alcohol was not listed as a factor, but the car was not insured and was unregistered. All in all, those are just more questionable decisions in the recent history of an officer who is being closely scrutinized.

Prosecutors continue to mull charges in Saturday's shooting.  In this article, Peter Hermann gives a rundown of the perplexing police shooting cases that have come across the desk of State's Attorney Patricia A. Jessamy, and how her office has handled them over the years. Those cases deal with on-duty shootings, though it is still instructive to see the factors weighed by prosecutors and why the process can take some time.

"I will not send a message to police officers that I will impose my judgment in place of theirs when they act within the scope of their training and the law," she said at the time. "I will not, because of personal or political consideration, create a climate where police officers hesitate to protect a citizen or themselves."

And speaking of police charged criminally for shooting citizens on-duty, the trial for Officer Thomas Sanders, the first officer charged since the 1990s, began Monday with opening arguments. Sanders' defense attorney said that he was only following his training when he shot Edward Hunt after Hunt ran away during a 2008 arrest. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: East Baltimore, Gahiji Tshamba, Police shootings, Top brass
        

Police say 80-year-old Philip Reid's daughter dropped him off at his West Baltimore house and waited outside. But she soon heard screams coming from inside, and with the doors to the home locked, called police.

Inside, officers found Reid sitting on top of his wife, 83-year-old Glennie, and he was strangling her. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and Philip Reid has been arrested, The Sun's Brent Jones reports. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: West Baltimore
        

In a post yesterday, I published the language of the Baltimore Police Department's rules and regulations pertaining to off-duty cops intervening in on-going crimes, the policy about carrying guns when not on the job.

Today, Baltimore Sun reporter Nick Madigan reveals that city police are reviewing the policy that mandates police officers be armed at all times while within the city limits, except when sound jugment indicates otherwise. You'd that includes a bar. But it doesn't, as we see from Saturday's shooting by an off-duty city police officer of an unarmed ex-Marine who had touched the officer's female companion in an inappropriate way.

Nick also talks to officials in other jurisdictions about their policies. Nick writes:

The internal review is being undertaken as a matter of course and not because the rules "aren't strict enough," Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman, said Monday. Of particular interest is whether off-duty officers should be permitted to carry guns when they expect to be drinking alcohol.

"What we ask of officers is that they use common sense and good judgment," Guglielmi said. "They wouldn't take their guns into a swimming pool, and they shouldn't take their guns into a liquor establishment when they know they are going to get intoxicated.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Police shootings, Top brass
        

Baltimore prosecutors plan to re-interview key witnesses in the fatal police shooting in Mount Vernon on Saturday, which could delay by a several days any decision on whether to charge Officer Gahiji A. Tshamba.

The officer remains at the center of a firestorm over his shooting of unarmed ex-Marine Tyrone Brown, who patted the officer's female companion on her rear-end and ended up in a confrontation that left him dead in an alley off East Eager Street.

As the investigation moves forward, several details have been updated. Police had originally said Tshamba had been inside Eden's Garden, though the managor disputed that, though he admitted that the officer is a frequent customer. On Monday, police said Tshamba had been in the Red Maple, about a block away.

Also, police initially said that Tshamba fired 13 of the 14 bullets inside his department-issued Glock handgun, hitting Brown six times. On Monday, they said Brown actually had been hit nine times in the chest and groin. Police still say they have not learned of any reason why Tshamba might have feard for his life.

The officer has not yet given a statement to investigators, and he refused to let them conduct a breath test to determine whether he had been drinking. The officer shot a man in the foot in 2005, and while the shooting was ruled justified, police disciplined him for being intoxicated at the time. On Monday, police said they talked to people at various clubs and learned that Tshamba had been seen with a drink hin his hand, though it could not be determined if it was alcohol.

On Monday, Marvin L. Cheatham Sr., the president of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP, wrote this letter to Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi:

Mr. Guglielmi:
 
Thank you for delivering my message to Commissioner Bealefeld. The Commissioner and I had a very productive discussion and I thank you publicly for effectuating such.

Of course we are awating expedient and efficient work from the Baltimore City Police Department so that Baltimore City States Attorney Jessamy and her office can effectively and expeditiously do their work.
 
While we realize the Police Department is hard at work investigating and reporting we fell something has to be done immediately.
 
We are calling for an Emergency Commission to be appointed, by whatever official and/or agency, to immediately review the Rules and Regulations. Of course, the NAACP ask that we have a representative on this Commission. Most everyone agrees that these procedures are far too open for individual interpretation. The rules and regs seemingly are not sufficient enough with specifics - on do's and don't. It seems what needs to be in the Rules and Regulations are strict guidelines for Off-Duty officers.
 
We continue to say that the overwhelming majority of our officers are hard working and dedicated public servants. Unfortunately not 100% - which demands that we tighten up the Rules and Regulations. Somewhere there must be regulations developed, where legally permissible, requiring officers to take drug and alcohol test immediately after incidents. A signicant red flag appears in this case with a prior shooting and alcohol being a part. 
 
We assuredly do not agree with some in the community that want to remove weapons from off duty officers. That is not the solution. Strict Rules and Regulations helps. But, how did this officer get back on the streets with a similar incident has to be addressed and policy and procedures changed in this regard. This was an accident waiting to happen - and it happened
 
The Police ask citizens to tell on the bad guys, when are the men and women and blue going to bring about a quid pro quo.
 
We have a plethora of questions that we will ask at the appropriate time.  Right now let's clean-up and tighten-up the Rules and Regulations.
 
Mr. Guglielmi we will continue to ask for more and better transparency. If you want the community to work better and closer with the Police Department improved communications and transparency are necessities.  
 
Let's hear directly from the Commissioner about this "bad guy."
 
In closing we have a call into State's Attorney Jessamy's office that we are still waiting for a response.  We had a good discussion with the Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation today. We, unfortunately, do not share the same sentiments about the IAD as the Mayor does. With close to 3 dozen cases being thrown out last year we assuredly do not share the same confidence in IAD.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Gahiji Tshamba, Police shootings, Top brass
        

Many are asking legitimate questions about whether police officers should be allowed to carry guns while off-duty and in bars in light of Saturday's fatal shooting of a man in Mount Vernon during a dispute over a woman. Police are trying to determine whether the officer was intoxicated at the time.

Whether this case prompts a ban or a review of the rules will be up to police commanders. Baltimore City police officers are guided by several rules, some of which appear contradictory, but are designed to allow them to exercise sound judgment when dealing with their weapons. In fact, they can get into trouble if they don't intervene in crimes that occurr in their presence even when they're off duty.

Generally, they are required to be armed at all times, off-duty and on, when within the city limits. But there are of course exceptions.

Here is a sampling of some of the rules city police officers operate under, taken directly from the official Rules and Regulations of the Baltimore Police Department:

"Members of the Department are sworn in as peace officers of Baltimore City and, as such, are considered to be on-duty or read for duty at all times. Failure to stop and perform the necessary police duties while off-duty or on leave shall be considered neglect of duty."

