A man who said a Baltimore police officer strip searched him on a public street and twice tased him while he was in handcuffs has agreed to settle a civil suit he filed against the city and is being offered $95,000.

The settlement is pending approval by the Board of Estimates, the city’s spending panel, which scheduled the item for Wednesday. Baltimore police and the city solicitor declined to comment. The amount is contained in court records and on the Board of Estimates’ agenda.

Donte T. Harris sued Officer Babatunda Orlsadelle after his arrest in April 2007 while walking to a store on Woodbine Avenue in West Baltimore. He said officers stopped him to look for drugs, but none were found. He was charged with disorderly conduct and disobeying a police officer; prosecutors did not pursue either charge.

Orlsadelle joined the city force in February 2001. A police spokesman, Det. Donny Moses, said Orlsadelle is currently assigned to the Northern District, but has been suspended from duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation since August 2010.

Details of the suit:

According to his lawsuit, Harris and a friend, Charles Williams, were stopped, searched and put into the back of a police car in handcuffs. The officers told them the charge was for loitering. They called a police wagon to the take the two men to central booking for processing.

It was then that Orladelle took Harris out of the car and patted him down, as is customary before putting a suspect in the transport wagon. ““Then he unzipped [Harris’] pants and fondled and then grabbed his testicles.”

In the suit, Harris said he responded, “Hey man, you ain’t supposed to be doing that.” He said the officer grabbed harder, causing him to step back in pain. He said the officer repeatedly asked him, “Do you have anything on you?” and then lifted up Harris’ shirt and “placed the taser to his stomach.”

Harris said he responded: “I don’t think you should do that. I don’t think Internal Affairs would like that.”

The suit says Orlsadelle tased Harris on the right side of his stomach, and then tased him on the left side of the stomach after he had fallen down. At the time, the suit says, Harris was in handcuffs. The lawsuit says the officer never informed anyone that he had used his taser.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, West Baltimore
        

Baltimore County police have put an alert about a white pit bull that attacked an officer in the Towson area today. Police warn people that if they see the dog, do not approach it, and call 911 immedately.

Here is a statement:

On February 28, 2011 at approximately 12:30 p.m., a Baltimore County Police Officer assigned to Precinct 06/Towson responded for an animal complaint on Deanwood Road. When the officer exited his vehicle he was attacked by two dogs and bit multiple times. The officer used his pepper spray to repel the dogs and was also affected by the spray.
 
The officer who has been employed by the Baltimore County Police Department for 6 years was taken to an area hospital for treatment. One of the dogs has been captured.
 
Police are asking anyone that sees a white pit bull with an orange spot on its backside to not approach the dog and call 911 immediately. The dog was last seen in the area of California Avenue and Harford Road.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore County, Confronting crime
        

A Circut Court judge this morning upheld the firing of a Baltimore police officer who berated and pushed a 14-year-old skateboarder during a confrontation in the Inner Harbor in 2007. The ruling came after about an hour of arguments presented by an attorney for the police union and for the city.

The officer's lawyer argued that the police commissioner went beyond what was reasonable when he rejected an internal trial board recommendation that Rivieri be suspended for six days and lose leave time.

The trial board had found the officer not guilty of the most serious charges that included using excessive force and language. Rivieri was found guilty only of failing to write a police report, which his attorney described as a minor infraction. The attorney argued that the commissioner based his decision on parts issues that his client had been found not guilty of doing -- in essence conduct seen on the video.

But the city's lawyer argued that the failing to write a police report is not a minor infraction, and that Rivieri's failure to properly document his encounter with the youth was tantamount to covering up his use of force against a teenager.

There'll be more details later on the web and in The Sun's print edition.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (37)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Downtown, Top brass
        

The federal corruption probe accusing officers of taking kickbacks from towing companies involved skirting the city-approved system. But that city system is receiving new scrutiny nonetheless this week, shining a spotlight on an arcane and poorly documented process, reports The Sun's City Hall reporter Julie Scharper:

Baltimore's police commissioner is demanding a review of the decades-old practice of funneling the city's multimillion-dollar towing business to a small circle of companies without requiring them to compete for contracts.

Other city officials, including Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, are also calling for a closer look at the towing system — just days before the contract was scheduled for a two-year renewal.

The companies — known as "medallions" for the police-issued stickers affixed to their trucks — have had a lock on the city's towing business for at least three decades, elbowing out competitors by expanding their fleets to cover more territory. One of the companies forfeited its state business certification two years ago but continued to operate under its exclusive city contract.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: City Hall
        

Baltimore police are complaining about cuts to their pay and to their pension, and are loudly protesting City Hall. Baltimore leaders are cheering that they closed a $121 million budget deficit without laying cops off.

They point to New Jersey, where cops by the hundreds have lost their jobs to dire economic times, and police unions there say crime is soaring as a result. Today's Crime Scenes gets into the debate in more detail, and notes the release of the Maryland State Police annual law enforcement salary survey.

In the 1990, Baltimore police officers were among the lowest paid cops in the state, earning starting salaries of about $28,000. An academy graduate in the city now gets $42,290 a year, still in a low tier. They’re ahead of state troopers and cops in Anne Arundel and Charles counties but below police in Baltimore, Howard and Harford counties.

Above, the president of the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police union, Robert F. Cherry, leads a protest outside City Hall. For more details: 

But the salary discrepancy at career’s start is minimal, a little more than $4,000 lower than in Baltimore County, which has the highest starting salary in the Baltimore area. City officers, however, lose considerable ground as their career grows, according to the Maryland State Police 2010 Salary and Benefits Survey report.

Let’s say you work in the city and you’re promoted to lieutenant, the highest civil service rank. The minimum starting salary is $68,630, which is more than the $66,135 you’d make in Baltimore County. But in the city, it would take you 25 years to earn $90,365. In county, it would take you seven years to earn $134,821.

It is certainly true that that it’s harder to make lieutenant in Baltimore County and in Baltimore City, which is roughly double the size and has many more openings and opportunities. But look at someone who spends a career with rank of officer. The city cop tops out at $68,523 after putting in 25 years at that rank, while it would take a county officer nine years to earn $96,143.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Crime elsewhere, Top brass
        

Ending weeks of speculation, the Baltimore mayor's office announced a review panel to examine last month's shooting of a plainclothes police officer by his colleagues, and the fatal shooting of another man in the same incident.

The Sun's Justin Fenton provides more details in today's story, which raises some questions. The panel is made up of two former police chiefs and a former U.S. Attorney, but contains no community members.

It's also unclear whether the group will hold public hearings, as has been done in other cities.

Officials say the independent review board will issue a comprehensive report on the circumstances that led to the agency's first fatal police-on-police shooting in more than 80 years, killing Officer William H. Torbit Jr. and civilian Sean Gamble, and make recommendations to improve policies.

"I am grateful for the individuals who have agreed to join this review board to conduct a thorough and independent study of this tragic incident," Rawlings-Blake said in a statement. "Their findings will help us better understand what happened that night and improve training for our officers."

The city homicide unit's investigation into the shooting is still pending, with detectives awaiting final autopsy results from the state medical examiner's office and transcripts of witness interviews, officials say. Part of their report might include a computer re-creation of the incident.

Read the mayor's statement:

Mayor Rawlings-Blake and Commissioner Bealefeld Appoint Independent Panel to Review Club Select Shootings

Independent panel comprised of regional and national law enforcement experts.

BALTIMORE, MD (February 26, 2011)—Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld, III announced the appointment of an independent board to review the police-involved shooting that occurred on January 9, 2011, as well as related police policies and procedures.  The incident resulted in the death of police officer William Torbit, Jr., and Mr. Sean Gamble, as well as the shooting of 3 other civilians and one police officer.  The board is comprised of national law enforcement experts who will review the incident and recommend changes to policies and procedures to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.

“I am grateful for the individuals who have agreed to join this review board to conduct a thorough and independent study of this tragic incident,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake.  “Their findings will help us better understand what happened that night and improve training for our officers.”

Members of the Independent Review Board:

·         Mr. Darrel Stephens is on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University in the Division of Public Safety Leadership and Executive Director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. He started his law enforcement career in the Kansas City, MO Police Department where he served as an officer, sergeant, and unit commander.  He served as the Police Chief for Lawrence, KS, Largo, FL, Newport News, VA, St. Petersburg, FL, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC.  As Chief of Police, he has been nationally recognized for his contributions to problem oriented police strategies.  Stephens served as the Executive Director of the Washington, DC based Police Executive Research Forum from 1986 - 1992 and in 2006, he also served as President of the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

Mr. Hubert Williams is the President of the Police Foundation, which assists police departments to increase community satisfaction by implementing community policing strategies.  Mr. Williams served as Police Director for the Newark, NJ Police Department, and was the youngest executive of a police department in the United States.  In 1992, he was appointed by the Los Angeles Police Department to evaluate the police response to civil disorder in that city. 
 
Mr. James K. “CHIPS” Stewart is a Senior Fellow at CNA’s Institute for Public Research which provides research and analysis expertise on safety and security issues.  Mr. Stewart served in the Oakland, CA Police Department, retiring as Commander of Criminal Investigations.  After retirement, he served as the Director of the National Institute of Justice for two Presidents.  Mr. Stewart has participated in review boards and law enforcement analyses that have led to changes in policies, procedures and operations.  He serves as an advisor to George Mason University, participates in National Academy of Science panels relating to Crime and Justice and provides services to the Department of Justice and its agencies. 
 
Mr. Stephen H. Sachs was a two-term Maryland Attorney General.  He is also a former U.S. Attorney for Maryland. After leaving public life, he joined Wilmer Cutler Pickering specializing in criminal and civil litigation.  In retirement, he collaborates with the Public Justice Center in pro bono on behalf of disadvantaged citizens. 
 
Dr. Cynthia Lum is a former Detective in the Baltimore City Police Department.  She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University, as well as Deputy Director of George Mason’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy. Before joining the faculty at George Mason, Dr. Lum was an Instructional Professor for the U.S. State Department’s International Law Enforcement Academy.
 
“It is important for the Baltimore Police Department, the City of Baltimore and everyone affected by the incident to have an independent board review the investigation, policies and procedures.” said Commissioner Bealefeld.   “And, I am thankful that these national experts have agreed to serve as part of this Board and I look forward to working with them.” 

The Board will be asked to accomplish the following tasks:

·         Review the Baltimore Police Department’s investigation of the incident and its findings.

·         Conduct a comprehensive review of the circumstances surrounding the events of January 9, 2011.

·         Review the use of lethal force by officers of the Baltimore Police Department and determine whether or not the use of force was consistent with existing law and departmental policy.

·         Review existing departmental policies and procedures and identify any policy violations that occurred.

·         Identify best practices to improve BPD’s policies related to incident response and incident management.  This assessment shall include, but not be limited to, the following issues:

o   Identification of plain clothes officers

o   Crowd control techniques in an urban setting

o   Deployment and incident command in emergencies

o   Judgmental shooting training

·         Review Baltimore Police Department training practices related to use of force, crowd control and firearms training and make recommendations for improvement.

The Review Board will not begin its work until the formal police investigation is complete.  The Board will issue a written report to Mayor Rawlings-Blake and Commissioner Bealefeld at the conclusion of its review that summarizes the steps it undertook to conduct the review, its findings and recommendations. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: City Hall, Downtown, Police shootings, Top brass
        

More people are coming forward with complaints that cops steered them to a car repair shop in Rosedale. And not all the police work for Baltimore City. Also, the criminal probe that led to the arrests of 17 city officers this week on federal extortion charges is putting a spotlight on the city's contracts with a tow companies:

A federal corruption probe that has already led to more than 30 Baltimore police officers suspended or charged with receiving kickbacks in an alleged towing scheme has expanded to include at least one former officer from a state law enforcement agency.

The revelation that a police officer outside the city might be involved could indicate a wider problem than officials had previously disclosed. A Maryland Transportation Authority Police spokesman confirmed Friday that an officer who resigned two weeks ago in an unrelated misconduct case is now part of the federal investigation.

"We're going back and looking at everything he did," said the transportation authority spokesman, Sgt. Jonathan Green. The MdTA Police hired the former officer, Herberto Esteves, after he resigned from the Baltimore police force in 2008.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Top brass
        

This just in from The Sun's Nick Madigan at the Baltimore Circuit Court:

A Baltimore jury on Friday found Cleaven L. Williams Jr. guilty of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of his pregnant wife outside a city courthouse in 2008.

Deliberating for a fourth day Friday, jury members had indicated earlier this week that they were having trouble reaching a consensus. They sent a note to the judge late Thursday afternoon, but it was unclear what the document said.

Williams was also convicted of a weapons charge in the death of his wife, Veronica Williams, with whom he had three children. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 29.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news
        

In December, a federal judge sentence Byron Keith Brown to 15 years in prison for bilking people out of $17 million in an Internet Ponzi scheme.

On Tuesday, you can buy his luxury cars during an auction run by the U.S. Treasury Department being held in Ellicott City (photo at left provided by the treasury department).

Brown was convicted after a three-week trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. He ran a company called "In God We Trust Financial Services" and several others under different names in Virginia and Maryland. He used to live in Ellicott City.

Prosecutors said that from 2003 to 2009, Brown pushed an investment scheme in which he created fake investors to give the appearance that people were sending him up to $1 million "Brown used funds from new investors to make payments to old investors and to conceal his diversion of investors' monies," prosecutors said.

With Brown securely in prison, the feds can now auction off his cars. Here's a list:

2007 Lamborghini Murcielago            2005 Rolls Royce Phantom
2004 Mercedes Benz Maybach 57       2006 Aston Martin
2008 Maserati Gran Turismo              2002 Ferrari 360
2004 Bentley Continental                  2007 Jaguar XKR CPE
1936 Auburn Speedster                    2006 Land Rover
2006 Mercedes Benz S500                2005 Land Rover Range Rover
2007 BMW 3 Series                          2004 Audi AA8
2005 BMW 7 Series                          2005 Volkswagen Beetle
2005 GMC Canyon

See pictures of the cars here.

For more information:

The auction will be conducted on behalf of the U.S. Department of the Treasury at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at the Manheim Baltimore-Washington location, 7120 Dorsey Run Road, Elkridge, MD, 21075.  

Brown acquired the luxury vehicles being auctioned through his involvement in an online ponzi scheme through which he fraudulently obtained over $17 million from online investors.  These vehicles were seized from him as part of an investigation by IRS – Criminal Investigation and the prosecution of the case by the U.S. Attorneys Office.  Byron Keith Brown was sentenced on December 21, 2010 to 15 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for wire fraud and money laundering.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere
        

There's been a surprising twist in at least one of the burglaries that had Glen Arm residents worried -- one woman has been charged with breaking into her own parent's home.

The Sun's Nick Madigan has this report:

In a remorseful letter to her mother, a 23-year-old pregnant woman accused of burglarizing her parents' home described how her heroin habit had overshadowed her sense of right and wrong.

"I'm sorry for everything that I have done to you," Crystal Ann Evans wrote in the letter, reproduced in court documents after her Feb. 14 arrest. "It really wasn't me, the drug took over my life!"

Evans is one of two women picked up by police in connection with a string of crimes in recent months in the Baltimore County countryside that prompted some residents to arm themselves. Evans was charged with first-degree burglary, a theft scheme and other counts, and was being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center in Towson. She is scheduled to appear in court March 11.

Asked by a police sergeant whether her boyfriend had helped her break into her parents' home, from which she had been barred, Evans replied, "No, I broke into the house myself, actually," according to the court documents. "I was too embarrassed for him to see that I was stealing from my own family. He just waited outside."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

UPDATE: Friday's paper outlines how police commanders are shifting resources to make up for the arrests and suspensions of officers. Because many of them were assigned to the Northeast, police have pulled a "community stabilization unit" of rookie, foot patrol officers out of Southeast Baltimore and put them in squad cars. Southeast Baltimore residents say the foot patrols were effective and are worried about losing the 20 officers.

This letter went out to community leaders tonight from the acting commander of the Northeast District, where most of the Wednesday's arrested officers worked:

Dear Community Leaders,

As a result of the recent indictments of ten Northeast District Officers and the suspension of eight Northeast District Officers, I wanted to contact you to let you know that this situation does not in any way adversely impact our service and commitment to the communities of the Northeast District. We will continue to expect a high level of integrity and performance from all of our officers. As you know, most of our officers are dedicated, hardworking and committed professionals who work daily to serve and protect our citizens. 

Additionally, one Lieutenant and twenty-one officers have been detailed to the Northeast District to supplement our staffing and support our efforts. These additional officers have been placed in uniform patrol and are young and eager to work. I will be working longer hours and as usual, I will be on the streets assisting and monitoring performance. 

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Thank you.   

Deputy Major De Sousa

Acting Commander, Northeast District  

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Northeast Baltimore
        

Here is the 41-page indictment filed against 17 Baltimore police officers who are charged with steering accident victims to a single car repair shop in Rosedale, and then allegedly getting kickbacks from the company:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Top brass
        

The Baltimore cops called themselves the "untouchables group" and talked in thinly-veiled code, referring to alleged payoffs as "coffee," according to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI. They complained about being broke and demanded expedited payments. They made disparaging remarks about the people they were supposed to protect.

Phone conversations and streams of text messages intercepted during a corruption investigation caught police officers in unguarded moments — raw chats laced with profanities and describing meetings in convenience store parking lots to collect money, sometimes with officers pulling up in marked squad cars.

Parts of the wiretaps are quoted in a 41-page indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. They are an integral part of an investigation that became public with the arrests of 17 Baltimore police officers charged with getting kickbacks for steering accident victims to a single car repair shop on Rosedale.

Here's one conversation (see full story for more):

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Confronting crime
        

Police in Baltimore have had their share of problems over the years, but they managed to avoid scenes like this one in 1994 in New York: officers leaving their Harlem precinct in handcuffs and the city’s disgusted commissioner dumping their badges in a trash can in front of camera crews at a news conference.

That is, until Wednesday.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III stole the playbook from New York when he personally helped arrest 15 of 17 officers charged in an extortion scheme that federal authorities say involved kickbacks from owners of a tow truck company.

The top cop lured the accused officers to the training academy, took their badges and handed them to the president of the class of new recruits, who lined them up on the floor for display. The scene wasn’t captured on television, but the message to those about to join the force, and to those already serving, was deliberate, and unmistakable.

Stories of city police officers and others in law enforcement getting caught on the wrong side of the law abound, but most of the cases appeared isolated to one or a handful of cops making bad decisions.

Baltimore had managed to avoid the taint of the words “systemic corruption.”

