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Baltimore Police and the Baltimore field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are offering a $5,000 reward for tips in a series of recent attacks in which makeshift firebombs have been thrown against homes, causing minor damage but raising concerns.
Since Sept. 13, there have been 13 incidents in which Molotov cocktails have been thrown at homes, largely in the area of Liberty Heights and Wabash avenues. The most recent occurred Nov. 16, and police believe the attacks are random.
Detectives will be canvassing Northwest Baltimore handing out fliers in hopes of generating information that could lead to an arrest, officials said. It reads, "Help make Baltimore safer. If you see something say something."
"Luckily, no one has been significantly injured, but we are not taking any chances," said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
The tip line is 1-888-ATF-FIRE.
For more on the firebombings, click here for a Nov. 15 story written by The Sun's Peter Hermann.
Baltimore County police investigating a man who shot a child in the leg with a pellet gun in February got a surprise when they searched his apartment in Owings Mills -- a pile of guns, ammunition, bombs, fuses and metal pipes.
In addition to bomb making materials, police said they found books with titles such as "The Anarchist Cookbook," "Blaster's Handbook," "The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives," "Improvised Radio Detonation Techniques," "The Do-It-Yourself Gunpowder Cookbook," "Home-Built Claymore Mines," and "Ragnar's Homemade Detonators -- How to Make 'Em, How to Salvage 'Em, How to Detonate 'Em."
Timothy Ray Berry, 28, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Thursday to possession of firearms and explosives and faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 1. Here's what police said they found in his apartment:
The BB gun used in the assault, a loaded 9mm handgun, a 12-gauge shotgun, 3 boxes of ammunition, handcuffs, brass knuckles, other BB guns and airsoft pistols and a stun gun. Police also observed "several improvised explosive devices, including: C-4 explosive material; and a clear plastic container with gray powder and a M-800 pyrotechnic device inside, secured with a white lid with a burnt hole in the center."
Authorities searched the apartment a second time and said they found "items commonly used in the production of illegal improvised explosives, including, among other things: containers of potassium nitrate and potassium chlorate, smokeless shotgun powder, model rocket igniters and motors, pool chemicals, various fuse materials, PVC and metal pipe of varying lengths and pipe fittings."
Police also said they found "numerous books related to firearm and the manufacture of illegal improvised explosives. Berry had underlined and starred book titles including, “Clear Your Record & Own a Gun,” and “How to Lose Your X-Wife Forever.” Berry’s computer was also seized and a subsequent forensic analysis revealed that less than a month before, Berry had searched online for how to make homemade C-4, and how to fabricate tags for Maryland license plates."
The Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement that on March 1, "following Berry’s arrest and detention on state charges related to child abuse, reckless endangerment, and gun possession, and with knowledge of the imminent federal investigation, Berry called another individual from jail and instructed that person to “burn” the “other books” and to get rid of “anything that looks like it could be suspect...”
Two masked men, one implying he had a gun, robbed a SunTrust Bank Thursday afternoon in Fulton, according to Howard County police.
One of the men walked into the bank branch about 3:30 p.m. in the 7400 block of Maple Lawn Boulevard, and announced a robbery to the teller. Police said the other man stayed outside.
The men got away with an undetermined amount of money, according to police, who said there was one customer inside at the time of the holdup. Anyone with information is asked to call 410-313-STOP. Callers may remain anonymous.
Worried about your pension? Not some Baltimore County police commanders. The Sun's Alison Knezevich reports today that some are retiring with lump sum payments of $500,000, in addition to yearly pensions in the six figures.
It's all because of a unique retirement program designed to keep top cops on the force a little bit longer. The city did the same thing for police and firefighters, but the payouts weren't nearly as high, and leaders disbanded the program several years ago calling it an unaffordable luxury.
Alison writes:
Deferred Retirement Option Programs allow employees who delay retirement to receive the one-time payments when they leave, in exchange for smaller annual pensions. County officials said the county must contribute $7.5 million to its pension fund this year for the program, according to an actuarial analysis.
Such programs, generally used to keep experienced workers on the job, have raised questions around the country as governments debate how much they cost in the long run. Baltimore City's public safety unions sued to try to keep a similar program after the city decided to eliminate it last year. Baltimore County ended the benefit for new public safety hires in 2007, although it still has one for other employees.
Three county police majors left their jobs this year with payouts of more than half a million dollars each, according to the figures. They also have annual pensions exceeding $150,000. Another six police employees — four captains and two lieutenants — left with payments of more than $400,000 each.
A man being sought by police since the summer in connection with a series of robberies in Canton has been apprehended, according to court records.
Jerry Harcum, 26, was charged Wednesday with handgun-related charges that occurred Tuesday, according to online court records. Harcum was also served with at least three outstanding warrants charging him with robbery: A July 4 armed robbery charge, a July 24 armed robbery charge, and an August 24 robbery charge in Baltimore County.