In another section:

"All members of the Department are prohibited from indulgence in intoxicating liquors while on duty, or while off duty in uniform or partial uniform. ... Memberes, while off-duty, shall refrain from consuming intoxicating beverages to the extent that it results in obnoxious or offensive behavior which would discredit them or the Department, or to such extent that at the time of the member's next regular tour of duty they are impaired or intoxicated and thereby unfit for duty."

And in yet another section:

"All sorn members of the Department shall be suitably armed at all times when on-duty. Sworn members, off-duty, within the City of Baltimore, shall be suitably armed, except at such times, or under such circumstances, or when engaged in such activities as a prudent person would reasonably conclude the wearing of a firearm to be inappropriate."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: Confronting crime, Police shootings, Top brass
        

Baltimore police are searching for a suspect in a domestic homicide that occurred over the Memorial Day weekend. Here is a statement from police:

On May 30th at approximately 11:00am, Baltimore Police responded to the 2100 block of Ramsey Street in South Baltimore for a serious shooting. Once there, officers located Alvin Martin III (28)suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper torso. Martin was transported to Shock Trauma where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

A short time later, it was determined that this incident was domestic related, and a suspect was named shortly thereafter. An arrest warrant was then issued for Duane Thompson (36) of the 500 block of Bloom Street. Thompson is a black male who stands approximately 5' 5" tall and weighs approximately 165 lbs. Thompson has not been seen nor heard from since.

Members of our Warrant Apprehension Task Force are now actively looking for Duane Thompson.  They are asking from help from the public. Anyone who knows the whereabouts of Duane Thompson or who has seen him recently is asked to call detectives at 410-637-8970.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, South Baltimore
        

Authories are moving quickly on the police shooting case (more details here) by meeting with prosecutors and top commenaders. Not sure if this means a decision on criminal charges today, but it does show the department is taking this very seriously:

Baltimore homicide detectives have completed their initial inquiry into Saturday's fatal shooting by a police officer of an unarmed man in Mount Vernon and plan to meet with city prosecutors Monday to discuss whether criminal charges should be filed.

This does not mean that charges are imminent. Prosecutors could demand that detectives investigate further, conduct more interviews or gather more evidence. The state's attorney's office could file charges, rule the shooting justified or present the case to a grand jury in the near future.

But by quickly moving to the next stage of the probe into the controversial shooting of an ex-Marine by off-duty Officer Gahiji A. Tshamba, it indicates the department wants to deal with the case swiftly amid news that the officer had shot someone in 2005 while intoxicated.

Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Monday morning that detectives fanned out in Mount Vernon clubs over the weekend, seeking witnesses to the shooting and trying to determine whether Tshamba had been drinking before the confrontation with Tyrone Jones near a back door to Club Hippo

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Top brass
        

So now we know that Baltimore Police Officer Gahiji A. Tshamba, back in 2005, was intoxicated when he shot a man in the foot during a confrontation.

What we don't yet know -- and hopefully answers will come today -- is how Tshamba managed to retain his badge after the incident?

Tshamba, as we all know by now, is the off-duty officer who shot ex-Marine Tyrone Brown (left) six times in Mount Vernon early Saturday after Brown patted the officer's female companion on the buttocks. Brown was joking, his relatives say. Police say an argument grew into a physical altercation that led to the shooting. The victim's sister says there was no fight and that Brown apologized but was taunted by the officer.

Either way, police have been unusually blunt in calling this a troubling shooting and saying they are trying to determine whether Tshamba was intoxicated when he shot 13 tiimes. The officer has refused to make a statement and declined to submit to breath test. He has been put on administrative duties. A police spokesman said detectives have not found any reason to believe the officer's life was in danger.

So that brings us back to September 2005. Details remain sketchy but it appears that Tshamba had been confronted by a group of men who yelled racial slurs. Police said one threw a bottle at him, and another struck his car and then advanced toward him. Tshamba shot one of them in the foot.

Police and prosecutors ruled the shooting justified but disciplined him for being intoxicated on the job. I suppose you can be imparied by alcohol and still be justified in using your weapon -- escaping criminal liability -- but it's hard to imagine keeping a guy on the force under such circumstances.

I'm interested to see what new details surface once police can review his entire file later today.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (48)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

Sunday's Crime Beat column focused on the mother of Tyree Wright, whose was shot and killed a dozen years ago, and whose alleged killer went free last month. Earline Coffee watched on TV as the man convicted in shooting walked free outside the city courthouse.

"I've been crying ever since," she told me. At left are pictures of Tyree, in a photo taken by The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum.

The case against Tyrone Jones crumbled when lawyers discovered that a police report in which a key witness had at first told detectives she didn't the shooting, only to change her mind later and identify Jones as the suspect, had never been turned over to the defense. Lawyers lost the chance to impeach her credibility.

A judge granted Jones a new trial and prosecutors decided to drop the case. They didn't properly notify Coffey of their decision, and so she turned on her TV one afternoon and saw Jones smiling as he walked free.

It appears that Tyree, 15, was shot by a bullet mean for someone else. He was a good student, a track star, stayed off the streets, hadn't gotten into trouble and wanted to move to California to be a police officer. Over the weekend, his gudiance counselor wrote me a note:

I was Tyree Wright's guidance counselor at Patterson High School. Reading your article brought back a flood of memories and emotions for me. I remember the morning that I learned of Tyree's murder; I fell to the floor unable to control my tears of grief and disbelief. I remember attending his funeral with many of his classmates and teachers, all of us overcome with sorrow, unable to grasp the fact that the life of this wonderful young man had been taken. I want to reiterate what Tyree's mother said. Tyree was absolutely not a child of the streets. He was delightful, respectful, kind, loving, ambitious and full of life. There was an innocent aura about him. I never once doubted that his future held only good things. I want everyone to know that his death was a true tragedy, and that Tyree did nothing to bring it on. My heart goes out to his mother who did a beauiful job of raising this very special young man. In my desk at Patterson I still keep a pin that I created with my students that we wore in memory of Tyree. Tyree will never be forgotten. If you speak to his mother again, please let her know how much her son was loved and that she and Tyree are both in our prayers. 

Kathleen Gabriel

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, East Baltimore
        

The Baltimore City police officer suspected of killing a man behind a Mount Vernon club early Saturday after a night of reveling was disciplined by the city police department five years ago for shooting a man while intoxicated.

Gahiji A. Tshamba, a 15-year veteran of the city police force, shot a man in the foot after an off-duty confrontation outside a bar or restaurant in September 2005, a police spokesman said. Investigators and prosecutors determined that the shooting was justified, but Tshamba was disciplined internally because he was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

Police detectives are trying to determine if Tshamba was under the influence early Saturday morning when he fired his department-issued weapon 13 times at an unarmed man. Tyrone Brown, a 32-year-old former Marine from East Baltimore, was hit six times in the chest and groin and died less than an hour later.