There were always hints that the uncovered misconduct was more extensive than first advertised. But not in recent memory has such a broad, sweeping case been brought. Seventeen cops charged with federal crimes, and a dozen more implicated.

Here is a list of some of the more recent cases against Baltimore police officers and other city law enforcement officials that raised questions of systemic corruption:

* Two police officers, father and son, were sentenced to 15 months and two years in prison in 1996 for covering up an arson-for-profit scheme masterminded by a group of low-level gangsters who burned vacant rowhouses to pocket insurance money. The cops were paid to clear streets of witnesses and falsify police reports. Two people died in the fires.

* Two officers pleaded guilty in 1997 to stealing Oriole playoff tickets from scalpers. Both officers signed their resignation papers in court as they pleaded guilty, while alleging that the practice was routine and widespread among their colleagues. No other officers were charged in the case.

* A city officer was sentenced to five years in prison in 1998 for being on the payroll of a drug lord and for helping abduct and kill a rival narcotics dealer. The drug lord was spared execution but was sentenced to life in federal prison, linked by prosecutors to more than a dozen murders and described as one of the most ruthless drug dealers in Baltimore at the time.

* A police officer pleaded guilty July 1999 to using his badge to rob a Latino immigrant in Fells Point under the ruse of checking immigration papers. The case strained relations with the community as more immigrants accused officers of robbing them. Only one officer was charged and convicted in connection with one robbery.

*A police officer in 2000 was caught in an undercover sting and charged with planting drugs on an innocent man, raising questions about police tactics across the department. The case crumbled with prosecutors accusing police of bungling the investigation and charges were dropped. The accused officer later committed suicide.

*Former Baltimore Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris pleaded guilty in 2004 to public corruption and tax charges for misusing a special police fund and served six months behind bars. His top aide also pleaded guilty in the case and admitted to using money from the fund to pay for romantic liaisons, dinners at expensive restaurants, trips and gifts.

*Police commanders in 2005 disbanded the Southwestern District’s “Flex Squad” after an officer was charged with raping a woman in the police station. Detectives reported finding drugs haphazardly kept in desk drawers and evidence that members had been planting contraband on suspects. A jury acquitted the officer of rape and the department dropped administrative charges against other officers. Nothing ever came of the broader investigation into the squad.

*Two Baltimore police detectives were sentenced in 2006 to each serve more than a century in prison for shaking down drug dealers for money, and stealing cocaine and heroin for their informants. They argued that their tactics were endorsed as part of widely-used, legitimate undercover work.

*Detectives opened an internal investigation in the fall of 2006 examining a sergeant and six plainclothes officers on the Special Enforcement Team in the Southeastern District who were accused of embellishing or making up cases to obtain arrest warrants. The allegations came to light when federal and state prosecutors began dropping hundreds of criminal cases involving the officers. None of the officers were charged with crimes and it’s unclear what, if anything, happened with the internal investigation.

*At least four state prison guards were charged in 2009 with smuggling salmon and vodka to a violent prison gang and helping them arrange drug deals, extort protection money and arrange hits on witnesses and rivals on Baltimore streets. Authorities said the gang tried to take over the city’s lucrative drug trade from behind prison walls and with the help of prison guards.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Top brass
        

Baltimore City School Police are seeking help identifying the person who burglarized the North Bend Elementary School in the 100 block of North Bend Road in the Southwest District.

Police said the incident occurred about 8 p.m. Feb 20 and that the man was carrying a gun. It occurred after school had closed. Authorities did not disclose whether anything was taken or how the man got into the building.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Baltimore City School Police at 410-396-8590.

It appears that the man broke into school through a door in the loading dock. See more pictures released by city police below:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Southwest Baltimore
        

Paula Protani was posting signs in a parking lot on a hot day in August 2009 when she spotted a police officer arranging for a crashed car to be hauled away by a Majestic tow truck.

A leader of the city's licensed towers group, Protani said she knew she was witnessing a violation of city law. She said she pointed out her concerns to the officer — and he told her she was under arrest, The Sun's Julie Scharper reported today.

She spent eight hours in Central Booking before being released without being charged.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Joel Kurz is a pastor who arrived in Baltimore a couple of years ago promoting a church called Garden Community, part of a push into urban areas by the southern Baptists. His blog posting last week accusing city cops of harassing him caught our eye.

Lots of people file lots of complaints against police, and it's never easy to decide which ones to write about. Kurz (at left, in a 2009 picture by The Sun's Gene Sweeney Jr.) got some attention because he's a pastor, had been profiled in a front page Baltimore Sun article in 2009 and has no criminal record.

He's out in bad neighborhoods nearly every day, and he encounters police. He says that he knows he'll be questioned but typically he's not bothered. On Feb. 15, he said cops twice harassed and threatened him with arrest after he got pulled over for not wearing his seat belt on Park Heights Avenue.

A ticket, maybe. A full-scale search of the car coupled with what he said were threats and a full-scale, profanity laced tirade. Police aren't talking, as is customary, but did confirm the matter is being investigated.

He describes the encounter after the stop:

By this time another cop has arrived and is instructed to “watch me.”  A minute later I’m asked to step out and walk to the back of the vehicle where the officer asks if I have anything illegal, “drugs, weapons, guns, AK47s.” Of course I say no, at which point he demands that I do not lie to him and just tell him “now” what I have in my possession. I’m instructed to put my hands on my head as he spreads my feet and frisks me, hands in my pockets and everything. When I tell them what I do for a living, another cop barks, “I’ve personally arrested a ton of pastors.”

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Confronting crime, Northwest Baltimore
        

Here's the video of Baltimore's police commissioner and the Maryland U.S. Attorney discussing the arrests of 17 city police officers charged with steering traffic accident victims to a specific auto repair shop in exchange for kickbacks.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

Baltimore’s police commissioner personally helped arrest more than a dozen city officers this morning who allegedly got thousands of dollars in kickbacks for steering accident victims to a towing company that was not authorized to do business with the city.

Federal authorities outlined a broad scheme in a 41-page criminal complaint and at a news conference in which 17 police officers conspired for two years with two brothers who own Magestic Auto Repair Shop in Rosedale.

The brothers, identified as Hernan Alexis Moreno Mejia and Edwin Javier Mejia, were also arrested, along with 15 officers who were lured to the city’s police academy under the ruse of and equipment inspection, Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said. Two officers had not been arrested as of this afternoon.

Bealefeld, in a calm voice, told reporters at a news conference at the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office (photo above by The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam shows Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein at the podium, flanked by Baltimore's FBI director, Richard A. McFeely, and Bealefeld).

that he thought for months about how he would explain the arrests to the citizens of Baltimore. He said he wanted the arrests done in a “very deliberate way” that was “meaningful and respectful,” but also sent a stern message to the 3,000-member force.

Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said that the charges the officers face — extortion — are similar to charges against several Prince George’s County police officers in a case that includes the higher echelons of that government.

But Bealefeld and McFeely said that unlike in Prince George’s County, the case in Baltimore began at the local level and was given to the FBI. Bealefeld said, “We cannot give quarter to corruption.”

Rosenstein singled one section of the affidavit. One police officer, caught on an FBI wiretap, tells the car repair shop owner that he told a citizen with a damaged car, “I would not let anything bad happen to you, I am a policeman.” The affidavit says the officer "added that what he really meant was, ‘Ia m here to earn myself some $300."

 “Police officers are supposed to work for the Police Department, not the highest bidder," Rosenstein said.

The court documents allege the scheme worked this way: Officers involved, upon being dispatched to an accident, would contact one of the tow company owners by cell phone. The officer gave him the type of car, the extent of damage, type of insurance and location.

If the owner wanted the car, the officer would then tel the owner that he knows a tow operator who could help save him money, provide a rental car and waive the insurance deductable. The complaint says the officer would convince the car’s owner to “not call their insurance company until after speaking” with the tow company owner.

The complaint alleges that the officer would then either falsify a police report noting that the owner had requested his own tow company, or simply leave that box unchecked. For each car deliver, the court documents say an officer got $300. One officer pocketed more than $14,000 over two years, according to Rosenstein.

Police officers are supposed to allow people with disabled cars to use a towing company of their choice, unless the car has to be towed quickly in an emergency. If a person’s tow company can’t arrive in 20 minutes, police are supposed to call one of the tow companies authorized to work with the city.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

UPDATE: Federal authorities say that the case involves 17 city police officers. We're posting the criminal complaint below. Here are some quick highlights from a statement from the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office:

A criminal complaint was filed today charging 17 Baltimore City Police officers and two brothers who own a car repair shop with conspiring to commit extortion in connection with a scheme in which the repair shop owners paid police officers to arrange for their company, rather than a city-authorized company, to tow vehicles from accident scenes and make repairs.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, the general pattern of the extortion scheme allegedly consisted of the following: from January 2009 to the present, the BPD Officers were either dispatched by the police department to the scene of an accident, or otherwise showed up at the scene.  Shortly after arriving at the accident scene, the BPD Officer would call Moreno, or use the vehicle owner’s cell phone to call Moreno, and provide Moreno with details about the accident and the damage to the vehicle.

Original post: A dozen or more Baltimore city police officers have been arrested this morning in connection with a federal corruption probe that involves an improper relationship with a Baltimore towing company, sources said.

Multiple sources say the officers are mostly from the Northeast District and many of them are officers who were recruited years ago in a push to bring in Latino officers from Puerto Rico. That information could not immediately be confirmed.

UPDATE at 3:25 p.m.The president of Latino officers association says only 3 of officers charged were recruited during the Puerto Rico initiative. Others were recruited from New York and Maryland, and are of varying nationalities, the association says.

Officials from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore and the FBI announced that a press conference will be held at 3 p.m. today to discuss the arrests.

-Justin Fenton and Julie Scharper

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)
Categories: City Hall, Courts and the justice system, Northeast Baltimore, Top brass
        

After Edwin F. Hale Sr., the head of 1st Mariner Bank, accepted probation before judgment for carrying a loaded gun into BWI Airport, a reader wondered whether the well-known executive would have to forfeit his carry permit.

I checked with the Maryland State Police, which issues the permits through its licensing division, and got these details from spokeswoman Elena Russo:

Shortly after Hale was cited by the Maryland Transportation Authority Police with violating security procedures at the airport -- a misdemeanor state crime -- state police sent him a revocation letter, which, is sent to every permit holder who gets arrested or who is "believed to be involved in an offense that could lead to an arrest."

The letter invited Hale to come talk to state police, and Russo said he "immediately came in by himself" with his permit. Meanwhile, police met with attorneys who advised that the charge with which Hale had been charged, and later accepted probation, "would not prohibit him from purchasing, possessing or carrying a handgun."

Hale's permit was not revoked.

Maryland Transportation Authority Police said at the time of the incident that they charged Hale with the minor offense because they believed that he had honestly forgotten the gun in a briefcase when he went to the airport to board a flight to Milwaukee. And because Hale had a legal carry permit, he could not be charged with illegal gun possession.

Read more stories:

Hale held in gun case

Hale charged with crime

Hale accepts probation before judgment 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Perry Roark, the reputed leader of the growing prison gang Dead Man Inc., was transferred yesterday from state prison to the Anne Arundel County Detention Center to face murder charges in the beating death of fellow inmate in 1994. Though his file remains sealed, officials at the Jennifer Road Detention Center say he is being held without bond.

We wrote about Roark over the weekend, with authorities from across the state describing him as a violent leader of a white prison gang started in the late 1990s that has grown rapidly here and across the country. Roark, serving a 25-year prison sentence for a 1991 robbery, was set to be released Tuesday on mandatory release, but state police and Anne Arundel prosecutors turned back the clock on his sentence with the 17-year-old murder charge.

Court papers say little about the new charge, and news outlets didn't report the death of George Hartman in the House of Correction at the time. It may be some time before we get more information, as prosecutors are likely in no rush to try the case.

In a bit of irony, Dead Man Inc. reportedly has long prohibited members from being recruited in county detention centers, whose inmates they saw as inferior and softer than state prisoners. Now their reputed leader is housed in a county facility.

Read more from Sunday's story on Dead Man Inc here.

See a copy of an application for gang membership recovered by police in Roanoke, Va. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Gangs
        

Police and liquor boards routinely send in underage people into bars and stores to try and buy liquor and tobacco. With alcohol, police usually use cadets, who are of adult age, but under 21.

It's a bit more tricky for tobacco, where the minimum age is 18. That requires police use juveniles. Anne Arundel County police conducted such an operation on Wednesday using vice detectives and a 14-year-old boy.

The youth tried to by cigarettes in nine shops in southern Anne Arundel. All but one passed. That means one clerk sold cigarettes to a 14-year-old. Police identified that establishment as the CVS Pharmacy at 2601 Riva Road in Annapolis. The clerk was issued a juvenile citation.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Edwin F. Hale Sr., who runs 1st Mariner Bank and the Baltimore Blast soccer team, was given probation before judgment for bringing a loaded handgun into the airport. The gun was found in his briefcase as went through security; Hale, who has a valid carry permit, said he forgot the weapon was there.

He will be on probation for a year and was fine $342.50. Probation before judgment means that if he stays clean, the case can be wiped from his record.

Hale's case got mentioned several times during a recent hearing on guns in Annapolis. When city officials pressed to tighten illegal handgun laws, opponents said it would've made Hale's transgression a felony. City officials pointed out the new laws applied only to those with illegal handguns; Hale's was legal.

Read previous stories on Hale: his detention; his charges.  

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

Updates on two cases, two different jurisdictions:

-Charges dropped against JROTC instructor, teacher in Howard County: During a trial, which ended in a hung jury, it was revealed that Charles Ray Moore's accuser had changed her story, and that handprints belonging to the young woman and traces of semen that did not match Moore's DNA were found by police technicians in the storage room, reports The Sun's Don Markus. Prosecutors said they had no plan to retry Moore after a November mistrial on charges of fourth-degree sex offense and having sex with a minor student in his authority.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Howard County
        

Life as a transgender woman wasn’t easy for Anthony Trent. Known as “Tyra,” the 25-year-old told family she would sometimes be attacked on the street just because of the way she looked.

“He was a very bold person – he wasn’t scared to show or flaunt his lifestyle,” said cousin and close friend Correll Trent, 18. “People told him all the time, if this is the way you want to live, we can’t stop you. But be careful, watch yourself.”

Recently, she had been jumped on the street and beaten up, losing a tooth in the attack.

“He came home and cried that day,” Correll said.

On Saturday, someone wandering into a vacant, city-owned home in the 3300 block of Virginia Ave. in Northwest Baltimore found Trent’s body in the basement. She had no identification and no cell phone, but an autopsy had shown that she had been asphyxiated. City homicide detectives are investigating the case.

It took two days to confirm Trent’s identity and notify family. Trent had been reported missing two weeks earlier, after leaving late at night on a Sunday and never returning. Trent had been known to leave for a few days at a time, but always kept in touch with her mother, Sundra. Not this time.

“Sundra felt it. After two days she said, ‘Something happened to my baby,’” said family friend Pamela Holden.

Relatives were gathered at the Trent family home Tuesday night, where they remembered Trent as a vibrant person who liked to dance, loved animals and loved to style hair. She worked with people with disabilities, they said.

“He was a good person, and he made friends,” said aunt Evelina “Noni” Trent, 41.

She also worked the streets, often spending time at an area of the city known as “The Stroll” where transgender prostitutes are known to frequent. Court records show dozens of arrests for loitering and prostitution between 2003 and 2008. In one, she climbed into the car of an undercover detective and asked if he wanted to party, then discussed oral sex, according to records.

Trent hadn’t been arrested since 2008, however, and it is unknown what circumstances led up to her death.

Sandy Rawls, director of Trans-United, which provides outreach for members of the transgender community, said she had been working with Trent, who was in the process of formally changing her name and wanted to obtain a GED.

“We had been trying to get her off the street for some time, but there's really nowhere to put transgender individuals who are homeless,” Rawls said. “Every time we go somewhere, we're ostracized out of that place, and they end up getting into dangerous situations.”

However, family said Trent lived with her mother and always had a place to stay.

Correll Trent said family feared for her safety. “Most city guys, guys who grow up in Baltimore, they don’t like that,” he said, referring to a transgender lifestyle. “He was so upset and hurt that people can’t accept his lifestyle. It made me angry.”

Outside the home, Trent’s mother sat in an idling car, a young child strapped in the backseat. She waved over a reporter, who she mistook for a detective. She said she couldn’t stay for an interview.

“I need closure,” she said, pulling away to visit the crime scene.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)
Categories: Northwest Baltimore
        

Police have arrested a 38-year-old man and charged him with murder in the November killing of a 30-year-old man on a Mount Clare street corner, records show.

According to charging documents, Kevin Mack, also known as "G-Black," and a second man entered the intersection of South Woodyear Street and Kuper Street with handguns and announced a street robbery. The victim, Kevin "Chuck" Anderson, had been standing on the corner with "known associates," records show.

Anderson was found dead from a gunshot wound to the back, and police recovered a .9 mm shell casing at the scene. Near the victim's body was a small blue ziplock bag containing suspected drugs, records show.

Detective James Lloyd wrote that witnesses were tracked down who gave taped statements and picked Mack out of photo lineups. Mack was indicted in Baltimore Circuit Court on Feb. 11 and remains held without bail.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Southwest Baltimore
        

A 16-year-old boy killed last June in Reservoir Hill was shot by a friend in a dispute over a dice game, police say in charging documents.

Davon Wilkins, 19, was indicted last week on first-degree murder charges in the death of Renardo Broom, who was fatally shot on July 1, 2010. Police say Broom and Wilkins were playing dice with several friends in the 700 block of W. North Ave., and Broom got into a dispute with Wilkins over payment. Wilkins removed a handgun from his waistband and fired the gun one time, striking Broom in the torso, Detective Christopher Brockdorff wrote in charging documents.

Witnesses identified Wilkins through photo lineups. 

Wilkins was arrested on the murder charges on Jan. 19 and was being held without bail. Court records show he was on probation at the time of the shooting, stemming from a January 2010 assault conviction.

Wilkins has a previous charge of attempting to bribe a public employee, which according to court records came when he offered money to an officer who found him with marijuana. "Can you just take the money and let me go? It's just a little weed," he said, according to court records.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: West Baltimore
        

UPDATE: Click here for more on this case, including an interview with relatives and a picture from the crime scene.

City police say a 25-year-old transgender woman was found dead in a vacant building in Central Park Heights over the weekend, a death which the medical examiner's office said was caused by asphyxiation.

Word of the death came via a gruesome discovery by a man searching for his dog on Saturday afternoon, police say. He thought he heard barking coming from the basement of a vacant home in the 3300 block of Virginia Ave, and discovered a man's body inside. He called 911 and homicide detectives responded.

