The shooting call on Greenmount Avenue came out just as kids in costume were hitting the streets on Halloween night. At first, we feared the worst. The victim wasn't out trick or treating, however, but was a retired bus driver caught in a robbery at Yau Brothers in Waverly.

The fourth fatal shooting in the tiny carryout since 2009.

For some merchants trying to turn Greenmount around East 33rd Street into something more upscale than a worn and tattered commercial strip, this latest killing might be the final blow. The owner of Darker Than Blue Cafe is threatening to leave, complaining the city has given up.

But other store and restaurant owners aren't so sure the strip is a lost cause. The city police focused on the area last year, after a security guard for the Afro-American was gunned down in Yau Brothers during another robbery. While proprietors question the city's last commitment, they say want to stay and give it a try.

Greenmount Avenue and East 33rd are crossroads for a diverse community, where Waverly meets Oakenshawe meets Charles Village. There's a widely popular farmers market on Saturdays, the YMCA with ballfields around the corner, an expensive restaurant fusing live jazz with food and an active merchant's association.

There's also places like Yau Brothers that according to one city councilwoman, "attracts homicides." Read the full story here, including video of latest shooting. Some quotes representing divergent viewpoints of the Greenmount Avenue strip:  

Continue reading "Greenmount Avenue faces uncertain times" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police released this statement on today's shootings in Charles Village: 

"The Baltimore Police Department is investigating a double shooting that occurred this morning within Northern Baltimore.

Officers responded to the intersection of Charles and 23rd Streets just after 10 am this morning for report of a shooting. Once there they located two victims within a burgundy SUV, a 36 year-old female (suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to include the hip and leg) and 38 year-old male (suffering from a gunshot wound to the arm). They were both transported to an area hospital and at last check were in serious but stable condition.

Further investigation revealed that the shooting occurred a few blocks away within the 100 Blk of E. 22nd Street, where the vehicle and its victim occupants were struck before driving to the intersection of Charles and 23rd Streets.  

Detectives are now vigorously investigating the incident and scouring the area for witnesses and possible surveillance camera footage. At present there are no suspects or motives. Anyone with information is asked to call the Northern District Detective Unit at 410-396-2455."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police are reporting two people shot on North Charles and 23rd streets in Charles Village. The shooting occurred shortly after 10 this morning. Few details have been released, but homicide detectives were responding because of the severity.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Police were investigating what was believed to be a double-shooting Friday afternoon in the Harwood neighborhood of North Baltimore.

Officers responded to a call of a shooting in the 300 block of E. 27th St. and found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the back inside a residence. Detectives later located a crime scene about two blocks away in an alley behind Lorraine Street at Barclay Street.

Another man with gunshot wounds walked into a local hospital around the same time, and police believe both were injured in the same shooting. Both were expected to survive.

Neighbors said there is rampant drug dealing in the block, and one woman said police often have a marked cruiser at the intersection of Barclay and East 27th Street. She said the officer wasn't there when the shooting occurred. "They never here when you need them," she said.

The crime scene was eerily quiet for a time after the shooting. After an ambulance pulled away, there was only a handful of officers - shooting scenes usually draw scores of them.

"They got us at shift change," one officer said.

Later, a dozen officers were canvassing the neighborhood and inspecting the area. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

When Christina Warner spotted a man on a rowhouse roof in Charles Village, she had no idea it would help police catch a man they had been looking for since September.

The 21-year-old Johns Hopkins senior, who wants to be a lawyer, was on a community public safety walk, and pointed out the suspicious man to police.

Authorities quickly arrested 56-year-old Glen Davis, who was on probation from another burglary in the area and was being sought in a warrant charging him with breaking into a home on Calvert Street and stealing a camera from Hopkins lacrosse players.

Davis has a long criminal history. Here is a bit of what we learned about the suspect: 

Continue reading "Suspect caught with help from Hopkins student has long record" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

A Johns Hopkins University senior out on a community cop walk helped police catch a suspected burglar who was crouching down on a rowhouse roof. (An update: police said the man was charged with trespassing but is suspected in a series of break-ins).

An off-duty Baltimore police officer working for Hopkins helped arrest the man, who authorities say might be involved in other break-ins in Charles Village, where many Hopkins students live. A blurb on the arrest is posted on the Johns Hopkins security web page.

The arrest was made Tuesday night in the 3000 block of Guilford Ave Here is the statement that Hopkins posted:

ARREST –Trespassing / Wanted Subject – 3000 Blk. Guilford Ave., rooftop- On Nov. 8^th at 8:04 PM, a student was walking with the Neighborhood Walkers on Patrol security program. At this time, she observed a suspicious male on the rooftop of a residence. An off-duty Baltimore Police officer working for JHU was also on the walk and called for additional officers. The officers accessed the rooftop and a male suspect was located on the roof and was arrested for trespassing. The suspect was also wanted on an open arrest warrant for a burglary that previously occurred in Charles Village. Investigation continuing.

I'll have more posted here and in Thursday's print editions after we get the suspect's name and more details from the police. It happened in the same block where police said an intruder stabbed a man during a break-in in August. We're checking to see if the incidents are related.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

In 2009, Michael Voorhis used a baseball bat to beat a man attacking his girlfriend as he held up the Fells Point store where she worked.

"I don't regret it at all," Voorhis told me today, after the suspect was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. His girlfriend, Brittany Byers, called the ordeal "absolutely terrifying" but still works at the store, Killer Trash, on Broadway.

Federal prosecutors said the suspect Mark Lomax, 41, was sentenced to prison on Tuesday. He was convicted by a federal jury in June at a trial during which both Byers and Voorhis testified. Lomax committed 14 other holdups in a month during the summer of 2009 at shops in Mount Vernon, Fells Point and downtown.

Lomax held up Killer Trash three times in eight days. On the final time, Voorhis, worried about his girlfriend, was waiting. When Lomax came in, he hit him over the head with a baseball bat, bragging later that he had gotten "three or four clean shots at his head."

The suspect got away, but dropped the $4 he managed to get from the register and his baseball cap. Both items had DNA that matched Lomax, prosecutors said. Police said he used a collapsible wooden yard-stick covered in tape and wrapped in a plastic bag to resemble a firearm.

Byers, who joined her boyfriend in going after Lomax, hitting him with a jewelry bag, said: 

“It was absolutely terrifying. It was intimidating to see him again in the courtroom. But there’s a part of you that says, you have to stick up for yourself. I couldn’t back down out of fear. This store is my livelihood. I’m not going to let somebody bully me out of my life.”

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Downtown, North Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore
        

For the second time in a year, a student at Frostburg State University in Western Maryland has been killed. The Sun's Susan Reimer writes:

Kortneigh McCoy, a 19-year-old Baltimore Polytechnic Institute graduate, was fatally stabbed after a fight at an off-campus house party, police said. Police said officers arrived at about 1:30 a.m. to find her bleeding to death in the street outside the house from a wound to the head. She was declared dead at Western Maryland Hospital, police reported.

Arrested and charged with both first- and second-degree murder was Shanee Liggins, a 23-year-old senior business major from Waldorf, police said. She was being held by police Sunday until a bond hearing could be scheduled, police said. University officials said the party took place at Liggins' home on Maple Street in Frostburg.

Members of the Allegany County Combined Investigation Unit were not available to confirm those accounts Sunday afternoon. McCoy was a member of the United Voices Under God's Dominion, a student gospel choir, and was scheduled to sing as part of the group's regular Sunday worship.

Frostburg also was the site of a student-on-student killing in April 2010 that occurred after a fight at an off-campus party. Tyrone Hall of Glen Burnie opened fire with a 12-gauge shotgun, striking two fellow students in the abdomen. Twenty-year-old Brandon Carroll of Waldorf died; the other student survived. Hall was sentenced to a five-year prison sentence in November 2010.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Crime elsewhere, North Baltimore
        

A 17-year-old has been arrested and charged with the Halloween night killing of an Army veteran and airport shuttle bus driver who was in a North Baltimore carryout getting dinner as three masked men robbed the corner establishment.

Markell Shelton Jones, of the 2300 block of Westerwald Ave., was charged as an adult with first-degree murder, two counts of assault, armed robbery and several handgun counts. He lives about eight blocks from where the slaying occurred, in the same Better Waverly neighborhood.

Det. Donny Moses, a city police spokesman, said Jones’ parents turned their son into authorities after seeing his picture on a surveillance video that captured the robbery at Yau Brothers, in the 2900 block of Greenmount Ave.

The youth’s parents escorted their son to police headquarters on East Fayette Street and to the homicide unit, Moses said. The spokesman quoted the lead detective saying the gesture gave him a sense of “renewed hope” in a city saddled by drugs and violence.

Police are still searching for two other assailants in the killing of 52-year-old Freddie Jones, who was in the carryout and on a cellphone when three masked men burst inside about 6:30 p.m. on Monday. One was wearing a Santa Claus hat.

Jones was shot multiple times in the chest when he fought back against the attackers, according to police and the video. Two days after the shooting, homicide detectives canvassed the street searching for witnesses.

Monday’s shooting was the fourth at Yau Brothers in the past three years. Two were killed in a triple shooting there in March 2009 and a 72-year-old security guard at the Afro newspaper was killed there in April last year. He too had been getting food and was shot in a robbery, this one netting $13.

The wife of the latest victim, Jones, was a cousin of one of two people convicted of killing the guard. Jones was a city bus driver until he became ill from diabetes, according to his niece, but took a job at BWI driving a shuttle bus when he became healthy again. He frequented the carryout.

Monday shooting has prompted cries from politicians to shut down the carryout.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

If it's true that what goes around comes around, Crystal Jenkins Jones says she now knows that better than most.

Last year, she says her cousin was one of two people who shot and killed a 72-year-old security guard picking up Chinese food at a carryout on Greenmount Avenue. And on Monday night, Jones' 52-year-old husband, Freddie, was slain in a robbery at the same restaurant.

"The death last year happened from a family member of mine," Jones, 43, said Wednesday, standing in a nearby parking lot. "It'll come back to you if somebody takes a life from someone, and it just so happened a life was taken from me."

Baltimore homicide detectives canvassed the Better Waverly, Harwood and Abell neighborhoods of North Baltimore on Wednesday morning in hopes of drumming up tips in the killing of Freddie Jones Jr., an Army veteran and shuttle bus driver at Thurgood Marshall Baltimore Washington International Airport.

Detectives are also seeking the identity of an unknown second victim who escaped the robbery. Surveillance video from the Yau Brothers carryout shows Jones talking on a cell phone at about 6:30 p.m. when three masked men, one of them wearing a Santa Claus hat, came inside and demanded money. Police say the second man was able to rush out, but Jones was shot multiple times in the chest when he fought back.

Det. James Lloyd said the killing was "senseless" and asked anyone with information to call police at 410-396-2100, or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP. A cash reward of up to $2,000 is being offered for information leading to an indictment.

Metro Crime Stoppers - Freddie Jones Jr.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

It was a busy day on Tuesday's crime front. The picture by The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam is from Occupy Baltimore, which is embroiled in security issues (see blurb below).

Catch up on the latest headlines:

Today: Attorneys are scheduled to make closing arguments in the bribery trial of state Sen. Ulysses Currie in federal court. Currie, a Prince George's Democrat, is accused of selling his influence as chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee to do political favors for Shoppers Food Warehouse. Read how the state's power brokers are rallying around Currie, and other stories.

* The man convicted of killing a Towson gas station owner for money apologized Tuesday in Harford County Circuit Court to the victim's family and friends, saying "I'm sorry to the last fiber of my being." The apology came shortly before a jury was to begin deliberating whether Walter P. Bishop Jr. will be sentenced to death or life in prison.

* The Occupy Baltimore protest is now entrenched at the Inner Harbor, but its members are questioning whether they can sustain the movement amid a dwindling number of core leaders and allegations of crime and drug use. Reports that a woman was sexually assaulted in a tent, deemed unfounded by city police, have nevertheless put public safety at the forefront.

* A 52-year-old man died after being shot during a robbery at a carryout restaurant in Better Waverly on Monday night, renewing concerns in the community about the crime connected to the beleaguered business. The Yau Brothers carryout, in the 2900 block of Greenmount Ave., was closed Tuesday, as it was after similar shooting incidents in the past two years: In 2010, 72-year-old security guard Charles Bowman was fatally shot in a robbery there, a year after three men were shot following a fight that broke out inside.

* A former professional basketball player pleaded guilty Tuesday in the pistol whipping of his girlfriend's brother after a dispute at a cookout in Arnold.

* Towson University students and employees were briefly alerted to stay inside Tuesday afternoon, because police were looking for a man with a gun on campus. But the man turned out to be carrying a prop gun for an acting class, said Towson spokeswoman Gay Pinder.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere, Downtown, North Baltimore
        

UPDATE: Police said this morning that the victim has died.

A man was shot and seriously wounded in an apparent robbery at a troubled carryout store in North Baltimore on Monday night, during the prime trick-or-treating hour, police said.

There were few details available, but police said three suspects approached the victim inside a carryout in the 2900 block of Greenmount Ave., the location of the Yau Brothers restaurant. Yau Brothers is where 72-year-old Charles Bowman was killed during a robbery last year, and where three people were shot a year earlier. 

The victim's age and condition were not known, but homicide detectives were sent to the scene due to the seriousness of the victim's injuries, police said. No one else was reported injured.

Police asked anyone with information to call detectives at 410-396-2100. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

A 38-year-old man who survived a 1998 shooting in Govans that claimed the life of his pregnant girlfriend died in June, and police have added his death to this year's murder tally.

Officers responding to a traffic accident at a gas station in the 5300 block of York Road on Feb. 1, 1998 found Kimberly A. Smith, 30, suffering from a gunshot wound to the neck, half of her body hanging out of the vehicle. Leaning across the front seat was her boyfriend, Richard A. Ford Jr., who had been shot in the back.

Ford, who was 25 at the time, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in critical condition and survived; Smith did not. 

Police said Ford was being treated at a hospice center in Middle River when he died on June 10, 2011 from complications related to his injuries. Baltimore County police notified city detectives, and the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.

The Sun wrote about Smith's death at the time - she had lost her parents and a sister in a car crash nine years earlier, and wrote poems to cope with their deaths. She left behind two young daughters. 

"They didn't have any grandparents. They never knew their father. Now they don't have a mother. I think everyone is asking, 'How could this happen again to the same family?'" a neighbor said at the time. 

Police said the case is closed "by exception," meaning a suspect is known but cannot be prosecuted due to extenuating circumstances. In this case, police identified a suspect in the killing, but say he too was fatally shot. Police records list the suspect as Shonte Robinson, who was fatally shot Dec. 11, 1998 in the 6600 block of Hampnett Ave. A suspect was charged in Robinson's death - Walter Sheppard, who was 17 at the time and later received life in prison, court records show.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

UPDATE; The Sun's Mary Gail Hare reports -- Rob Frisch, the tavern's owner, said, "Absolutely we will rebuild as quickly as possible." The bar employs 70. "This is a total loss, we're looking at a lot of work but we'll be back."

An early morning fire damaged the Mount Washington Tavern, a smokey blaze that could be smelled all the way downtown. Here are two pictures -- the aftermath sent over by the Baltimore Fire Department, and one with flames taken by an off-duty firefighter and distributed by the labor union.

We have a reporter at the scene assessing damage. But surely this venerable watering hole will be missed, even if for a short time. Here's a short history, taken from the bar and restaurant's web page:

"Our establishment is unique to Baltimore: the prints, paintings, and engravings on our walls were carefully selected to honor our local heritage. Painted by Carol Offutt, the mural on the West wall of the Tavern depicts the old clubhouse that stood at Pimlico Race Course – before it was destroyed by fire in 1966. The chandeliers that hang over the bar date back to 1889; they originally adorned the lobby of the old Gayiety Theatre on East Baltimore St. Even our antique wooden telephone booth is a relic from a famous downtown drugstore. The etched windows between the Front and Raw Bars feature scenes particularly relevant to Baltimore’s rich history.

"The Mt. Washington Tavern has been declared a historic landmark. In renovating the interior, designed by Gilman graduate Wil Baukhages and built by Towson High Graduate Doug Fry, we chose the finest raw oak. The bar is made from teak and the milling was hand crafted to our specifications."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

A 43-year-old woman who sold candy and DVDs from her Pen Lucy home was found beaten to death Monday evening by relatives, police said.

Sherry Montgomery-Cantey was found at about 5:15 p.m. inside her home in the 900 block of E. 41st St., and was pronounced dead at the scene. She had suffered from severe trauma to her head, though police have not disclosed how they believe she was killed.

Police said this morning that Montgomery-Cantey was known to operate a small candy and DVD shop from her home, and they are asking anyone who frequented the business or saw anything suspicious to call detectives at 410-396-2100. 

Property records show she had lived in the home since 2004. On her Facebook page, Montgomery-Cantey wrote that she was a "self employed entrepreneur" who gradated from Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School in 1986 and was married. The picture at right is from her page - the caption that says she's holding her dog Jenny.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Breaking news from The Sun's Tricia Bishop:

John Alexander Wagner, who was convicted in August of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the stabbing death of Johns Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn, was sentenced Friday to life in prison plus 20 years.