Click here for more on this follow-up by The Sun's Robert Little. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Police shootings
        

The state prison system is to announce Monday a new web site that highlights the top 25 parole and probation offenders:

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is taking public safety efforts to the web.  In an effort to gain the public’s help in tracking down the Division of Parole and Probation’s (DPP) most wanted parole or probation violators, today launched our Most Wanted DPP Violators website. 

The new website contains individuals whose violation warrants have not been able to be served to date.  Photos, demographics and other known information about the top 25 outstanding warrants are highlighted on the page.

While DPP does not issue violation warrants, which is done by the Maryland Parole Commission or the Maryland Court System, their Warrant Apprehension Unit (WAU) is responsible for capturing individuals for whom a warrant has been issued after violating the terms of their discretionary parole, mandatory release, or court ordered probation. The WAU is part of DPP’s Community Supervision Enforcement Program (CSEP).

“Our agents are good at what they do, tracking down individuals in the community who have violated the public’s trust,” stated CSEP Director Vernon Skhur. “Sometimes however people fly under the radar and we need the eyes and ears of other residents to point us in the right direction. This can be a win-win for everyone.” 

The WAU consists of roughly 40 men and women with special law enforcement training to execute arrest warrants. Their main focus is VPI warrants, but they also work with warrant service task forces throughout the state. Over the last two fiscal years the unit’s clearance rate (defined as warrants served, not adjudicated) has been 90%.

“We see this webpage as a safe and innovative way for our Department to engage the public in an effort to track down those offenders who have violated the terms of there supervision,” said DPSCS Secretary Gary Maynard.

Anyone who has information on the individuals posted on this website are asked to call the WAU at (410) 333-8732 and give as much information about an offenders’ whereabouts as possible.  All information provided will remain confidential. Citizens will soon have the ability to email or text tips to DPSCS as well.

This latest effort is one of many new outreach tools the Department is utilizing to increase public safety in Maryland. Through an e-newsletter launched last month DPSCS is keeping stakeholders, such as our law enforcement and community partners, abreast of current initiatives. 

Social media outlets are also being brought onboard for the first time to encourage the public’s involvement in locating outstanding DPP violators.  Through Facebook and Twitter citizens can receive detailed highlights of some of our Most Wanted violators, updates on newly added violators, and follow DPSCS for news regarding other initiatives of the Department. 

DPSCS hopes to inform a broader audience of our public safety responsibility, one that each of us has a stake in improving.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services protects the public, its employees
and the detainees and offenders under its supervision.
www.dpscs.state.md.us

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Prisons
        

There's nothing easy about losing a son.

And there's nothing easy about watching TV and seeing your son's killer go free.

That's what happened to Earline Coffey (at left, in a photo by The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum) in late May. She knew the man conficted of killing 15-year-old Tyree Wright had been granted a new trial because a police report calling a witnesses account into question had never been disclosed to the defense. But no one told her that prosecutors were dropping he case entirely.

So she turned on her television on May 25 and saw the suspect smiling as he walked out of a downtown courtroom. All she could think about was how Tyree died in her arms, smiling up at her blood poured from his head and onto the steps of her Federal Street rowhouse.

"I don't think it's fair for him to be out and my son is six feet under," Coffey told me this week.

Coffey called the newspaper (we have a full account running Sunday in the Crime Beat column in print and on the Internet) after an account ran of the charges being dropped against Tyrone Jones, who is now 33, and had spent nearly 12 years in prison for the June 1998 killing. Police said Tyree was hit by a bullet as he sat on his steps; his mother said the shooter was aiming at somebody else.A

A reporter had tried to reach Coffey but couldn't, and she called us after the story appeared. She was angry about the way she found out about the case ending and confused as to why.

Jones (at right, in a photo by The Sun's Kim Hairston) won the right for a new trial with the help of Maryland's Innocence Project, which helps overturn wrongful convictions, and prosecutors determined they couldn't retry the case with the scant evidence left over. The witness account was not useless and gunshot residue found on the suspect's hands has been called unreliable by many experts. But prosecutors apologized to Coffey for failing to fully explain that the man convicted in her son's killing was being released.

All Coffee can remember is smiles. She cringes at the thought of Jones smiling on TV as he walked out the courthouse a free man. And she cries as she remembers the smile her son gave her on his deathbed.

She told me she's never fully gotten over Tyree's death. He was a stellar track player at Patterson Park High School, studied hard and wanted to go to college and moved to California to become a police officer. The suspect to had been arrested once on a drug charge that wasn't prosecuted, but had been attending a community college in Texas and was home on break when the shooting occurred.

It's a happy moment for Jones, a sad moment for Coffey, compounded by the oversight that kept her in the dark and forced her to discover justice undone by seeing a smile on her television screen.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, East Baltimore
        

We're learning more about the off-duty Baltimore police officer who shot and killed a man outside a Mount Vernon bar early Saturday. The officer, Gahiji A. Tshamba, was apparently angry that the victim, Tyrone Brown, (at left) had patted the behind of the officer's female companion.

Brown, an Iraqi war veteran, was only joking, his relatives said. But it quickly escalated into a shooting. Police commander say, however, they've found no evidence to indicate Tshamba's life was in danger when he pulled the trigger.

The officer has refused to give a breath test or make a statement, though his representative in the police union says a statement will be delivered soon. Still, the shooting raises all sorts of questions about off-duty officers who carry their weapons while out drinking and whether this dispute got out of hand.

Many more details about the officer, including a prior shooting, and about the victim, are on the Baltimore Sun's Internet site.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Police shootings
        

Baltimore police have updated details surrounding the police-involved shooting from earlier today outside Eden Lounge the Mount Vernon, Mid-Town Belvedere neighborhood. At this point, it does not look good for the officer involved.

At left, Maj. Terrence McLarney, head of the homicide unit, joins police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi in briefing reporters at a 7 a.m. news conference. Here are some new details:

An-off duty Baltimore police officer repeatedly shot and killed an unarmed man who witnesses said  groped the officer’s female companion outside a Mount Vernon nightclub early Saturday, a shooting that top department commanders say they find troubling.

While police said numerous witnesses confirmed that the victim had physically and inappropriately touched the woman and fought the officer, spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said detectives have “not been able to find a concrete motive” as to why the officer felt he needed to take out his weapon and fire.

The victim, identified as East Baltimore resident Tyrone Brown, 32, was shot at least six times in the chest and groin, according to the police spokesman. The officer, a 15-year veteran assigned to the Eastern District patrol division, fired his department issued Glock handgun at least 13 times, officials said.

Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Barksdale has been ordered to be “intimately involved in the investigation.” A police spokesman said the officer refused to make a statement and declined to submit to a breath test to determine whether he had been drinking alcohol.

For more:

Officers involved in shootings are not required and cannot be compelled to answer questions from homicide detectives conducting a criminal investigation, though most do so after consulting union attorneys. Officers can be ordered to give statements only after the criminal investigation is complete, for the purposes of administrative review.