Police say the victim was Anthony Juan Trent, a 25-year-old from the 4100 block of Woodhaven Road. Court records show Trent had a lengthy history of prostitution arrests between 2003 and 2008, though none since late 2008.

Police said they did not have a motive or any suspects.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
Categories: Northwest Baltimore
        

When the news broke last month that a Baltimore police officer had been disciplined for failing to shave -- during the visit of the soon-to-be-president, no less -- it apparently wasn't the first time this issue has come.

The officer, who has since retired, has an ailment known as pseudofolliculitis barbae, a skin condition nicknamed "razor bumps" that can cause infection and scarring "as a consequence of shaving." It's a condition that is most common in black males.

The 18-year veteran officer, Anthony L. Brown, alleges in his $17 million lawsuit that his supervisor handed him a razor and cream and ordered him to shave in front of his squad of officers. Maybe the city cops, or the city attorney's, should be aware of a similar case decided 20 years ago by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

The Daily Record reports in a story provided by the Capital News Service (full story here):

It has been nearly 20 years since the Court of Special Appeals took up [Donald] Boyd’s case and ruled that the University of Maryland at Baltimore Police Force’s no-beards policy discriminated against blacks. Still, beard bans persist across the nation and cops continue to clash with their agencies in increasingly expensive legal battles.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Top brass
        

Baltimore County police are searching for a man who they say held up three banks in the Wilkens area between Jan. 25 and this morning.

Each time, police said the man entered the bank, threatened a teller with a handgun and demanded money.

The robberies occurred M&T and Wachovia branches.

More details are below in a police news release:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

There's no new leads in the case of missing teen Phylicia Barnes, but the case is getting more national attention. This time from NPR:

Barnes' cousin, Harry Watson, recently stood on a corner in the chilly sun, passing out fliers to the people hurrying in and out of the tall office buildings in downtown Baltimore.

A man stopped to ask: "You haven't found her yet?"

"Not, not yet," Watson replied.

Despite freezing winds, many people stopped to chat with Watson and to shake their heads over the red, black and white fliers he held.

"We don't pass up anybody; we try to get a flier into just about everybody's hands we possibly can," he said.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

After two people were killed outside Select Lounge last month - including an on-duty police officer killed by fellow officers - city officials promised a swift and thorough review. Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said the investigation would take about three weeks, but six weeks later there have been no updates. Officials told The Sun last week that they had not received autopsy results from the state medical examiner's office - crucial to determining the angle of bullets fired at both victims - and that they continue to assemble a panel of experts to review the investigation once it is completed.

On Monday, family members of Torbit - accompanied by radio show host Daren Muhammad, the outspoken activist who has previously joined up with grief-stricken family members in other high-profile cases to call for answers - marched from Select Lounge to City Hall.

WJZ-13 reported:

“What investigation?  What investigation?  They haven’t told us anything,” say family members.
Torbit was in plain clothes that night.  According to police, he became overwhelmed in the crowd and shot and killed another man.  Then, four other officers—who didn’t know Torbit was one of their own—fired on him.  There were 41 bullets total in the chaos.
“This is about putting him to rest.  That’s not saying it’s over; it’s not.  That’s not giving us closure,” said Torbit’s sister, Sherri Torbit.
The family is particularly upset the investigation has taken longer than promised.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Baltimore police are asking for hep finding Tyrone Dukes, who walked away about 3 p.m. Saturday from an assisted living facility in 3700 block of Belle Ave. Police say he is "metnally challanged and 'child-like.' He does know his name, but does not know his phone number or address.

Police describe him as standing 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 224 pounds. He has salt and pepper hair and was last seen wearing a blue ski coat with a hood, plaid shirt  and blue jeans.

If located, please contact the Missing Persons Unit at 443-984-7385 or dial 911.
 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Northwest Baltimore
        

While wind-swept fires dominated the news, at least eight people were shot -- three of them fatally -- in a spate of violence this weekend in the city and Baltimore County. Two of the dead were in Parkville and in Lansdowne.

The Baltimore County slayings -- one early Sunday at a gas station -- were the county's third and fourth homicides of the year.

In Baltimore, six people were wounded by bullets, including a 15-year-old boy, in shootings that began Friday night. Two men were shot on Cliftview Avenue, in East Baltimore between Harford Road and Wolfe Street, on Sunday afternoon. One of the men died.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore County, East Baltimore
        

Michael J. Andrew retires Wednesday after spending 37 years as a city cop. His grandfather began his career in the city in 1921, the start of long line of family members on the city force. Andrew, who is close to 60, is perhaps one of the last cops left to remember call-box keys, and his departure will leave a void both in historic reference and old-time bravado.

But he was never afraid to say he was sorry. In the picture, he's visiting the home of a young boy who was struck by a police cruiser, putting him in a cast for the summer. Andrew was upset that no other cop or commander bothered to go, even if the accident was the child's fault.

Today's Crime Scene column goes into more detail of Andrew's career. He's known for his blunt, outspoken style, never afraid to speak his mind. And that got him into trouble, and endeared him to newspaper reporters.

Angry that cops stormed an apartment back in 2003 and shot and killed a man (who had killed someone else) without what Andrew thought was adequate negotiations, Andrew leaked a critical memo to a Baltimore Sun reporter. Commanders discovered the source, fired him and then reinstated him, but with banishment to the property division.

Andrew fought his discipline and for his lost pay all the way up the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in his favor. The city then gave up and last year Andrew got his money and a promotion to lead the tactical team. A year later, Andrew said the police commissioner called him into his office and asked if he was ready to retire.

Not many cops can boast of getting support in court from groups as varied as the police union, the ACLU and a committee for a free press. Most of the time, these groups are not exactly in agreement, especially when it comes to the release of information.

But Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, in a concurring opinion, offered one of the best defenses of whistle-blowers I've ever come across. He wrote, in part, that government scrutiny by the news media "is impossible without sources such as Michael Andrew" and that "it seems inimical to First Amendment principles to treat too summarily those who bring, often at some personal risk, its operations into public view."

The judge went on about how traditional media is losing ground and money as it struggles to deal with less revenue and a competing Internet, and said it's even more important now that people like Andrew step forward to help shine the light on government.

Wilkinson noted that Andrew was hardly passing along office gossip. "The matter about which Andrew spoke was not just an office quarrel or a routine personnel action," the judge wrote, "but a question of real public importance, namely whether a police shooting of a citizen was justified and whether the investigation of that shooting was less than forthcoming."

Andrew didn't just speak out to reporters. Here he is in some other moments:

Listen to Andrew, as a captain in charged of the Western in 1994, try to explain how a city worker fixing a pothole was felled by a stray bullet: “The guy was just trying to make a decent living and in the middle of the daytime, he gets shot in the mouth. If you can figure that out, explain it to me.”

Andrew may have disappeared into the bowels of police headquarters as punishment for his leak to the reporter, but his candor never ceased. He was outraged when he alone showed up at a court hearing for a killer of a cop seeking an early release from prison, and he publicly dressed down his colleagues, saying “We lost our way.”

When a 5-year-old boy was hurt last summer after he darted out into traffic and was hit by a police car, Andrew visited the young man and brought him Oriole bobble heads, a police patch and tickets to a baseball game.

Andrew, now the newly minted head of the Special Operations Section, which included traffic accident investigators, told me tried to get his colleagues to join him. He came alone, accompanied by his wife who brought baked goods for the family.

“It bothers me that the cops who did that didn’t see that boy,” Andrew said on Wednesday. “I wasn’t trying to place blame. But it was the right thing to do. The poor did got his legs run over in the middle of the summertime and nobody went up there to see how he was doing. What is he going to think of cops?”

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: East Baltimore, Top brass
        

Quite often when someone is slain on the streets of Baltimore, there's very little information to be gleaned from police. The relatives are hard to track down, or don't want to participate in an interview. There's about a 50/50 chance the death will be solved, offering new information on the case. The death is reported, and quickly fades away.

Warren Wilmer was one of those victims. The 36-year-old was shot in the head on Feb. 2, south of Leakin Park, and died at the scene. Police had no suspects, and no motive. Like most city homicide victims, he had a criminal record. And that was all that came to light about him.

Earlier this week, Wilmer's aunt emailed me asking if I knew when his funeral would be. I didn't, but I asked her if she could tell us more about him. I wanted to share her response, which I'm reprinting with her permission:

Unfortunately, I never met Warren Wilmer, Jr. because I was given up for adoption to family members in Washington, DC at birth.  Warren Wilmer Jr. was my middle brother’s son.  I only knew of my biological family—mother Curtie Berryman and three brothers, Reginald (I don’t recall his last name), Warren Wilmer and Dantwoin Berryman.  When my biological mother passed away, I was the only living heir to her estate and she died without a will.  My three brothers preceded me in death all from drug related tragedy; the street life in Baltimore City, MD.

I located Warren Wilmer Jr. during the probate process from his name listed in my brother Warren’s obituary.  When my  attorney located Warren Wilmer, Jr., he was incarcerated for a petty crime in 2007.  Once he was released from jail, we forwarded him a check in the amount of [Edit: dollar figure removed]; his share of the inheritance from my biological Mother.  He called me on the telephone in 2007 to ask why and how did I find him.  He asked if I would send him a picture of me.  I shared a bit of my life story (especially the part about being a law abiding citizen) and a few details that I knew about his Father since he didn’t have much of a relationship with his him.  I said a prayer with him before ending our phone conversation.  Of the four children who received inheritance money from my mother’s estate, (three other minor poverty stricken children that I met only once), Warren Wilmer Jr. was the only recipient to l send me a Thank You card and a Book of Prayers for Mothers after receiving the picture of me and my two children.  I had that one phone conversation with him and I never spoke to him again.

His mother found the picture of me, along with my business card and the check stub from the inheritance in a Bible under his mattress.  She called me to ask if she could list me as his Aunt in his obituary but didn’t give me the specifics of the arrangements other than the funeral would be Wednesday, February 16, 2011.

To answer your question, we did not keep me in touch.  I didn’t know him.  However, I did make the funeral services on yesterday and he favored my middle brother so much, it brought tears to my eyes.   Since I am the only living immediate family member of Warren Wilmer, Jr. from his Dad’s side of the family, I was grateful to pay my respects and to represent the family I only knew of from a distance.  

Thanks for posting the news article on February 7th.  Our young black brothers die every single day and it doesn’t usually make the daily newspaper.  
Have a pleasant day.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

It was a police chase done by the book -- by helicopter, not car -- and it unfolded on live television, breaking moments after WJZ-TV went on the air at 5 p.m. Tuesday. We now have video of the flight officer, Matthew W. Hart, and his observer, Gerald C. Siedlarczyk, talking about how they helped catch two carjacking suspects from the air.

City police are generally forbidden from high-speed pursuits, mostly because of the dangers posed by a crowded, urban environment. Police like to use the helicopter, Foxtrot, to keep track of fleeing suspects and then maneuver patrol cars to box in the vehicles.

That's what happened in this case, after a state office worker was carjacked near a state health building on Patterson Avenue while walking to her silver 2001 Acura Legend. One suspect shouted "Don't scream," according to a police report, and snatched her car keys from her hand. The victim ran back to her office as the suspects drove off in the car.

The suspects have been identified as Desmond McCoy,  24, and Frank Richardson, 28. They've been charged with robbery, carjacking, assault, reckless endangerment, motor vehicle theft and theft over $500. See the video:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Northwest Baltimore
        

... a wad of $100 bills on the floor of the Southern District police station? Nah, it's a new marketing tactic from Metro Crimestoppers of Maryland, which have been trying to step up promotion of their tip-sharing services. Earl Winterling, the group's chairman, said that Internet tips are the top way information comes into Crimestoppers these days. They've also adopted a text-messaging program that allows users to anonymously submit information. Crimestoppers can even communicate back and forth with tipsters without knowing who they're speaking with, he said. "Attorneys can subpoena us, but all the information is encrypted. Your IP address, everything - nobody has it," he said.

The number to text tips is 274637. Type MCS + your message. They'll pass it along to the appropriate agency. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

The son of a 68-year-old man who shot and killed an armed intruder in his Perry Hall home last year has been arrested in Florida and charged with conspiring with the gunman to rob his father, police in Fort Lauderdale said this morning.

William Bozman Jr., 44, (left) was arrested Tuesday by the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force after a warrant was issued by the Baltimore County Police Department. The suspect is in a Florida jail being held without bail and awaiting extradiction to Maryland, according to authorities.

He is charged with several criminal counts, including attempted armed home invasion, burglary, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and using a handgun in the commission of a violent crime. Baltimore County police did not immediately comment.

The news from Florida police is the first indication of a twist in a case the public had thought was closed last year. Police had said Marvin Cook Jr., 29, had broken into the home of William Bozman Sr., 68, who owns a towing company, and demanded money at gunpoint.

Police at the time said the elder Bozman fired his own handgun several times, hitting Cook at almost point-blank range in the chest inside the home in the 4200 block of Chapel Road. Cook collapsed onto the elder Bozman, who wriggled free and called police.

Fort Lauderdale police said in a statement that Baltimore County homicide detectives learned of an alleged co-conspirator. On Feb. 7, police in Florida said a fugtive warrant was issued for the younger Bozman’s arrest.

No other details were provided.

Here is the release from Fort Lauderdale Police:

On February 15th, 2011, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department Fugitive Unit, in conjunction with the FBI Fugitive Task Force, arrested William Bozman Jr., W/M, 7/23/66. Bozman Jr. was apprehended at 104 Southwest 21 Way in the City of Fort Lauderdale.

Bozman Jr. was wanted in connection to a Homicide and Attempted Armed Home Invasion Robbery that occurred on March 28th, 2010, at his father’s residence in Baltimore County, Maryland.

One suspect, identified as Marvin Cook, B/M, 30 years of age, entered into the Baltimore residence, armed with a handgun, and confronted the sleeping homeowner, William Bozman Sr. Cook demanded money and ordered Bozman Sr. to open a safe, at which point a violent struggle ensued. Bozman Sr. was able to arm himself with a firearm and shot Cook. Cook later succumbed to the gunshot wounds he sustained while committing the robbery.

The Baltimore County Police Department Homicide Division conducted an investigation which revealed a co-conspirator in the Armed Robbery. The co-conspirator was identified as William Bozman Jr. On February 7th, 2011, Bozman Jr. was indicted and fugitive warrants were issued for his arrest.

Bozman Jr. is currently being held without bond and is awaiting extradition to Maryland.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

Just a day after his court appearance drew more than 100 people to the Mitchell Courthouse, former Shomrim member Avi Werdesheim was apparently one of two private medics who rendered aid to the 45-year-old man stabbed at a bus stop on North and Greenmount avenues. 

The information came to us as an anonymous tip, and a delighted official from the medical transportation company confirmed that "Avi and Robert" had stopped to help the bleeding victim. It was Werdesheim's first day on the job:

"People were waving, 'Stop, stop, stop,' and they pulled over," said Mirabelle Tambe, an administrator for Grace Transportation Medical Services. She said Werdesheim and another emergency medical technician, Robert Brown, were on their way to transport a hospital patient. "We don't really respond to 911 calls, but they were efficient and effective."

Werdesheim and his brother, Eliyahu, had just been in the news a day earlier, in court on charges of assault, a case that is highlighting simmering divisions in the black and Jewish communities in Northwest Baltimore. Most of those who gathered outside the courthouse were there for support, chanting "innocent until proven guilty" and saying the Werdesheims and other Shomrim members protect their community. A smaller group but vocal group said the case is a clear example of racism and is not being handled appropriately by city prosecutors.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

The aftermath of the stabbing death of Veronica Williams outside a Baltimore court house -- for which her husband is now on trial -- allegations swirled that the suspect got special treatment from a top police commander.

Deputy Maj. Dan A. Lioli (left) was suspended after it was learned he had been in contact through text message with the suspect, well-known community activist named Cleaven L. Williams Jr.

Williams took the stand at his trial today and tearfully recounted problems with his wife. Williams has admitted to stabbing his wife but says it was not pre-meditated murder. He also has said he pleaded with the police officer who shot him twice to kill him, part of a plan for suicide by cop.

On Thursday, Lioi testified for the first time in public. The department had found no evidence of wrongdoing, though questions remained whether a warrant for Williams was not served as aggressively a it would've been for someone who did not have a cell phone number of top police officer.

The Baltimore Sun's Nick Madigan reports on Lioi's testimony:

Jurors heard from several members of the city police force, one of whom acknowledged under cross-examination that, four days before the killing, Williams had tried to turn himself in at the Eastern District precinct in response to a warrant charging him with assaulting his wife, but the warrant could not be located and Williams was told to leave.

“I knew him,” said Deputy Maj. Dan A. Lioi, recounting his history with Williams, a community activist. “We didn’t feel he was a flight risk.”

In the following days, after the warrant had been found, Lioi said he and Williams had been in touch several times by phone and text messages, trying to arrange a time for Williams to surrender. On Nov. 17, Williams told Lioi by phone that he was on his way to his lawyer’s office.

"’Let me get back to you,’” Williams said, and he hung up, according to Lioi.

About an hour after that, he learned that Williams had been arrested in the killing of his wife of almost 10 years. She was pregnant and had borne their three young children.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: East Baltimore, Top brass
        

A success for the Charles Village Court Watch program.

Stephen Gewirtz, a retired math professor who is tracking cases, hoping for better justice, reports that a burglar pleaded guilty today. The sentence Jerome Owens agreed to is in addition to time he's already serving, and he has a violation of probation hearing scheduled for next week.

All told, he could go to prison for up to 19 years. Had he not taken the plea, he would've faced 22 years if convicted by a jury, Gewirtz reports. For him, that translates into a good plea bargain.

Charles Village revived the moribund Court Watch program after several high-profile cases, most notably the killing of Stephen Pitcairn, the Johns Hopkins researcher who was stabbed on St. Paul Street.

Here is the e-mail from the Court Watch program that offers more details on the case:

This afternoon, starting about 12:40, Jerome Owens pleaded guilty to burglary in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of 3 years. Under the plea deal, he received a sentence of 2 years and 10 months with credit for time served.

Owens acknowledged that he is currently on probation (on 3/8/2007, he received 3 concurrent sentences of 20 years for 3 counts of first degree burglary with all but the 1 year and 1 day already served suspended, and with 5 years probation).

Friday next week, 2/25 at 9:30 a.m. in room 430 Courthouse East, Owens has a hearing before Judge Lynn Stewart on violation of that probation, with the violation being today's conviction. The key part of the plea bargain is that the State's Attorney will recommend that the sentence for violation of probation be concurrent with today's sentence. Hence, Owens faces a possible almost 19 years in jail instead of a possible almost 22 years if he had been convicted by a jury today.