Pitcairn was attacked in July of last year, two days before his 24th birthday, as he walked home from Penn Station along St. Paul Street while talking to his mother on a cellphone.

Read more about Pitcairn and his family in a story Tricia wrote earlier this month from Florida.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police have arrested two men in connection with two armed robberies around the Lower Charles Village area. Authorities said they seized two guns in a car.

Officers were alerted early Oct. 16 when one of the men flagged down a passing police car. Authorities said said two men had been robbed about the same time in the same area, near North Charles and East 21st Street.

Here is more details from a Baltimore Police Department statement:

Continue reading "City police make arrests in North Baltimore robberies" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Northern District officers told Charles Village residents on Monday night that police have made an arrest in the shooting of a man in the heart of their neighborhood - and court records show the suspect has already posted bail and been released.

Dwayne Reginald McCoy, 21, of Catonsville, was charged Oct. 10 in the robbery and shooting of a Prince George's County man who was shot while leaving his girlfriend's residence in the 2600 block of St. Paul St. Sgt. Robert Snead, of the district detective unit (seen at the podium at right), said the victim was able to describe his attackers' vehicle and recalled one of the license plate digits. 

But that was enough, Snead said, to track down the suspects. Police recovered a gun in the arrest. "We're going to try to link these guys to other crimes, not only in the city, but the region," Snead said. 

In the meantime, court records show McCoy is out on bail. He was held on $275,000 bond after being picked up on Oct. 11, which he was able to post three days later. McCoy doesn't appear to have a prior record.

Residents met at the Lovely Lane United Methodist Church to discuss crime concerns and address ongoing efforts to make the area more safe. Maj. Sabrina Tapp-Harper, commander of the Northern District, said that while the district as a whole has seen notable drops in burglaries and robberies, Charles Village hasn't followed that trend. Prostitution also remains a major concern for residents.

Tapp-Harper said she plans to move administrative and operators officers into patrol for a few days each through the rest of the year, an effort to supplement patrol but also get overtime costs under control. A beat officer, Bill O'Donnell, told residents that he's also been tasked with revisiting a number of recent larcenies and burglaries to track down serial numbers.

Residents in attendance had praise for Northern District officers. Jill DiMauro said an increased police presence in her neighborhood after a recent shooting has made her area "a completely different neighborhood." "It's the first time in eight years I've been able to walk my dog after dark," she said. "I'm grateful for what you've done."

When asked if police had solved the shooting, Tapp-Harper said they know who it is but don't have the evidence. The suspect is in custody on an unrelated charge. "Sometimes, the dots don't add up and you can't arrest in that case, but we track these individuals," she said.

Since the fatal stabbing of a Johns Hopkins researcher in Charles Village, resident shave been meeting to discuss ways to improve safety. They've been organizing neighborhood walks, instituted a "court watch" program where a volunteer tracks cases and keeps residents up to date, and have engaged Johns Hopkins University in conversations about expanding their security patrol footprint.  State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein said he talks about the neighborhood's efforts when he visits other community groups.

Sharon Guida, an attorney and who sits on the Charles Village Civic Association, told the 40 or so residents in attendance that the biggest thing they can do is stay involved. Previous meetings weren't so well attended, she said.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

A man beaten during a possible robbery on a street in Waverly Wednesday afternoon suffered a fractured jaw and other related injuries, but should survive, according to Det. Kevin Brown, a Baltimore police spokesman.

The 28-year-old victim was being treated at an undisclosed hospital. Police have not made any arrests, and didn't disclose other details. The attack, first reported by North Baltimore Patch, occurred in the 700 block of McKewin Ave., about two blocks east of Old York Road.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police have issued an arrest warrant for a suspect in last week's shooting on St. Paul Street in Charles Village, which occurred just 50 feet from where Stephen Pitcairn was fatally stabbed last year:

Hello Everyone:

I wanted to let everyone know that Northern District detectives just obtained a warrant for the suspect in the shooting that occurred last week at 2600 St. Paul. The Warrant Apprehension Task Force has the warrant and is going to locate the suspect to make the arrest. We do not want to release the name at this point.  Hopefully an arrest will be made soon. 

Thank you,

Deputy Major Richard Worley
Baltimore Police Department
Northern District

The victim was shot in the leg and treated at an area hospital. Police said the shooting occurred about 5:40 a.m. and was related to a robbery.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

UPDATE X 2: Police say the shooting was a robbery of a 22-year-old man from Prince George's County who was leaving a friend's house. Follow the link below for more information. 

UPDATE: I just came back from the scene and the shooting actually occurred in the 2600 block of St. Paul St., on the west side of the block and just 50 feet from Stephen Pitcairn was fatally stabbed last year. Someone just put fresh pink and white roses to renew the memorial. Residents reported hearing two gunshots about 5:40 p.m.

Baltimore police were on the scene this morning of a shooting on St. Paul Street in Charles Village. The victim, described as an adult male, was shot once in the leg.

The shooting occurred before 6 a.m. in the 2500 block of St. Paul St., one block south of where Stephen Pitcairn was fatally stabbed in July 2010. The Hopkins researcher had been walking home from Penn Station, talking to his mother on his cell phone, when he was attacked in a robbery.

His killing outraged a city, raised concerns about safety in the neighborhood and helped propel Gregg Bernstein into the top prosecutor's job at the State's Attorney's Office. He used the killing to complain that his predecessor had failed to go after the suspects in previous crimes.

In August, one suspect was found guilty of first-degree murder in Pitcairn's death and faces life in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 21. The Sun's Tricia Bishop reported this past Sunday on the Pitcairn family and how they're coping.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

UPDATE: Baltimore police say the victim is 20 years old and that they have the incident classified as an attempted rape. A department spokesman said the man told the victim he had a gun but she didn't see one.

A Johns Hopkins University student was sexually assaulted early Saturday in an alley near campus, according to school officials.

Campus police posted a warning on their website on Monday. They said the attack occurred about 1:20 a.m. in the 3200 block of Lovegrove St., an alley near North Calvert Street in Charles Village.

Few details were available. The school said the student was treated at Union Memorial Hospital and that the attacker was described as a black male between 20 and 30 years old, standing between 6 feet and 6 feet 2 inches tall. He is tall, of a muscular build and was wearing a navy blue or black hoodie.

The incident was first reported on the Baltimore Crime blog. For more information, visit the Johns Hopkins public safety site.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

He got $13 in the robbery. Now he could go to prison for life for shooting a bystander.

The Sun's Luke Broadwater reports today: The second of two men charged in the shooting and killing of a 72-year-οld security guard who worked fοr the Afro-American newspaper was convicted of first-degree murder Wednesday evening.

After deliberating for two days, a Baltimore City Circuit Court jury found Michael Hunter, 20, guilty of murder, armed robbery and handgun violations in connection with the murder of Charles Bowman during the April 8, 2010, robbery οf a Chinese food carryout in Waverly.

This killing, and one that followed two days later on Greenmount Avenue, shook the corridor last year. The area near Greenmount in 33rd is sort of transitional, with businesses and restaurants trying to overcome crime and grime. Police flooded the area with officers in the aftermath, and parked a police car at a corner gas station.

The photo above, by The Sun's Karl Merton Ferron, shows the crime scene after the second killing in April last year.

Here's more about the security guard and victim, Charles Bowman.

Read about the second killing in Waverly.  

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

A man killed in a Maryland state prison in Cresaptown had been serving two life terms for imprisoning and trying to rape a Mount Vernon woman in 2000, according to court records.

Saleem N. Abdullah, 53, was found dead in his cell Thursday night in the Western Maryland Correctional Institution. State police said he died of asphyxiation, and that a fellow inmate was being held but had not yet been charged. No motive was given.

A correctional officer delivering mail in Housing Unit 4, a segregation unit at the prison, found the man unresponsive, state police said. He was pronounced dead at Cumberland Hospital.

The Sun wrote a brief story on Abdullah's conviction in 2003, saying he had attacked a 19-year-old woman at a Mount Vernon laundromat. He lived nearby, in the 2000 block of North Calvert St., had been on parole at the time for attempted murder.

More details on the homicide from Maryland State Police: 

Continue reading "Man killed in prison had tried to rape Mount Vernon woman" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Crime elsewhere, North Baltimore, Prisons
        

Details remains slim in Thursday's shooting just outside the doors to the Union Memorial Hospital's emergency room. Here's what we're reporting so far: 

A man who shot himself in the head outside the emergency room in North Baltimore's Union Memorial Hospital on Thursday left a note indicating he chose that locale because he wanted to donate his organs to medicine, according to law enforcement source.

Baltimore police reported that the 29-year-old man was severely injured and later transferred to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was in critical condition Thursday night. Officials declined to discuss other details about the note or the motivation, other than to say that homicide detectives are investigating the incident.

We of course would like to know more. Suicide is always a tricky subject to write about, but if this man really thought the only way to donate his organs was to shoot himself, it's a fascinating, through tragic, story. We'd also like to know why he chose Union Memorial, and if he intended to wound himself to stay alive long enough so doctors could harvest.

Police have said little about this case. We hope to learn more today.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police are responding to a shooting inside Union Memorial Hospital, on University Parkway in North Baltimore.

The victim is reported to be in critical condition. Police said they are investigating the possibility the man shot himself. More details as they become available. 

UPDATE: According to the hospital, the shooting happened just outside the emergency entrance around 11:30 a.m., and appears to be an attempted suicide.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

Marion Jean had just started bringing her young children back to the playground at the old Memorial Stadium site in Waverly. An intentionally set fire at the playground in 2008, as well as more recent reports of a stabbing, had caused her to take her children to other YMCA sites in the area.

So on Tuesday, she was shaken when she learned that a man had been shot in the head just steps from the playground.

“It bothers me, a lot,” Jean, 38, of Northeast Baltimore, said as her five year old and eighteen-month-old children played nearby.

City police said a 30-year-old man was found shot in the head at about 4:30 p.m. inside his black Lexus at the intersection of Ellerslie Avenue and 34^th Street. The intersection is between Waverly Elementary and the YMCA center and playground. Dozens of children and families passed through the area as police inspected the crime scene.

At the scene, the vehicle was at a stop sign, the passenger side door open and what appeared to be the victim’s clothes on the ground where medics rendered aid.

The shooting shocked residents of neighborhood, who said violence is uncommon there.

“There’s kids everywhere,” said Ebony Fletcher, 26, as she pushed a boy on a tire swing. “Whoever did it just didn’t care.”

“I’ve been here 21 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said another woman, who refused to give her name.

Detective Jeremy Silbert, a police spokesman, said preliminary information indicated that a gunman had approached the vehicle on foot, fired into the vehicle, and fled on foot. The victim was taken to an area hospital, where at last report he was being treated for his injuries.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Police confirmed that they are investigating a stabbing by an intruder who broke into an apartment in Charles Village Tuesday night. 

According to a report, the 25-year-old victim and his girlfriend were awakened by his barking dog at 11 p.m. and the victim went downstairs, where he found an intruder in the living room of his home, in the 3100 3000 block of Guilford Ave.

The intruder punched the victim in the face, then brandished a knife and "continuously stabbed the victim in the face and his side until the struggle ended, allowing the suspect to flee the residence." As of last report, the victim was at Johns Hopkins Hospital in stable condition.

Police describe the suspect as a black male with a medium complexion, 6'0"-6'3", short hair and a slim build.He is believed to have entered through a rear kitchen window, which had been left open for ventilation.

Northern District detectives are investigating. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

In case you missed it:

John Wagner was found guilty of murder in last year's killing of Johns Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn, stabbed in Charles Village as he walked home from Penn Station. His killing jolted a campaign for state's attorney and once again cast focus on violent repeat offenders who so often escape justice. Read Tricia Bishop's story on the verdict.

The Sun's Justin Fenton writes about Maryland crime rate has hit a record low:

Maryland's crime rate decreased 6.3 percent last year, reaching a new low in the state's per-capita incidence of violent and property offenses and mirroring a national trend.

The figures released by state officials Wednesday and reported to the FBI are the lowest since modern crime tracking began in 1975. That continues a pattern of the state notching record lows for most of the past 14 years, though as crime rates dropped more sharply in other states, Maryland has remained one of the most violent.

The numbers run counter to the public's perception about crime and safety and even surprise some experts who expected the rates to rise amid a recession — a pattern that's been borne out in previous economic downturns, according to criminologists. Some experts said they are hard pressed to pinpoint an explanation for the declines.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere, North Baltimore
        

In case you missed out on today's paper, here are some police stories to ponder:

Video of Select Lounge shooting released. This is the January shooting where police officers mistook a colleague for a suspect and fatally shot him outside a nightclub. Watch the shooting.

Roommate testifies that the suspect in the killing of Johns Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn confessed to robbing him in Charles Village.

Annapolis teenager pleads guilty to killing toddler.

Nathan Krasnopoler, the Johns Hopkins University student who was struck and critically injured by a car while riding his bicycle along University Parkway in February, died Wednesday morning. A lawyer for the family said the 83-year-old driver who struck Krasnopoler has agreed to forfeit her license. Read Michael Dresser's Getting There blog.

Jurors are expected to begin deliberating this morning in the case of a man charged with killing an informant in a federal drug case. The victim's statement to the FBI was leaked and posted around his Westport neighborhood.

A series of mall robberies in the city, Anne Arundel and Howard Counties are linked, and also connected to a murder in Baltimore.

A Baltimore drug dealer is sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement in a fatal hit and run crash.

A Glen Burnie man was fatally stabbed and his female companion is being held in her death.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Downtown, Howard County, North Baltimore, Police shootings
        

Highlights from today's trial in the killing of Stephen Pitcairn:

A roommate of a man charged with killing a Johns Hopkins researcher in Charles Village last summer testified Wednesday that moments after the attack the suspect said he “had robbed someone and that he had hurt him real bad.”

Tyrine Williams told jurors that she and her boyfriend, Kevin Cosby, then tried to use the victim’s stolen credit card at a nearby gas station on Howard Street, and that they planned to use the proceeds to buy drugs to continue their 15-hour cocaine and heroin binge.

Her testimony came on the second day of John Wagner’s murder trial in the death of Stephen Pitcairn, who was stabbed on St. Paul Street in July last year as he walked home from Penn Station while talking on a cellphone with his mother, who was in Florida.

Continue reading "Roommate implicates supect in killing Pitcairn" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

Sun courts reporter Tricia Bishop describes a powerful scene in a Baltimore city courtroom as the mother of slain Johns Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn described hearing his last moments over the phone:

Stephen Pitcairn got off the Bolt bus in Baltimore around 11 p.m. on July 25 last year, two days shy of his 24th birthday, and called his mother in Florida as he walked home from Penn Station, traveling north on St. Paul Street.

"I always feel so safe when you're on the phone with me," she remembers him saying that Sunday night.

They talked about the weekend, which he spent in New York City with his two sisters, and his plans to add a Saturday shift to his busy schedule as a Johns Hopkins cancer researcher. Then, "all of a sudden," his mother told a Baltimore jury Tuesday, "I heard him gasp."

The attorney for defendant John Wagner says police have the wrong man. Read more of the trial's first day here. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

The 14-year-old boy accused of beating his grandmother with a hammer in April will be tried as a juvenile, court records show.

Hassanhii Garrett was charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder after police said he confessed to beating his 66-year-old grandmother with a hammer in their Waverly home as he was getting ready for school. The woman suffered serious injuries but survived.

Court records show a city judge on Aug. 1 remanded the case to juvenile court for further proceedings, granting a defense petition for a waiver to the juvenile system.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

Residents in Remington are concerned about recent crime in their neighborhood, and one resident e-mailed new Maj. Sabrina Tapp-Harper with his frustrations. Here's the first e-mail, from Wyman Park resident Jon Ayscue, followed by Tapp-Harper's response sent a few hours later, both of which were CC'd to The Sun:

Continue reading "Northern District commander responds to Remington crime concerns" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

National Night Out has become a big community event, getting residents and cops together to take back the streets. Below is a list of events in the city and the counties, scheduled for today, Aug. 2

National Night outs:

Baltimore City

Baltimore County

Harford County

Anne Arundel County

Howard County

I could only find one in Carroll County, in Eldersburg. Here is a link to details. If anyone knows of more here, please let me know and I'll post.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Carroll County, City Hall, Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Howard County, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, Southwest Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

UPDATE: An update to this shooting can be found here.

A man was shot early today in the Station North arts district at North and Maryland Avenues, according to city police. Few details were immediately available, but police said the incident occurred about 12:30 a.m. and the victim is 22.

Reporter Julie Scharper says it happened in front of Cyclops Books, while patrons of an ale house and restaurant lingered nearby.

Station North is in a new arts district, reclaiming troubled and abandoned neighborhoods along North Avenue between the train station and lower Charles Village. Several merchants are trying to stake a claim, including an upscale pizza restaurant that attracts patrons from Bolton Hill, along with art studios and a book store.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police say a 16-year-old boy has been charged in a shooting that seriously injured two security guards patrolling a North Baltimore apartment complex.

Keymo Tubias Martin Jr. was arrested Monday night by the regional Warrant Apprehension Task Force and charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder for his role in the shooting, which occurred July 14 in the 2800 block of Matthews St, in the Better Waverly community.