Guglielmi said the shooting occurred about 1:30 a.m. outside the Eden Lounge on East Eager Street, on the boarder dividing Mount Vernon and Mid-Town Belvedere. Dozens of people were on the street, including several uniformed city police officers who are routinely sent to the area on weekends because of the clubs and bars and past violence.

A patrol officer standing in an alley off East Eager Street, used by officers to park their vehicles, heard the gunfire and quickly responded to the scene. The officer who fired his weapon was not immediately identified and will not be until 48 hours after the shooting, in keeping with department policy. He has been taken off the street and assigned to desk duty.

In an unusual move that demonstrates the department’s concern, the commander of the Baltimore Police Department’s homicide unit, Maj. Terrence McLarney, briefed reporters at a 7 a.m. news conference and Guglielmi said the police commissioner was apprised of developments throughout the night. The spokesman said the commissioner ordered “his most trusted people” to ensure a thorough investigation.

Police said the officer was with a group of people inside the Eden Lounge late Friday and early Saturday. They left about 1:30 a.m., joining hundreds of others spilling out of bars and nightclubs in the neighborhood known for late-night revelry.

Guglielmi said Brown “approached and made advances toward the officer’s female companion.” McLarney said Brown grabbed and groped the woman. Police said the officer argued with the man, and then the altercation became physical.

McLarney said the officer identified himself as a member of law enforcement and gave “verbal commands” to Brown to stop fighting. At some point, Guglielmi said the officer took out his semi-automatic service weapon and fired as many as 13 shots. Officials said the two men were standing just a few feet apart.

Brown was rushed to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:17 a.m.
Police commanders said Saturday’s shooting raises numerous questions, including whether the officer had been drinking and was impaired when he fired his gun, why he did not call for help from the many on-duty officers stationed nearby and whether it was appropriate for him to fire on an unarmed man in a crowd of bystanders.

Baltimore police officers are required to carry their service weapons at all times while on and off duty when they’re within the city limits. But McLarney said commanders urge them to use common sense and sound judgment. They are not required to carry weapons when doing so would be impractical, such as playing a pickup game of football or swimming.

There are no rules prohibiting officers from carrying guns into bars, but it is against department regulations to be intoxicated or inebriated while armed. Police officials said if an officer plans on drinking to excess while off duty, common sense dictates leaving their guns secured and at home.
The issue about officers carrying guns at bars has been raised many times in previous years.

Police point to several instances in which armed off-duty officers in bars have legitimately used their weapons to defend themselves or others.

In November 2009, a city officer shot a man who stabbed him during a fight outside a strip club, Christina’s Female Revue, in Dundalk. And in 2007, two city officers patronizing Club Fantasies in South Baltimore’s Curtis Bay neighborhood shot and killed a 38-year-old man who tried to hold up the club with a shotgun. The officers, who had just gotten off their midnight shift, fired after the robber fired into the ceiling.

But the practice came under strict scrutiny in 2008 when a city officer shot and killed a colleague, Norman M. Stamp, outside a Baltimore strip club on South Haven Street. Stamp had been out drinking with biker buddies to celebrate his 44th anniversary on the force when a fight broke out and spilled outside.

Three police officers rushed to the bar and confronted Stamp, who was hitting one of the combatants with brass knuckles. An officer Tased Stamp, who stood, pulled out his service weapon, and was shot by an officer twice in the chest. He later died.

Just last month, a block away from the scene of Saturday’s shooting, another off-duty police officer shot and wounded a man suspected of breaking into the officers car. That incident occurred at East Chase and North Charles street, between the Belvedere Hotel and Brewer’s Art restaurant and bar.

This latest shooting comes just one day after another city police officer shot and wounded a 26-year-old who police said was burglarizing the officer’s home in Dundalk, in Baltimore County. Police in that case said the suspected burglar was shot inside the officer’s living room.

City police officers have shot five people this year, killing three of them. Last year at this time, officers had shot eight people. The vast majority of police involved shootings are ruled justified. But a trial began on Friday in which a city officer, Thomas Sanders, is charged with manslaughter in connection with an on-duty shooting in 2008 in the Hamilton Shopping Center.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

An off-duty Baltimore police officer who had just emerged from a bar shot and killed a man early today outside the Eden Lounge in Mid-Town Belvedere after the man apparently made advances toward the officer's female companion, according to a department spokesman.

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III has ordered senior commanders to oversee the investigation. The commanders will want to know whether the officer had been drinking and whether it was prudent for him to carry his weapon while at the establishment.

Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the man had been shot several times during the altercation, which occurred in the first block of East Eager Street about 1:30 a.m. Officers are required to carry their weapons while off-duty in the city but exceptions are made for when they are in situation during which being armed would not be practical. That would include swimming or even drinking; it's up to the individual officer.

"We ask them to use their judgment," Guglielmi said.

Police said in a early morning Twitter message that the officer had shot the man in the back. In a later statement, Guglielmi said the man had been shot several times. The names of the officer and the dead man were not immediately released.

UPDATE: Guglielmi said the original Twitter was incorrect and that the man had been shot at least six times in the chest. He said detectives recovered eight shell casings from the scene. He also said the officer refused to take a breath test to determine how much he had to drink. It is is his legal right to refuse. The officer has been placed on desk duty during the investigation.

In May, an off-duty police officer shot and wounded a man who authorities said was trying to break into his car on East Chase and North Charles streets, about a block away from this latest shooting.

Here is Guglielmi's statement:

Baltimore Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting which took place outside the Eden Lounge nightclub in the unit block of Eager Street in the Central District at approximately 130am.

Preliminary investigation indicates an off-duty officer (15 year veteran - assigned to the Eastern District Patrol Division) was leaving the nightclub when an individual approached and made advances towards the officer's female companion.  The incident escalated into a verbal argument which turned physical. 

The officer removed his departmental issued service weapon and shot the individual multiple times. The shooting victim was later pronounced at Shock Trauma Hospital at 218am.

At this time investigators are interviewing witnesses and determining if alcohol was a factor in the incident. Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld has order senior commanders to oversee the investigation through its entirety.

This information is preliminary and subject to change.  We will update the media as information becomes available.  A briefing will be scheduled for later this morning - stay tuned for details.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Police shootings
        

Maryland State Police and Baltimore police arrested one man and are seeking another in the killing of a man whose body was found in s shallow grave in Patapsco Valley State Park. The victim had lived in South Baltimore's Locust Point and was the son of a city liquor board inspector.

Here is a statement from state police:

omicide investigators from the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department have arrested one suspect and have an arrest warrant for a second suspect in connection with the death of a Baltimore man who was found buried in a state park last month.

Members of the State Police and Baltimore Police homicide units today arrested Kevin M. Skipper, 30, of the 500-block of E. Fort Avenue, Baltimore.  He is charged with first and second degree murder, first and second degree assault, and two counts of use of a deadly weapon.  Skipper was arrested without incident at his home shortly before 3:00 p.m. today.  He is currently being processed at Central Booking.