Owens did tell the court (Judge Yolanda Tanner) that he expects to be an old man when he gets out of prison.

Details of the burglary for which today's sentence was imposed: Owens climbed into a second floor bathroom window on the 300 block of East University Parkway and surprised the person living there. Apparently, he fled when he was discovered, and the victim later picked him out of a photo lineup. Her presence today is what made the case and is probably what led Owens to take the deal. Officer O'Donnell is the one who had made the arrest.  My previous impression was that Owens had been arrested in the act, but obviously that was not the case.

City Council Member Mary Pat Clarke attended the trial starting this morning. Both she and the victim expressed satisfaction with the outcome. And I too agree that it was a good plea bargain.

Owens has a history of climbing into second and third floor windows and taking things. He has generally operated in the Charles Village, Abell, Oakenshawe, JHU area. Fortunately, it will be a few years before he can do so again. And as he gets older, he becomes less agile.  So we are safe from him for at least a few years and hopefully permanently.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

A 45-year-old man was stabbed in the neck and killed Thursday afternoon after getting into an argument at a busy bus stop at North and Greenmount avenues.

The victim, who has not yet been identified, was waiting for the bus before 1 p.m. when he got into an argument with a young woman, said Detective Donny Moses, a police spokesman. The argument escalated and a man began fighting with the victim, he said.

He was stabbed in the neck, and ended up across the street at a Rite Aid store. Moses said a private medic in the area treated him, but he died a short time later at a local hospital.

Moses said police did not have a suspect but were reviewing camera footage and speaking to witnesses. The crime scene briefly shut down traffic both ways on North Avenue.

Delores Austin, who said she is a minister at a Northwest Baltimore church, said she picks up medications at the Rite Aid and was stranded at the store because her vehicle was behind the caution tape.

She said other bystanders were surprised at a stabbing occurring in broad daylight, but it didn’t alarm her. “What do they care? Don’t none of them care,” she said.

Austin said both of her sons were killed in violence, including son Titus Austin, who was sitting on the front steps of a house when he was killed by a stray bullet during a gunfight in 1991. She didn’t want to talk about their deaths, but said the persistent violence keeps driving residents away.

“A lot of people that moved out left because of this,” she said. “Crime isn’t down.”

Police statistics show overall crime is down 4 percent compared to this time last year - and is on an overall downward trend in recent years - though there’s been an uptick in shootings to start this year.

Thursday’s fatal stabbing is among a number of recent stabbing incidents. Steven Allen Williams, 53, was fatally stabbed Tuesday night in the 1100 block of W. Cross St., in Pigtown, and police said two brothers were stabbed – one with serious injuries – after an incident at a gas station in the Howard Park gas station on Monday.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, East Baltimore
        

Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III is restoring the Inspections Unit, The Sun's Peter Hermann reported in today's Crime Scenes column.

Internal Affairs still handles corruption and brutality cases, but its members have little time to enforce the finer points of professionalism — standards that, if left to slip, erode the spit-and-polish look demanded of a paramilitary organization. Officers in the unit will not take punitive action against fellow cops, but will report their findings to commanders, who will be expected to make appropriate adjustments.

Inspectors will examine whether undercover officers are appropriately spending money on informants, whether cops are carrying the required equipment, whether vehicles are clean and up to code and have all their headlights, and whether officers are illegally texting while driving. The new unit won't cost the department more money; rather, officials hope it will save money by enforcing fiscal responsibility.

The union is on board, saying it's time to "tighten up" and send a message about the department's professionalism.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Top brass
        

Thousands of dollars was exchanging hands weekly at the Lynch Point Social Club in Edgemere, police say, where dozens of men would meet regularly to play no limit Texas Hold 'Em poker games and gamble on electronic machines.

County police said it was all off the books and against the law, and busted the club's members in a raid involving a tactical unit last week. The organizer and dealers were arrested and face charges.

Almost immediately after our story posted, there was a quick backlash against police. The story's been shared nearly 200 times on Facebook and generated 40 comments as of this writing, and Sun business columnist Jay Hancock quickly weighed in on his blog, where someone who said he was at the club at the time posted this:

I WAS ONE OF THE PLAYERS "DETAINED " THAT NIGHT ON ROGER RD. I PERSONALLY WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT IT WAS AN ORGANIZED CLUB EVENT, AND PART OF MY $65 BUY IN WENT TOWARDS CLUB FUNCTIONS, LIKE OUR CRAB FEAST THIS PAST FALL.ALTHOUGH WE WERE TREATED RESPECTFULLY BY THE OFFICERS INVOLVED,I FOUND IT DISTURBING THAT EVERY PENNY TAKEN OUT OF MY POCKETS WAS CONFISCATED. WHY,IF THEY ADMIT WE ARE THERE FOR A $65 TOURNAMENT, IS IT NECESSARY TO REMOVE MONEY FROM MY POCKET THAT IS NOT BEING USED FOR POKER AND HAVE IT CONFISCATED? AT THIS POINT I HAVE NOT BEEN CHARGED OR ARRESTED FOR ANY CRIME, BUT FORCEDTO SIT AT THE TABLE IN HANDCUFFS FOR NEARLY AN HOUR, ONLY TO BE TOLD I AM FREE TO LEAVE AFTER MY MONEY WAS TAKEN.ALTHOUGH THEY MAY HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE LETTER OF THE LAW I SURELY BELIEVE THAT THERE COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH BETTER USE OF RESIDENTS TAX MONEY THEN BUSTING A $65 POKER TOURNAMENT.IN REFERENCE TO COMMENTS THERE IN NO WAY WAS ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY WON THAT WOULD FALL INTO GOVERNMENTAL BUDGET "TAX WINDOWS", WE WERE JUST A BUNCH OF GUYS HAVING FUN TOGETHER ON A FRIDAY NIGHT, ALBEIT JUST NOT UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE MARYLAND LOTTERY OR ANY OF THE 100'S OF BINGO PARLORS IN MARYLAND.

But all the the other commenters had no tie to the event but were angered at an investigation they believe was a waste of police resources. Admitted organizer Michael Gilbert's attorney, Andy Alperstein, noted that while some illegal poker tournaments also involve drugs, guns or prostitution, this case appears to just be a bunch of guys who got together to play cards.

Gilbert's played plenty of legal poker. There's a profile page of him on PokerPages.com, listing his prior winnings, and one of his poker buddies emailed me to say he'd come in second last year at a Timonium restaurant's tournament.

But police say games like the ones hosted in Edgemere are against the law and must be enforced, and may even put the players at risk for becoming victims of a robbery.

The story recalls a bust of a Texas Hold 'Em game in South Baltimore in 2005, in which 80 people were arrested. That was around the time when poker was really taking off in popular culture, with tournaments being broadcast on television and making celebrities out of players. And yet locally, it remains against the law and could get you locked up.

Here's the story on the '05 bust:

The e-mail ad promised local poker aficionados the chance to win a $12,000 purse and a trip to the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut to play for even bigger money.
    But Wednesday night, city police swarmed a refurbished warehouse in South Baltimore, shut the game down and charged 80 players with illegal gambling. Authorities seized $25,655 in cash, 16,020 poker chips, 141 decks of cards, dozens of parts for illegal gambling machines and boxes of illegal booze.A vice sergeant said the raid was the largest in the city in decades, perhaps since 72 people were busted in 1932 during a Prohibition-era raid in Highlandtown.
    The owner of the warehouse said she thought the club operators were running a legal business helping to raise money for charity.
    "I think they are legitimate people," said Gilda Johnson. "I think it's a misunderstanding."
    Poker is all the rage - celebrities play on television, and teenagers have clubs at school - but the raid on the Owl's Nest serves as a harsh reminder that despite its popularity and its weekly presence in living rooms, taverns and fire halls, playing poker for money remains against the law here.
    Police said 15 other people - including the club's operators, Gerald C. Dickens, 65, of Bowie and Joseph A. Cary, 50, of Pasadena - could face criminal charges as the investigation continues into the private club in the warehouse off Russell Street in an industrial park south of Camden Yards.
    In Baltimore, as in the rest of the state, most forms of gambling, including poker, are illegal, and at least one poker expert bemoaned that yesterday after he was told of the raid.
    "It's just a shame that here we have an activity that is possibly America's favorite pastime, a game that perhaps more people have played than any other game or sport, and the government can say it's illegal," said Robert Williamson III, a professional poker player and a commentator on television shows such as Poker Royale and The Ultimate Poker Challenge.
    The Texas Hold-em game - which was being played at the Owl's Nest - is highly popular. Millions of Americans tune in to televised tournaments with multimillion-dollar purses and poker players with movie-star-size egos.
    Marylanders have been swept up in the craze. In July, Anne Arundel County accountant Steve Dannenmann came in second in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, pocketing $4.25 million.
    An Internet site lists 68 pages of postings advertising poker games in Maryland - some small, others with large stakes and catered food - complete with e-mail addresses for sponsors.
    In recent months, some bars and restaurants in Baltimore have exploited a section of state law that allows certain forms of gambling - raffles, bingo, carnival games and paddle wheels - if a permit is obtained from police and the games are used to raise money for charity.
    Bar and restaurant owners caught hosting illegal poker nights have said they were confused and that they figured they could have poker tournaments if they had gambling permits.
    The city liquor board sent out a letter of explanation and warning to more than 1,400 licensees this year. At least two bars and restaurants that were found to be in violation of the law in recent months have been cited and fined, said the chief liquor inspector, Samuel T. Daniels Jr.
    Daniels said the number of poker nights has fallen but that he suspects many of them are being played at underground clubs such as the one at the Owl's Nest. Because the club didn't have a liquor license, Daniels said, his inspectors didn't visit the site.
    "When there is money to be made, I'm convinced someone is doing it," Daniels said.
    Police said they executed a search warrant at the Owl's Nest, in the 1800 block of Worcester St., after receiving complaints.
    "This was a planned and well-orchestrated raid," said Sgt. Craig Gentile, a vice detective who led the raid. "Everyone that was there cooperated."
    Gentile said no money was taken from tournament participants, only from the "bank," and that the illegal alcohol seized was turned over to the comptroller's office. Other city and state agencies are looking into the poker club's business practices, he said, and other charges could follow.
    A list of players cited by police was not immediately available yesterday. Most will appear in court in December or January, Gentile said, and could receive a year in jail or a $1,200 fine.
    A licensed Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun was seized from a retired police officer, not from the city, who was at the club, Gentile said
    The club's operators could be charged with multiple counts of gambling and liquor violations, he said, and two waitresses at the casino could be charged with liquor violations. Nine poker dealers were also swept up in the raid and could face criminal charges.
    The men police identified as the club's operators, Dickens and Cary, could not be reached for comment last night.
    The Owl's Nest, just south of M&T Bank Stadium, is the last building on a dark and secluded dead-end street.
    The long, rectangular building - with two glass front doors, a crisp, clean purple awning and a key card entry - has a polished appearance.
    On the doors, signs and stickers announce that the building is a private club for "members only." One sign on an outside wall reads: "No Trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again."
    Though the club was closed yesterday afternoon, two boards were visible inside containing information about tournaments and hours of operation.
    Neighbors said the quiet street was lined with visitors' cars when the club was open. Parking lots on both sides of the building filled up, they said, and a third lot, across the street from the building, was also used.
    Members said they joined the club by filling out paperwork, then received regular e-mail about events.
    Most of the cash games would be considered low- to medium-range. Lower bet limits were $2 to $5, and higher limits were $5 to $10. The games were frequently limit and no-limit Texas Hold-em.
    A member said the club took a small percentage of each pot in cash games, and players said they thought some of the money was going to benefit police and fire charities, fueling the belief that the games were legal.
    The raid Wednesday caught up many players because of a popular promotion in the past several weeks that had been advertised by e-mail, the member said. People were playing for a chance to win about $12,000 in prize money, which the winner would use to buy entry, at $10,000 a person, and travel to the World Poker Finals scheduled to begin Nov. 13 at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.
    Johnson, the building's owner, said in a telephone interview that she learned of the raid when a reporter called. She said the operators had received a zoning variance from the city in August so that they could operate as a private club in an industrial area.
    The operators had been tenants since December, she said. They renovated the building's rundown interior and front entrance, she said, and she replaced the roof.
    Johnson said the operators might not have known that city laws prohibit most gambling.
    "If it was an error made, it was error made out of naivete," she said. "All I know is my rent was paid on time."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

Baltimore County police  is unveiling the latest local law enforcement entry into high-tech distribution of crime. The iWatch program will allow residents to receive information through e-mail subscriptions and in turn they can provide the cops with crime tips and non-emergency complaints.

It goes beyond police, in that users will be able to file complaints about quality-of-life issues on everything from animals to abandoned cars. This service is in addition to the department's monthly newsletter and news releases on major crimes.

Police across the region are using social media, e-mails and text alerts more and more. Baltimore police have an interactive Facebook page, along with a Twitter alert system that provides breaking news alerts. The agency's spokespeople are visiting other departments to learn more, and are exploring a crime-tip-by-text or e-mail service. But there's a concern that the tips won't be read quickly enough for immediate action. One used in Philadelphia is only read once every 24 hours.

The police departments in Anne Arundel County and Howard County also have Facebook pages.

For more details on the Baltimore County iWatch initiative:

Police Chief James Johnson and County Executive Kevin Kamenetz Unveil the Latest Technology to Better Serve Citizens

The Baltimore County Police Department will be holding a press conference on Thursday, February 17, at 11:00 a.m. at the Baltimore County Public Safety Building, located at 700 E. Joppa Road, 21286. Chief James Johnson and County Executive Kevin Kamenetz along with other local government officials will discuss the County Police Department’s newest online crime fighting tool.

Residents interested in learning more about the activities of the Baltimore County Police Department can now sign up for iWatch Baltimore County services that will allow them to receive information about the agency through e-mail subscriptions. Through the use of their computers and handheld electronic devices residents will be able to provide police with crime tips and make non-emergency complaints via the Internet on all types of crimes including possible terrorist activity. They will also be able to file complaints electronically on simple every day issues involving animals, neighbors, juveniles, noise, and abandoned autos.

Residents can also receive the same news releases that are distributed to the media. The information will be provided in the form of iWatch Crime Alerts and Police Announcements. They can also subscribe to the department’s monthly newsletter, Business Beat, which provides crime prevention tips for businesses. Also available is the department’s quarterly newsletter, Behind the Badge, and a monthly reminder about the department’s cable TV program, Police Report.

According to Police Chief James W. Johnson, “iWatch Baltimore County will provide citizens with an advanced tool to assist police in fighting crime in their neighborhoods. iWatch Baltimore County will afford citizens the opportunity to become directly involved in impacting the overall quality of life in their neighborhoods through the use of technology.”

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County, Confronting crime
        

UPDATE: About three hours after the police commissioner left the community meeting, the Northeast District had its seventh homicide of the year. It occurred in the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood, an area of particular concern. There have now been 21 slayings in the city this year, one more than noted below.

At times, the city's top cop resembled a pitch-man selling 25-year lows in homicides and other glowing crime stats to people living in an area with a spike in kilings this year (see The Sun's homicide map).

At one point, the Northeast District accounted for one-third of all this year's slayings. Now, iit's slightly less, with six of the city's 20 killings this year. It's tied with the Southern for the most. So you might forgive the residents if they were a bit skeptical (I'll have more about the meeting in Friday's Crime Scenes column).

But they politely allowed Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III to make his presentation during a packed meeting at Good Samaritan Hospital. The top cop is a bit frustrated that few people seem to know of the crime drops made in the past couple of years, even as his cops arrest tens of thousands of fewer people. It's targeted enforcement of gun and violent offenders over street corner sweeps.

Bealefeld pounded away that the image of Baltimore remains a deadly one -- "People are killed in the city every day," he quoted an oft-heard remark. He started at his audience and said bluntly, "It's a lie." The city went nine days once this year without a single killing, and non-fatal shootings are down from more than 750 in 2000 to 450 last year.

Yet Bealefeld lamented that more people know arcane stats about football and baseball players they follow than about the crime stats that impact the values of their homes.  "We don't know the stats that drives the engine that creeps peole out about the city," he said.

Still, Bealefeld acknowledged a problem in the Northeast and that it's no longer confined to one small area in the southern part of the district. "A lot more needs to be done in this area," he told the group. "It's unacceptable under anybody's standards. And it's moving -- it's moving east and west and we need to do something about it."

Residents peppered Bealefeld with questions but few demanded specific answers about the nature of the killings or what plans police had in place. The group appeared unanimous in its support of promoting the district's deputy major, Darryl DeSousa, to majoor, to replace the commander who just retired.

Bealefeld wouldn't give them an answer, despite repeated attempts, but said he will name a new district commander in a matter of weeks. After the commissioner left, DeSousa told his supporters, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, Northeast Baltimore
        

Two members of a Jewish citizens' patrol group from Northwest Baltimore were in court today to answer charges that they beat a teenager and told the black youth he didn't belong in the neighborhood. The case has inflamed tensions and sparked a protest today, the video of which can be watched here.

The Baltimore Sun's Nick Madigan wrote:

Avi and Eliyahu Werdesheim, brothers and former members of a Northwest Baltimore patrol group called Shomrim, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to beating a black teenager last fall as he walked through their neighborhood.

Outside the courthouse downtown, two groups of demonstrators — one composed of Jews, the other of African-Americans — loudly stated their positions on the case, the former in support of the duo, the latter against what they said was an act of racism.

Avi Werdesheim, 20, and his brother, Eliyahu Werdesheim, 23, are charged with false imprisonment, second-degree assault and possession of a deadly weapon in the Nov. 19 incident, and face a maximum sentence of 10 years if convicted. Both are scheduled for trial on May 2 in Baltimore Circuit Court.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

The opening sentence to Tricia Bishop's story on the murder trial of the community activist:

The trial of Cleaven L. Williams Jr., who is charged with murder in his wife's stabbing death, opened Tuesday with the defense and prosecution agreeing on one thing: He did it.

The question is not whether Williams killed his wife outside a Baltimore courthouse, moments after she had been in court seeking a protective order against him, but whether the killing was premeditated or brought on by spontaneous rage.

It also was revealed at Tuesday's trial testimony that many believe Williams wanted to die after he stabbed his wife on East North Avenue, begging a police officer who shot him to finish the job.

Read Tricia's complete story here, and meanwhile look at the photos that were entered into evidence on Tuesday. Testimony in the trial continues today. Williams was a well-known community activist who marched in anti-crime walks with city leaders.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, East Baltimore
        

Police and city officials have to fight crime on two fronts -- reality and perception. It hardly matters if the crime declines statistically if residents feel unsafe.