A 32-year-old female security guard, who was shot in the eye, has been released from a hospital but is expected to require additional surgeries related to her injuries. The 38-year-old male victim, who was shot in the chest, remains hospitalized, police said.

Patch.com reported today that the female officer's 9 mm handgun was stolen after she was shot, and the attack is listed as an armed robbery in police records.

Police are still searching for a second suspect, described as being a black male in his 20s, 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-9, of light complexion with short hair and average build. He is considered armed and dangerous, police say.

Anyone with information was asked to call the Northern District Detective Unit at 410-367-3105. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Police tell me that they've arrested a suspect in the shooting of two security guards Thursday night in North Baltimore. Few details were immediately available but police say they should have an announcement soon.

The suspect is being questioned pending formal charges. Here is some background from a previous story:

Two uniformed, armed security guards who were patrolling a townhome development near Harwood Park were shot in the 2800 block of Mathews St. at about 8:30, said Detective Donny Moses, a city police spokesman.

A 32-year-old female was shot in the right eye and a 38-year-old male guard was shot at least once in the chest, he said. Both guards were taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital and were in serious condition Thursday night, he said.

Police do not know how many people were involved or what caused the shooting, Moses said. The male officer returned fire but it is not known if an assailant was struck, he said. The shooting happened on the property of the Oak Hill Townhome complex and the guards worked for Assured Protection, he said.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

Two armed security guards were shot and seriously injured after getting into an altercation with a group of men at a North Baltimore apartment complex.  

According to various media reports, a 32-year-old female security officer was shot in the eye, while a 38-year-old male security officer was shot multiple times in the chest. Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III visited the scene and told reporters that the officers were conscious when medics arrived, and were taken to area hospitals in serious condition. 

The incident occurred at the Oak Hill townhouses in the 2800 block of Matthews Street, as the armed security officers were making their rounds, according to reports. The shooting occurred about three blocks from where a shooting occurred earlier in the day, at the intersection of Barclay Street and Whitridge Ave. Another shooting also took place less than a mile south, at the intersection of Homewood Street and Kirk Avenue. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police had another bloody Sunday to contend with, as detectives investigate three slayings and five nonfatal shootings.

The violence raged from one end of the city to another -- with four assaults reported between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Sunday. Read full details here. A brief recap:

* 17-year-old shot several times at 10:42 p.m. in the 1300 block of Luzerne St. Two others were injured in the incident.

* Man shot in the chest near Greenmount Cemetery at 2:20 p.m.

* A 43-year-old woman was found dead about 11 a.m. with head trauma inside her home in the 200 block of N. Belnord Ave. 

* A 46-year-old man died after he was stabbed in the stomach in the 1700 block of Gorsuch Ave. about 2:30 a.m.

* A 22-year-old man wa shot in the abdomen about 2:30 a.m. inthe 1500 block of Lester Morton Court.

* A man walked into a South Baltimore hospital about 2:40 a.m. after being shot inthe 4100 block of Pascal AVe.

* A man was shot int he leg about 2 a.m. in the 3800 block of 8th St. in Brooklyn

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: East Baltimore, North Baltimore, South Baltimore
        

Baltimore police have been busy today investigating several violent incidents. Here are some details as they come in straight from a city police spokesman:

1500 Blk Lester Morton Court Homicide
 
July 10, 2011 / Baltimore, MD - The Baltimore Police Department is investigating a homicide that occurred this morning, just after 2:30 am, within the 1500 Blk of Lester Morton court.  Patrol officers responded to the location for report of a shooting and discovered 22 year-old Jerel McFadden suffering from a gunshot wound to the torso.  He was transported to John Hopkins Hospital and, despite medical treatment, died shortly after 3:10 am.

AT right is a picture of McFadden from his Facebook page. 

Homicide - 1700 Blk of Gorsuch Avenue
 
July 10, 2011 / Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Police homicide detectives are investigating a death that occurred this morning within the 1700 Blk of Gorsuch Avenue at 2:30 am.  Officers responded to discover the body of 46 year-old Richard Mills seated in a pick-up truck suffering from an apparent stab wound to the torso.  Mr. Mills was transported to John Hopkins Hospital where, despite best efforts, he was pronounced dead just before 3:30 am.

In addition, police say homicide detectives are investigating a woman's body that was found this morning in the 200 block of North Belnord Ave. in Southeast and a shooting of a man in the chest on the East side in the 400 block of Pitman Place.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: East Baltimore, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore
        

Below are two police reports from recent home invasions in South and North Baltimore involving suspects who officials say were impersonating police. In a previous blog post, commenters said they wanted more information, and I'm finally getting around to getting these scanned in and posted.

In the South Baltimore attack, one of the suspects is reported to have yelled, "Don't [mess] with us, because we are crooked Baltimore City police." In both instances, it appears that the suspects broke down the door, and in at least one used an object to bust it open.

Continue reading "Police reports from two recent home invasions" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore, South Baltimore
        

Baltimore police have just released the tape recordings of officers responding to last month's accident on the Jones Falls Expressway in which Officer Teresa Rigby was forced over the side of the elevated highway.

The officer suffered severe injuries in the 25 to 30 foot fall. She had been attending to a disabled vehicle when a car hit the back of her cruiser, forcing the vehicle into her and sending her over the side. No charges have been filed in the crash.

Here you can listen to the police officers as they responded.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

For the third time in a week, city police are investigating a home invasion in which men identifying themselves as police rushed into a home and bound and robbed its occupants.

“We are enormously concerned about this,” said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. “This is an egregious violation of the trust that individuals place in police, and we are working very hard to catch them.”

At about 6 a.m., police were called to the 2800 block of W. Garrison Ave. in North Baltimore, where the homeowners said they were sleeping when three men dressed in “police-like clothing” entered the room and placed them in plastic “flex cuff” handcuffs, officials said.

The men took an undisclosed amount of cash and electronics, including a video game system, before fleeing.

The incident comes on the heels of a similar home invasion last Monday, when a 32-year-old man was shot when three suspects pretending to be police entered his home in the 1500 block of Medford Road in Northeast Baltimore and bound him and his wife with flex cuffs.

Continue reading "Third home invasion by fake police" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Categories: North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, South Baltimore
        

In a brief update this morning, Baltimore police said Officer Teresa Rigby, injured when she fell from I-83 in a traffic accident, has been released from the hospital and is undergoing treatment at a rehabilitation facility.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Rigby has a "long road ahead" and that supporters are looking to establish a fund to help pay for her medical care. "She is expected to be out of work for a very, very long time," Guglielmi said.

Rigby was standing outside of her police cruiser assisting a disabled motorist on June 21 when another driver careened into her vehicle, sending her hurtling over the side of the elevated highway near the Pepsi plant. She fell some 30 feet to the concrete below and reportedly suffered severe leg injuries and required facial reconstruction surgery.

Police have yet to release a cause of the accident, or the identities and conditions of the other three motorists who required hospitalization. Guglielmi said the department would not release information while the investigation was ongoing.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

UPDATE: The violence from the weekend continued into Monday -- the body of a woman who was fatally stabbed was found early today near Patterson Park, and a man was shot in the head in North Baltimore.  

In case you missed it over the weekend, several people fell victim to gunfire in Baltimore this weekend, in addition to the 15-year-old who was accidentally shot by an 11-year-old boy.

Map city homicides here.

Here is a list of weekend shootings from Baltimore police:

Continue reading "Weekend shootings in city" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Downtown, East Baltimore, North Baltimore, South Baltimore
        

Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein announced today that a 37-year-old Baltimore County man has been taken into custody after being indicted in a hit-and-run accident that injured two Johns Hopkins University students in early May.

Prosecutors say Thomas D. Green was impaired by alcohol at the time of the May 7 accident, which injured sophomore Benjamin Zucker and freshman Rachel Cohen. Officials said at the time that a Johns Hopkins security officer and two Baltimore police officers working with the school chased down the suspect, who was driving a white 2010 Chevrolet Impala.

Green was indicted on June 16 and taken into custody this morning, officials said. Court records show that while investigators deliberated the case, Green continued to drive recklessly, picking up a speeding ticket in Baltimore County on May 31.

Police have been criticized recently for being slow to charge in serious traffic accidents. The family of Hopkins student Nathan Krasnopoler grew impatient with the investigation into a crash near campus that left him comatose, and family and friends of two teen girls killed last week on Martin Luther King Boulevard have taken to the Police Department's Facebook page, furious that charges have not been filed against a man identified as the driver.

In the hit and run, Green faces charges of causing a life-threatening injury as a result of negligent driving while impaired by alcohol, failure to render aid to a victim after being the operator of a vehicle involved in an accident, driving in a reckless and negligent manner, and other charges.  Green does not appear to have a prior criminal record, though he's picked up traffic charges in five separate incidents since July 2009, records show.

An update on the students' condition was not immediately available - Hopkins' Dean of Students Susan Boswell declined to comment. 

Hopkins spokeswoman Tracey Reeves said Zucker and Cohen were "able to complete the spring semester, and are expected to return to their studies in August."

"We are grateful for the hard work of the Baltimore City Police Department," Reeves said.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

A city police officer at the scene of a disabled vehicle on the JFX this morning was struck and forced off the elevated highway, falling 25 feet to the pavement below. Police said a car hit her stopped cruiser, which then either hit or or forced her to jump.

Read full story here. The picture of the crash scene is from The Sun's Barbara Haddock Taylor. More details from The Sun's Justin Fenton, Liz Kay and Steve Kilar:

Police identified the officer as Teresa Rigby, 27, a three-and-a-half year veteran of the department assigned to the Northern District patrol. Dr. Thomas Scalea, physician-in-chief of the trauma center, said Rigby was on life support and would be going into surgery. Officials initially said she was in serious but stable condition.

Rigby had "arrived arousable but not awake," Scalea said. She was "still in a very dynamic stage of care" and doctors needed to stabilize her before surgery.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she spoke with Rigby's family and said they were "remarkably calm." "Everybody's praying for a speedy recovery," Rawlings-Blake said.

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld said Rigby was standing near a disabled vehicle that was to be towed from south of Coldspring Lane, near the Pepsi Plant. At about 9:20 a.m., the driver of a black Saab lost control and hit the rear of her police cruiser. It was not clear whether she was struck or jumped from the highway to avoid being hit.

The roadway was wet at the time of the crash.

The highway northbound was shut down from Falls Road to Coldspring Lane for nearly four hours, and southbound lanes were choked, though police said traffic resumed moving in both directions around 1:20 p.m.

The officer suffered multiple leg fractures, among other injuries, Guglielmi said. He said she had been conscious when she left in the ambulance.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

From Sun reporters Justin Fenton, Steve Kilar and Liz Kay: 

UPDATE: For updates on this story, please go to this link.

A Baltimore police officer was rushed to Maryland Shock Trauma Center this morning after she was struck by a car on Interstate 83, thrown off the elevated highway and fell 30 feet onto a concrete parking lot, according to a police spokesman.

“All you see was her going over,” said Butch Davis, 63, who was working at a nearby construction site. He said he looked up when he heard a car braking and tires screeching. “The brakes locked up,” he said. “That got my attention. I just hope she’s alright.”

Photo of the crash by The Sun's Frank Roylance.

The highway northbound has been shut down from Falls Road to Northern Parkway. Two lanes of southbound I-83 are open, police said. Baltimore Police warned drivers via Twitter to expect delays due to the crash.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the female officer was standing near a vehicle that was to be towed from an accident south of Northern Parkway, near the Pepsi Plant. He said about 9:20 a.m., the driver of a car lost control, hit her police cruiser, and the cruiser hit the officer.

She suffered multiple leg fractures, among other injuries, Guglielmi said. He said she was conscious when she left in the ambulance. Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III was at Shock Trauma this morning.

Chief Kevin Cartwright, a Baltimore Fire Department spokesman, said three other people in addition to the police officer were injured — the driver of the car that was being towed, the tow truck driver and the driver of the vehicle that hit the cruiser.

There were no immediate information on their conditions or to which hospitals they were taken.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

A Baltimore police officer was rushed to Maryland Shock Trauma Center this morning after she was struck by a car on Interstate 83, was thrown off the highway and slid 30 feet down an embankment, according to a city police spokesman.

The highway northbound has been shut down from Falls Road to Northern Parkway. Two lanes of southbound I-83 are open, police said. Baltimore Police warned drivers via Twitter to expect delays due to the crash.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the female officer was standing near a vehicle that was to be towed. He said the driver of a car lost control, hit her police cruiser, and the cruiser hit the officer. She suffered multiple leg fractures, among other injuries, Guglielmi said. He said she was conscious when she left in the ambulance.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III was at Shock Trauma this morning.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

From Sun reporter Julie Baughman:

Baltimore police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man suspected of holding up several convenience stores in the city.

At least four robberies have occurred over the past two weeks in the north, northwest and northeast parts of Baltimore — all targeting 7-Eleven and Royal Farms stores.

According to police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, the gunman is considered “armed and dangerous.” Guglielmi said that the man typically enters the store during off-peak hours and approaches the cash register under the guise of buying an item.

Once he reaches the register, he draws a semi-automatic gun from his waistband or pocket and then points it at customers and store clerks until he is able to empty the register of cash and checks, Guglielmi said.

Police described the man as a black male between 25 and 30 years old, standing between 5 feet 11 and 6 feet tall and weighing 160 to 200 pounds. He was last seen wearing a tan or black baseball cap with a green or blue polo shirt, dark jeans, black tennis shoes, sunglasses and a watch on his left wrist.

Police would not disclose the exact locations of the targeted stores to avoid interfering with the police tactics during their investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call the police robbery unit at 410-366-6341.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore
        

The Baltimore Police Department announced an expected shakeup in its top ranks Wednesday, including a new deputy commissioner and new leadership for the patrol and criminal investigations divisions.

The moves were triggered by the retirement of Deputy Commissioner Deborah A. Owens, who had held that position since Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III took over in 2007.

Col. John Skinner, who has overseen the patrol division, will take Owens’ spot, overseeing issues including finance, recruitment and discipline. During his time directing patrol efforts, the 18-year veteran developed a survey to gauge citizens’ satisfaction with the efforts of patrol officers, and he is listed as a part-time faculty member at Towson University.

In a statement, the department said Skinner had been “credited with fostering improved relations between police and the community.”

Continue reading "Baltimore police announce command staff shakeup" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore, Top brass
        

The trial of the Baltimore police officer charged with fatally shooting an unarmed Marine continues today. Here is some new information from The Sun's court reporter, Tricia Bishop:

Chantay Kangalee complicated three days of work by prosecutors Tuesday morning when she took the stand as a reluctant witness for her brother’s killer, Baltimore police Officer Gahiji Tshamba, and testified to a scenario that contradicted the state’s carefully built murder case.

Kangalee, the first defense witness called, said Tshamba pulled a gun on her brother, Tyrone Brown, outside a back entrance to Mount Vernon’s Red Maple lounge in the early morning of June 5, 2010, confirming what’s been said in court so far. But she added that Brown pushed the off-duty officer and steadily advanced — hands out — toward Tshamba, who was backing up the entire time with his gun drawn.

The two men were about three feet apart when Tshamba, 37, fired, his back to an alleyway trash container, unloading his service weapon into Brown, who struggled to push the Glock away, Kangalee said.

Continue reading "Victim's sister helps defense in Tshamba case" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Gahiji Tshamba, North Baltimore
        

Fresh off a story about a teacher stopped by police for handing out leaflets promoting vegetarianism at the Inner Harbor, we get word of another problem -- train buffs stopped by police from taking pictures of, you guessed it, trains.

Mass Transit Police, referring to the Patriot Act and Sept. 11, told two photographers in Baltimore that taking pictures of trains such as the Light Rail was not allowed without permission.

The Sun's Mike Dresser documents the issues and notes that the Maryland ACLU is threatening a lawsuit. These issues just don't seem to go away. Here is Mike's full story and a video of one of the photographers posted on YouTube of his encounter with MTA police. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

From The Sun's Mike Dresser [full story here]:

The Baltimore woman whose driving errors led to a crash that left bicyclist Nathan Krasnopoler in a coma with possibly permanent brain injuries has resolved the traffic charges against her by paying $220 — about half the amount she would have been fined if Baltimore police had not erred in writing the tickets.

Jeannette Marie Walke, 83, pleaded guilty May 11 to negligent driving and failure to yield right of way to a bicyclist in a designated lane. She prepaid the ticket and did not appear in court. Such charges can be resolved by sending in a standard fine by mail.

Krasnopoler, a 20-year-old Johns Hopkins University student, collided with Walke's car Feb. 26 when she turned in front of him on University Parkway near the Homewood campus. According to his family, he retains brain stem function but is not expected to regain consciousness. The Krasnopolers have filed a $10 million lawsuit against Walke.

Johns Hopkins University Walke would have been fined $400 had not the police officer who wrote the tickets blundered. Police have admitted the mistake; Walke has not commented on the case.