For more:

Police have also obtained an arrest warrant for Christopher S. Calvert, 31, of the 1300-block of Richardson Street, Baltimore.  He is also charged with first and second degree murder, first and second degree assault, and two counts of use of a deadly weapon.  Calvert is described as a white male, 6’ tall, 230 lbs, hazel eyes, and brown hair.

Police are currently searching for Calvert. He is known to frequent the areas of South Baltimore, Locust Point and Brooklyn Park.  Anyone with information about him is urged to call 9-1-1, or the Maryland State Police at 410-761-5130.

Both Skipper and Calvert are charged in connection with the death of Matthew C. Martin, 31, of the 1300-block of Haubert Street, Baltimore. Martin’s body was found buried in a shallow grave on May 15, 2010, in Patapsco State Park, near the 1200-block of River Road, in Linthicum Heights.  Martin’s mother had reported him missing to the Baltimore Police Department on April 11, 2010.  He had last been seen alive on April 9th.

Investigators from the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit and detectives from the Baltimore Police Homicide Unit worked in cooperation after Martin’s body was found. Police believe Calvert, Skipper and the victim were all acquaintances who met  together at Calvert’s basement apartment on April 9th.  Police believe Martin was assaulted and murdered in Calvert’s residence by both Calvert and Skipper before being taken to the park and buried.  A motive for the murder remains unclear at this time. The investigation is continuing.

Police have issued lookouts and wanted flyers for Calvert.  He should be considered dangerous.  Anyone who knows where he is should call police immediately.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, South Baltimore
        

Here's a call no officer wants to respond to: the governor's daughter passed out, from apparent alcohol poisoning, on the sidewalk at the Inner Harbor. Sgt. Duane Henry got off the police radio to pass along the details, fearful of attracting attention or invoking the governor's wrath. "I'm not trying to have, you know, him mad at me," he said.

For audio of the call, click here.  For the story, follow this link.

(It should be noted, of course, that we requested this tape when the incident was only a rumor and it was not clear what had happened. The public information request was only fulfilled today).

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

At noon, join us here for a live chat with Peter Hermann and Justin Fenton. The discussion about will focus on the recent spate of homicides, the city's current standing in the fight against crime, the pension and budget mess, and anything else that's discussion-worthy. Peter and Justin won't be answering questions until noon, but you can leave questions in advance, either in the comments section or in the chat template below.

Posted by Carla Correa at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Dirt bikes are again all the rage, with various city officials and others trying to find new ways to combat the problem following two accidents, one of which was fatal.

The Baltimore Sun's Brent Jones examines the scourage and the problems police have given that their next to impossible to chase. Police have tried everything from fliers urging people to turn in others with dirt bikes to following packs around with the helicopter.

Starting Oct. 1, it's illegal for gas station owners to sell to dirt bike riders and the stations must post the laws prohibiting dirt bikes at their pumps. But I bet most teens buy their gas in cans and don't brink the bikes to the pumps, fearing they could easily get confiscated. And police tell me that some gas station owners take kickbacks for selling to dirt bike riders.

The two accidents were horrific. In one, police say a dirt bike went through a red light on South Monroe Street and broadsided a car being driven along West Pratt Street. Police said a passenger on the dirt bike hid the bike and then returned with friends to beat the driver of the car, sending him to Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Just a few days earlier, police said a motorcyclist was killed when he hit a pole while swerving to avoid hitting a dirt bike, whose driver was carrying an infant.

The problem, which has been with the city for years, is garnering many new complaints but fixing it will not be easy.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime
        

A man arrested on Monday who police said was carrying a loaded revolver has now been charged in one of the Memorial Day weekend killings that left 10 dead over four days.

Shawn Demetrice Jones, 18, is charged in the shooting death of Davon Dorsey, also 18, who was killed in the 400 block of N. Rose St. on Saturday (part of a street-corner memorial in pictures at top). That shooting occurred 45 minutes after another fatal shooting a few blocks away on East Monument Street, and police later said they believed the two were related and tied to gangs.

The victims, Rose Street's Dorsey and Monument Street's Timothy Gaskins, 22, were believed to be members of the Lueders Park Piru, a Bloods set whose name draws on its Los Angeles roots, law enforcement sources told the Baltimore Sun's Justin Fenton. Police believe the suspected shooter is affiliated with the Crips gang, sources said.

Jones was arrested on Monday in the 400 block of N. Lakewood Ave., a few blocks from both shooting scenes. Police have said it's possible the same shooter is responsible for both slayings, but so far Jones has been charged in only one of the cases.

The shootings occurred in McElderry Park, where Operation Safe Streets works. This is an organization of former gang members who work to mediate disputes before they erupt in violence. On Tuesday, Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said he was most concerned about the killings here because his officers have focused efforts on these streets.

"The Monument Street cases certainly have us evaluating what we could have done better," Bealefeld said. "When you have two street disturbances, two street fights that lead to two deaths within an hour of each other and with one common suspect, there's some breakdowns there."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, East Baltimore
        

Baltimore police officer Thomas Sanders, 39, is scheduled to stand trial Friday on charges of manslaughter in the 2008 killing of Edward Hunt, who was shot in the Hamilton Park Shopping Center.

At the time of the shooting, police officials said Sanders stopped to interview and frisk Hunt because he had been deemed suspicious. A witness said at the time that the officer searched Hunt twice and tried to cuff him, when a struggle ensued and Hunt started to run away when he was shot in the back. No weapon was found, but police said they found drugs at the scene.

Outside the courtroom after his arraignment in 2008, attorney Henry L. Belsky said Sanders acted to protect himself and the public after Hunt resisted arrest.

"When a person chooses to resist arrest, he puts himself in a zone of danger that most citizens don't do," Belsky told reporters.

When asked by a reporter whether he had thoroughly searched Hunt, Sanders laughed lightly and shook his head. He would not comment. At a recent hearing, Sanders also snickered when the witnesses' account was presented to him.

Indictments of police officers in shooting cases are rare. The last conviction of an officer occurred in 1997, after Sgt. Stephen R. Pagotto was accused of shooting Preston E. Barnes the year before. That conviction was later overturned by the Court of Appeals.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Courts and the justice system
        

[UPDATE, 5:40 p.m.: Here is Julie's initial report, in which the unions claim the current situation is "not an accident, and 10 years does not a crisis make."]

The city police and fire unions filed a lawsuit today against the city in federal court, alleging the mayor and finance director have for years "breached its contract with its police officers, firefighters and retirees by systematically underfunding" the retirement system. Our City Hall reporter, Julie Scharper, is sifting through the 57-page complaint, but here's the union's press release in the meantime:

"After Bringing Several Solutions to the Negotiating Table, Fire & Police Forced to File Suit Against City

City has violated its contractual obligation

Baltimore, MD—June 3, 2010—Baltimore City has breached its contract with its police officers, firefighters and retirees by systematically underfunding the Fire & Police Employees’ Retirement System (F&P Plan).  As a result of its own actions, the City now claims that it must consider Bill 10-0482 and other legislation that would drastically reduce the benefits already earned by members of the F&P Plan that are guaranteed under Article 22 § 42 of the Baltimore City Code.  The City’s decision to break its promises has forced Baltimore’s police officers, firefighters and retirees to bring this matter before a Federal Judge.