Police would not provide information on the circumstances of the handgun arrest, though Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said Wednesday that one of the suspects detained in a series of robberies and carjackings in Baltimore City and Baltimore County Tuesday night had "open robbery warrants."
In August, police said they were stepping up efforts to find Harcum after tying him to at least two robberies in Canton, amid a wave of robberies targeting women and tourists walking late at night in Canton and Fells Point.
November in Baltimore saw the lowest number of homicides for that month in at least the past 40 years, with 10 people slain during the month.
The city has never seen fewer than 12 murders in the month of November since 1970. In recent years, 19 were killed in November 2010, 26 in November 2009, and 30 in November 2008.
The relatively low total makes it possible that Baltimore could record less than 200 homicides for the year for the first time since the late 1970s, when the city also had 200,000 more residents.
Murders have been on a decline in Baltimore since late 2007, when Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III was appointed to his post. There were 282 people killed that year, which dropped to 234 the following year and 223 last year. Murder is down across the country, with many cities seeing their lowest totals since the 1960s.
November's victims include 67-year-old Shirley Tyler, who police say was killed by her grandson, and Lakeisha Player, a 26-year-old woman shot in the head in Northeast Baltimore by a man police say was her boyfriend. The boyfriend had previously been charged with taking the vehicle of a runaway teen from Virginia found dead in East Baltimore, and her family hopes the new charges might stimulate new information in their case.
Police also solved the killing of Tavon Toney, on Nov. 22, who they believe was fatally shot during a robbery.
A police report documenting last month's altercation between Baltimore Clerk of Courts Frank M. Conaway Sr. and a blogger contradicts the accounts of both men, who could face criminal charges as a special prosecutor continues to deliberate.
Conaway and blogger Adam Meister have given different versions of what happened, and the eyewitness account of police who were driving by offers a third. Police have withheld the report citing the ongoing investigation, but released it Thursday morning after inquiries from the Baltimore Sun.
The report is written as a "common assault," and Conaway's name is redacted because the report lists him as the victim. But a follow-up report for a "handgun violation" says Conaway's gun and ammunition were seized because he had an expired concealed carry permit.
According to the report, officers with the citywide robbery unit were driving through the Ashburton neighborhood when they witnessed a "younger white male screaming at an older black male" on the sidewalk, who they later determined were Meister and Conaway. Police said they next saw the white man "take a fighting stance and attempt to kick the black male with his right foot," according to the report.
The officers said Conaway then swept his rain coat to the side, "displaying a tan leather holster containing a handgun," something both Conaway and Meister deny. The officers made a U-turn and saw the younger man running away, broadcast his description to other units, and stopped to talk to the man with the gun, the report says.
Conaway identified Meister as the man who fled, and said Meister had been banging on the front door of his home while screaming, the report says. Conaway said he followed Meister down the sidewalk and said he exposed the holstered weapon after Meister kicked at him, according to the report.
Conaway has said that he never left his property, and Meister maintains that he never tried to kick Conaway.
The Sun's Justin Fenton reports:
Three men were arrested in connection with a series of robberies and carjackings that occurred over a four-hour span Tuesday night across Baltimore County and the city, ending when the men crashed their vehicle near the Domino Sugars factory while fleeing police.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III and Baltimore County Chief James W. Johnson, who announced the arrests at a joint news conference Wednesday afternoon, called the robberies a "mini-crime spree" and said police worked together to catch the suspects, who had open warrants and criminal records.
Bealefeld said there didn't appear to be any specific impetus for such a rapid series of crimes. "Just bad guys with guns," Bealefeld said. Their names were not disclosed as police continued to investigate and show photo lineups to victims.
"Last night's series of robberies punctuates that a few people are committing most of our violent crime in the Baltimore metropolitan area," Johnson said. "We've worked hard in Baltimore County and the city to build a partnership and relationships that reduce crime and make citizens in the metropolitan area safe."
The driver of a stolen tractor-trailer cab led city police on a chase down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway Wednesday night, ending in Prince George's County. The pursuit began after people in South Baltimore called 911 to report the truck going through residential neighborhoods.
"Upon noticing police, the driver refused to stop," police said in statement. The driver took the cab down the highway and lost control and crashed at Powder Mill Road. Police used Foxtrot, the helicopter, to assist, along with Maryland State Police troopers and U.S. Park Police.
Authorities said the driver faces traffic and theft charges and is wanted by police in Mississippi. No one was hurt and no cars were damaged.
Read details of another police chase in West and Northwest Baltimore.
Peter Hermann started covering news for The Baltimore Sun in 1990, first in Anne Arundel County and, starting in 1994, reporting on the Baltimore Police Department. In 2001, he was assigned to Jerusalem as the Baltimore Sun's Middle East correspondent. He returned in 2005 as an assistant city editor overseeing crime coverage. In 2008, Peter returned to the beat as a daily reporter and blogger. A recent BBC report featured him in a segment on the harsh realities of covering crime in Baltimore.
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