The negligent-driving fine was assessed at $140 rather than the $280 called for under state law for cases involving a crash. On the failure-to-yield charge, she was fined $80 rather than the $120 she would have been assessed for an offense that contributed to an accident.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police are investigating two shootings that occurred Sunday -- one on the eastside, the other on the westside.

One man was reported shot in the foot about 7 p.m. on Westwood Avenue. Another man was shot multiple times about 7:40 p.m. on North Montford Avenue. Those two shootings follows a violent Friday and Saturday, in which eight people were shot, including one fatally.

That occurred early Saturday on Marble Hall Road in North Baltimore. The victim has not yet been identified. City police plan to provide updates on the violence, and their plans for staffing Saturday's Preakness, early this afternoon.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: East Baltimore, North Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

The 66-year-old wife of a prominent Annapolis church leader has been identified as the woman whose body was found partially submerged under the Jones Falls Expressway in North Baltimore last week.

Police were called Friday morning to the 1800 block of Union Ave., just west of the highway in the Woodberry neighborhood, in the Jones Falls, where they found the body of Emma Eileen Baltimore, of Pasadena. There were no obvious signs of trauma to her body, and police were continuing to investigate.

Baltimore was the wife of senior bishop Wilbert L. Baltimore, of the King's Apostle Holiness Church of God, which according to a 2000 article includes 20 churches in seven states. He was also a longtime administrator in the Anne Arundel County school system.

Anne Arundel County police spokesman Justin Mulcahy said Baltimore had been reported missing May 4 after her vehicle was located about two miles away from where her body was eventually found, in the 4900 block of Falls Road. Her relatives told police that she suffered from mental problems and had spent time in a Baltimore-area facility multiple times in the past year, city police spokesman Donny Moses said.

Continue reading "Annapolis church leader's wife found dead in North Baltimore" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, North Baltimore
        

Police say a man armed with a knife broke into a Charles Village house, woke a woman from her sleep and took her debit card. He disappeared for a few minutes, then came back and returned her card.

Police got a picture of him using the card at a bank machine (at left) before he came back to the house, which he got into about 2:30 a.m. Saturday through an unlocked first floor window.

According to a police statement:

Once the suspect was inside, he proceeded to a bedroom which was occupied by a female victim who was sleeping in her bed. The suspect woke same and displayed a small folding knife with a silver blade. The suspect repeatedly asked for cash. The victim indicated to the suspect she didn't have any cash and instead provided the suspect with a debit card.

The suspect left and returned approximately five to ten (5-10) minutes later and gave the debit card back. Anyone with any information concerning this incident is asked to call the Northern District Detective Unit at 410-367-3105.
 
Suspect Description: Male, Black, Thin build, Approximately 5'09''-5'11'' in height, wearing a gray hooded sweat shirt, armed with a small folding knife with a silver blade.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police have a man in custody who they say hit two Johns Hopkins students and then sped off. The crash occurred about 2:15 this morning at St. Paul and 33rd streets, near the campus, the Sun's Jessica Anderson reports.

Police said one male student was in criticial condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The other, a female, was less severely injured. The university, in a letter sent to students and parents, said a Johns Hopkins security officer and two Baltimore police officers working with the school chased down the suspect, who was driving a white 2010 Chevrolet Impala.

In February, another Hopkins student, 20-yar-old Nathan Krasnopoler, was struck by a car on University Parkway and suffered catestrophic injuries from which he is not expected to recover. The 83-year-old driver was charged with negligent driving and failture to yield the right of way in connection with hitting the bicyclist. The case prompted criticism because the police were slow to file charges.

Here is the statement from Hopkins:

Continue reading "Two Johns Hopkins students struck by hit-and-run driver" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

The ex-boyfriend of a 32-year-old woman who was shot and killed last month in Reservoir Hill has been charged in her death, and Baltimore police said he used a gun taken from his new girlfriend, according to court documents.

Authorities also described how Keenya Jordan was shot outside her house on Lennox Street and left lying face down next to her pocketbook on a sidewalk in front of a garage. Police said the shooter then returned, and in front of witnesses, shot Jordan twice more into her head.

Daniel Sullivan, 30, of the 700 block of Vine St., was charged on Friday with first-degree murder, assault and several handgun violations, and was ordered held without bail at the city detention center. Police said the suspect had threatened to kill Jordan and himself after she turned down his offer of marriage.

Police had suspected the killing had “possible domestic ties” shortly after Jordan was found dead about 1:15 a.m. on April 6. She had moved to Reservoir Hill from Gwynn Oak in November, and had for the past 11 years worked for the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives as a case manager for adults with developmental disabilities.

“She was a wonderful, untiring advocate for our clients,” Herbert Hoelter, her boss, said in an interview last month. Her mother, Sidney Washington, said Jordan cooked Thanksgiving dinners for her clients and had arranged trips for them to Las Vegas and Disney World.

Police said Sullivan had been convicted of abusing Jordan in the past and spent time in prison. Two weeks before the killing, police charging documents state that the suspect told Jordan, “If I can’t have you, I’m going to kill you and then kill myself.”

The court documents say the gun apparently went missing from under the woman’s bed during an argument in March, about a month before Jordan was shot.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

The Sun's Liz Kay reports that the body of a woman was found Friday morning partially submerged in water under the Jones Falls Expressway. Police were called about 10:10 a.m. to the 1800 block of Union Ave, where they found the body.

Based on their preliminary investigation, police said there were no obvious signs of foul play, but homicide detectives were notified. The body was found on Hampden-Woodberry line, just west of the expressway.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

The man charged in connection with last month’s fatal shooting of a 19-year-old woman in Better Waverly is already in jail and being held without bail in connection with a January armed robbery, according to court records.

James Cureton, 21, of the 5200 block of Anthony Lane, now faces first-degree murder and other charges in the death of Tanise Ervin. Authorities had described her as an innocent bystander who had just graduated high school and was planning to attend college to study nursing.

Baltimore Police also announced Friday that suspects have been charged in a fatal shooting in January as well as in a February stabbing.

Ervin was one of three people shot March 12 outside a carryout in the 900 block of Gorsuch Ave. The shop is steps away from where she lived with her mother in Serenity House, an apartment building that is an offshoot of a women’s shelter run by the Sisters of Mercy and Sisters of Notre Dame.

Continue reading "Suspect in killing of bystander faces armed robbery charges in separate case" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police have charged a 21-year-old man with first-degree murder in last month’s shooting of a 19-year-old woman who authorities described as an innocent bystander who had just graduated high school and was planning on attending college to study nursing.

Tanise Ervin was one of three people shot March 12 outside a carryout in the 900 block of Gorsuch Ave. in Better Waverly, steps away from where she lived with her mother in Serenity House, part of a woman’s shelter run by the Sisters of Mercy and Sisters of Notre Dame.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi identified the suspect as James Cureton, of the 5200 block of Anthony Lane. He is being held without bail on unrelated armd robbery, assault and gun charges at the Baltimore City Detention Center, awaiting a May 3 trial on those charges.

Guglielmi said Cureton has been charged in an arrest warrant, which is in the process of being served. News of the arrest first appeared in an on-line neighborhood newsletter after police briefed North Baltimore residents on the case.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

[UPDATE, 1 P.M.: Court records show Blackwell was stabbed 32 times, and Abdullah admitted to detectives that the stabbing occurred after an argument over him taking video games from her home escalated. Police tracked down a stolen XBox 360 system and games to a pawn shop, and located a Nintendo Wii from the Blackwell home inside Abdullah's residence, records show.]

Baltimore police have charged a 20-year-old acquaintance with last month’s stabbing death of a Coppin State University nursing student who was stabbed during an argument inside her home in North Baltimore’s Remington neighborhood.

Syron Abdullah, who turned 20 on Tuesday, was charged with first-degree murder and was awaiting a bail hearing in District Court. Police released few details this morning, but said in a statement that he had been arguing with the victim, Jhoma Blackwell, 18.

Police had confirmed on Wednesday that homicide detectives were detaining a “person of interest” in the March 29 killing. The president of the Remington Neighborhood Association had spoken with a homicide detective about the case.

Continue reading "Police arrest suspect in killing of nursing student" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

City police confirm that they have detained a "person of interest" in the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Jhoma Blackwell, a Coppin State nursing student found dead inside her Remington home last month.

But Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman, said no charges had been filed and that the case remains ongoing.

Word comes after Joan Floyd, president of the Remington Neighborhood Association, told The Sun she had spoken with a detective on the case who notified her of an arrest. Last night, Floyd told residents at the community association meeting that detectives told her they were closing in on a suspect, which a commander from the Northern District confirmed.

We'll post updates as they become available. 

The arrest in the stabbing death of Blackwell comes as residents in the Remington neighborhood mount an effort to try to spark tips in another stabbing death of a woman inside her home - the 2008 killing of 74-year-old Nancy Schmidt. 

Earlier today, we posted a YouTube video uploaded by a woman identifying herself as Blackwell's older sister, in which she addressed the killer: “You may be pondering if you are going to get away with this…You may be even trying to rationalize in your head that she deserved this for whatever reason and you may even elude the authorities, but let me tell you something, you can’t elude God.”

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

At Tuesday night's Remington community association meeting, president Joan Floyd told residents that detectives have told her they have strong evidence and are closing in on a suspect in the killing of 18-year-old college student Jhoma Blackwell, who was found fatally stabbed inside her home on the afternoon of March 29. "They are not asking us to do anything on this one," Floyd told attendees. "They even used the phrase, 'proceding rapidly."

Floyd pointed residents to this YouTube video posted by Blackwell's family, in which an older sister pleads with people to come forward with tips. It's a rare self-produced look at a family's grief.

"I understand that in times like this, people do want to get involved, they're afraid, they feel its not their business," says a woman who identifies herself as Blackwell's older sister. "Whatever it may be, we strongly implore you ... no matter how trivial you think it is, we encourage you to come forward with the information."

She concludes by saying the family is praying for the people responsible.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

City prosecutors just issued this press release on the accident that critically injured Johns Hopkins student Nathan Krasnopoler:

The State's Attorney's Office for Baltimore City and the Baltimore City Police Department announced today that two traffic citations have been issued to Jeannette Marie Walke, 83, arising from an incident on February 26, 2011 near Johns Hopkins University in which she struck student Nathan Krasnopoler, 20, while operating her motor vehicle.

Walke was cited for negligent driving and failure to yield right-of-way to a bicyclist in a designated bike lane prior to crossing the lane. Maryland defines negligent driving as the 'careless of imprudent' operation of a vehicle 'that endangers any property or the life or person of any individual.' Each violation that Walke received carries a maximum fine of $500 and three points.

'In conjunction with the Baltimore City Police Department, we have conducted a careful and thorough investigation, and concluded that these charges were appropriate based on the circumstances. Our combined investigation found no evidence of gross negligence, which is required to support a charge of vehicular manslaughter,' said State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein. 'This was a terrible tragedy, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Krasnopoler family.'

The Baltimore Police Department and the State's Attorney's Office take seriously all incidents involving bicyclists and motorists. 'We will prosecute drivers who harm cyclists to the fullest extent of the law,' Bernstein said.

The attorney for the family, who have filed a $10 million lawsuit against Walke, said they agree that manslaughter charges were not appropriate. "The family understands that this was not an intentional act, and that is was an 'accident' and recognizes therefore that she should be cited with traffic citations as opposed to being charged with manslaughter," said attorney Andrew Slutkin.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

A Baltimore man was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with all but 35 years suspended for his role in an armed robbery at a Waverly carryout last April in which a 72-year-old man was shot to death.

The victim, Charles Bowman, was a veteran of the Vietnam War and was blind in one eye. He had stopped by the carryout to get dinner on his way to job as an overnight security guard at the Afro-American newspaper. His shooting and another one a week later just up the street (photo by Karl Merton Ferron) prompted a community walk and heightened police patrols.

Troy Taylor, 19, of the 2700 block of Fenwick Ave. pleaded guilty in Baltimore City Circuit Court to first-degree murder, the use of a handgun in the commission of a crime, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and other charges in the holdup that took place about midnight at the Yau Bros. carryout at 29th Street and Greenmount Avenue.

His co-defendant, Michael Hunter, 20, of the 300 block of E. Belvedere Ave. is scheduled to stand trial in June.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Three people were shot in Baltimore Thursday night and early today. All the victims survived their wounds.

The shooting occurred between 6:25 p.m. and 2:25 a.m. and were in three different parts of the city -- south, east and northeast. In two cases, the victims got themselves to a hospital before police arrived at the scenes.

Thus far, 48 people have been killed in Baltimore, five more than the 43 slain at this time last year. Here are details on the latest violence from Detective Kevin Brown, a police spokesman:

Continue reading "Baltimore police investigate overnight shootings" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, East Baltimore, North Baltimore, South Baltimore
        

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested after beating his 66-year-old grandmother unconscious with a hammer after he became angry while getting ready for school, police said.

The teen was being held at Central Booking, but was not identified by police because he had not been formally charged as of late Thursday.

Police said boy called 911 after the assault at about 8:30 a.m., and officers responded to the home in the 800 block of E. 34th St. in the Waverly community, where they found the grandmother unresponsive in her bed, said Detective Nicole Monroe, a police spokeswoman.

She was taken to an area hospital, where she was last reported in critical condition. In an interview with detectives, the boy said he struck her multiple times after getting angry at his grandmother while getting ready for school, Monroe said.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Police have identified the 18-year-old woman found fatally stabbed Tuesday afternoon in her home in North Baltimore’s Remington neighborhood.

Jhoma Blackwell was discovered at about 4:30 p.m. by relatives, and police say the nursing student at Coppin State University had been stabbed multiple times.

Detective Jeremy Silbert, a city police spokesman, said investigators “believe that this is not a random act of violence.” Neighbors told television stations that they had heard fighting earlier.

A police officer was seen carrying a small child out of the home, and handing her to who onlookers said was a relative.

The photo is taken from her Myspace page.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Painted along the top of a door frame of a defunct church in North Baltimore’s Remington community are the words “When I see the blood…” It’s the beginning of a Biblical quotation that ends, “The plague of death will not touch you.”

Neighbors stood in front of that building Tuesday afternoon looking upon a crime scene where police say the body of a woman who had been fatally stabbed was discovered by her relatives. The killing was one of at least two investigated by police yesterday.

“This is just terrible,” said Dianne Fisher, 46, of the people gathered near the crime scene. “That girl didn’t bother no one.”

Continue reading "Woman fatally stabbed, man dies in morning shooting" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

City police say they are investigating a "questionable death" after a man was found at the intersection of West 36th Street at Falls Road in Hampden. There's few details right now, but police say the call came out at about 10:15 a.m. for an "unresponsive person." Police spokesman Kevin Brown says the body was found outdoors, in a park area near the intersection. Homicide detectives are investigating, as they do with all questionable deaths. 

We'll post more details here as they become available. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

A man whose suspended sentence in an armed holdup in Guilford three years ago became emblematic of problems with the city’s criminal justice system pleaded guilty Thursday to two more violent attacks in the North Baltimore neighborhood and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

“You are a menace to the community,” Circuit Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill told 21-year-old John Couplin. “The only thing that I can do is isolate you from the community. … There’s a possibility you will rehabilitate. Maybe.”

Continue reading "Man guilty in Guilford attacks; had received suspended sentence in earlier case" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

Police are receiving information from the public and have "promising" leads in the shooting death of 19-year-old bystander Tanise Ervin, Northern District Maj. Ross Buzzuro told residents at last night's police community relations council meeting, Patch.com's Adam Bednar reported.

Buzzuro also said he was taking the shooting "personally." A community walk is scheduled for tonight at 6 p.m. at Gorsuch Avenue and Independence Street in Better Waverly.

Ervin was fatally shot Saturday, along with two men who survived. Police say Ervin was not the intended target. Read Patch.com's full story here, and our coverage of Tuesday night's vigil that attracted more than 100 people. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Police described her as an innocent bystander, hit by a bullet meant for someone else. Her friends and family gathered at a church Tuesday night, near the spot where she was killed, to remember another life lost.

The commander of the Northern District police station and the homicide detective assigned to the case joined her relatives to denounce the killer and reflect on a aspiring nursing student. The Sun's Justin Fenton (his photo is at left) reports:

She was "sassy and funky," a 19-year-old with a high school diploma in hand and a nursing degree in her sights. But in a moment, Tanise Ervin's dreams were cut short Saturday when a gunman opened fire in her North Baltimore block.

"But I can assure you, we will tirelessly and relentlessly pursue the coward who did this act — I pledge that to all of you," Baltimore Police Maj. Ross Buzzuro said.

Ervin's father implored anyone in the crowd with information to come forward. "This was a senseless crime, one that shouldn't have happened," he said, his voice rising. "This must be resolved. We know what's got to be done. Let's do it."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

He rented a Mount Vernon carriage house under the name "Clark Rockefeller" but was quickly arrested and sent back to Boston on charges he kidnapped his daughter in 2008. Now, the man of assumed identities has been charged with murder in Southern California.

He is accused of killing a man he had rented a guesthouse from in the early 1980s. He's been under suspicion in the man's death for the past three years. In 2009, he was sentenced to five years in prison in Boston for kidnapping his 7-year-old daughter, who he had brought with him to Baltimore and who was found safe.