“For more than a year now, the police and fire labor organizations have submitted proposals to address the funding problems of the F&P Plan, to no avail.  Despite filing this lawsuit, the police and fire labor organizations remain committed to continuing discussions with the City,” said Robert Cherry, President of the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police.

Over the past 14 months, the City has ignored numerous attempts by fire and police representatives to negotiate a compromise.  Litigation appears to be the only remaining option.  One of the key issues has been the City’s desire to take away the variable benefit in the F&P Plan, which provides periodic benefit increases for retirees.  Fire and police representatives have offered to negotiate modifications to the variable benefit in exchange for cost of living increases, which would offer the City an immediate savings of $65 million for the end of FY 2010 and long-term savings.
 

Baltimore’s public safety workers contribute 6% of each paycheck to the F&P Plan.  The City is also required to contribute to the F&P Plan, but for the past decade it has contributed far less money than was recommended by the F&P Plan’s actuary, even though the City had budget surpluses in some of those years.  The City’s underfunding has left the F&P Plan in a grossly underfunded state.  

“Year after year, City officials have ignored the recommendations of the F&P Plan’s own actuary, hoping that a day of reckoning would never come. By doing so, the City gambled away the funding of our members’ hard-earned pension,” stated Bob Sledgeski, President of Baltimore Fire Fighters Local 734.  “The City has broken its contractual obligations to the fire and police workers of Baltimore.  But what is more disheartening is that the City has broken its promise – the moral obligation to support those who have served and protected its citizens.”

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Breaking news, City Hall
        

Around Baltimore, Don Rice was known as "da Docta," a regular around the city's music scene who was always pulling other artists aside to talk shop or play his latest tune.

"He wrote songs in all different styles, a true American folk artist," said Kelly Shepherd, 40, a professional musician now based in Massachusetts. "He was a really special musician. I think he was kind of a genius, to be honest with you."

On Monday, Rice, 59, was found inside an SUV parked in the 3900 block of Loch Raven Blvd. in Original Northwood, dead from a gunshot wound to the head. He was the seventh victim during a violent stretch in which 10 people in Baltimore were killed.

Maj. Terrence McLarney, commander of the homicide unit, said a guitar and lyric sheets were found in Rice's car. Police had few leads, but said Rice was known to operate an unlicensed taxi - or "hack" - and that could have been a motive in the crime. 

Younger artists that he influenced described him as a talented musician who just never got the right break. Instead, he bounced around different venues, supporting the burgeoning careers of others and asking for feedback on his work. He'd fiddle around on the guitar, break into song, or ask them to play back up or collaborate on something he was trying to record.

"You could not be around Don and him not play a song for you," Shepherd said.

Marc Avon Evans, who runs an open mic acoustic series every week at Peace & A Cup of Joe downtown, remembers meeting Rice at a McDonald's on North Avenue in 2008. Rice recognized Evans and struck up a conversation and then started singing a tune he had written for his mother, using the sleeve of his jacket to provide the rhythm and breaking out into song - right in the fast food line.

"It was amazingly real. Honest and heartfelt," Evans wrote in a tribute on Facebook.

[Photo courtesy Marc Avon Evans]

He said Rice's influences and musical style ran the gamut - he could write a country and western song, a song that sounded Spanish or one that had tinges of Calypso. He liked everything from John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders to Carole King and Stevie Wonder. As a singer, his voice was "deep, resonant and very rich, like a speaking voice." He played guitar, keyboard, and drums.

Evans said Rice struggled with drugs and had "lost himself" for a time. Indeed, court records show he had numerous drug arrests - concentrated mostly in the early part of the decade - but Evans said Rice appeared to be getting back into a groove spiritually and was getting his voice back.

McLarney confirmed that detectives were told that Rice regularly attended 6 a.m. Narcotics Anonymous meetings at 27th Street and Maryland Avenue. "He wasn't perfect, but he was a good guy and working hard," McLarney said.

The day before his death, Rice had attended the Park Vibe Drum Circle at Druid Hill Park, an event that runs from 3 p.m. to sundown and has attracted influential African American musicians since the 1960s, said musician Jamal Moore, 31. He said he had been talking with Rice about finally laying down some tracks for an album.

"When they say, 'I wish this talent had been discovered,' that's how I perceived Don. He had some songs that could have easily been hits," Shepherd said. "Had he gotten away from Baltimore, sometimes when you get away from the people and the area that knows you, people really see your talent."

Anyone with information is asked to call the homicide unit at 410-396-2100.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Northeast Baltimore
        

It seems hard to believe, but another child in Baltimore has been raped and contracted a sexually transmitted disease. This one occurred in West Baltimore and involved a 7-year-old child and her mother's live-in boyfriend, who has been arrested and charged.

The Baltimore Sun is not identifying the suspect protect the identity of the child. This cases comes just a month after police say an 18-month-old contracted gonorrhea after her mother says she was sexually assaulted. Police have questioned a person of interest, a next-door neighbor who the mother says had been alone with the child in their Cherry Hill home, but have not yet filed charges.

The West Baltimore case was reported the same day as the one in Cherry Hill.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Confronting crime, West Baltimore
        

The Sun's police reporter Justin Fenton reports today that another witness to a Baltimore killing has been killed.

Michael Pryor, 32, was a witness to a fatal stabbing last March at a bar on Clipper Mill Road near Hampden. He had chased the victim's attackers, Justin wrote, and was himself stabbed. The suspect is scheduled for trial June 22.

Prosecutors say they will still move foward with the trial and will try to present Pryor's testimony using a 2005 law that allows them to present "out of court" testimony if they can prove that the behavior of the defendant caused the witness to be absent.

"We will not be deterred," said Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Northeast Baltimore, Witness intimidation
        

Wednesday's crash involving a dirt bike -- in which a passenger then assaulted the driver of a car the dirt bike hit after going through a red light -- has sparked complaints from across the city. It was the second dirt bike crash in a week. Earlier, a motorcyclist was killed when he hit a pole after swerving to a avoid a dirt bike whose driver was carrying a child.

In the picture from The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum, Dale Truelock of Cherry Hill Towing rolls the dirtbike damaged in the accident from place where police found it had been hidden after the accident.

There's a video documentary on Baltimore dirt bike riders on YouTube called Wildout Wheelie Boyz.

The out-of-control antics of the dirt bike packs have police stymied once againt. They're forbidden from chasing them because it's too dangerous, and thus the riders have turned some city streets into zones of anarchy.

At a town hall forum sponsored by the City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, a group of dirt bike riders actually said it's better for them to be out running the streets -- even though the dirt bikes aren't registered and are illegal -- than to have them standing on street corners getting into trouble.

Here is another perspective from resident Bryan Canary, who sent this e-mail to me:

I live right next to Camden Yards in Ridgely's Delight...and every Sunday night at 7pm (plus or minus 10 minutes) the roar of motor bikes/dirt bikes can be heard coming into town on Russell Street...
 