And perception can come from various places, such as the media -- shows like The Wire -- or a particular experience. I hear every week from people who think the police helicopter flying over their neighborhood is evidence of decline. One holdup on the block can mean crime is out of control, even if holdups went down 80 percent.

That brings me to Chiara Mapelli, a 15-year-old from Italy. Her family was visiting DC and decided to come up to Baltimore for a few days. But wrong directions on their GPS led them to East Baltimore where she, her sister, mom and dad were, according to her e-mail, "frightened of everything they saw."

I'm presenting her email below, knowing it will spark plenty of debate. I have no idea how they missed the Inner Harbor and ended upon east Lafayette Avenue, or if they actually witnessed three purse snatchings, or a rampant drug trade, or even "prostitution everywhere."

But does it matter? This was this girl's perception of our city and it was enough to send her family speeding back to DC's Georgetown neighborhood. Whether or not her account is accurate, it's doubtful that her next trip to the U.S. will include Baltimore.

Here is her letter:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods
        

A state worker was carjacked in Northwest Baltimore earlier today, sparking a pursuit using a police helicopter that ended with the arrests of two suspects.

The pursuit went from Baltimore and into the county and then back to Baltimore, and part of it was captured by a news crew for WJZ-TV, which broadcast it live during its 5 p.m. newscast. Here is The Sun's news story and the video from WJZ:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County, Breaking news, Northwest Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

Baltimore's homicide clearance rate has been sagging in recent years, as detectives find witnesses less and less likely to cooperate.

"The cases are just much harder today," Maj. Terrence McLarney, the veteran homicide unit commander, told me in December.

Back in the 1990s amid surging violence and an annual body count that peaked at 353 killings, "you would come back [from a crime scene] and someone had already called to give information. We just don't get that today."

In otherwords, the killings are down, but the open caseload is as high as ever, he says. Last year's clearance rate of about 52 percent was down from a rate that reached into the upper 70s in 1990, but is on par with the national average for similarly-sized cities.

So it's worth noting that 2011 has gotten off to a promising start, with detectives making arrests in 17 cases. Just three of this year's 19 killings have been closed by arrest, but cases from prior years - including one from 2005 - make up the balance. Nine arrests had been made at this point last year.

Here's a list of the cases closed by arrest so far this year:

Arrest date  Location                  Incident date

1/4/11        1500 Hazel St          1/1/11
1/8/11        1900 W. North Ave    12/17/10
1/10/11      200 E. Baltimore       7/2/10
1/17/11      1300 N. Franklintown 12/12/10
1/17/11      200 S. Woodyear St  11/4/10
1/19/11      700 W. North Ave      7/1/10
1/20/11      600 N. Pulaski St      7/15/05
1/21/11      200 N. Rose St         6/12/10
2/1/11        2800 Westfield Ave   12/27/10
2/2/11        5700 Eastbury Ave    1/30/11
2/7/11        2100 W. Fayette St   10/23/10
2/8/11        1700 Gorsuch Ave     2/7/11
2/10/11      4100 Ridgewood Ave 12/25/10
2/11/11      2800 E. Madison St    4/11/2007
 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Baltimore County police are asking for help in locating a car and a suspect in one of two fatal hit-and-run accidents that occurred over the weekend.

One claimed the life of Cindy Feldstein, who worked as an assistant to the state's chief medical examiner. The other claimed the life of Jason Cheslik, who was hit by a van on Hazelwood Avenue about a mile from his Overlea home. He accident occurred shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday.

Here is a picture from the police of a van believed to be similar to the one involved in the accident. Police say they do not know the color of the van.

Here are some more details from police:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

UPDATE 2/16, 6:15 P.M.: Police say they have tentatively identified the man as a 46-year-old who suffered from seizures and hypertension; there were no visible signs of trauma. An employee of the Museum of Industry spotted the body and called police. An autopsy will be performed to confirm the man's identity and cause of death. 

Firefighters and police were on the scene of a discovery of a man's corpse in the Inner Harbor, near the Museum of Industry. The city fire union sent a Twitter message around 8:30 a.m. that fire boats were responding to pull the body from the water. Police said the body was discovered at around 8 a.m., in the 1400 block of Key Highway. An autopsy will be performed to determined the man's identity and cause of death.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Downtown
        

The trial of Cleaven L. Williams, a community activist charged with killing his wife outside a Baltimore courthouse, is expected to get underway this morning with opening statements. But a hearing on Monday offered this bombshell, reported by Tricia Bishop:

Four days before Cleaven L. Williams Jr. stabbed his wife seven times on a Baltimore street, he wrote a letter outlining plans to kill her, according to testimony he gave in court Monday. "I figured that I had a [sexually transmitted disease] and I contracted it from my wife," Williams said, explaining that he wrote the undelivered letter because he was upset. "I write a lot, that's my vent."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, East Baltimore
        

The spokeswoman for the state medical examiner's office was one of two pedestrians killed in accidents in Baltimore County over the weekend, officials said. One case involved a hit-and-run driver, the other a Maryland Transit Administration bus.

In the bus incident, police identified the victim as Cindy Feldstein, a secretary and public information officer for medical examiner David R. Fowler. Feldstein was in a crosswalk on Park Heights Avenue near Slade Avenue at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday when she was struck, police said. She was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore and pronounced dead.

“It’s a small agency, a very small staff, so its absolutely devastating to the staff,” said Fowler.

Feldstein served a number of functions at the medical examiner’s office, which she joined around 1994. Her title was secretary and administrative aide, but she also served as a public information officer for the press, an officer troubleshooter, handled subpoenas, and interacted with the public.

“There wasn’t something that could be handed to her that she couldn’t do,” Fowler said. “She was just an absolutely wonderful person in dealing with people and had a real sense of caring.”

Hours later, Jason Cheslik, 29, was killed by a vehicle on Hazelwood Avenue, outside the Hazelwood Inn, while getting into his car about a mile from his home in Overlea. The vehicle that struck him sped away.

Two women were with Cheslik at the time and saw the accident, according to James Patterson, a colleague of Cheslik's at a warehouse and trucking company in Curtis Bay.

"He was a great father, great friend," Patterson, a dispatcher, said of Cheslik, who had a 7-year-old daughter.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

[Read the 31-page indictment here]

Former Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson on Monday was indicted in federal court in Maryland on eight charges, including bribery, witness and evidence tampering and aiding and abetting.

Johnson, 61, a former prosecutor who was the county's top elected official from 2002 to 2010, is accused of playing a key role in a conspiracy that reaches deep into the ranks of power players in the tight-knit government and business communities.

Johnson, along with an unnamed public official, accepted things of value -- including money, trip expenses, airline tickets, rounds of golf, mortgage payments and in-kind campaign contributions -- from business owners and developers in return for official favors, the 31-page indictment states. The indictment alleges that the conspiracy lasted from 2003 until last November, almost through the entirety of Johnson's term.

-The Washington Post

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Crime elsewhere
        

The stabbing was reported at about 10:45 a.m. at the intersection of Liberty Heights and Gwynn Oak, in the Howard Park neighborhood, said Detective Jeremy Silbert, a police spokesman. He said two men got into an argument with another man, who produced an undetermined sharp object and stabbed them.

[Click photo for full size image]

At the scene, a trail of blood was visible from a gas pump to in front of the gas station. A crime scene technician flagged items of interest and took pictures as detectives huddled behind the gas station.

The victims were taken to a local hospital where one of them was suffering from life-threatening injuries, police said. Homicide detectives were notified and were investigating, police said.

Police were looking for a black male with dreadlocks, and were reviewing surveillance camera footage.

The incident was initially reported by the Police Department as having occurred at the intersection of Liberty Heights and Reisterstown Road.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Northwest Baltimore
        

Residents of the farms, rolling hills and historic villages of Baltimore County's Long Green Valley have long basked in the tranquility that comes from country living. Now, they are increasingly worried about a rash of crime in their remote communities, and are urging police to step up patrols of the area.

In response to the spree, some people have bought weapons to protect themselves, according to a resident, who along with others began to agitate publicly for help after a shootout on Jan. 7 between a burglary suspect and a female homeowner on Glen Arm Road. The intruder carried an AK-47 assault rifle and wore camouflage gear.

"We used to be a quiet town with no crime," said Mike Harris, who for about seven years has lived a mile north of the shootout site. Crime, he added, has risen drastically in the past few months, compared with previous years, when it was "nothing even close" to what it is now. As a result, he said, "there's tons of people out here who are up in arms."

On an average night, Harris said, there are between three and five crimes in the area, usually break-ins of homes or cars. Harris, who along with other members of the residents' association has been trying to keep a tally of crimes, said a police officer had told him at the beginning of the month that there had been more than 100 vehicle break-ins in the previous 60 days.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

Capital punishment opponents see momentum for repeal in Annapolis this year, but in the meantime the de facto moratorium in place for the past few years has left victims and convicts in limbo, The Sun's Julie Bykowicz reported this weekend:

"Our dollars are better spent on crime-fighting measures that we know work," the governor said in an interview last week. Still, he says he has no immediate plans to push for repeal, and won't follow the lead of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who in 2003 commuted to life sentences the state's entire death row.

So Maryland will remain in the murky state of having capital punishment but not carrying it out, leaving victims' families and prosecutors frustrated.

"We're in the worst possible place we could be," said Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, a former chief prosecutor in Montgomery County who supports the death penalty. "We've set up a system of false promises for families of victims who are left wondering why it's not sought or why it's not carried out in the case of their loved one."

Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger is pursuing capital charges in the murder-for-hire case of a woman accused of hiring a hit man to kill her husband at their Towson gas station last year. Shellenberger said he has to sit with victims "to explain the realities of the death penalty in Maryland."

"I tell them it could be 15 years or much longer, and involve so many twists and turns that I can't even describe it now," he said. "A lot of them don't want to go through with it."

The men on death row at a maximum-security prison in Western Maryland also remain in limbo.

Heath Burch was sentenced in 1996 for killing his neighbors, a husband and wife, with a pair of scissors. His attorney says Burch is aware of the de facto moratorium, but says it doesn't alleviate any anxiety.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

 UPDATE: Mr. McKinnon has been located unharmed.

Police have put out his alert for a missing man from West Baltimore:

Please be on the lookout for James McKinnon (82 year-old B/M), a missing vulnerable adult.  He was last seen on 2/12/11 at 1500 hrs, leaving his home within the 4600 Blk of Coleherne Road. 

He suffers from Alzheimer’s, but may know hisname, address, and how to use public
transportation. 

He was last seen wearing a black and brownwool hat, black puffy coat, black pants and black new balance tennis shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Missing Person Unit at 443-984-7385 or 911.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: West Baltimore
        

Baltimore police - out in force to watch over downtown night clubs - quickly arrested a man in a shooting on East Saratoga Street. We're awaiting more details of the arrest and to see what club to which it might be linked.

UPDATE: Police say the suspect and victim got into a "road-rage" dispute near a parking lot near I-83. The victim was hit in the elbow.

This morning's shooting is near where Officer Todd Strohman was shot back in November when he confronted a suspicious man on North Calvert Street. Just last week, the officer testified in front of an Annapolis Senate committee as part of the city's efforts to toughen gun laws (see article by Justin Fenton on why suspect was out on the street). A bullet remains lodged in the officer's chest, just above his heart. He returned to light duty last week.

Meanwhile, are are the latest details from Baltimore police spokesman, Detective Kevin Brown, on this morning's shooting:

NON-FATAL SHOOTING
200 Blk of E. Saratoga
2/13/11 - 02:15 Hrs

On the above date, time and location officers SWAT officers were monitoring area nightclubs for signs of disturbances.  While doing so they observed an individual begin shooting from his vehicle at another individual.  He was followed and his vehicle was stopped without incident. He was taken into custody and his firearm recovered. The shooting victim, a 26 year-old male, was located as he walked-in to an area hospital seeking treatment, suffering from a gunshot wound to the
arm. At last check he was in stable condition and expected to recover. No word yet on motive or suspect identity.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Downtown
        

Latest updates on crime over the weekend in Baltimore, from city police spokesman Kevin Brown:

POLICE DISCHARGING (see story in The Sun)
500 Blk of Harwood Avenue
2/11/11 - 19:50 Hrs
 
Officers were dispatched to the 500 Blk of Harwood Avenue for an officer needs assistance call for service.  Upon arrival preliminary investigation revealed that an off-duty Baltimore police officer was sitting in a vehicle with a female companion when an individual approached and attempted entry into the vehicle. A scuffle ensued during the course of which the officer's weapon discharged at least once.  No one was struck and all parties involved are being interviewed by detectives to determine the course of events.  No charges have been filed as of yet. 
 

HOMICIDE
4000 Blk of Park Heights Avenue
2/11/11 - 10:33 Hrs
 
Officers responded to the location at the above date and time for a shooting call for service.  Upon arrival they located the victim, Mr. Jose Estrella (B/M 5/25/91) laying on the ground between two vehicle suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.  He was transported to Sinai Hospital and pronounced at 11:47 am.  No word as of yet on suspect or motive. 
 
NON-FATAL SHOOTING
1000 Blk of Ashland Court
2/11/11 - 22:49 Hrs
 
Officers responded to an east-side area hospital for a "walk-in" shooting victim.  Upon arrival they located the victim, a 25 year-old black male, suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg.  Investigation revealed that as the victim was walking within the 900 Blk of McAleer Court an unknown male began shooting at him.  The victim was stable and expected to recover at last condition check.  No word as of yet on suspect or motive. 
 
NON-FATAL SHOOTING
1800 Blk of Chester Street
2/12/11 - 00:36 Hrs
 
Officers responded to the above location for report of a shooting.  Upon arrival they discovered the victim, a 32 year-old black male, suffering from gunshot wounds to the leg.  He was transported to an area hospital and at last check was stable and expected to recover.  No word as of yet on suspect or motive.  

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Northeast Baltimore, Police shootings
        

An observant homeowner who spotted his stolen camera being sold on Craiglist led Baltimore police to an undercover sting, a take-down at a coffee shop in Canton and an investigation that closed a series of burglaries in the neighborhood.

Sunday's Crime Scenes column walks you through the investigation and profiles the suspect, who police said had decorated his apartment with looted items that he hadn't yet sold:

Inside, Layton wrote in court documents, he saw Driver's stolen X-Box hooked up to the television set. On a shelf, the officer said, he saw the victim's stolen bottles of gin and vodka, lined up in an "orderly fashion," as if they had been there for months.

The detective also saw a pile of jewelry, cell phones and computer equipment, and over the next few weeks, he painstakingly matched the items to four other burglaries in Canton between June and January in which thousands of dollars of items were reported stolen.

A license plate number etched on the back of a cell phone led him to the victim of one burglary. A number in another phone's directory labeled "Dad" led him to the father of another victim. A home phone number found on a portable computer drive led to a third.

Court documents reveal a series of burglaries that in some cases required several pages of police reports to list the missing items — laptop computers, video game consoles, expensive watches, guitars, iPods, smart phones, cameras and handbags.

And that's just the stuff you'd expect to be stolen in a burglary.

The list of missing loot includes steaks taken from a freezer along with a George Foreman grill. There's a stack of missing children's videos — unopened Blu-ray discs of "Wall-E," "A Bug's Life," "Cars" and "Monsters, Inc." — and videos for older folks, such as a boxed set of "Seinfeld" and the second season of "Big Love."

From one house, an engraved $1,300 Swiss Tag Heuer watch was stolen. From another house, a $2 box of Rice-A-Roni was taken from a cupboard.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, Southeast Baltimore
        

From The Sun's Maryland Politics blog:

Olivia Harris, the former campaign treasurer to Sen. Ulysses Currie, pleaded guilty to theft over $100,000 this afternoon in an Anne Arundel County Court, according to the Office of the State Prosecutor.

Harris withdrew $157,350 from Currie's campaign account from January 2007 to April 2010, prosecutors said. The money was spent "for personal use" according to the prosecutors, but they did not detail what she bought.

"Campaign officers are fiduciaries of the contributions that are committed to them," said State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt in a statement. "When they violate that trust, we will hold them accountable."

Read more here.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From Baltimore Sun reporter Tricia Bishop:

The murder trial of Cleaven L. Williams Jr. — who's accused of fatally stabbing his pregnant wife outside a Baltimore courthouse in 2008 — began Friday morning with attorneys arguing whether the autopsy photos could be shown to jurors.

Veronica L. Williams was stabbed seven times in her face and neck, and the images taken by the medical examiner are described as graphic, showing wounds stretched wide to measure their depth.

"They're very shocking," said defense attorney Melissa Phinn. She contends that the photographs would prejudice jurors against her client, while prosecutor Kevin Wiggins said they are necessary to show "the extent of the injuries." The judge said he would allow them to be presented, with portions blocked out.

You may remember this case for another reason: the suspect was shot by a Baltimore police officer moments after the stabbing, and a witness urged the cop to fire again. The stabbing occurred just as the victim left court to obtain a protective order.

And later, a police commander was accused of sending text messages to the suspect, who was well known as a community activist and who went on police crime walks, as police were trying to serve an arrest warrant on him. The deputy major was later cleared but police studied whether the warrant for Williams had been handled outside normal procedures.

Reporter Melissa Harris, who is no longer at The Sun, wrote a long story on the Williams case.It includes this chilling account of the stabbing and the shooting of the suspect, picking up just as the victim was leaving court on East North Avenue:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods
        

WBAL-TV reported last night that thousands of red-light speeding citations bear the signature of an officer who died in September.

The news station was given a citation from Jan. 12 in which the sworn statement attesting to the violation was signed by James Fowler, a traffic officer who died Sept. 27 in Pennsylvania while driving to a training program.

Anthony Guglielmi, the police department's chief spokesman, told The Sun that city officials learned of the problem last month. He says it's a software glitch, in which Fowler's electronic signature went on 2,000 of the more than 9,000 citations generated in January. He says the same program identifies the officer who actually verified the citations.

Legal experts told WBAL that the citations may be difficult to enforce. Still, there's also photo evidence of drivers barreling through red lights. The challenge for police will be to show that the citations were indeed validated by a real person and not wholesale approved and stamped with a dead person's signature.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

From Sun courts reporter Tricia Bishop (this post has been updated): 

Prosecutors said Friday that they will retry the animal-cruelty case against brothers Travers and Tremayne Johnson, who were accused of fatally setting fire to a pitbull in 2009, after the first trial ended in a hung jury Monday.

The new trial is scheduled for May 4. 