His real name is Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter. Here is a story from The Sun published in 2008, when he was arrested in Baltimore, but before authorities had learned his real name:

Continue reading ""Rockefeller" charged in California murder" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Crime elsewhere, North Baltimore
        

City police say the 19-year-old woman who was killed in a triple shooting outside a Better Waverly deli was an innocent bystander - and the men who survived the incident are not cooperating with investigators.

Tanise Ervin recently graduated from high school and was working at a fast food restaurant in hopes of attending Coppin State University in the fall to study nursing, family and friends said. She lived with her mother at Serenity Place, an apartment building on Gorsuch Avenue affiliated with the Marian House women’s shelter where her mother was a participant, according to Katie Allston, the executive director of Marian House.

Police say they responded to a shooting at the intersection of Gorsuch Avenue and Independence Street at about 6 p.m. Saturday, where a gunman had shot Ervin, a 20-year-old man and a 24-year-old man.

Continue reading "Woman, 19, killed Saturday called "innocent bystander"" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

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Baltimore police are saying a female victim who was wounded in a triple shooting this evening in Better Waverly has died from her injuries. Two male victims, ages 24 and 20, were in stable condition, police said.

Few details were immediately available, but police said three people were shot after coming out of a deli carryout at the intersection of Gorsuch Avenue and Independence Street, just south of the former Memorial Stadium site, at about 6 p.m. tonight. The shooting is right on the border of the Northern and Northeastern police districts. 

According to Facebook postings, Ervin appeared to have been staying at a nearby women's shelter. She did not have a criminal record.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore
        

A Baltimore police officer involved in a pursuit and a fatal crash on I-83 will not be criminally charged, Baltimore County prosecutors said on Thursday. The ruling comes despite an investigator's report that says the officer had been ordered to stop the chase.

The Sun's Nick Madigan reports:

In a letter to the state police's crash reconstruction team, which investigated the July 25, 2010, incident, the prosecutor's office said there was not "sufficient evidence to sustain charges of manslaughter by automobile" against the officer, Timothy E. Beall, a 10-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department who had pursued the motorcycle from the city into the county after concluding that it had been racing with a car on Northern Parkway.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Baltimore County, North Baltimore, Top brass
        

City police are stressing that the investigation into an accident that critically injured a Johns Hopkins University student who was riding a bicycle near campus is still pending. Nathan Krasnopoler, 20, was hospitalized after being struck Saturday by a vehicle being driven by an 83-year-old woman.

Police have received numerous inquiries from citizens and city officials about a report in which a police spokesman said charges were not likely to be filed, which the department's chief spokesman now says was premature. The Accident Investigation Unit is reviewing the accident and will deliberate with city prosecutors before deciding whether charges or citations should be filed.

"That does not mean charges will or will not be filed, but these things unfortunately take time," said spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. "Frankly, they need some help from witnesses."

Baltimore's cycling community is planning a "Support Ride" next Wednesday at the spot where Krasnopoler was hit. 

Continue reading "Investigation pending in accident that critically injured bicyclist" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

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:

Continue reading "Target of Charles Village Court Watch pleads guilty" »

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

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
        

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.

Continue reading "Watching the courts" »

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

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
        

SNOWWWWWWWWWW! !

That's stating the obvious, I know, but it comes via Twitter, courtesy of the Baltimore Fire Department firefighters union #734. It's my way of passing along the latest public safety news!

Not to be outdone, Baltimore police put this up on Twitter: "DRIVING ADVISORY: Winter weather conditions are making area roads very slick. Please drive with care and consider staying home."

Of course, the rank and file firefighters and paramedics would be remiss if they didn't also remind you, again via Twitter, that the city continues to close fire companies to save money. So along with storm news, you get this:

Units closed to save money today are Engine 5 & Engine 8. Engine 43 is closed for maintenance. Use caution walking & driving in winter weather.

Engine 8 operates from a firehouse in the 1500 block of West LaFayette Avenue. The house also has a truck and a medic which are operational Engine 5 is out of the Roman Kaminski station in the 2100 block of Eastern Ave.

But enough politics. The last Twitter from Baltimore police was last night, with a man shot in the back in the 800 block of Lennox St. No word yet on his condition. Meanwhile, Liz F. Kay is reporting that the snow you see this morning is "just a teaser" of what we'll see later today and tonight.

Check out the rest of The Baltimore Sun for more snow news, including accidents and road conditions, and closing information. Or better yet, head to Frank Roylance's Maryland Weather blog, Let's see if the adage prove true -- more snow equals less crime.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Breaking news, Carroll County, Downtown, East Baltimore, Howard County, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, Southwest Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

The funeral for Baltimore Police Officer William H. Torbit Jr. is just ending at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in North Baltimore. Hundreds of officers, family and friends filled the church on North Charles Street.

Torbit's sergeant and a colleague spoke, along with two brothers, noting the 33-year-old's dedication not only to arresting drug dealers along the city's Pennsylvania Avenue corridor but how he returned to that street when he came off duty to help children.

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III noted that dedication in his tribute during the service. He spoke of Torbit's "love of his city" and his relentless pursuit of justice for the eight years he spent in a police uniform. The photo of the casket arriving at the cathedral was taken by The Sun's Karl Merton Ferron.

"He knew that making this city safer meant mentoring people," the commissioner said. He read from Torbit's last performance evaluation in which commanders recalled the officer's deep knowledge of community residents that helped them solve cases.

"He invested in children and in our neighborhoods," Bealefeld said. He told of how at a viewing Wednesday night, a woman approached him and said she had been scared to leave her home because drug dealers had taken over. She said Torbit ran them off. "He made her world safer," Bealefeld said.

Torbit was shot and killed Jan. 9 when four of his fellow officers mistook him for a suspect and shot him outside a nightclub during a fight. Torbit, who was in plainclothes, had been trying to calm a dispute, was knocked the ground and shot and killed his assailant. The other officers shot him by mistake.

Little was said at the funeral service of how the incident occurred, and there are several investigations and reviews still ongoing. But Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told mourners that it was a "great tragedy that shook us to our deepest core."

The mayor said Torbit's family and city are owed the truth.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

[The photo at right is the result of what happened when WJZ asked Hartz to draw a picture of the impersonator was drawn by Hartz not long after she was pulled over. Here's your suspect, Baltimore.]

When the man dressed in a wig and Harry Potter glasses with caked-on makeup and lipstick pulled her over and said he was a police officer, Erin Hartz thought she was an unwitting participant in the next John Waters movie.

"This would only happen in Baltimore," the 23-year-old recalls thinking.

The man flicked on a flashlight and shined it in her eyes, scanned her license and registration, then told her not to speed. "Get home and drive safe." She breathed a sigh of relief that he had let her off with only a warning, then the absurdity of the situation washed over her.

Police say the man impersonating an officer has been pulling people over in the area in recent weeks, most recently on Sunday when he made off with a woman's driver's license after stopping her in North Baltimore.

Read the rest of Hartz's story here. 

While police say the man is an impersonator, police in Florida did use an officer in drag in a traffic initiative. In 2006, a male officer in West Palm Beach dressed in drag to hand out red-light tickets. He went by — you can't make this stuff up — "Officer Delicious" and would stand on the corner in fishnets and high heels watching for cars running through traffic lights. Then he would radio the vehicle description to uniformed motorcycle units.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 5:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

This brings female impersonators to a new level.

Baltimore police spokesman Jeremy Silbert said cops are hunting this: "A man dressed as a woman impersonating a police officer."

He said that on Jan. 9, just after 5 p.m., a man driving a blue or green Oldsmobile Alero with a blue light on the dash pulled over a woman driver in North Baltimore and asked for her ID. She handed it to him and he left with. Police said the woman was not harmed.

The person is described as a white male in his 40s standing 5 feet 8 inches tall with blue eyes and a thin build. He was last seen wearing a shoulder-length black wig, a dark jacket with a brown and old patch on the shoulder and knee-high boots with heels.

He had an ID card hanging from a lanyard from his neck with the words, "Baltimore Police" on it. Silbert said he had on dark makeup and "a lot of wrinkles."

Anyone with information on this man or if you spot him, police urge you to call the Northern District detective squad at 410-396-2455. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

A man died Sunday after he was found in a car, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, in an alley less than a block from Union Memorial Hospital in North Baltimore, The Sun's Jamie Smith Hopkins reports.

Baltimore police were called to the 300 block of East 33^rd Street around 6:30 a.m. Sunday and discovered the victim — then still alive — in an alley behind the neatly kept rowhouses there. The man, who police did not identify, died later at Johns Hopkins Hospital, police spokesman Detective Jeremy Silbert said

Karina Conkrite, 31, who lives in a rowhouse nearby, said she didn't hear shots. She said she wasn't aware that anything unusual had happened.

"Living close to the hospital, you get pretty used to ambulances," she said.

The area is officially part of Oakenshawe but is often identified with Charles Village. A variety of rowhomes on the block are painted cheerful colors of pink, blue and green. A crime scene complete with police tape isn't normal, residents say.

"It's not a neighborhood where you have that kind of stuff happen," said Barbara Gudenius, who lives across the street from where the man was found.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

The pace of slayings in Baltimore has slowed -- three to begin the year but nothing in the past few days. But police have kept up their relentless campaign to get guns off city streets.

Since last night, police have announced gun arrests in three parts of the city, starting in the Western where detectives with the Violent Crime Impact Section, targeting one of the more violent corridors in the city, made eight arrests Wednesday night and seized a .32 caliber handgun. The busts came while searching a house in the 700 block of North Fulton Ave.

In North Baltimore, police arrested two people and recovered a .40 caliber handgun from the 4000 block of Hamilton Ave. Detectives with a gang unit led the investigation.

Again in the Western, patrol officers stopped a car in the 200 block of North Carey St., arrested two people and seized a .38 caliber handgun.

And in South Baltimore, police raided a house in the 1600 block of Cedox St, arrested one person and seized a 20-gauge shotgun. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, North Baltimore, South Baltimore, Top brass, West Baltimore
        

Issac Joyner's Christmas presents are tucked away in a closet in his aunt's house: shirts, sweaters, a new camera. His aunt had planned to buy the 14-year-old a pair of new shoes on Christmas Eve. Instead, she spent the day comforting relatives and planning for his funeral after his fatal shooting Thursday night, the Sun's Julie Scharper reports

"His Christmas gifts are all here," said the aunt, Michelle Joyner. "And he's not here to open them."

Meanwhile, the violence didn't stop for the holiday elsewhere in the city. Two people were reported stabbed in West Baltimore and a man was shot in the 1500 block of N. Caroline St. on Christmas Eve, police reported on their Twitter page. In the early morning, men were found shot in the 4400 block of Granada Ave and 1900 Greenmount Ave. Homicide detectives were investigating at least one of the incidents.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: East Baltimore, North Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

Here's a disturbing holiday story: a man was arrested this week after police said he tried to steal money raised for rescued animals at a Hampden bake sale for the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter.

Officials said a man grabbed the donation box and ran but was chased down.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Fire Chief James S. Clack fired back this afternoon on claims from the fire union that rotating budget closures of companies impacted fighting the two five-alarm fires in Mount Vernon and on The Block.

"We've got 54 suppression companies in the city and three are closed each day. It's certainly better than years ago when we had six, and even up until the start of this year when we had four. Would we like those up in service? Absolutely."

But Clack said he didn't think the closures made a difference. "Both of these were five alarm fires. Another truck in service probably wouldn't have made a difference in this case. Certainly as the fire chief I'd like to have every company in service.

"But these are very tough budget times and I think we're doing well with what we have. I would say that some of the stuff the union sent out is a little overblown. They're trying to use this opportunity to advocate for reducing the rotating closures. I certainly understand that. But I would say the rhetoric is over the top."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Downtown, North Baltimore, Top brass
        

Firefighters are still putting out embers at this morning's fire in Mount Vernon (just hours after clubs on The Block burned) and already the city fire union (Firefighters Local 734) is blasting away at company closures. Two or three fire companies are shuttered each night throughout the city due to budget cuts.

Photo is of the Mount Vernon blaze and was taken by The Sun's Jerry Jackson.

Union officials routinely complain that the closures slow response time to fires and endanger lives of citizens and firefighters. Last year, a man was killed in a fire just a block from a firehouse that was closed, though a variety of factors, including a wrong address, contributed to a delayed response (read a tribute to the victim here).

The Baltimore Fire Department shoots back that closures have little to no impact on fighting fires (though Fire Chief James S. Clack warned during the last budget process that the department couldn't absorb anymore cuts).

This morning, the Firefighters Union 734 issued a blistering statement saying that once again the the Fire Department's shortcomings are endangering citizens, and noting that the city needed help from Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Howard counties (twin four-alarm fires in a strip of vacant houses in West Baltimore this summer required an assist from as far away as Washington).

Chief Kevin Cartwright, a spokesman for the Fire Department, shot back this morning, calling the union complaints overblown and old. "Response time had nothing to do with anything that happened last night," he said.

Both five-alarm fires brought nearly 150 firefighters to the scenes. Union officials are saying that a 5-alarm assignment today is roughly equivalent to a 3-alarm assignment in years past, due to cutbacks in personnel and apparatus. Fire officials counter that different chiefs have different protocols, and that better equipment and improved safety guidelines mean that fewer trucks and engines are required on each alarm).

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has reduced rotating closures from four to three in this year’s budget, which ran a $121 million deficit. For more from the union and Cartwright:

Continue reading "Fire unions blasting closures after two city blazes" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: Breaking news, Downtown, North Baltimore
        

Fire, not crime, is the main news of the day.

Baltimore residents navigated their way home through gridlock caused by a 5-alarm fire on The Block and then awoke to discover Mount Vernon shuttered because of another 5-alarm fire on North Charles Street.

That latest fire, which broke out about 1:30 this morning, heavily damaged buildings that contain Donna's Coffee Bar and restaurants Indigma and My Thai.

Further south but a world away, Monday's fire on The Block (photo at left by The Sun's Jerry Jackson) forced several strip clubs to close, possibly through Wednesday, and others may never reopen. A full one-third of the storied adult entertainment district is in danger.

But The Block has survived other catastrophes, including small fires, the smoking ban and numerous attempts to close what many feel has gone from a Vaudeville attraction (clubs with pit orchestras and later Blaze Starr) to a seedy, drug and prostitution-infested strip.

The last major attempt to shut The Block (and last time a significant number of clubs had to close for more than a day) came in January 1994 when then Gov. William Donald Schaefer ordered 500 state troopers to raid two dozen clubs after a lengthy investigation into drugs, prostitution and alleged corruption.

"The Bock as I knew it years ago was an attraction," the governor told reporters after touring the closed clubs. "But tonight, it is not an attraction. It is a detriment. ... We saw drugs, we saw prostitution, we saw liquor. It's just not right."

The raid led to the arrests of 87 people and prompted an investigation into the city's liquor board on allegations inspectors took bribes from club owners and that one board member was a secret owner of a strip joint.

But what started out with fanfare ended in disgrace for state police when it was discovered that troopers had spent some of the $318,604 the investigation cost taxpayers to buy dancers furs and engage in other questionable activities. The undercover troopers had succumbed to the very corruption they had been told to fight. A top commander in the state police drug unit was removed from his position.

As a result, the investigation into the liquor board fizzled without getting out of a grand jury. and prosecutors were able to send just five of 87 defendants to jail. Prosecutors had to dismiss every one of the misdemeanor drug cases and a third of the felony cases.

The Block won.

Can it bounce back again?

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Downtown, North Baltimore
        

A mutilated body found last week in an affluent Massachusetts suburb was identified as a 16-year-old who had recently moved from Baltimore to North Carolina, and officials are investigating whether he was trying to make his way back to the city, officials said.

Remains found last week in a secluded area of Milton, Mass. were confirmed through finerprints to be that of 16-year-old Delvonte Tisdale, according to the Norfolk County district attorney’s office. Tisdale had been reported missing 800 miles away by his father in North Mecklenburg, N.C., hours before the body was discovered.

A half-brother in Baltimore, 18-year-old Craig Tisdale, speculated that Tisdale may have hitched a ride with two friends headed for Boston, with a goal of being dropped off in Baltimore, according to the Boston Globe.

The district attorney’s office was asking anyone in Baltimore with information to call them at 781-830-4800, ext. 215.

“He moved from Baltimore a couple of years ago, but he still has family there,” Traub said. “We’re specifically requesting that anyone who might have information about the period just before his death to contact us.”

Public records indicated that Tisdale’s father had previously lived in the Harwood neighborhood of North Baltimore, near Charles Village. Reached by The Sun, a sister in Baltimore, whose Facebook posts about the death were widely disseminated in media reports, declined to comment.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Crime elsewhere, North Baltimore
        

A 45-year-old man has been charged with stealing a satellite radio from the vehicle of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's husband last week, police announced.

The radio was stolen from the vehicle of Kent Blake, which was apparently unlocked and parked out of view of the mayor's executive protection detail in the Coldspring neighborhood of North Baltimore. But cameras captured an image of the suspect, and officers located him in the neighborhood over the weekend and took him in for questioning.

Anthony Thomas was wearing the same outfit as the man in the video, and he admitted that he stole the radio because he was hungry and needed money to support his drug habit, according to Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman.