Years ago when I lived in Federal Hill I was always amazed at all the junkies that would come out around 7pm....and I was finally enlightened by one of them......7pm is the time for a major shift change for folks on patrol.....

For more of his email:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Confronting crime, Downtown, Neighborhoods
        

On Wednesday, 30 Baltimore police officers from an in-service training class walked a foot-post up and down Greenmount Avenue. It's the sight of two killings in April, including the shooting of an elderly Afro-American newspaper security guard who was caught up in an armed robbery.

Here is some video:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, North Baltimore, Top brass
        

The driver of an illegal dirt bike plowed through a red light at a West Baltimore intersection on Wednesday and broadsided a red sedan, but the most serious injuries suffered by the car’s driver didn’t come from the crash, according to city police.

A department spokesman said a passenger on the dirt bike quickly hid the cycle in an alley and then returned with friends who beat up the car’s driver so severely that he had to be rushed to Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

The car is above in a photo by The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum.

The teen-aged bike passenger was arrested and faces charges of assault. The driver of the bike was catapulted in the crash and suffered broken bones to his arm and wrist, said police spokesman Donny Moses. He also has been admitted to Shock Trauma and faces charges related to motor vehicle infractions and driving an illegal dirt bike, Moses said.

Conditions on the patients were not immediately available.

Wednesday’s accident at South Monroe and West Pratt streets is the latest involving an illegal dirt bike, which are prevalent during the hot summer months. Teens and others typically ride in packs, threatening pedestrians and other motorists as they race and perform wheelies and other stunts in traffic.

A 44-year-old motorcyclist from Greenbelt was killed Sunday after he crashed into a pole at Gilmor and Fayette streets when he lost control swerving to avoid a dirt bike whose operator was carrying a 2-year-old child.

Dirt bikes are nearly impossible for city police to stop. Officers are forbidden to chase them because it’s deemed too dangerous and have to rely on other means to combat the problem. The helicopter often follows groups around and notifies officers on the ground when they stop.

Police in some districts hand out fliers urging residents if they see a dirt bike parked in their neighborhood that they should call police. And a new law takes effect Oct. 1 that makes it illegal for gas station owners to dispense gas to dirt bikes. Also, Moses said officers have heard of gas station owners charging extra fees to fill dirt bike tanks.

The latest crash occurred about 11:30 a.m. Moses said the dirt bike driver, whose name and age was not immediately released, was driving south on Monroe Street and ran a light at Pratt. After the crash, which dented the driver’s side door of the red sedan, Moses said the passenger pushed the dirt bike into an alley and hid it in an open stairwell basement.

Moses said the youth returned with friends and beat the car’s driver until police arrived a few minutes later. Officers also retrieved the dirt bike. Of the car’s driver, Moses said, “Most of his injuries came as a result of the assault and not of the accident.”

“Dirt bikes are an obvious problem that we’re working tirelessly to abate,” Moses said.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, West Baltimore
        

Baltimore police sent 30 cops walking foot up and down troubled Greenmount Avenue today -- a show of force designed to show shop owners that they haven't been forgotten. The cops are all in training, so they weren't pulled from other jobs.

The busy street that cuts through several North Baltimore neighborhoods, including Waverly, home to the farmers market, has several semi-upscale restaurants trying to make a go on a strip with shaky reputation and a hodgepodge of seedy-looking storefronts. The city's top cop walked through after recent violence.

Two recent shootings shook the neighborhood, including the April 8 slaying of Charles Bowman, a security guard at the Afro-American newspaper who had stopped in a carryout for dinner before starting his night shift and got shot in a robbery. (police have arrested two teens in the case). Two days later, on a sunny afternoon, a 22-year-old man was shot and killed after a fight at a restaurant at Greenmount and 33rd.

This morning, Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III addressed an unusal roll call -- one held outdoors in a supermarket parking lot. The photo above was taken by The Sun's Algerna Perna.

After, he said he wanted to reinforce to the officers "what they’re here for and let them know how visible and important this little stretch is in terms of this crime fight, and to reassure them to focus on the problem at hand. Some problems are  beyond they’re control. We’re not asking them to solve crime all over the city. I just want them to do something about this little stretch of Greenmount Avenue and to reaffirm to the people that we’ve got their back and we’re going to make them safe.”

The extra cops is a visible show of force amid threatened budget cuts that could result in laying off 250 or more cops, and trouble in the pension system that has the police union threatening a lawsuit against the city to avoid further trims. And all this is coming amid a surge in violence in which 10 people were killed over four days starting Saturday.

Bealefeld said his officers will remain focused:

“It’s like lamenting the officiating of a game. Athletes play the damn game. Stop complaining about the officiating. I can’t control the officiating, and I’m going to work my ass off to make sure these cops get their money and make sure they get the proper due for their retirements, and I’m going to lobby the people I need to lobby to make sure that it’s done. But at the end of the day, we need to be focused on public safety, and this other stuff, whether they feel good or I feel good — who cares if I feel good? Nobody cares if our morale is up or down. They just want to be safe. They understand that. They’re athletes. They’re professionals at what they do. And they’re going to go out and they’re going to work and they’re going to do their jobs. I’m confident that’s going to happen.”

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, North Baltimore, Top brass
        

Coming off a horrific weekend -- and day after --the city appears to be quieting down. Baltimore Police report just one shooting overnight, a man who walked into the Johns Hopkins Hospital emergency room with a gunshot wound. At last report, police were searching for the crime scene.

UPDATE: City police report that shortly after 8 this morning, another man was shot -- an adult male wounded in the leg in the 1900 block of Park Ave. Detectives are investigating at this hour.

That's progress considering 10 people have been killed -- nine shot, one stabbed -- since Saturday, one of the deadliest stretches of violence since 2007. The Sun's crime reporter, Justin Fenton, takes you through the killings (reporting that at least two shootings in East Baltimore are believed linked to a Bloods-Crips gang feud) and I toured nine of the crime scenes on Tuesday. At left, is a photo of a tribute to two men killed at a cookout on Pulaski Street. Police said the shooting started with an argument over someone pulling woman's hair.

This morning, city police announced arresting a man on a search warrant and finding two illegal handguns, 1.5 pounds of suspected marijuana and $1,000. They arrested Anthony Walker, 38, on drug and weapons charges. No further details have been divulged.

And on Monday, police reported seizing a loaded revolver and arrested Shawn Demetrice Jones, 18, in the 400 block of N. Lakewood Ave., and finding two loaded handguns and suspected drugs during a car stop in the 2500 block of W. Baltimore St. One person was arrested.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Gangs, West Baltimore
        

In an unusual move, Boston police released photographs of 10 unidentified young men who the commissioner says should be shamed for belonging to a gang that he contends is responsible for the killing of a 14-year-old that is shaking the city, the Boston Globe reported. The flier is going around the Dorchester community and was distributed to the media.