"The Court's order prohibiting public comment about the case remains in effect. We will respect the Court's order and look forward to the retrial," Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein said in a statement.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)
Categories: Breaking news, Courts and the justice system
        

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers on Wednesday seized more than 20 pounds of cocaine found in a shipping container at the Baltimore seaport, the agency said. The drugs were wrapped in eight bricks and placed in a blue backpack, found in a container of steel parts that had been shipped from China through Panama to the U.S.

Officials said the cocaine has a street value of $650,000. No arrests were made. 

Over the past few weeks, several cases have illustrated how drugs get into Baltimore:

-A federal court trial involving a drug deal at a Harbor included testimony from a confessed Mexican cartel associate who described driving millions of dollars worth of cocaine across the country in a motor home.

-A case charged in California alleges that hundreds of pounds of cocaine were being regularly shipped into Baltimore via private planes to Martin State Airport in Middle River (Click to read the CityPaper's latest report).

-Along with the seaport seizure this week, several Royal Caribbean employees were busted in December for allegedly smuggling drugs into Baltimore aboard their cruise ship.

At the port, Customs officers are able to locate the cocaine using high-energy imaging technology that doesn't even require opening the containers. "Non-intrusive technology allows CBP officers a quick and clear picture of a conveyance's contents so that we can expedite release of legitimate commercial goods and detain anomalous containers for a more hands-on inspection," said Ricardo Scheller, CBP Port Director of the Port of Baltimore.

No arrests were made, but someone is out quite a bit of money (and drugs). Read the aforementioned cartel story for insight into how drug organizations scurry to make up lost profits and product. In that case, the cartel ordered their Houston-based associate to travel here to verify information and set up new contacts.

[Photo courtesy CBP]

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

The man charged with trying to blow up a Catonsville Armed Forces Career Center wanted to wage a holy war, according to newly filed court documents by the FBI. They describe how the suspect (read the original criminal complaint) used computer terminals at a Baltimore County library.

Baltimore Sun reporter Nick Madigan reports today:

For weeks, federal agents say, they had Antonio Martinez under surveillance, watching as he pulled up jihadist videos on computers in Baltimore County libraries and posted Facebook messages urging holy war on nonbelievers. The agents tracked his every move, the hours he spent staring at the screen, his comings and goings.

On Dec. 7, the night before Martinez — he prefers the name Muhammad Hussain — embarked on what the agents say was an attempt to attack the Armed Forces Career Center in Catonsville, he wrote via Facebook to a man he believed was helping him but who was an undercover FBI agent.

After thanking his "beloved brother" for taking part in the plan, Martinez wrote of "a journey that will require patience, sincerity, unity" and expressed the hope that "with the help of Allah we will be victorious."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

"He smirked at me."

That's how Baltimore Police Officer Todd Strohman described the gunman just before he
pulled the trigger, putting a bullet into his shoulder, a bullet that will remain inches above his heart for the rest of his life.

The cop had another message for state lawmakers who make up the Senate's Judiciary
Committee contemplating tougher guns laws proposed by the city (see city's website describing proposed legislation): If the proposed laws had been on the books, the person charged with shooting him wouldn't have been on the street.

The audience applauded Strohman and the lawmakers wished him well. There was no sense
in grilling him on the necessity of enhanced gun legislation. The man charged in the crime had served two years of a 12-year sentence for armed robbery (the judge had suspended six of the years) and had been charged with five previous gun crimes. He had gotten out a little more than two weeks before the shooting on North Calvert Street.

"Seventeen days after he gets out, he shoots one of our cops," said Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Barksdale.

See more on the gun hearing:

There was no sense in questioning Nicole Harris-Crest either. Her father, former City Councilman Kenneth N. Harris Sr., had been shot and killed during a botched robbery outside a Northeast Baltimore shopping center.

The suspect had just served 85 days for handgun possession, which city cops says is better than average. More than 80 percent of fist-time gun offender in Baltimore get suspended sentences, with no jail time, and the remainder average just four months behind bars.

"One man changed my life," Harris-Crest said. "One bullet destroyed my family. One gun took my father's life. Criminals are deemed safe to run the streets by our courts and innocent lives are snuffed out."

This was all part of a carefully orchestrated display in front of the committee. City officials have been coming to Annapolis for seven years without much success, rarely getting tougher gun bills out of committee for a full vote on the floor. They came close last year, but still ended in failure.

This year, they decided to make sure lawmakers understood the proposed legislation was not aimed at the city. Concerns have been raised that the bills would put law-breaking citizens in prison in Baltimore at the expense of curbing rights of law-abiding gun owners in the rest of the state.

So in addition to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein and the usual cadre of top police commanders, the city delegation brought the county executive from Howard County and top prosecutors from Baltimore and Prince George's counties.

"Howard County does not experience the same level of crime as some of its neighbors, but we all know that criminals with guns don't really care about borders, or pay attention to where one county ends and another begins," said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman. "The raw crime and gun numbers in my county is low, but they still tell a story of the problem we're here to address."

Rawlings-Blake said the help from the suburban leaders and cops with bullets lodged in their bodies was an effort to "tell our story in a more impactful way. Hopefully, the legislature will understand that this is not just about Baltimore City."

To lawmakers, she said, "This is simple. If you carry a loaded, illegal gun, there are real consequences."

The committee was looking at seven different bills, but three were the most important and debated. Two were sponsored by the city delegation and the third by the governor's office.

The governor's bill is nearly identical to one that got broad support in last year's failed effort -- making it a crime to use any gun, not just a handgun, in the commission of a violence crime or felony. The idea is that a person who holds up a convenience store with a shotgun should get just as much time as a person who holds it up with a handgun. Ulman noted that while Howard County had just one murder in 2010, it was committed with a long gun. And Barksdale said that 27 percent of gun arrests in the city last year involved long guns. "Long guns and handguns are equally deadly," he said.

One of the city proposals would up the penalties for being a felon in possession of a handgun. As it stands now, the penalty is a mandatory five years in prison. The new bill would up that to five to 15 years in prison, but give judges discretion on sentencing within that range. Prosecutors don't like mandatory sentences because it creates a disincentive to plea bargain. If a defendant is going to get five years whether he pleads guilty or goes to trial, he might just as well take his chances at trial, and that clogs the system with easily winnable cases.

Neither of those two proposals elicited much debate.

What did set off a round of questioning was Senate Bill 239. That would make handgun possession a felony with an 18 month mandatory sentence. Several senators objected, saying that it would ensnare not only gunmen on the street but also people like banker Edwin F. Hale, who recently got caught with a gun at BWI that he said he had forgotten in his suitcase. He was charged with a misdemeanor, but lawmakers worried that the city's bill would put him in prison for 18 months. Or target a person coming home from the gun range who forgot to take a bullet out of a handgun.

That set off a spirited debate, with both city State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein and Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger trying to stress that the bill wouldn't affect Hale at all -- he had a valid carry permit and the bill targets only people with illegal handguns. Also, they said, to a still skeptical body, that the proposed change in language leaves in tact the misdemeanor part of the law, giving prosecutors discretion to charge a person caught with an illegal gun with a crime that could result in probation but no jail time or a more serious crime that would result in a felony and 18 months behind bars.

Still pressed, Shellenberger launched an animated demonstration saying "we aren't chasing after businessmen with briefcases at BWI. They aren't the problem." The bill would allow him to imprison people stopped by cops with loaded guns in their cars and string of drug convictions behind them.

An exasperated Rawlings-Blake: "We've tried it other ways," she said, noting the four month average jail time for just a small portion of gun offenders. "We all know what happens. Four months is two months. People can do that standing on their heads."

Added an equally exasperated Bernstein: "We're trying to stop people from driving into our city with loaded firearms. I don't think that's too much to ask."

Still, other lawmakers wondered about giving prosecutors too much discretion in whom to charged with minor or serious offenses. Bernstein and Shellenberger stressed they make those decisions every day.

The city has a troubled history in Annapolis. The police commissioner has complained in years past about being treated rudely by lawmakers who he said think Baltimore is an island separate from the rest of the city. And former State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy called a watered-down law on witness intimidation a "toothless-tiger."

Still, on Thursday one lawmaker from Washington County, Republican Christopher B. Shank, complained that the laws seemed just for Baltimore and that targeting criminals in Baltimore shouldn't mean restricting guns for others across Maryland. And the city still has to get through the House Judiciary Committee, where laws proposed by law enforcement are known to die.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, City Hall, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere, Kenneth Harris trial, Neighborhoods, Police shootings, Top brass
        

Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein said Wednesday that he wants to assign assistant state's attorneys to geographic areas to track repeat offenders plaguing their communities.

Prosecutors currently focus on specific types of offenses, such as drug cases, general felonies or homicides. The community prosecution model would divide the city into zones, with a group of prosecutors working more collaboratively with police to track and build cases against targeted individuals.

"They would be focusing on all crimes in that particular area," Bernstein told members of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. "The goal is to have them prosecute defendants, not cases." 

Such a model is used in cities across the country, including Philadelphia, where Bernstein said he recently met with District Attorney Seth Williams. It is also done with varying effort in places from Manhattan and Brooklyn to Anne Arundel County, and was tried out for 18 months in a Baltimore neighborhood in 2003 using grant money.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods
        

Baltimore's sometimes troubled night-life scene and the links to crime are common stories. But we shouldn't forget that alcohol and violence go hand-in-hand outside the city lines. A recent fight at a Parkville bar that left four people stabbed is just one example.

Just like in Baltimore, residents complained and made it a discussion at a community meeting with police. Cheers Bar has a troubled past, but has been relatively quiet over the past year. That is, until this past weekend.

The Baltimore Sun's Jessica Anderson followed up on the incident and found a liquor board file full of police reports. In the latest incident Saturday, Baltimore County police charged Allen Quentin Johnson, 25, of the 1500 block of Lester Morton Court in Baltimore, with 18 charges including first-degree assault.

Jessica's story gives this account:

According to charging documents, a witness told police that Johnson pulled a folding knife from his pants and stabbed Keith Epps in the chest, Billy Bowden Jr. in the shoulder, David Matthews Jr. in the lower back and Baye Campbell in the right middle finger.

The witness told police that Johnson said after the Saturday incident that "a couple people might die tonight 'cause I started hitting everybody.'"

During an interview with a responding police officer, Johnson told an officer he was trying to break up a fight and admitted he carries a knife. At the end of the interview, he said, "How many people did I hawk up tonight?" The officer asked him to define "hawk," to which he replied "stab," according to charging documents dated early Saturday.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

Baltimore leaders, including top cops, the mayor and the new state's attorney, are making their annual pilgrimage to Annapolis this afternoon to lobby for stronger gun laws. It's the sixth consecutive year of trying, and this time Baltimore officials are, so to speak, bringing out the big guns.

Scheduled to testify before a Senate committee are residents of crime-riddled city neighborhoods and a police officer who was shot on North Calvert Street. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has even unveiled a web site -- Safer City Baltimore -- to track gun legislation and read the text of the bills.

Last year's efforts failed, but bills actually got out of a house committee, and that in itself was considered a victory.

A proposal to extend the law making using a handgun in the commission of a felony to include all guns -- so that a person who robs a store with a rifle gets the same time as someone who robs a store with a handgun -- got widespread support. But a bill to extend being a felon in possession of a handgun to include all guns brought both bills crashing down. Opponents said it would unfairly punish felons who wanted to use rifles to hunt.

So now the city is back in Annapolis with new ideas. One proposal would create a minimum 18 month sentence for all defendants convicted of having an illegal, loaded firearm. Another would increase the maximum penalty for felons in possession of handguns to up to 15 years, but would give judges discretion by making it a 5 to 15 year penalty.

Just a few moments ago, city police announced more gun arrests on Twitter -- a handgun seizure on Gwynns Falls Parkway and .357 handgun recovered on Frankford Avenue in Northeast. In the picture above by The Sun's Gene Sweeney Jr., Rawlings-Blake talks about 76 illegal firearms that were seized in 10 days in July in Baltimore. Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein and ATF Special Agent in Charge Joseph Riel are shown (left to right) in the background.

City leaders have had a hard time trying to understand why it's so difficult to get legislation passed to help them make Baltimore safer. The hearing is at 1 p.m. Check back to The Baltimore Sun later, on-line and in print, to see how the the city's bad guys with guns plays out in Annapolis.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

For years, city officials have been working under the assumption that Baltimore had stemmed persistent population loss and possibly even gained residents at one point in the past decade. But new figures released today by the U.S. Census Bureau and reported by The Sun's Yeganeh June Torbati show that while the loss slowed, the city still lost about 4.5 percent of its population, or about 30,000 people. 

These figures bring a number of ramifications for the city, including the possible loss of a state Senate seat. What are the implications from a crime perspective? For starters, it bumps up the city's murder and violent crime rates. It's not a major shift, but one worth noting for those of you stat-heads keeping score at home (you know who you are). There's also implications for the city's police-to-citizen ratio, which has been in the news lately.

The 2011 murder total of 223 victims equated to a rate of about 35 victims per 100,000 people under the assumption that there were about 637,400 people, based on the estimate for 2009. Chip away the population to the new Census figure of 620,900, and the murder rate jumps to nearly 36 victims per 100,000. That also means the city's at its lowest rate since 1989, not 1988.

Year Victims Pop        Rate
1988   234   748,284 31.272
1989   262   740,697 35.372

2010   223   637,418 34.985
2010   223   620,961 35.912

UPDATE: Sheryl Goldstein, director of the Mayor's Office on Criminal Justice, says the population loss is not likely to significantly affect any funding streams in which the formula is tied to population. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

The Sun's Nick Madigan is reporting that the last of three defendants convicted in a racial attack on a fisherman in a South Baltimore park has been sentenced to 85 years in prison. But the judge suspended all but 10 years of the time.

Zachary D. Watson, 19, pleaded guilty armed carjacking, robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit assault and committing a hate crime to avoid a trial. Madigan wrote:

Baltimore Circuit Judge Lynn K. Stewart sternly warned Watson that she will make sure he serves all 75 years of the sentence if he commits any offenses during a five-year probationary period after his release. "I'll be around a long time," the judge said, "so when he finishes I'll be right here."

The attack on James Privott, who was 76 at the time, in Fort Armistead Park drew national attention when it became clear from police reports that his assailants had used racial invective during the incident. Privott, who was beaten with a hammer, punched and kicked in the assault on Aug. 18, 2009, told detectives later that, as far as he could tell, the attack was perpetrated by three men, later identified by police as Watson and his friends Calvin E. Lockner, 29, and Emmanuel Miller, 17.

In Watson's account to police after his arrest, he said that he and Miller had been standing some 20 feet away while Lockner, alone, pummeled the fisherman. Lockner, a self-professed white supremacist with an avowed admiration for Nazis and Adolf Hitler, was sentenced in September to 31 years in prison for his role in the attack.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, South Baltimore
        

The drive-by shooting of a 21-year-old man in Northeast Baltimore Tuesday evening was the area's sixth this year -- and now that once quiet part of the city accounts for one-third of all the city's homicides this year.

The Suns Justin Fenton and June Yeganeh Torbati reports that the shooting occurred about 6:30 a.m. on Alta Avenue, near Northern Parkway. Most of the slayings have occurred further south, toward East Baltimore.

Map city murders.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Northeast Baltimore
        

Baltimore police are searching for a man who held up a Family Dollar store at gunpoint in East Baltimore last month.

Police said the robbery occurred Jan. 6 about 12:30 p.m. The man walked into the story in the 1300 block of East Fayette St., threatened a clerk with a handgun and demanded money. He left with an undisclosed amount, walking south on Eden Street and then east on Lombard Street.

He then fled on foot southbound on Eden Street then eastbound on Lombard Street.  Anyone with information is asked to contact the Baltimore Police City-Wide Robbery Unit at 410-366-6341. Police say he is suspected in other robberies in the area.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: East Baltimore
        

From the Mount Royal Improvement Association:

"On the Hill was robbed last night at gun point at 9:10, just after closing.  The staff did not resist the demand for cash and no one was hurt.  The robber was completely concealed with a hoodie and no identification was made.  A neighbor saw a suspicious black car driving very slowly in the alley behind the café just prior to the robbery.  A full report to the Police and MICA security was made."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Downtown
        

The closure of the downtown prison known as Supermax has been hinted at for years and it happened slowly, with a dribble of prisoners, including five on death row, quietly moved elsewhere over the past two years. Most went to a new high-tech prison in Western Maryland.

The official end came Tuesday when the facility was turned over to the feds to be used as badly-needed pre-trial detention center. Finally, those awaiting trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore can be held in one place, instead of scattered about the Northeast.

At left, a photo the cells in Supermax, taken by The Sun's Doug Kapustin, during a rare tour in 2008.

But nostalgia aside, Supermax had a frightening 21-year history -- two made-for-TV escapes and complaints of confinement more suitable for a gulag than an American prison. Inmates were held in lock down 23 hours a day in cells with tiny windows. There as the infamous "pink room" that had a hole in the floor for a toilet, no windows, in prisoners were shackled at the ankles and wrists and left in their underwear.

The feds called conditions inhumane. So did prisoner advocacy groups and eventually even state officials. A former state prison official said facilities like Supermax are needed, but the one in Baltimore should have been built away from the city and officials should have done more to help the inmates.

Read more about the history of Supermax and a news story on it's transformation to a federal detention center. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Downtown, Prisons
        

A man was shot and killed Tuesday evening in a drive-by shooting in Northeast Baltimore:

The 21-year-old victim was waiting at a bus stop with a woman on the 6600 block of Alta Ave. near the intersection with Northern Parkway, police said, when a four-door, light-colored vehicle approached and someone inside began firing a gun. Police were called to the scene about 6:30 p.m. and found the man lying in the street. The woman was uninjured.

Meanwhile, city police reported an arrest in another Northeast Baltimore shooting that occurred Monday afternoon. The shooting occurred about 3:15 p.m. in the 2700 block of Polk St., in the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood.

Also, Baltimore police over the past two days seized several guns from city streets, part of the commissioner's bad guys with guns campaign:

* A search of a house in the 3100 block of N. Woodington Road turned up a 9mm handgun and led to four arrests by the Southwestern District's drug squad.

* A search warrant served in the 3100 block of Belmont Ave. resulted in the seizure of a 12-gauge shotgun and one arrest by the Violent Crime Impact Division in the Western District.

* Police in the 700 block of Linnard St. in Southwest Baltimore arrested two people and seized a 9mm handgun.

* Another search warrant led police with the Gun Trace Task Force to the 3400 block of Callaway ave., where they seized a 12-gauge pistol-gripped shotgun.