Thomas told police that he sold the radio for $10. He is charged with larceny, Guglielmi said.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

UPDATE: Police just made available the incident report, which states that an officer did not respond to take a report until 6:45 p.m., 12 hours after the theft was discovered and almost four hours after we first inquired. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi calls it a technicality, saying that the mayor's executive protection detail was notified immediately and that it took some time for the case to be turned over to the district.

A satellite radio system was stolen from the vehicle of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s husband last night near their home in North Baltimore, officials confirmed.

The incident occurred Thursday morning, and officials said it appeared that the doors to the vehicle had been left unlocked as there was no damage to the vehicle.

The mayor’s security team was outside the Coldspring home at the time, but Kent Blake’s vehicle was parked out of view, said spokesman Ryan O’Doherty. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that the theft was discovered when Blake got into his car in the morning and realized the equipment was missing.

Officials declined further comment.

Last February, police and the Downtown Partnership launched a public relations campaign aimed at curbing car break-ins, asking people to help by not leaving items of value in their vehicles.

“We just need people to be responsible. Common sense. Secure your valuables,” Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said at the time.

The mayor can take solace in city crime statistics that show larcenies from automobiles this year are down 9 percent. However, they are up 6 percent in the Northern District, where she lives, compared with this time last year.

City officials, including past mayors, have not been immune from crime. In 2003, a 22-year-old homeless man was charged with stealing a gym bag from a truck parked behind the home of then-Mayor Martin O’Malley.

Continue reading "Radio stolen from vehicle of Rawlings-Blake's husband" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Breaking news, City Hall, North Baltimore
        

Baltimore's mayor has unveiled a new plan to more quickly deal with the thousands of vacant houses that pockmark the city's landscape, such as at left in this picture by The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum shortly after a fire ravaged a string of vacants in West Baltimore. The houses not only spread blight, but attract crime, and as we recently saw in West Baltimore, can feed the flames of fire consuming entire city blocks.

The Sun's Julie Scharper wrote:

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she would accelerate redevelopment of Baltimore's more than 30,000 vacant properties by cutting bureaucracy and speeding the sales of city-owned properties.

"Vacant houses are more than just an eyesore," Rawlings-Blake said at a Wednesday morning news conference. "Just ask someone who lives next door to one."

Vacant properties constitute one of the city's most pernicious problems, depressing home values and blighting the landscape. Officials have counted 16,000 unoccupied buildings, which harbor vagrants, attract vermin and pose fire hazards. The city owns 10,000 of the vacant properties, on 4,000 of which sit empty structures.

Last month, The Sun's Jessica Anderson brought us to Calhoun Street, where two simultaneous four-alarm arson fires on Sept. 8 destroyed two sides of a city block and taxed the Baltimore Fire Department to the point it needed unprecedented help from neighboring counties. Fire trucks from as far away as Washington responded.

The mayor's plan was already in the words when the fires broke out, but they served as yet another reminder of one of Baltimore's most persistent urban ills, and one that stands out to anyone who drives through these areas.

Here are the mayor's prepared remarks on her plan for vacant houses:

Continue reading "New plan to combat city vacants" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Downtown, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

A man who tried to break into a store on York Road in North Baltimore was shot in the leg by the owner, city police said this morning. Few details were available, and it's unclear whether the store was open or closed.

The shooting occurred about 4:45 a.m. and the address of the incident is a beauty supply store, reports The Sun's Yeganeh June Torbati.

Police also are investigating a gun incident at a city school. The Sun's Jessica Anderson reports:

City school officials said a student hit another student with a handgun inside the locker room at the Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship high school in West Baltimore Monday. City Schools police received a report from a school coach that a student had a handgun in a locker room after school Monday. The incident remains under investigation and school officials said a warrant has been issued for the student's arrest. The unidentified student has not returned to school, officials said.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, North Baltimore
        

Here are some pictures from today's funeral mass for Baltimore Police Officer Tommy Portz Jr., who was killed last week when his cruiser hit the back of a fire engine. The photos were taken by The Sun's Barbara Haddock Taylor outside The Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in North Baltimore.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, City Hall, Confronting crime, North Baltimore
        

I love a good puzzle, and I found a strange one while out for a walk this weekend. I usually bypass graffiti memorializing murder victims -- there's simply too much of it in the city. But one tag on the underside of a bridge caught my attention simply because of its remote location.

I found it on a bridge abutment next to a path in Wyman Park, between Hampden and the west side of the Johns Hopkins University campus. It marked the death of a "Homeboy," which doesn't exactly narrow it down, on Aug. 31 of this year.

I didn't recall any killings in this little scene urban area. The "RIP Homeboy" was written in black in a cloud next to a tag written in large red and yellow letters that spelled "puzzler." I'm guess that's the nickname for the person who wrote the graffiti. What I don't know is whether someone added the "RIP to the tag after it had been completed or if it's part of the complete piece. Does the victim have a connection to the person who did the work?

I checked our homicide map and found one killing on this date -- Nathanial Santiago, 31, who was shot and killed Aug. 31 in the 4100 block of Harris Ave. in Northeast Baltimore.

According to the brief description on the map, Santiago was entering an apartment building when he was approached by two men and got into a fight and then was shot.

I'd love to hear more details on this tag and it's connection to an Aug. 31 death.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore
        

Following up on an item from earlier this week, Baltimore police say they have arrested a man who was being sought in connection with a series of armed convenience store robberies in the Hampden area. Devin Young, 19, of the 4000 block of Evans Chapel Rd, was taken into custody Friday and charged with one count of armed robbery from July 24. He is being held on $175,000 bond as the investigation continues.

Police said they were led to Young thanks to tips from the public after the surveillance photos were disseminated to the media.

Young has past arrests in Baltimore County, court records show. In 2007, he was convicted of being a minor in possession of a handgun and received a two-year suspended sentence. The next year, he was charged with car theft - those charges were dropped. He was convicted of assault later that year, with records showing that his sentence was that he continue on probation on the condition that he "resume medication."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

City police are asking the public's help in identifying a suspect wanted for several armed robberies at convenience stores in the Hampden area since the end of July. Police say the robberies occur after midnight and the suspect has displayed a gun or knife during the robberies. Three stores have been hit, some more than once, police said.

"We're very concerned because it appears he is beginning to get more violent," said police spokesman Jeremy Silbert. "In one recent robbery, he attempted to stab the store clerk."

Here's a link to surveillance camera pictures of the suspect.

Anyone with information on the identity or whereabouts of this suspect should contact the Citywide Robbery Unit at 410-366-6341. Callers may remain anonymous.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

For those of you trying to keep track, here's a list of violence in Baltimore that started Friday afternoon and went through Monday morning. A full account of the mayhem can be found here. There have now been 171 slayings in the city this year, compared with 176 at this time last year:

Friday, 2:30 p.m.: Sterling Palmer, 78, found fatally stabbed inside his house in the 2600 block of Edison Highway.

Saturday, 12:01 a.m.: Man, 51, found fatally shot in the stomach in the 3100 block of Grantley Ave.

Saturday, 2:19 a.m.: A 42-year-old man reported being shot in the ankle while being robbed in the 300 block of N. High St. at Old Town Mall. He walked into the Central District police station on East Baltimore Street to report his wounds.

Saturday, 8:15 p.m.: Daryll Hood, 22, fatally shot in the head one block from his home in the 4700 block of Shamrock Ave. in Belair-Edison.

Saturday, 8:53 p.m.: Travis Lane, 19, found with bullet wounds to the side and chest in an alley off the 3500 block of N. Calvert St. in Oakenshawe. Police say this shooting is related to the shooting 20 minutes earlier in Belair-Edison. Lane was pronounced dead at Union Memorial Hospital.

Sunday, 1:42 a.m.: Dennis Waddell, 33, fatally shot in the 1600 block of Warwick Ave. in Coppin Heights. A 28-year-old was shot and wounded in same incident.

Sunday, 4:47 p.m.: Police find a man in his early 50s dead inside a vacant rowhouse in the 800 block N. Fremont Ave. in Harlem Park. A cause of death has not yet been determined.

Sunday, 6 p.m.: A 35-year-old man was stabbed in the 3800 block of Rogers Ave. in Pimlico. Police said he had been mowing his lawn at his house when a man got out of a car and stabbed him in the chest, arm and back. He was being treated at an area hospital.

Sunday, 9 p.m.: A man shot in the ankle in the 3300 block of Ingleside Ave.

Monday, 9:25 a.m.: An adult male is shot in the head and killed in back of rowhouses in the 2600 block of Shirley Ave. in Park Heights.

Source: Baltimore Police Department

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

Six shooting this weekend left five people dead and three more injured.

Friday, just before midnight: 46-year-old man fatally shot inside a house in the 3000 block of Pressbury St.

Saturday, 12:01 a.m. A 51-year-old man fatally shot in the stomach in the 3100 block of Grantley Ave.

Saturday, early morning: A 33-year-old man was shot and killed on Warwick Avenue in Coppin Heights. A 28-year-old man was shot and injured in the same incident.

Saturday morning: A 42-year-old man said he had been robbed and shot at Old Town Mall. He walked into the Central District police station and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Saturday, 8:15 p.m.: 22-year-old man fatally shot in the head in the 4700 block of Shamrock Ave. in Belair-Edison.

Saturday,  8:53 p.m.: man fatally shot in an alley in the 3500 block of N. Calvert St. in Oakenshawe. Police say this shooting might be related to the one on Shamrock.

Sunday, 9:30 p.m.: man shot in the ankle in the 3300 block of Ingleside Ave. 

On Sunday evening, Baltimore police said a man was stabbed on Rogers Avenue and that he was being treated at a hospital. And Sunday morning in Anne Arundel County, a man was reported shot and wounded in Severn.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

Breaking news statement from Baltimore police:

The Baltimore Police Department’s Warrant Apprehension Task Force detectives are looking for Gary Latham (M/W/27) for the murder of a 73 year-old John Sandy. Mr. Sandy was beaten on April 18, 2010 in the 3500 block of Elm Ave. On July 13, 2010 Mr. Sandy died as a result of the injuries sustained in the assault.

On September 13th, an arrest warrant was obtained for Gary Latham charging him with 1st degree murder. Latham is currently on the run. He lives with his wife in the 800 block of Wellington Avenue and has been seen in the area within the last 2 weeks, mostly at night. He has relatives living throughout the city, in the Dundalk and Essex areas of Baltimore County and in Harford County.

Anyone knowing of Gary Latham’s whereabouts is asked to call the Warrant Apprehension Task Force at 410-637-8970.

One man, 29-year-old Bobby Wisner, was charged in August in connection with the death of Sandy, a cab driver. Sandy identified his attacker as "Bobby," who he said was the brother of a man who lived with him. He slipped into a coma, but eventually woke up and identified Wisner from a photo lineup. It was not immediately clear how police believe Latham is tied to the crime.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

An employee at Johns Hopkins Hospital stole names, social security numbers and address from patients and provided them to friends who obtained credit from stores to buy more than $600,000 in merchandise, federal authorities allege in an indictment.

The Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office charged the employee, Jasmine Amber Smith, and four others with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and identity theft. The indictment alleges that she stole the information from August 2007 through March 2009. The court papers do not say precisely where Smith worked at the hospital, but it says she add access to personal information from patients and their guardians.

Authorities said at least 50 stores and people were victimized. That includes banks, stores such as Sears, ManoSwartz, Best Buy, Boscov and Toys R Us.

Here is a full statement from the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office:

Continue reading "Feds say they broke up identity theft scheme at Hopkins Hospital" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

City prosecutors say a 25 year old man received a double life sentence for two drug-turf murders that occurred outside a carryout store on Greenmount Avenue last year. Here's the press release:

At a hearing today Judge John N. Prevas sentenced Datwan Ramsey, 25, of the 1000 block of Radnor Avenue to two consecutive life plus 20 years in prison terms.  A Baltimore jury convicted Ramsey August 16, 2010 of two counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and three counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. 

Motions began August 2; it took three days to seat a jury and testimony began August 12 with the state resting its case August 16. The jury deliberated two hours and reached a verdict the same day.

On March 17, 2009 at 2901 Greenmount Avenue police responded to Yau Brothers Chinese carry out for a report of a shooting.  Upon arrival they located Adrian Martise and Anthony Bailey inside of the location suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.  Travis Williams was located outside suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.  All three were transported to area hospitals; Mr. Bailey and Mr. Martise were pronounced dead shortly after their arrival and Williams survived.

Continue reading "Double-life sentence in shooting at Greenmount carryout" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

The first thing that struck me was how young these juvenile suspects appeared in their adult mugshots. I'm used to seeing teens charged as adults, but the two 14-year-old boys and the 16-year-old girl charged with stabbing a man on on Maryland Avenue Monday afternoon looked liked they belonged in elementary school.

The daylight attack near Penn Station and the University of Baltimore Law School once again raised questions about the safety of the swath of real estate between Mid-Town Belvedere south of North Avenue and Charles Village to the north. The area is targeted for revitalization, with the Station North arts district and all, but the stretch still seems a no-mans land that could link two vibrant city neighborhoods.

Today's story on the stabbings repeats some of these concerns raised earlier when Stephen Pitcairn was fatally stabbed on St. Paul Street in Charles Village while walking home from a bus at Penn Station. The latest victim on Monday was walking south.

The suspects charged in his case are charged with attempted first-degree murder and several other crimes. Police identified them as Keith Omar Anderson, 14, of Glen Burnie (at left in photos); Lawrence Antonio Horton Jr., 14, of East Baltimore (in the middle); and Daysha Wilson, 16, of East Baltimore.

Here is some chilling accounts from the police report and court charging documents:

Continue reading "Stabbings in the "militarized zones" between neighborhoods " »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Neighborhoods, North Baltimore
        

It appears three juveniles arrested in the mid-afternoon stabbing of a man on Labor Day have been charged as adults, but we're awaiting final word from city police. Then we'll be able to release the names and other details.

Meanwhile, police released the offense report on the attack, which they had originally said occurred in the 1500 block of St. Paul St. That would put it adjacent to Penn Station, near a transit hub for the MTA, the Bolt Bus, the Hopkins shuttle and dozens of taxis. Police had said the victim was stabbed there and ran to Maryland Avenue.

But the police report shows the man was actually stabbed on Maryland Avenue, just north of the University of Baltimore campus, near the Jones Falls Expressway. The suspects were arrested in the 1700 block of St. Paul St.

Here is the report:

Continue reading "Labor Day stabbing update; arrests" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

Three men in their 20s were shot on a West Baltimore street corner shortly before 9 p.m. Monday night. All three made it on their own to a nearby hospital and are expected to survive. One was grazed on the hip, another shot in the leg and the third was wounded several times.

Meanwhile we're awaiting charges on the three juveniles who police say stabbed a 37-year-old man on St. Paul Street Monday afternoon. The brazen daylight attack occurred about 3:30 p.m. near Penn Station, an area we wrote about extensively after the Johns Hopkins researcher was killed as he walked back home from a bus stop a few weeks ago.

It's an area in transition, splitting a neighborhood called Station North where the city is trying to transform into a viable, livable area, and Lower Charles Village on the north side of North Avenue.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

Baltimore police arrested three juveniles within minutes of a daylight stabbing that occurred on St. Paul Street near Penn Station. Police tell me that a 37-year-old man was attacked as he walked along the street, at the northern tip of Mid-Town Belvedere.

The man, who ran four blocks to Maryland Avenue, where he collapsed near a bridge, is expected to survive. The attack occurred about 3:35 p.m.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

Even the criminals act differently in upscale neighborhoods.

After holding up a couple on a Roland Park street and stealing a diamond engagement ring in the middle of the afternoon, the gunmen made his get-away in -- a mini-van.

Sort of like car camouflage in this suburban-like neighborhood of North Baltimore. But no less scarry for the victims, a 30-year-old man and a 28-year old woman.

The Sun's Jessica Anderson reports today that they were walking in the 100 block of Longwood Road about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday when a man wearing a ski mask and wielding a silver handgun approached them:

"Give it up. Where is the money," he told the couple, police spokesman Donny Moses said. The man handed over his wallet with about $40 in cash and credit cards and the woman gave up her purse, including her diamond engagement ring and a set of earrings, Moses said. The robber walked to a burgundy minivan and drove off, he said. Police said they have leads that they believe will lead to arrests.

This attack almost got lost in the shuffle of crime this week. I found an e-mail this morning from the Roland Park list-serve (in addition, the Roland Park community web site discusses a crime wave in the communty):

Continue reading "Gunman steals engagement ring in Roland Park hold-up" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Confronting crime, North Baltimore
        

Continue reading "Remington hostage situation" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police announced more gun seizures and an arrrest in a New Year's Day triple-shooting and a shooting in West Baltimore.

Police said they arrested Jamal Wells, 20, and charged with possessing an illegal, loaded handgun in the 3400 block of Gwynns Falls Parkway, and in a separate bust, they arrested two men fighting over a rifle in an alley in the 1700 block of Poplar Grove St. Police responded after hearing gunshots.