"We are doing this because we believe the community can play a role in making the individuals who are responsible for the execution of a 14-year-old boy outcasts in their own neighborhood,’’ Commissioner Edward F. Davis said in a telephone interview.

Boston papers reported that the city had a particularly violent weekend, prompting outrage from community leaders and police. The city had three killings - or about less than half of the number of people killed in Baltimore over the same span. Here, the mayor and police commissioner were quick to note that all other crime numbers - besides killings and shootings of course - were "fantastic."

Anyway, what do you think of this flier as a police tactic? 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Crime elsewhere
        

The Baltimore police department has submitted to City Hall a list of 250 officers who would be laid off if the budget gap is not closed, officials said.

The cuts are based on union-mandated requirements that would result in the most recent hires being the first out. The patrol division would be the hardest hit, and the officers who could be laid off include 50 officers recently hired using $10 million in federal stimulus money, which officials say would have to be given back.

Layoffs notices have been sent or are being prepared for other city employees across departments, and fire officials released details on the three city fire companies that face closure if no new funds are found. City officials say they remain hopeful that the plans represent only doomsday scenarios as the council works on new revenue streams.

But police commanders were privately expressing concern about morale; the notices will be going out as officers are being asked to be particularly diligent following an explosion of violence over the weekend that left eight people dead and continued Tuesday with another two killings.

Speaking after an event, Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake said the spate of violence underscored the importance of the city "having every police officer we can on the street. That’s why I’m pushing so hard for the comprehensive revenue package.”

“The City Council has a lot on their plate, but we’re hopeful and optimistic that they will pass the mayor’s revenue package,” Guglielmi said.

In the meantime, police say they have not been hampered by the budget woes. “The mayor made it very clear to the commissioner over the weekend that whatever resources the BPD needed, those would not be hampered,” Guglielmi said.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: City Hall, Top brass
        

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said the weekend violence that saw eight people killed and another five wounded in shootings was generally the result of "minor, petty neighborhood disputes that got out of control."

"Some of these things are beyond the control and the scope of [police] deployments," he said. "...They're not easily solved by saying, 'We're going to put a zillion cops on the street.' We have to be smart about our deployments and focus where we can get the maximum returns."

Providing new details about some of the crimes, Bealefeld said a double-homicide in the Southwest District on Sunday stemmed from an argument at a street corner cookout that "devolved into a fight between a 30 year old man and a woman who was at the party and went home and alerted relatives that had access to cheap, semi-automatic weapons and went back to settle the score themselves."

"Two men ended up losing their lives over a stupid argument - some hair-pulling and a minor assault led to two people being dead," Bealefeld said.

Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake said "we have to have the ability to get together, to enjoy ourselves over the holiday without it turning into fights ... arguments that turn into shootings."

"We have to want more for ourselves in our community than this type of lawlessness. It's going to take the community working with our police to make that happen."

Bealefeld said he was more concerned by Sunday's two killings along the Monument Street corridor, where police have focused more resources in the past year. Two men were shot and killed within blocks and over the span of about 45 minutes. Bealefeld indicated one suspect was responsible for both shootings.

"The Monument Street cases certainly have us evaluating what we could have done better," he said. "When you have two street disturbances, two street fights that lead to two deaths in an hour of each other and with one common suspect, there's some breakdowns there."

The city's top cop also noted that other types of crime were down over the weekend. He said burglaries, aggravated assaults and robberies were all down, in some cases markedly.

"The fact of the matter is, we had an incredibly successful weekend in every other crime category other than homicides and non-fatal shootings," he said.

Rawlings-Blake said those other crime numbers were "fantastic." "That being said, I think we have an opportunity to be a much safer city."

And she expressed concern over the community's seemingly quiet approval of the daily violence. "When a toddler gets tossed from a dirt bike and nobody wants to say anything, that's a problem in our community. I did a ridealong recently with the Northeast district, and was right there when a stabbing happened, and no one wanted to say anything."

Bealefeld also addressed a shooting in the 5900 block of Loch Raven Blvd, saying a man was found shot in the head in a truck and that there was no indication that it had "anything to do with Northeast Baltimore." 

"It was an opportune place where some coward elected to do his dirty deed," Bealefeld said. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: City Hall, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods, Top brass
        

I just spent more than three hours driving to each of city's nine slayings that occurred between early Saturday morning and early Tuesday -- a spate of killings that is unusual even for a city seemingly swamped in violence.

One killing was a domestic and another involved a man fatally stabbed when he came to help another man in a dispute with a woman. Both of those occurred inside homes. But others were outside, most linked to the city's underworld of crime. Many if not most of the victims had criminal records, and judging by some of the street-corner memorials, some seemed involved in the drug trade.

The trip took 35.6 miles and more than three hours (including time spent stopping for interviews). A full story will be in Crime Scenes later today on line and in tomorrow's print edition. I started with a shooting on North Fulton Ave. (12:43 a.m. today) and ended at Pennington Ave. in Curtis Bay (1 a.m. Saturday).

In one spot, on North Rose Street, a mother put up a sign pleading for help paying for the funeral. At another, a double shooting on Pulaski Street, balloons fluttered in a warm breeze and empty bottles of vodka shared space with votive candles and teddy bears.

Baltimore police have made an arrest in at least one of the domestics -- the stabbing in which the man intervened in the dispute -- and noted the difficulties of policing a city under seige. The double slaying on Pulaski Street, for example, began at an argument during a cookout in which one person got angry over another person's hair being pulled.

At another spot on Loch Raven Boulevard, on quiet residential street of nicely mowed green lawns, just up from Good Samaritan Hospital, there was gang graffiti imbedded in sidewalk concrete. Even in spots where violence doesn't happen, the danger signs are there. Picture is at left.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

It seems as if the entire city was wrapped in crime scene tape this weekend.

Ten people shot. Seven of them died. We've had weekends, days even, with more shootings (remember the day of the cookout last year when 18 people were shot in a single night -- though only two people died) but I can't recall any as deadly.

Virtually every part of the city, including two area where cops and everyone else are concentrating on -- Carrollton Ridge, where 5-year-old Raven Wyatt was shot last year, and McElderry Park, where former gang members try to intervene in disputes before they become violent.

And this morning we wake to news that the end of the Memorial Day holiday has brought no respite to the weary. Another shooting, another death, 43 minutes after midnight, technically after the holiday, but adding to the toll means 11 shootings with 8 eight dead in four days. This time, the shooting was in West Baltimore, on Fulton Avenue. And on top of that, a man was stabbed to death about 6 p.m. Monday in Northeast Baltimore.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Not far from where three people were killed Sunday in Southwest Baltimore, police say a man opened fire on an officer after bailing out of a vehicle during a traffic stop. Maj. Anthony Brown, commander of the Southwest District, said the officer was not hurt, and though the shooter got away, three other men were taken into custody and two handguns were recovered. Hopefully additional details will be available tomorrow.

More than a dozen guns were taken off the street this weekend, a three-day span that saw seven people shot to death and eight people killed. As one gang outreach worker told me recently, "It's easier to get a gun out here than a cell phone."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)