* Police in Northwest Baltimore found four illegal long guns in a house in the 8500 block of Main Ave.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, Southwest Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

Authorities have found more illegal fishing nets. The Sun's Outdoor writer Candus Thomson -- see her Outdoors Girl blog -- reports today:

Natural Resources Police patrol boats Monday found two more illegal fishing nets in the waters south of Kent Island and seized another half-ton of striped bass. The agency also announced that the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the poachers who have netted more than 10 tons of fish has increased to $10,000.

The first net was hauled out at 2 p.m. near Poplar Island. The 600-yard net, which officers estimated to be in the water since last year, contained "a couple of rockfish that were released alive and 200 to 300 horseshoe crabs," said Sgt. Art Windemuth, NRP spokesman.

The second net, pulled in the evening, was about a mile south of the illegal nets found off Bloody Point last week. The 1,200-yard submerged net contained 1,159 pounds of striped bass, which were sold at market, Windemuth said. Once again, the 73-foot buoy tender M/V Widener was called in to help lift the fish-filled net.

Everything you wanted to know about rockfish poaching and more.

State closes striped bass season.

Net with three tons of rockfish found.

Two more nets of rockfish discovered.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Crime elsewhere
        

A 16-year-old boy was hospitalized with serious neck and back injuries after being struck with a Taser by a Baltimore police officer in a struggle on the roof of his North Baltimore home, officials said.

Officers from the Warrant Apprehension Task Force were serving a warrant at about 11 a.m. in the 4400 block of Wrenwood Ave. on a juvenile wanted on a violation for a handgun charge, when the teen jumped out of a second-floor window onto a roof.

Police said the suspect exchanged words with officers and refused to be taken into custody. He then lunged at an officer through the window and was Tased, police said.

Police said the teen fell from the roof, and was rushed to Sinai Hospital with serious injuries. It was not clear if the suspect had a weapon, and the officer wasn't identified.

Deputy Commissioner Anthony Barksdale was notified and ordered internal affairs to conduct an investigation.

The warrant that was being served stemmed from a violation of the teen’s GPS monitoring in connection with the handgun charge. Police said the boy’s mother let officers into the home to serve the warrant.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

UPDATE: The camera position has been changed and now shows only highway traffic.

UPDATE 2: Kelly Melman, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Transportation Authority, said a police officer for that agency first spotted the fire and trained the camera on the blaze because an exit ramp had to be shut down from I-95. The officer "was watching the fire to see if it growing and might involve closures along I-95," Melman said. When the fire died down, the officer turned the camera back to traffic along the highway, its normal location.

Baltimore firefighters are battling a 2-alarm blaze at the city's travel plaza, on O'Donnell Street and I-95. The fire is at the Roadway Inn, a three-story hotel.

Here's a link to a state transportation department camera so you can watch the fire live on your screen. Click on I-95 at O'Donnell Street.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: East Baltimore
        

County police have arrested and charged Duane G. Davis with leaving a toilet - festooned with newspaper clippings, an electronic transmitter and a cell phone — outside the historic Baltimore County courthouse Monday morning, triggering a police reaction that included a bomb-sniffing dog and a small robot.

Though there did not appear to be any threats of violence or indications that the toilet was intended to be perceived as a possible bomb, Davis has been charged with having a "phoney [sic] destruction device" and "false statement - destruction device." He's being held on $200,000 bond, records show.

The Sun's June Torbati reported today that Monday's incident shows how vigilant security officials and the public have become on potential threats, said Ellen Cornelius, a law and policy analyst with the University of Maryland's Center for Health and Homeland Security. "I think people have become more aware, and there have been effective public awareness campaigns" by governments.

We'll have more on this later on line and in print. Here is a copy of the police charging document so you can decide for yourself what crimes he allegedly committed:

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

Two men accused of being co-conspirators in a cocaine distribution pipeline that funneled drugs from a violent Mexican cartel to the Baltimore area were convicted by a federal jury Monday.

Wade Coats, 45, of Baltimore and Jose Cavazos, 44, of Dallas were convicted of drug conspiracy charges; Coats was also found guilty of a firearms charge. The men, who rejected plea deals, face a maximum sentence of life in prison, and federal authorities expect a sentence of at least 30 years.

Detectives had stumbled onto the pair while investigating a lower-level dealer, prosecutors said. Months later, a man who said he has ties to the Gulf Cartel was arrested by FBI agents in Dallas and began providing information to authorities on his contacts throughout the country, including Baltimore.

The witness, Alex Mendoza-Cano, gave a dramatic account of how he said he helped the Gulf Cartel make millions here: He described driving a motor home stuffed with millions of dollars in cocaine along a distribution route running through Arkansas, Chicago, New Jersey and Atlanta, with the drugs supplied by cartel members and smuggled across the border in personal watercraft and boats. He received coded instructions from Mexico via a radio, he said.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The animal cruelty trial of Travers and Tremayne Johnson, charged in the 2009 fatal burning of a dog nicknamed Phoenix, ended in a mistrial Monday when jurors couldn't come to an agreement about the brothers' guilt or innocence on any of four animal cruelty charges against them, The Sun's Tricia Bishop reports.

The brothers smiled as the result was read about 6:30 p.m., after several days of jury deliberation and five days of trial.

Prosecutors had little evidence to work with in making their case, and defense attorneys repeatedly pointed out the flaws in the dog-burning investigation, which they said began minutes after Phoenix was set on fire May 27, 2009.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Breaking news
        

[This post has been updated] 

A 19-year-old man was fatally shot Monday afternoon in Northeast Baltimore, leaving a trail of blood as he stumbled up a street before collapsing. By early Tuesday, police had made an arrest.

Officers were called to the 2700 block of Polk St. at about 3:15 p.m. for a report of a shooting. A 58-year-old resident, who would not give his name but said he’s a construction contractor, told a reporter that he heard at least four shots, then looked out of his window and saw a male fall down on the corner where two churches face each other.

Police would locate the victim, Craig Manuel, of the 2700 block of Carswell St., in next block up, on a patch of sidewalk where a crime scene technician photographed blood and clothing. 

Anthony Guglielmi, the Police Department's chief spokesman, said detectives made an arrest early Tuesday, taking 18-year-old Isaacier McQueen into custody. Guglielmi said "community intelligence" - police-speak for tips - played a role.

The witness said the area – in the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood – is not particularly violent. “But those teenagers, they get a little fight in them, and the next thing you know, a gun is involved,” he said.

Manuel had recently been convicted on drug and auto theft-related charges, receiving a four-year suspended sentence. Records show he had also sought a protective order against a woman. 

Police also have identified a man fatally shot in the head last week in the Edmondson Village neighborhood. Warren Wilmer, 36, was found on the sidewalk suffering from gunshot wounds at about 8:15 p.m. Feb. 2 in the 900 block of N. Woodington Rd.

Anyone with information on either shooting is asked to call police at 410-396-2100. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Northeast Baltimore
        

In her second "State of the City" address, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will propose the creation of a 10-year financial plan for Baltimore, discuss initiatives for recovering drug addicts, and propose restructuring the Baltimore Development Corp., among other initiatives. The Sun's City Hall reporter Julie Scharper will have a full report, but here's text of the speech that focuses specifically on law enforcement and public safety:

"As our schools are making great progress, Baltimore is becoming a safer city to raise a family. In 2010, homicides reached their lowest level since 1985, when William Donald Schaefer was Mayor. Gun homicide is down 13%, juvenile homicides and shootings are down 35%, and overall gun crime is down 16%, that's 498 fewer victims of gun crime than in 2009. 
 
I want to thank all the men and women of the Baltimore Police Department for their continued focus on illegal guns and the violent criminals who use them. In 2010, our police officers took over 2300 illegal guns off the streets.
 
The sad truth is that our Police Department is achieving these record results with one hand tied behind their back because of inadequate state penalties for gun criminals.  Our current laws are weak and support a culture that tolerates illegal, loaded gun possession.

Today, we are joined by three heroes whose story crystallizes the need for tougher state penalties for gun offenders.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: City Hall
        

The device was a toilet bowl plastered with stickers and newspaper clippings with a cell phone and compact disc attached to it. An old radio sat next to the toilet bowl with a note written on cardboard nearby, and an apparent petition attached to it.

After finding the device outside the courthouse, the maintenance worker notified security personnel at the courthouse.

"It appeared to be suspicious, so they contacted police," police spokesman Lt. Rob McCullough said.

The note requested that state and local officials push the town of Zion, Ill., to "conduct a complete and impartial investigation" into the 2006 death of a Baltimore man's son.

[Photo courtesy Mike Minervini]

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

From the Maryland Politics blog:

Maryland's new Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Sam Abed will meet the press today after touring the city juvenile lockup, one of the state's most problem-plagued facilities. He began work last week, after a recent appointment to the post by Gov. Martin O'Malley, The Sun reported this morning.

Abed will take questions at 11 a.m., but some are already raising them. House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell is among the lawmakers who wonder whether five years as a deputy official in another state -- Abed's resume -- provides enough of a base of knowledge. But other lawmakers, including Sen. Bobby Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat, think Abed will be a breath of fresh air, unafraid to propose new ideas or pose questions.

This is the second cabinet-level appointment O'Malley has made since winning a new term in November. Last month, he selected the FDA's Joshua Sharfstein, a former Baltimore health administrator, as the new leader of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Baltimore citizens were outraged after discovering that one of the suspects charged with killing Johns Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn in Charles Village had violated his probation several times, but had never been held accountable.

The Charles Village Community Benefits District decided to act. The group brought back Court Watch, a program in which volunteers track criminal cases, write letters to judges describing the adverse impact of crime and attend court hearings and trials.

It's an effective way to at least keep judges and prosecutors aware that the community cares about what happens. "When they know you're watching, it makes a difference," said Stephen Gewirtz, a retired math professor who has assumed the responsibilities of Crime Watch.

Sunday's Crime Scenes column talks with Gewirtz and explores some of the cases he's following, including a serial burglar and a man who police said went on a carjacking spree in Remington and Charles Village.

Lavelva Merritt, 24, and John Alexander Wagner, 34, charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Stephen Pitcairn, have lengthy criminal histories and have been passing through the region's justice system for years, seemingly without repercussion. A Baltimore Sun review of court records and interviews with law enforcement officials and a recent victim found:

* Wagner pleaded guilty to a vicious assault on his then-girlfriend in 2008 and received eight years in prison, but the entire sentence was suspended. He was charged with violating his probation on four occasions, but each time a city judge ordered that the terms of his supervision remain unchanged.

* In April, Wagner was caught on city surveillance cameras robbing a man at a downtown gas station and was arrested at the scene after the victim gave a detailed account and identified his attacker. But the victim later got skittish and refused to cooperate. Prosecutors dropped the case.

* And on July 22, a Baltimore County judge issued an arrest warrant for Wagner for violating his probation in a 2009 car theft conviction. But it was added to a backlog of tens of thousands of unserved warrants.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

Maryland State Police have an important, and sobering message for Super Bowl Sunday:

                             -Do not wear large pieces of cheese on your head while driving;
                             -Do not wave terrible towels while driving;
                                    and the most important of all advice which is-
                             -DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE.

Police are warning they'll be out in force on Sunday:

"For those who fail to heed the advice not to drink and drive, Maryland State Police will have special DUI saturation patrols on duty this Sunday. Maryland State Police Superintendent Colonel Terrence B. Sheridan has directed each of the 22 barracks to deploy additional patrols to specifically target drunk driving. Troopers on regular patrol duty have also been instructed to focus on drunk driving enforcement when not handling other calls for service."

For more:

“Events associated with the biggest game of the year unfortunately result in an increased potential for people drinking and driving,” Colonel Sheridan said. “I hope those planning to drive this Sunday will heed our warning and refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages. The goal of our extra drunk driving patrols is to locate and arrest those who ignore our warning and endanger the lives of others before their careless disregard for the safety of others results in tragedy.”

Troopers are reminding motorists of the usual tips to avoid drinking and driving:

                                        -Choose a designated driver who remains sober;
                                        -Stay at a nearby hotel or at the event location until you are sober; or
                                        -Call a cab or use public transportation.

Event hosts are urged to serve food along with alcoholic beverages, which will help slow the absorption of alcohol in the digestive systems of those drinking.

Drivers are reminded that even their first DUI offense can result in a fine of up to $1,000 and up to one year in jail, as well as a license suspension of six months. Experts estimate that the total of costs associated with a DUI arrest can range from $5,000 to $20,000. 

Driving with a blood alcohol content of .07 (driving while impaired) is illegal in Maryland and .08 (driving under the influence) or higher is illegal in every state. A driver under the age of 21 with any measurable alcohol in their system is in violation alcohol laws in Maryland.  

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Confronting crime
        

In case there is any lingering confusion, banker Edwin F. Hale Sr. was indeed charged with a crime connected to his bringing a loaded handgun to BWI Marshall Airport on Friday.

Police had said that the well known executive and owner of the Baltimore Blast indoor soccer team had had been detained, which charges to be determined by prosecutors. But police clarified the issue today, saying Hale was given a criminal summons and ordered to court. His gun was confiscated.

Hale told The Sun's Jessica Anderson on Friday that he forgot the gun was in his briefcase as he headed off to the airport. He has had a handgun carry permit for 25 years and police said they believe his story that it was a mistake. But they also said that does not exonerate him from criminal charges.

Read a full account of the story here.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

For months, authorities in southern Pennsylvania were stumped by a string of serial car arson fires at which playing cards were found at the scenes. On Friday, police arrested two men who face charges in the fires, one of which occurred in March in Parkton.

Here's the tale:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County, Crime elsewhere
        

Earlier this week, as the city police union continued to speak out about their frustration over wages and benefits, WBAL-TV reported a brow-raising figure: Baltimore is flush with cops, with literally hundreds more per capita on the street than the next highest comparable city. The station reported that Baltimore has 610 officers per 100,000 people, compared to 377 officers per 100,000 people in Detroit and 472 in Philadelphia, and said legislators cited the story in questioning whether the city gets its money's worth.

There appears to be one significant flaw in the numbers, however. The reporting said that Baltimore has 3,900 employees, then translated that into the number of officers per 100,000 people. But "employees" do not equal "officers." As commenters on that first story pointed out, the BPD has hundreds of civilian employees from dispatchers to the crime lab technicians.

According to figures The Sun received from the city last year, Baltimore had 3,100 actual "sworn" officers in 2010. Those are just funded positions; with vacancies, the city has about 2,900. That's down from 3,300 in the early part of the decade, the figures show.

[City and police officials said Friday night that the station's figures were incorrect, but in an email WBAL's news director stood by the report. "She did not overstate the numbers," director Michelle Butt said, saying the station compared like data sets among cities. "Jayne and the WBAL news room continue through their reporting  to raise questions and start debate about the direction of our community."]

Here's the upshot: even using the correct figure, Baltimore sports about 480 officers per 100,000 people, which is still more than the other cities WBAL compared it to, as well as a couple others that I picked out, which raises the question - given the state of the city budget, does Baltimore have too many police officers?

Could it pare back to the levels of Detroit and St. Louis, and focus on issues of compensation? Is public safety getting too much focus here at the expense of other areas of need? Or do we have appropriate staffing given the city's historical struggles with crime and officials' priority of making communities safer? Post your comments below.

For her part, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told WBAL that there's an argument that "maybe we could do without as many officers," but said that's not what the public wants.

The Austin American Statesman, on its Politifact web site, reported this recently on the issue of comparing the size of police forces:

Comparing staffing levels of different police departments can be tricky. The usual basis for comparison is the number of sworn officers per 1,000 residents. Those ratios vary widely across the country and even from city to city. Based on the most recent numbers available, New York's ratio in 2008 was 4.3 officers per 1,000 residents; the national rate was 2.5.

“It’s often like comparing apples to carburetors because there is so much difference in how departments use people,” said Craig Fraser, director of management services for the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit research and consulting group in Washington. In some cities, police officers do jobs that are performed by civilian personnel elsewhere. Some police departments have fewer officers because other local law enforcement agencies, like a sheriff’s office, pick up slack.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: City Hall
        

UPDATE: Police have learned the man's name -- Gregory Talesnik, 65, from a tag on the inside of his jacket. They still have not located his relatives. A Connecticut man apparently confused about drug laws went right to the source: he called 911, told the operator he was growing pot and asked about penalties. The operator quickly sent a police car and the man was arrested and charged with drug possession.

Listen to the 911 tape, from the Harfort Courant:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Crime elsewhere, Crime humor
        

Howard County police are seeking help identifying a man found Friday wandering a highway ramp near U.S. 29 and Interstate 70:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Howard County
        

The FBI is seeking the public's help in identifying two robbers who hit downtown banks this month and last.

The FBI says that agents believe the robberies are unrelated and committed by two different people. The bank surveillance photos were distributed by the FBI. Here is their statement:

Both subjects are passing demand notes indicating they are armed and will shoot the teller if they do not comply.  Both of these photos are on the Baltimore FBI bank bandit web site. Reward info posted there. 

Robbed:
- Bank of America, 100 S. Charles St., 01/14/2011, 3:00 pm
- Capitol One Bank, 135 E. Baltimore St. 01/24/2011, 3:20 pm (In this case dye pack exploded inside subjects coat pocket and may have burned him in the upper chest area)
 
 
Subject #2 -- B/M, Late 30's, 6'-6'1, Medium complexion, Last seen wearing a black knit cap, Black leather jacket, Blue jeans

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III were in Annapolis this morning briefing the city delegation on proposals for stricter gun laws.

City officals have been lobbying for years to boost penalties with not much success. Read the legislation -- Senate Bill 240 and Senate Bill 239. This year's proposals, according to the mayor's office:

The first bill would create a minimum sentence of 18 months for all defendants arrested with an illegal, loaded firearm. The second bill would strengthen sentencing options for felons in possession of guns by creating a tougher sentencing range of 5 years minimum to 15 years maximum, giving judges more sentencing options when faced with a repeat gun offender.

Here is a statement from the mayor's office:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Top brass
        

UPDATE: Juror were unable to reach a verdict Friday and will resume deliberations on Monday.

UPDATE: The Sun's Tricia Bishop reports --The jury deliberating in the animal cruelty trial of Travers and Tremayne Johnson sent a note to the judge Friday morning suggesting that they are having trouble reaching a verdict.

The 18-year-old twins are charged with setting fire to a pit bull known as "Phoenix" in 2009, in a case that has become the centerpiece in a series of animal abuse cases. Defense attorneys say the teens were wrongly accused by Baltimore police under pressure from outraged animal welfare advocates.