City police also said they arrested Antoine Phipps in the Aug. 1 non-fatal shooting of a man in the first block of North Stricker St. in West Baltimore. And they arrested Johnny Garrison, 35, in a Jan. 1 shootings in the 4200 block of Sheldon Ave.

Here are the details from that incident, as reported Jan. 2:

In what appeared to be the city's first shootings of the new year, three people were injured in a single incident in Northeast Baltimore early Friday, a police spokesman said. The spokesman, Agent Donny Moses, said the shootings occurred about 3:30 a.m. in the 4100 block of Sheldon Ave. when one gunman walked up to a car and opened fire as the occupants were getting out. A 19-year-old man was wounded in the hip and was treated at a city hospital. A 25-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman were struck several times in their chests and were listed in serious but stable condition at an unidentified hospital. Police did not release their names.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, North Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

As city officials and community leaders demanded answers in the Charles Village stabbing death of Johns Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn, two killings over the past few days and just blocks to the south are following a more typical storyline in the city's struggle with violence

A 21-year-old man who sources said had been interviewed as a witness to a weekend homicide was fatally shot early Thursday in Baltimore's Station North district, according to police.

The victim, who was not identified pending notification of his next of kin, was a witness to a killing that occurred Saturday night in the 300 block of E. Lafayette Ave. in the Greenmount West neighborhood, multiple sources told The Baltimore Sun. Justin Kendrick, 24, who had a history of drug charges, was killed in that incident. There've been no community marches, no politicians holding press conferences, no letters to the editor. Nearby, a memorial on a light pole contains this note:

"TO ALL YOUNG MEN: THIS IS ONE OF LIFE'S LESSONS," the note read.

UPDATE: Thursday's victim has been identified as Emmanuel Thomas, 21, with a last known address on Homewood Avenue. Thomas was sentenced just last month to time served on an eight year prison term after being pleaded guilty to armed robbery. A four year probation term was imposed.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Should you be able to get off a bus or a train at Penn Station and walk to Mount Vernon, Bolton Hill or Charles Village without being attacked or even killed?

That's a question posed by a story in today's newspaper by Julie Scharper and Michael Dresser in the aftermath of Sunday's fatal stabbing of Stephen Pitcairn. The Johns Hopkins researcher was walking home from a bus when police said he was robbed and stabbed in the 2600 block of St. Paul St.

(Early this morning, a man was found slumped over a green lawn chair with a bullet in his head. The latest shooting occurred on East Layafette Ave., just off North Calvert Street, and just three blocks from Penn Station).

One of the great benefits to living in the city, and in places near downtown or in a vibrant neighborhood, is the ability to walk to the store or to get a haircut or grab a beer. Or even walk to work and walk home again. Take that away and a great part of city living is lost.

"Part of why we bought a house in Charles Village is because we can walk to the grocery store and the park and everywhere else," said Melissa Schober, 31, who moved to Baltimore from Boston with her husband in 2007. "But it feels unnatural to not have the ability to walk from one neighborhood to another, to have these boundaries."

Today's story notes attempts to revive neighborhoods around the train station, such as the Station North arts district around North Avenue. But more needs to be done. The Johns Hopkins University campus should be connected to the arts institute to Charles Village, Mount Vernon and Bolton Hill.

The barrier right now is neighborhoods full of boarded houses and crime.

Above, Reggie Higgins, a resident on the 2600 block of St. Paul St., places flowers on the make-shift memorial to Pitcairn. Higgins was with Pitcairn when he died on the sidewalk in front of Higgins' home. The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam took the picture at a vigil Wednesday night attended by residents and city officials, including the mayor and police commissioner (details are in a previous blog on this site).

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Confronting crime, North Baltimore
        

Continue reading "Charles Village residents, city officials converge at stabbing site" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
Categories: City Hall, Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore
        

Too often, people get more angry over the way they're treated after something bad happens than by what actually happened. Clarence Lowe tried to get answers after a police cruiser ran over his grandson's leg last week and broke a bone.

The accident will most likely be ruled the child's fault -- Alvin Williams ran into Sheridan Avenue between two park cars and was hit by the patrol car. Police say the officer didn't see the child. Lowe disputes that the accident could've been avoided, but his calls to investigators and to police districts were met, he said, by indifference.

Earlier this week, Baltimore Police Lt. Col. Michael J. Andrew delivered a homebaked cake and Orioles trinkets to the child, who sits on a chair on his grandfather's front porch, his leg wrapped in a cast. The pictures show Alvin and Andrew (Alvin didn't say a word during the exchange).

The investigation is still in progress, and Andrew didn't admit guilt. But he did promise to call Lowe as soon as the probe is over and let him the know the results. And he gave him his business card with his cell phone number. And he not only apolgized to the young boy -- "I'm sorry this happened, buddy" -- he also told Lowe he should've been treated better when he called.

It was a simple, welcome gesture amid a torrent of negative police news.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Confronting crime, North Baltimore, Top brass
        

For anyone interested in dissecting the criminal cases involving the suspects charged in the stabbing of Charles Village resident Stephen Pitcairn, The Sun's Justin Fenton's story today is a must read.

It details how suspects Lavelva Merritt and John Alexander Wagner seems to skate through the criminal justice system, to the point where even Baltimore's mayor questions whether the male suspect should've been out on the street.

In one sense, it's a familiar tale of opportunities lost and thrown away, about a reluctant witness who refused to testify in an earlier robbery and about prosecutors who then ditched the case. Whose fault is that?

Above, in a picture by The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam, Joshua Eicher, part of a street-cleaning crew with the Charles Village Community Benefits District, pauses from his work to look at flowers and birthday cake left at a makeshift memorial in the 2600 block of St. Paul St.

The tragic death of Pitcairn, an aspiring Johns Hopkins research assistant who was working on stem cells and breast cancer, will be felt in Baltimore for years to come. Immediately, it will serve as a reminder of a criminal justice system that if not broken is badly in need of reform. It will provide fodder for what could be a volatile race for state's attorney (see earlier blog to get an idea of the fight ahead).

Here is just a few revelations that Justin's story explores:

•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 8:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore
        

Stephen Pitcairn had come to Baltimore from his home in Florida, after attending college in Michigan and working with stem cells in Japan, where he became fluent in the language. Here, he assisted with breast cancer studies at the Johns Hopkins University and was poised to enroll in medical school.

He was four blocks from his Charles Village apartment Sunday night when two robbers took his life for cash and a cell phone.

Pitcairn had been in New York, hitching one of the cheap buses to visit his sister, according to a friend. He was on the phone with his mother when police say two robbers approached and demanded money. Police say his mother heard the robbery.

Pitcairn's death is likely to have a ripple effect on the Hopkins community for years to come, but the focus in the short-term at least is likely to shift to the suspects. Records obtained by The Baltimore Sun show that one of the suspects, John A. Wagner, had been charged in April with a robbery where he intimated that he was a member of the Black Guerilla Family gang, which seems tied to just about everything these days. But the charge was dropped the next month at the District Court level after the victim did not appear in court. The case is almost certain to touch off finger-pointing between prosecutors, who say police turn over flawed investigations, and police, who prosecutors are often too quick to roll over and drop charges.

Continue reading "The death of Stephen Pitcairn and the court system" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)
Categories: Gangs, North Baltimore
        

Baltimore police just announced arrests in Sunday night's stabbing death of 23-year-old Stephen Pitcairn, the Johns Hopkins research technician who was killed in the 2600 block of St. Paul St. in Charles Village. Police said motive was robbery.

This morning, police raided a house a few blocks away in the 2600 block of Maryland Ave. and took seven people in for questioning. Two of them have now been charged in Pitcairn's killing. They are:

Lavelva Merritt, 24, and John Alexander Wagner, 34, who police say resided in the 2700 block of Maryland Ave.

Police say both face first-degree murder and other charges.

Pitcairn was attacked about 11:30 p.m. Sunday as he walked home from Penn Station. He was about four blocks from his house when police said at least two people robbed him of his wallet and then stabbed him.

There are more details of the case and of the victim's work at Hopkins here.

In addition, The Sun's police beat reporter Justin Fenton is working hard on the suspects' criminal records and other background material, so check back here or the newspaper later tonight and tomorrow for even more information about the case.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

Breaking news update: The victim in the Charles Village stabbing was a Johns Hopkins research assistant who worked in the school of medicine. Police executed a raid in the 2700 block of Maryland Ave in connection with the investigation and took away two people in plastic cuffs (right).

In addition to two fatalities involving police chases (one in which an officer was suspended, another in which a man was arrested on drug charges), there was plenty of violence to go along with the hot weekend.

Brent Jones summaries some of the incidents, which include a fatal stabbing in Charles Village. Police say the victim was attacked just shy of his birthday in an apparent robbery in the 2600 block of St. Paul St. The stabbing occurred about 11:30 p.m.

More details of this attack and others can be found here.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Confronting crime, North Baltimore
        

It was one of those killings we barely covered. Keith Ray Jr. was found dead of a bullet wound to the back of the head, lying under logs and brush in woods off Wyman Park Drive in Remington. It was Sept. 25, 2007, and the newspaper account devoted a single paragraph to the killing.

Three years later, on Monday, Ray's killer was sentenced to live in prison. His sister Felcia Ray, and a local Episcopal pastor, Alice M. Jellema, spoke during the hearing. They told of Ray's goodside, how he played with his four children and liked to grill. They noted he fell in with the wrong friends -- the suspect was his friend and they fought over money.

I sat down with the pastor this week and she expressed anger at a society that she says condones violence as a way to solve problems. She worried for Ray's children, now living with their grandmother, especially 11-year-old Darrien, who participates in classes where New York Times science articles are discussed but also could take to the streets.

I've written more about this case in Thursday's Crime Scene column, and I want to share here the victim impact statements from Felicia (the unsigned one) and from the pastor. They shed some insight on the impact of what was unfortunately an all too routine killing in Baltimore:

Continue reading "Out of murder comes sorrow" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, North Baltimore
        

NOTE: This item has been updated to reflect new information obtained from charging documents.

A 73-year-old cab driver who was assaulted in Hampden while returning home from work in April has died, police said.

John Russell Sandy, of the 800 block of W. 35th St., had gotten off work and was walking home in the 3500 block of Elm Ave. on April 18 when he was repeatedly struck from behind with a tire iron, police said. Officers responded at about 4 a.m. and saw him lying in the street, suffering from a fractured skull, multiple broken bones to his left hand and bruises covering most of his body.

Sandy was taken to Sinai Hospital in critical condition. He was pronounced dead Tuesday morning at Johns Hopkins Bayview, and the medical examiner ruled that his death was the result of complications from his injuries, police said.

Police said a suspect, 29-year-old Bobby Wisner, was charged in June with attempted first-degree murder. According to charging documents, Sandy identified his attacker as "Bobby," who he said was the brother of a man who lived with him. He slipped into a coma, but eventually recovered and identified Wisner from a photo lineup.

The charges against Wisner, who is being held without bond, will likely be upgraded. A motive for the attack was not disclosed in court records.

Wisner, also of the 800 block of W. 35th St., has also been charged in two other assaults, according to court records. Wisner has faced multiple assault and robbery charges in the city and Baltimore County but has only one conviction, receiving a 10 year sentence with seven years suspended in 1999.

Sandy's killing brings the city's total to 109 for the year, down 12 percent from the same point last year. There hasn't been a slaying since Friday, after the first nine days of July saw nine homicides.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

Police throughout the region are searching for rape suspect 34-year-old Ernest Clark, who was mistakenly released by Baltimore County sheriff's duties in mid-June, despite being held without bail awaiting his trial.

Even beyond the error, which occurred when paperwork got lost, there are many troubling aspects to the case.

The woman told Baltimore police she was raped in Herring Run Park back in August 2000. Police investigated but were unable to locate a suspect. Six years later, detectives learned that DNA found on the woman matched Clark's genetic code. But a police spokesman said detectives in the sex assault unit had trouble reaching the woman, and when they did reported that she did not wish to move forward.

The police are in the midst of an audit to determine why so many rape cases were deemed "unfounded," leading to complaints that detectives pressured women into dropping cases to preserve good crime stats (here's a complete package of stories on the rape issue). It's not clear whether something similar happened here. Police said the case was not unfounded, but rather pushed off to the department's cold case squad, which investigates old, hard-to-solve crimes.

In 2009, those detectives re-investigated, talked to the woman and filed charges against Clark, who by then was in prison serving four years for failing to register as a sex offender from an earlier conviction that he assaulted a minor.

In mid-June, court officers took Clark to Baltimore County for a routine paternity hearing. After the hearing, Baltimore County sheriff deputies returned him to the county detention center, but official there tell me they lost his "detainer," which authorizes his transport back to prison in Baltimore City. Without that, the guards had no way of knowing Clark was to be held, and they released him.

Even more troubling is that law enforcement officials, who are never shy about notifying the media to help them find wanted men and women, never asked for help in this case, despite a convicted child sex offender being on the loose. It wasn't until we at the paper began asking questions did authorities concede that they had mistakenly let him out.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

City police have identified the officer who last week fired his weapon at a car that was driving away after ignoring a roadblock.

Officer Richard J. McCarthy, a 25-year veteran and member of the accident investigation unit, is on administrative suspension as homicide detectives investigate the Friday afternoon shooting. The victim, a 56-year-old man, was injured after the officer fired at his back window and he crashed his pickup truck into a wall on Falls Road.

Continue reading "Officer identified in shooting of vehicle from behind" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: North Baltimore, Police shootings
        

The victim, Yolanda Howard, was pronounced dead on the scene with a gunshot wound to the head about 4 a.m., said Detective Kevin Brown, a police spokesman.

The Investigative Voice site reports that the shooting was near an after hours club and occurred not long after it had closed. 

There's been quite a few killings this year in the Charles Village benefits district, albeit on the fringes. Reputed gang leader Donatello Fenner was shot March 12 in the 2600 block of N. Calvert St. Three days later, Asia Carter was killed in the 200 block of W. 25th St. Then, in a span of three days Charles Bowman was killed at a carryout in the 2900 block of Greenmount Ave and Damon Minor was shot a few blocks north in the 500 block of E. 33rd St.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Baltimore Sun's Meredith Cohn wrote:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading "20-ton Hydraulic Press recovered in Charles Village drug bust" »

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

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

Here is some video:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bealefeld said his officers will remain focused:

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

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

I just spent more than three hours driving to each of city's nine slayings that occurred between early Saturday morning and early Tuesday -- a spate of killings that is unusual even for a city seemingly swamped in violence.

One killing was a domestic and another involved a man fatally stabbed when he came to help another man in a dispute with a woman. Both of those occurred inside homes. But others were outside, most linked to the city's underworld of crime. Many if not most of the victims had criminal records, and judging by some of the street-corner memorials, some seemed involved in the drug trade.

The trip took 35.6 miles and more than three hours (including time spent stopping for interviews). A full story will be in Crime Scenes later today on line and in tomorrow's print edition. I started with a shooting on North Fulton Ave. (12:43 a.m. today) and ended at Pennington Ave. in Curtis Bay (1 a.m. Saturday).

In one spot, on North Rose Street, a mother put up a sign pleading for help paying for the funeral. At another, a double shooting on Pulaski Street, balloons fluttered in a warm breeze and empty bottles of vodka shared space with votive candles and teddy bears.

Baltimore police have made an arrest in at least one of the domestics -- the stabbing in which the man intervened in the dispute -- and noted the difficulties of policing a city under seige. The double slaying on Pulaski Street, for example, began at an argument during a cookout in which one person got angry over another person's hair being pulled.

At another spot on Loch Raven Boulevard, on quiet residential street of nicely mowed green lawns, just up from Good Samaritan Hospital, there was gang graffiti imbedded in sidewalk concrete. Even in spots where violence doesn't happen, the danger signs are there. Picture is at left.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Update: Police tell me that the two shooting victims from Ramsay Street died. That brings the holiday weekend total to 10 shootings with seven dead. That includes the latest fatal shooting this morning on Loch Raven Boulevard in Northeast Baltimore.

Update 2: Police are reporting that a man was stabbed to death at about 6:15 p.m. Monday in the 4800 block of Truesdale Ave, in the Northeast District's Frankford neighborhood. The three-day death toll is now at eight, the deadliest such stretch of the year. 

Baltimore police are investigating a spate of shooting over this violent holiday weekend, including three that occurred in a brieft span in East Baltimore adnd three others within a few hours and a few blocks in Carrollton Ridge.

Sunday evening, a man was shot and killed on Ramsay Street. A few hours later, two other men were shot (their conditions are not yet known, but homicide detectives were called to the scene). This is the same beleagured neighbhood in which 5-year-old Raven Wyatt was found shot and wounded last year, and the scene of a large community walk with the mayor and police to take back their streets.

The Baltimore Sun's Tricia Bishop just updated that sad tale with news that lawyers for the recently convicted shooter are appealing because they believe prosecutors and a former defense attorney overstated the number of times the suspect had violated his home detention (he was GPS monitoring).

Last year, I walked through the neighborhood twice (once when the mayor came, along with hundreds of angry and concerned residents) and a second time a few weeks later (when hardly anyone showed up).

The Southwestern District's Police Community Relations Council, led by Steve Herlth, is very active with community Citizen on Patrol Walks. And Connie Fowler, the longtime community leader there, has been vocal about violence for years.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

The last time Qonta Waddell's mother saw him alive, the slightly built 24-year-old was hogtied and screaming for his life as he was carried away by two men with handguns.

That's what I reported last May when 32-year-old Sherman Anderson was charged in Waddell's murder. A full year later, Anderson has been cleared, and four other men are now facing charges. 

Among them: a 36-year-old named Humphrey Bougarte Johnson. (Pictured at right)  He deserves consideration for having one of the best names of anyone I've written about, however, The Daily Record's report about bank fraud suspect Brotha Workitout is clearly the winner in this category.

A law enforcement source said charges against Anderson were dropped after investigators tested a piece of evidence and got a DNA hit for Aaron Davis, who was charged in late January. Anderson and Davis apparently share physical features, and he may have been wrongly picked out of a photo lineup. But the DNA match put the focus squarely on Davis, the source said.

It's the second time in a few months we've seen a homicide investigation completely shift gears. Earlier this month, charges were dropped against a woman who police had charged with stabbing her boyfriend to death, and instead charged three men who are alleged gang members. 

Davis' arrest apparently kickstarted the investigation again, because police have since arrested three other men.  The most recent is Derrell Rickey Johnson, who was picked up yesterday, police said.

Also charged are the aforementioned Humphrey Johnson, who was charged on April 21, and William Arthur Rhodes, who was arrested Feb. 27.

Here's the harrowing account of the kidnapping, from charging documents:

Continue reading "Here's looking at you, kid" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

This is no ordinary graffiti case.

On one evening last fall, four college students went on a spray-painting rampage through Oakenshawe, a tiny community of historic rowhouses nestled between Charles Village and Guilford. By the time they were caught, they had marred nearly 40 properties -- cars, garage doors, a canoe and even a pumpkin.

Earlier this month, all pleaded guilty, were put on probation and ordered to perform community service. One of the participants, Lila Albano, 20, told me, "We weren't really thinking." The damage was estimated at more than $9,000. It cost one resident $600 to clean up the mess.

Baltimore authorities turned the case over to a new environmental crimes unit jointly run by the city State's Attorney's Office and the housing department. It's the subject of Sunday's Crime Beat column. And here is the victim's impact statement:

Continue reading "Graffiti spree in Oakenshawe " »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Terry Scott thought he had a handle on all the closed-circuit surveillance cameras in his North Baltimore neighborhood.

Brought in for questioning in the April 7 fatal shooting of Sean Ramseur, the 36-year-old acknowledged to detectives that he went to confront the victim in the 5200 block of York Road, according to charging documents. But he said someone else pulled up in a vehicle and shot Ramseur first.

Detective Martin Young told Scott that police had surveillance footage that showed one person run toward Ramsuer on foot and fire a handgun. Not possible, Scott protested. There was once a “blue light” camera at the intersection, but it was removed, he said.

“[Scott said] he was aware of all the cameras in the area, and that camera was removed,” Young wrote in court records.

But Scott didn’t take into account a nearby company’s surveillance system, which captured the entire incident. Scott, of the 5300 block of Lothian Rd., was charged Thursday with first-degree murder in Ramseur’s death.

Investigators were led to Scott after receiving a tip from his girlfriend. She said Scott had assaulted her and taken her cell phone on April 3, and she had reason to believe that Scott was involved in Ramseur’s death.

On April 9, she said a copy of the Baltimore Sun was placed in her mailbox, and a short article about Ramseur’s death was highlighted. She said he told her, “The same thing could happen to you.” She turned over the article and a letter to police.

Based on that evidence, detectives brought Scott in for questioning.

Continue reading "Surveillance footage, Sun article left in mailbox help solve murder" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

John W. Schissler confronts crime.

He keeps a notebook full of names and license plate numbers and hands the information to police. He walks out of his home and runs suspected dealers and users off his streets. Only he doesn't live in a bad neighborhood. He lives in Northeast Baltimore's Hamilton, where there are lawns to mow and towering sycamore trees and foxes running through his garden.

This is an urban suburb.

And that's what makes it all the more scarrier. He lives far enough off Harford Road that you'd think he'd be immune from the rag-tag drunks and addicts that spill from bars and run up and down the busy thoroughfare. But they come in cars, to dark streets when neat-looking bungalow-style houses and manicured lawns.

Schissler has lived in the house for more than 40 years, raised a famiy there and now entertains 13 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. He doesn't want to move. He doesn't want to be killed either.

Crime is relative, and for the cops Hamilton, particularly the enclave Schissler calls home, is not a dangerous place. In fact, it doesn't even register on the Northeastern District police commander's radar. But if you like to sit on your picnic table in your garden, you don't want to watch people exchange drugs at the corner, nor do you want to pull condoms out of the flower bed you are weeding.

This is the problem for many in the city: they're not faced with daily gunfire and vacant houses, but they are watching the once-proud neighborhoods slowly deteriorate. Schissler grew up in what is now a desolate part of East Baltimore, overrun by crime and violence. His childhood rowhouse is boarded and burned. He fears his neighborhood his next.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Confronting crime, North Baltimore
        

A bright, young University of Virginia lacrosse player from Cockeysville is killed in her dorm, and Charlottesville police have charged her boyfriend, a lacrosse player from Chevy Chase in her death. Now, everyone is speculating whether anyone missed signs that their apparently tumultuous relationship would reach this level.

Friends are asking friends and family is asking family and everyone is asking the cops and the university, whose officials said on Wednesday they had no reports of violence involving the suspect George Huguely against the victim, 22-year-old Yeardley Love. At left, in an AP photo, is a Wednesday night memorial service on the university campus.

Let's go back to 1996, when Robert Harwood Jr. was charged with standing over his best friend and Johns Hopkins University Republican clubmate Rex Chao and shooting him with a .357 Magnum handgun in the back of the head and then again in the chest as he lay on the library lawn on the Homewood campus.

Harwood, 22, wanted to remain friends with Chao, 22, and got angry when his pleas were rebuffed. Chao and his girlfrend told a Hopkins dean about threats, about stalking and about Harwood's gun. The university ordered that Harwood notify security when he visited campus.

Similiar questions are being raised now in Virginia and for the moment university officials are attributing it to distraught students searching for warning signs they might have missed. The big question in the coming days leading up to Saturday's funeral in Baltimore will be whether any officials, be it police or campus security, knew Love feared for her safety and what they did about it.

At the old case in Hopkins, Harwood -- who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and handgun violations is serving a 35-year prison sentence -- relayed his frustratings in a series of lengthy emails. Reporter Scott Shane, now at the New York Times, detailed the relationship in a long story. Here is part of it:

Continue reading "When tragedy came to Hopkins" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Crime elsewhere, North Baltimore
        

"I hope there's two places for them: one here on Earth, and one in eternity, and they deserve to spend as much time as possible in both places."

That was Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III's response when asked by a radio show caller if the two teens charged with killing 72-year-old Charles Bowman at a carryout restaurant will face severe punishment. It's more of the blunt and colorful talk we've come to expect from Bealefeld during his tenure as police commissioner.

Bealefeld was speaking on WOLB 1010 AM's "Taxi Talk Radio," an appearance that started slow but led to some interesting comments. When asked about police barricades near The Block, Bealefeld revealed that the impetus for the heavy presence was intelligence that Bloods gang members were attempting to infiltrate businesses and the drug trade there. And he said he recently met with the NAACP and police union to talk about outreach efforts in South Baltimore's Cherry Hill neighborhood.

I was anticipating this appearance because of the potential dynamic between Bealefeld and one of the show's co-hosts, A.F. James MacArthur, a citizen journalist who appears fairly often at events and crime scenes. On his blog, he regularly admonishes government and police over the city's violence, as well as the media for not adequately covering it. One entry was titled: "Battle Ground Baltimore Remains a Bloody Bastion of Boundless Mayhem and Murder." He recently Tweeted to me in response to a story, "Don't gimme that crap statistically, crime is down. That's just a public appeasing load of bull."

Continue reading "Bealefeld has hopes for accused Greenmount Ave killers during radio apperance with police critic" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: North Baltimore, Top brass
        

April Green. Or "Miss Dee." Or Darren Neal Green Jr.

Regardless of the name, or the sexual orientation, Green died a violent death on the streets of Baltimore, the type of death that unfortunately too too often goes unnoticed, drowned out in other violence.

She was a prostitute, and may have been killed by a man she picked up, but that is just one of many possible motives, and the commentators posting notes on the store are speculating when they suggest her "trick" for the evening discovered the "she" was really a "he" and killed her.

We don't know why Green was killed, and attempts by the reporter, Jessica Anderson, to find relatives of the suspect were unsuccessful. Green's family, however, should be commended for sharing a troubling story about someone who lived on society's edge but should not die forgotten.

If anything, we should about Green because we see people just like that all the time. They congregate in lower Charles Village, in the historic Old Goucher neighborhood, where last year I wrote about the residents' frustrations and then hung out with some of the transgendered to learn why they come to this spot what they go through each night. From today's story:

In October, she was found dead, stabbed in the heart and left on Montpelier Street near Adams Park in the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood, her underwear pulled down below her knees, with defensive wounds on her hands and a bruise on her left arm that police said came from a human bite.

Police have charged 20-year-old Larry Douglas in her death and he is to stand trial at the end of April on a charge of first-degree murder. It's unclear from the police report whether the suspect had been a client or involved in some other dispute, but authorities said Green was attacked inside a car near the park and a playground surrounded by red-brick row houses a few blocks from Harford Road.

Here is a sampling of those stories:

Continue reading "Death sheds light on transgendered community " »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Confronting crime, North Baltimore
        

The Sun's Peter Hermann on Sunday broke down why 19-year-old Michael Hunter received only a two year suspended sentence after being arrested with a loaded handgun in October. The answer: the weapon was missing a pin that holds the cylinder in place, making it inoperable and, in the eyes of the law, no longer a handgun. Instead, he was convicted of "firearm possession," and District Court Judge Yvonne Holt-Stone sentenced him to two years with one year and 10 months suspended - essentially time served. She said that's "basically" what prosecutors requested.

Of course, Hunter is now one of two men charged with fatally shooting 72-year-old Charles Bowman during a robbery at a carryout in Waverly.

Peter summed the case up this way:

Continue reading "When a handgun isn't a handgun" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

Here's just a few paragraphs from Justin Fenton's and Jessica Anderson's story on the arrests in the killing of Charles Bowman, a 72-year-old Vietnam veteran and security guard at the Afro American newspaper. He was killed in a robbery at Yau Bros carryout on Greenmount Avenue as he bought dinner to start his night shift, a holdup that netted the attackers just $13:

Troy Taylor, 18, of the 2700 block of Fenwick Ave. and Michael Hunter, 19, of the 300 block of E. Belvedere Ave. have been charged with first-degree murder, assault and handgun possession. According to court records, both have faced serious charges in the recent past. Hunter was charged in October with handgun violations and convicted in December, receiving a two-year sentence. But one year and 10 months of that sentence were suspended, according to court records. In 2007, armed carjacking charges were dropped a month after they were filed. At the time of Bowman's shooting, Taylor was out of jail on $15,000 bond awaiting trial in May on charges of robbery, assault and car theft, court records show. Details of their cases were not immediately available.

I'll be researching their records a bit more today to determine how and why. But it's a familiar refrain -- people with records and pending cases seem to escape the full brunt of the laws and then get charged in far worse crimes.

Baltimore Sun photo: Jed Kirschbaum

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, North Baltimore
        

[UPDATE: Here's our story on the arrests, including the prior records of the suspects and police efforts to maintain calm in the area.]

Baltimore police just announced the arrests of two men in the April 8 killing of Charles Bowman, a 72-year-old security guard for the Afro American newspaper (in photo at left). He was shot and killed inside Yau Bros Carryout in the 2900 block of Greenmount Avenue in Waverly.

The killing and another one a few days later in the same North Baltimore neighborhood sparked community concern and a walk a week ago with city leaders aimed at reclaiming the streets. Waverly is known for its Saturday farmer's market and restaurants that attract many from around the city, but the community also has an edgier side.

Bowman, a Vietnam veteran with sight in only one eye, was picking up a late-night dinner at the carryout when two men rushed in to rob the place. Police said there was as scuffle and Bowman, who was not armed nor in uniform, was fatally shot. He had been on his way to work at the newspaper, located in Charles Village.

Police identified the suspects as Troy Taylor, 18, and Michael Rapheal Hunter, 19. We'll have more published later when reporters return from an afternoon news conference at the Northern District Police Station.

Photo by Baltimore Sun's Jed Kirschbaum

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, North Baltimore
        

The Baltimore's Suns police beat reporter Justin Fenton writes today that home invasion robberies are on the rise in Baltimore. There are some great details in the story, including one robbery who wore a skull cap with "superman" written on the side and another who told his victims to "have a nice day" as he left:

Residential robberies were up 34 percent through April 3, compared with same period a year ago. It's the only category of crime on the rise. Homicides, rapes and overall robberies are down by double-digit percentages, according to police.

Police say they can't pinpoint any driving force behind the uptick, and they aren't ready to blame a still-struggling economy or drug activity. The increase is being felt across the city, but most heavily in Northwest Baltimore, which has notched 21 residential robberies compared with eight at this time last year.

Northeast Baltimore has seen the second highest-total, with 19, and the Southern District's total has doubled, to 14 from seven. Unlike a burglary, a residential robbery requires the presence of a victim in the home or business and the taking of property through force or fear. A burglary, also referred to as breaking and entering, does not involve an encounter with the owner and might not even entail theft.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

Police are investigating a murder that took place this afternoon at the busy intersection of 33rd St and Greenmount Ave., which is between Johns Hopkins University and the old Memorial Stadium site. A fight broke out at a nearby KFC restaurant, and the victim was chased and shot in the parking lot of the Osprey gas station. Police were said to be looking for two victims, and scheduled a news conference for 6 p.m. In response, the Fraternal Order of Police said via Twitter: "It's simple: Baltimore remains a violent and unsafe city."

 [Photo credit: Liam Quigley, cyclosity.com)

The killing is just a few blocks up Greenmount Avenue from where a 72-year-old man was gunned down at a carryout store while on his way to work. The Charles Village Benefits District has already seen more killings so far this year - four - than it has in prior years in their entirety, albeit all have been on the district's fringes.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, North Baltimore
        

Baltimore's Afro American newspaper began its tribute to their murdered colleague this way: "Charles Bowman, 72, was the source of smiles, assistance, goodwill and friendship at the Afro-American Newspapers and with his family."

Bowman was shot and killed early Thursday while ordering dinner at an Asian carryout on Greenmount Avenue. He was on his way to work his overnight security shift at the Afro when police say two men tried to robbed the carryout, shot Bowman in the chest and escaped with $13 taken from another patron. At left, homicide detective holds up a flier distributed by police in hopes of finding witnesses. It was taken by the Sun's Jed Kirschbaum.

Police have been scouring the area for clues, business owners along Greenmount are frustrated with what they feel is neglect by the city of their efforts to bring back a blighted section of the city and family and friends of the victim are outraged.

As the Afro's editor Talibah Chikwendu told me: "Everybody lost. Not just us and not just his family. The whole city."

Here is part of how the Afro honored their fallen colleague:

Continue reading "Tribute to slain security guard" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

The 72-year-old man who was shot inside an Asian carryout on Greenmount Avenue in North Baltimore early this morning was a security guard at the Afro-American newspaper who had just ordered food before starting his night shift.

City police just identified the victim as Charles Bowman, a Vietnam veteran who has lived for many years in a rowhouse on East 33rd and Hillen streets. Relatives told me has worked for the Afro for about five years and often stopped by Yau Bros carryout in the 2900 block of Greenmount Ave. as he walked to the newspaper on North Charles Street.

Police said Bowman was in the shop when two armed men wearing bandanas walked in tried to hold up the carryout. Some sort of struggle ensued and Bowman was shot once in the chest. He died a few hours later at a hospital. Police said the gunmen escaped with $13 taken from another patron.

This morning, homicide detectives returned to the shop to hand out fliers offering a $2,000 reward through Metro Crime Stoppers for any information leading to an arrest. Anyone with tips is urged to call 1-866-7LOCKUP.

"Here we have a 72-year-old man who was an innocent victim," said Sgt. William Simmons of the homicide unit. "He was gunned down on his way to work while getting something to eat."

The carryout has been a problem for residents of Better Waverly for years. On March 17 2009, three patrons were shot inside the shop; one died outside, the other died inside, and a third managed to run away with bullet wounds.

Police said one of the dead men were targeted and police arrested a suspect a month later. The shop is located just south of East 33rd Street, a busy business corridor near a popular farmer's market.

At left, Baltimore homicide detectives gather at the scene to plot out where they plan to hand out fliers seeking help solving the killing.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, North Baltimore
        

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

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

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

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

Continue reading "Arrest made in killing of reputed gang leader in Charles Village" »

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

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

"Mr. Fenton

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

Continue reading "Reaction to North Baltimore shootings" »

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

Continue reading "Mother arrested in death of one-month-old found buried in park" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: North Baltimore
        

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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