Complete details of Thursday's courtroom drama can be found here. The Sun's court reporter, Tricia Bishop, wrote about Thursday's closings:

Prosecutors had spent the fifth day of trial — highlighting the evidence, while the defense team pointed to the lack of it. Prosecutors Jennifer Rallo and Janet Hankin systematically connected the dots in their circumstantial case and asked the jury to consider the testimony of their key witness, city police Sgt. Jarron Jackson, akin to that of a reporter: someone who watches and interprets information.

A defense attorneys questioned  the timing of her clients on a video and provided a list of 41 things that the police allegedly failed to do in the investigation. They did not preserve the crime scene, she said; they waited a week to assign an investigator; they didn't collect important evidence; and they didn't investigate other suspects.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Courts and the justice system, West Baltimore
        

Two Florida men pleaded guilty on Thursday to assuming the identity of more than 50 Maryland residents and stealing more than $200,000 as part of a broad fraud scheme. The guilty pleas in U.S. District Court on Thursday close out a case involving six defendants. Four others previously admitted guilt.

Federal prosecutors said that Oscar Diaz, 30, and Wayne Curry, 36, both of Fort Lauderdale, defrauded banks in Maryland and five other states and took money from people's personal bank accounts.

Authorities said the men broke into cars parked outside churches, day care centers, parks and gyms and stole credit cards, driver's licenses and social security cards. "Diaz's co-conspirators would even follow funeral processions in order to target cars parked at grave yards," the U.S. Attorney's office in Maryland said in a statement.

The suspects used the information from the stolen cards to get information on personal accounts from banks. Prosecutors said one of the suspect's worked at a bank and helped his friends get checks made out to the men in the scheme. The men would then to the victims' bank and impersonate the people on the cards, sometimes putting on wigs, prosecutors said.

As part of his plea, Diaz will be sentenced to nine years in federal prison and must pay the victims restitution. Curry faces up to 30 years in prison. They are scheduled to be sentenced in March and April. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system
        

A 24-year-old man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for breaking into a house in South Baltimore's Westport community in what police described as a home-invasion robbery to rob a drug dealer.

But all the suspect got was $250 in cash from a woman's purse.

Robert "Seatle" Jones, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to breaking into the house on April 17, 2010, with two other men. One of the gunmen confronted a woman and demanded to know where the drugs and money were hidden.

The woman told them she didn't know, according to prosecutors, and the gunmen forced her downstairs. The gunmen also found a baby in a room and took the child downstairs as well, holding both at gunpoint.

When the men couldn't find drugs or money, they left through a window, and one of them dropped his gun on the way out. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: South Baltimore
        

Anne Arundel County police are seeking a man who used a threatening note to rob the Severn Savings Bank in Glen Burnie on Thursday. Police said the robbery occurred about 11:15 a.m. at the bank in the 400 block of Crain Highway South.

A bank employee told police that the note implied that the man had a weapon and demanded money. The teller turned over an undetermined amount of money and the man ran away.Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact detective Clifford Van Hoesen of the Robbery Unit at 410-222-3469(3566).

The robber is described as a white male standing about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 250 pounds. He has a light complexion and round face and was wearing a black hat with white writing on front, tan jacket, black pants and black shoes.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County
        

A federal jury on Thursday convicted the mastermind of a series of brazen robberies that netted more than $300,000 and left a Southeast Baltimore business owner zip-tied and duct-taped to a chair, the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Nikolaos Mamalis, 53, of Edgewood, faces at least 57 years in federal prison and could get up to life when he is sentenced in U.S. District Court in Baltimore in May. Four other conspirators pleaded guilty in the case and are to be sentenced over the next three months.

The guilty finding after a seven day trial brings to a close a complicated and violent scheme that led investigators from a city warehouse to a hotel in Atlantic City. The 54-year-old Southeast Baltimore vending machine owner, Constantine “Dino” Frank, died shortly after the robbery at his shop.

Federal prosecutors said Mamalis knew Frank and other victims and used his knowledge of their shops, homes and money they stored in them to plan the attacks. Police arrested them after learning through a wiretap that they planned to commit a home invasion in New Jersey.

Frank, who owned Precision Vending in Canton and pool halls in Parkville and Dundalk, was found July 29, 2009, bound by zip ties inside the Canton shop. Police said at least $10,000 was missing.

Prosecutors said Mamalis knew Frank socially and from prior business dealings and recruited the other suspects to plan and carry out the robbery. Once inside, they held Frank captive at gunpoint, bound him and then left, knowing, prosecutors said, “that he was sweating profusely and in obvious discomfort.”

One of the suspects called one of Frank’s business partners and told him, “Your boss is in his office and is not doing too good.” Prosecutors said Frank suffered a stroke but was conscious and unable to speak when police found him. He died at a hospital two weeks later. His death was ruled a homicide.

Prosecutors said that after the Canton robbery, the suspects robbed the owner of a pharmacy in Havre de Grace, who Mamalis also knew. On Sept. 2, two of the conspirators gained access to the victim’s gated community by pretending to be a police officer.

Once inside, they took out a gun from a briefcase, pointed at the business owner and his wife and ordered them to lie on the floor. Three women who worked for a private maid service came in during the robbery and were restrained, prosecutors said. Cash and jewelry were taken.

Prosecutors said that on Sept. 29, Mamalis and others in the group robbed the owner of a restaurant on North Point Boulevard in Baltimore County. Authorities they again attacked the man in his home, gaining entry by pretending to be law enforcement.

They handcuffed the owner to a chair and took $140,000 from a safe. Prosecutors said the owner gave up the combination after one of the suspect’s threatened to cut off his fingers.

Mamalis was convicted of seven counts, including conspiracy, firearms and robbery charges.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Southeast Baltimore
        

A month after six people were shot - two fatally - in a melee outside Select Lounge, the club is struggling to win back customers, reports Sun nightlife reporter Erik Maza. Officials say the fledgling club, which had only been open for three months at the time of the shooting, was not been fauled in the incident and appears to have merely been caught in the middle of "bizarre and unique incident," the city's liquor board chairman said. That hasn't been enough to get the club back to the up-and-coming status it enjoyed before the shooting, Maza reports:

Two weeks after the chaos on January 9, the club was empty save for a handful of people casually dancing to the DJ's top 40 mix. Its runway-like dance floor was so empty the few patrons there could have swapped shoes for roller skates.

Though there were reservation placards on the lush booths that line the club's dancefloor, Wolde told me it was just to let people know bottle service was available. They weren't expecting anyone to fill them.

"It's never been like this in three months of being open," he said.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Downtown
        

Detroit police last week released surveillance camera footage of a gunman walking into a city police precinct five days earlier and opening fire on officers. As the Detroit Free Press reported, the video offers "shows a sudden, gruesome attack on police by a gunman implicated in an alleged sex crime and kidnapping. It also shows the heroics of Cmdr. Brian Davis, who engaged Moore in a point-blank shoot-off."

Police released the video, according to Chief Ralph Godbee Jr., after deciding as a command staff that it would reinforce a "commitment to transparency that Mayor Bing has made and that we as a police department intend to follow" and that it would give the public a chance to see acts of heroism by officers and a glimpse into the pressures and dangers they face every day.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Crime elsewhere
        

Anyone who wants to know how drugs get into Baltimore, read Sun reporter Justin Fenton's story out of federal court -- "Mexican cartel on trial in Baltimore."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter M. Nothstein told jurors Tuesday that during the course of the trial they would hear things "you've only seen on TV and in movies."

Nothstein couldn't have been more right. A mobile home packed with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cocaine crossing the country. Fine dining and fine hotels. A suitcase filled with $275,000 in a Baltimore hotel room. Another $335,000 in the trunk of a car. A corrupt cop and a stolen watch.

The details are in the story, and it's a tale using words not too often associated with Baltimore's street corner drug dealers. Here, we get words like "cartel" and "Mexico" and undercover DEA surveillance outside a Little Italy nightclub.

Said one suspect, according to the authorities: "My work is selling drugs. I'm a businessman."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere, Gangs
        

This just in from The Sun's Tricia Bishop:

Serial drunken driver Thomas Lee Meighan Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison for the 2009 fatal hit-and-run of a 20-year-old Johns Hopkins student. He was also given an additional nine-year suspended sentence in connection with a similar hit-and-run that same year, in which five people were injured.

Several of those victims testified at the hearing Wednesday afternoon, along with the friends and family of Miriam Frankl, who was killed Oct. 16 after Meighan slammed his white Ford truck into her as she crossed St. Paul Street in Charles Village.

"The tragedy here … is the Miriam that will never be," said Julia Pilcer, one of Frankl's sorority sisters who looked up to the young scientist, recalled as kind, intelligent and driven.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

It's time to move the chairs.

Again.

The snow from the most recent storm is all but gone, the ice storm didn't quite materialize and the latest winter blast bypassed us for the Midwest and Northeast. And yet, even now, people are saving public parking spots with lawn chairs.

The snow hit a week ago, and I know crusty piles remain along residential streets. And yes, we here at The Sun just did a story today titled: "Some parts of city still struggle with snowy streets." Some places like Northeast Baltimore's Hamilton neighborhood didn't get very good plow service.

It was a year ago, after back-to-back snow storms, that Baltimore's mayor made a public plea for people to stop saving public parking spaces with lawn furniture and other household items. I wrote that the city looked like a yard sale after a hurricane (the picture here is from last year in Baltimore and was taken by The Sun's Kim Hairston). People were fighting over spots.

It didn't seem an issue during our latest bout with winter. At least that's what I thought until I got an e-mail today, sent out to community folks around Towson. Baltimore County Police Sgt. Stephen Fink, a community liaison, is pleading with people to remove their chairs:

Public roads are just that --PUBLIC-- meaning that an open parking spot along the curb is open to anyone who comes along. I know that parking is a premium in communities such as Rodgers Forge, Ridgeleigh, Loch Raven and Annaslie to name a few here in Towson, but there are many other similar communities throughout Baltimore County and the City that face the same exact dilemma every time it snows.

I recognize how time consuming and strenuous it is to dig one's vehicle out of the snow and then to not have that space available upon returning is frustrating but everyone needs to understand that's what happens in large residential communities that have limited parking which includes parking on the street.  Placing lawn furniture or other items in the street to "save" one's spot is actually a violation of State Law, these items are "foreign materials" and it is illegal to place such items in the roadway.

Fink wrote more:

Residents need to know that once they move their vehicle from the parking space it is no longer their space; their space is where ever they park when they return. Leaving unfriendly, angry, threatening notes on a vehicle that occupies a vacated space or actual verbal/physical confrontations are not acceptable and could lead to further Police involvement and actions.

So please inform your residents to do the right things during snowy weather and avoid the wrong things and before you know it Mother Nature is smiling down upon us once again as the calenders read June, July and August and the thermometers show 100 degree temperatures. 

Thank You, Sgt Fink

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

Baltimore police just announced an arrest in a fatal shooting that occurred Sunday in Northeast Baltimore.

Police said 30-year-old Demetrius Arrington (at left) has been charged with first-degree murder.

The shooting claimed the life of 51-year-old man Jeffrey R. Purnell of the 6700 block of Ransome Ave. in Woodlawn.

Police said he was found shot in the head inside a vehicle in the 5700 block of Eastbury Ave. about 2:30 p.m.

He died at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Police did not release any other details, including a motive.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Breaking news from The Sun's court reporter, Tricica Bishop:

Thomas Lee Meighan Jr. is scheduled for sentencing this afternoon in the 2009 hit-and-run death of a Johns Hopkins student and an unrelated hit and run that same year. Meighan, who's been arrested for drinking and driving at least nine times, pleaded guilty to multiple counts Tuesday — including vehicular manslaughter — in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system
        

You might see it as Big Brother turning on Big Brother.

The proliferation of speed and red light cameras -- and more might be coming to Baltimore County -- is catching cops as well as citizens. And police departments in Baltimore and around the state are holding cops accountable for the tickets -- unless they're responding to an emergency call.

Many city officers getting snared are in unmarked cars, such as homicide and drug detectives, many of whom argue that they need to bend or break traffic laws to effectively do their jobs, even if it isn't evident that they're racing to a call for help.

But patrol officers in marked cruisers also are getting cited, and police commanders are checking dispatch logs to make sure they were heading to a 911 call before voiding the ticket. If not, the money for the fine comes out of the cop's own pocket. Last year, two cops were suspended for putting stolen license plates on their unmarked cars (either to confuse drug dealers or avoid the cameras) and a police officer speeding at 71 mph was killed when his cruiser slammed into the back of a fire engine.

Driving by cops has always been a concern of city police, who have instituted crackdowns in past years. Police tell me that city officers got into 41 accidents in January, 21 of which were deemed the fault of officers. That's down from 56 in January of 2009 (again, 21 officers were at fault then as well).

And even in emergencies, city police are under more restrictive driving rules than officers in most other jurisdictions. State law requires that drivers of emergency vehicles slow at red lights and stop signs before going through, and that they drive no faster than prudent so as not to endanger lives.

In the city, cops are required to come to a full stop at red lights (and then they can go through) and can't drive faster than 10 mph over the speed limit. The speed cameras don't go off unless you're going at least 12 mph over the limit, so you could argue that the tickets should stand regardless of whether there's an emergency or not.

The president of the police union, Robert F. Cherry, had this to say:

An officer might blow a light or speed without using lights and sirens for a variety of reasons, such as to investigate a tip that a guy on the next block had a gun or was selling drugs. In cases like these, the "emergencies" aren't always on dispatchers' official records.

"Maybe there's a reason why the officer wasn't going to a call, still went through a red light and was still doing his job," Cherry said. "The last thing we want to do is Monday-morning quarterback from headquarters or from the courts. I don't want to limit our front-line officers in making decisions when their goal is to make the public safe."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Confronting crime
        

A city jury found a 38-year-old federal officer guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the April 2009 killing of his half-brother in a shooting the officer maintained was accidental.

Prosecutors said Curtis Anthony Warren, an Iraq war veteran who worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs, deliberately shot Curtis Anthony Pounds during an argument in the basement of Warren’s Northeast Baltimore property where Pounds rented a room.

Another tenant, Damon Dorsey, testified at trial that he and Pounds had ventured into the basement to investigate a blown fuse. Dorsey said he heard the brothers arguing, then gunshots.

Warren maintained that he was asleep when he heard a noise and saw two shadowy figures in the basement. He said he fired into the darkness with his personal weapon in self-defense, then flipped on the lights and saw Pounds in a pool of blood.

Warren was charged with first-degree murder. After deliberating for 11 hours, the jury returned a guilty verdict Monday afternoon on charges of voluntary manslaughter and use of a handgun in a crime of violence.

He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison and a minimum of five years without parole at sentencing March 8.

“For someone with no [criminal] record who served his country, I think five years is enough,” said attorney Gary Proctor.

Warren and Pounds had grown up in the same community in Pittsburgh but had different mothers and did not know they were related until a chance encounter as youths. Years later, Warren, a military veteran and former youth counselor, invited his troubled brother to Baltimore to help him settle his life, according to testimony.

Warren had been free on bail since the killing, with supervisors at the veterans affairs agency speaking on his behalf.

Proctor said his client “honestly believed his life was in danger.” Proctor said he believes that the jury concluded his actions were “unreasonable, but no one doubted the sincerity of his actions.”

Prosecutors did not respond to a request for comment.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Northeast Baltimore
        

Natural Resources Police made quite a catch this morning on the Eastern Shore -- what they described as an illegal net filled with three tons of rock fish. And while not all crime involves guns and drugs, I couldn't help but note the poaching sting was at "Bloody Point."

The Baltimore Sun's outdoor writer, Candus Thomson (see her Outdoors Girl blog), said in her story:

It is believed to be the largest illegal netting of striped bass in a quarter of a century. The haul, with a market value of about $15,000, was so large that the 25-foot patrol boat had to radio the 73-foot buoy tender M/V J.C. Widener to help pull up the catch.

"My gosh, I did not expect this many fish," said Cpl. Roy Rafter, a veteran officer who spearheaded the operation that began Monday afternoon and continued overnight. "It's overwhelming."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Crime elsewhere
        

Even as the trial of the twin teens charged with setting the dog Phoenix on fire moves forward, police announce the arrests of two more teens who they say doused a cat Mittens with lighter fluid and set it ablaze.

These twin cases of animal cruelty are just the latest in Baltimore, and demonstrate another side to the city's violence. The Phoenix (seen at left) case in West Baltimore broke in 2009, and it has lurched forward under pressure from the public and City Hall.

And testimony coming out of Baltimore Circuit Court is not that encouraging. The Sun's Tricia Bishop has written about questionable police actions that have prompted defense attorneys to accuse the cops of negligence.

The officer who was hailed as a hero for putting the fire out had a rough day in court last week. Tricia Bishop wrote that Detective Syreeta Teel "left the sweater, which might have provided traces of accelerant, on the sidewalk." Also, testimony revealed that the scene was never secured, the police crime lab was never called and a treating veterinarian was never interviewed in the arson investigation.

Then, on Tuesday, defense attorneys questioned the motives of a key witness who said she saw the defendants -- Travers and Tremayne Johnson -- running away from the scene. The witness, who is jailed on an unrelated charged, said she came forward for the reward money -- $28,000 put up by hundreds of outraged citizens.

Tricia provided this time-line, taken from video surveillance:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Northwest Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

For Baltimore police, the search for missing Phylicia Barnes has becomes as agonizing as it is futile. Lead after lead has evaporated, tips have gone nowhere and not a single person has reporting seeing her since she disappeared Dec. 28.

I sat down with the squad of homicide detectives who have done nothing but search for the North Carolina teenager for the past several weeks. Few times do you hear police say they have no clues, no leads, nothing in a case.

The picture by TShe Sun's Kenneth K. Lam shows Baltimore Police Department's homicide commander Maj. Terrence McLarney (from left) and homicide detectives Sgt. William P. Simmons, Daniel T. Nicholson, James Lloyd, Robert Burns and John Riddick.

Listen to the lead investigator, shown below in a picture by Lam:

"This is a young girl who was well-liked in high school," said Detective Daniel T. Nicholson IV of the homicide unit, the lead investigator. "She was doing what any young person would do, visiting her family … and she vanished from the face of the earth. That's hard to believe."

Nicholson, a 17-year police veteran with two daughters of his own, said the case is "frustrating in that we've run out every lead, no matter how ridiculous or impossible it might seem."

The detective said he's in daily contact with Phylicia's father, who travels between Baltimore and his home in Atlanta, and with her mother in Monroe, N.C. His biggest fear, he says, is that "it's not going to be a happy ending."

Here are more stories on the missing girl and a detailed update of her final day.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Northwest Baltimore