Saturday, February 14, 2009

30

A man in his 60's known as "Mr. Dan" was found stabbed to death in the 6100 block of Glenoak Avenue.

A man was shot in the head at Erdman Avenue and East Federal Street after midnight this morning, the Deuce says he's still alive

More details on the circumstances of Eric Pendergrass' death; he "is believed to be connected to a violent drug gang whose feuding with rivals may have been responsible for at least five homicides last summer"

An officer allegedly involved in a bar fight has been suspended

And those are the good schools! Nine students from City and Mervo were arrested last week for fighting

What the?! In PA, "Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit"

Media Blabber: "Pay For News Online? Really? Yes, Says U.S. News."

Friday, February 13, 2009

Douchebags Aplenty

... but no actual violence today. (Is that because there hasn't been any, or is this the news void?)

"State senators weigh domestic violence vs. right to guns...
"One bill would give judges the discretion to confiscate guns from the subjects of temporary protective orders ... The other bill would require judges to take guns after a final protective order is granted."

Orchard Mews resident to city officials: "Clean it up. You know what the problems are. You know who the people are who are causing the problems. Clean it up!"

A lot of kvetching but not much substance at the City Council meeting.
A.F. James MacArthur has video and some D2 & Fiona Apple at the Baltimore Spectator blog.

Lava Lounge of Canton was fined & had their liquor permit suspended after third underage-booze violation

D'oh! Drunk driver rear-ends police car in Rogers Forge

Teens furious at proposed new driving & curfew laws: "from what I've seen, teenagers are far more mature than some adults when it comes to driving" (see above)

"Baltimore Sun To Close Bureaus, Cut Staff"

DLA Piper laying off 5 lawyers, 12 other staff members in Baltimore

Lots of drama at the civil litigation firm Lord & Whip!

This just in: the terms "doucebag" and "skank" are not defamatory.
Other fun links at the TDR law blog round-up

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Backstories

CP: Eric Pendergrass, found asphixiated in the Patapsco, was possibly abducted whilst delivering a mysterious plastic bag.

Robert M. Simels, pissing off prosecutors since Giuliani, is currently cold chilling in his Westchester crib waiting for his violent-Guyanese-cocaine-conspiracy trial.

Shank you very much

Two days, two teens stabbed at school! Today's victim was at Baltimore Talent Development High (considered a model for other troubled schools)

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

29

CHuM's 3rd murder victim of the year was ID'd as Tracy Kinchen, 34.

The suspicious body found floating in the Patapsco was ID'd as Eric Pendergrass, 26; the ME's office said he died of asphyxiation.

Fox reports that a 16-year-old boy was stabbed at Carver Vo-Tech

Ex-gf of former Oriole Roberto Alomar is suing him for having sex with her even though he had full-blown AIDS(!!)

An AP reporter & photogThe Washington Post's Aaron C. Davis and photographer Marvin Joseph got inside Fowler's freezer.
(The ME is certainly a lot more outgoing than usual lately-- are the FOIA requests and persistent questions about the "undetermineds" getting to him?)

The Goucher French teacher accused of participating in Rwandan genocide has been arrested for a visa offense
(same story at "Exhibit A" if you're not registered on Washpost)

Prosecutor: genius Baltimorean brought $1 million worth of heroin (some of it "inside of MOSES' body") on a plane from Panama to ATL.

LOLz du jour: Like baggy pants on a pit bull, Sen. George W. Della Jr.'s "Effort to ban beer pong quickly abandoned"

10 Years for Marine's Killer

From the SAO:
"Today, Judge Paul Smith sentenced Maurice Crosby, 20, of the 5200 block of Ready Avenue to 10 years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter of Marine Reservist Michael Simms. The State asked for 20 years.

A Baltimore City Jury convicted Crosby November 1, 2008 for involuntary manslaughter second degree assault and possession of a deadly weapon with intent to injure following several days of testimony and eight-hours of deliberations based on the following facts of the case. On June 10, 2007 Maurice Crosby and several other persons became involved in an argument which escalated to a melee in the unit block of S. Chapel Street. During the melee Crosby produced a knife and fatally stabbed Michael Simms, 19. Two other persons were injured with the knife but survived the assault.

A co-defendant, Erica Ammenhauser, 21, of the 200 block of Durham Street pled guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree assault June 10, 2008. Under terms of the plea agreement, announced in open court, she was required to testify truthfully, if called, in the murder trial of Maurice Crosby. The State did not call Ammenhauser as a witness in the prosecution of Maurice Crosby."

28

The Deuce reports a double shooting with one fatality in the 1700 block of E. 32nd Street.

27

An unidentified man in the 1700 block of N. Smallwood St.

The Ink details last week's three murders, all on Feb. 4.
"Three people were murdered on Feb. 4, making it the second-most murderous day so far this year, right behind Jan. 4, on which four people were murdered."

Dixon wants a new law to require bail commissioners to hold convicted gun offenders on a no-bail status if they have a new arrest

A McDonogh student flashing a pellet gun in a case of road rage; 43 pounds of wacky terbacky in a van in the Blotter

Some good news: "Drug overdose deaths in Baltimore City continued to drop last year, reaching the lowest number since 1995." Death by booze &/or nose-candy is down too!

Coke-snortin gun-toting gut-rattling Pikesvillager "could be released within the next few weeks."
"What I did was not the real me," he said

Ugh, I'm so sick of "lack of outrage" outrage.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

So the NASA child-porn scientist pleads guilty, gets 5 years probation, and keeps his job (for now).

HoCo Judge to Hear Corruption Cases

Dixon, Holton and Lipscomb will have their corruption cases heard by the same judge, retired Circuit Judge Dennis M. Sweeney.

Less overtime= more murders?

"Baltimore City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake introduced resolutions yesterday asking the city's police commissioner to brief the council on the effect of reduced police overtime on Baltimore's homicide rate, a plan to redraw police district lines and the effectiveness of the city's blue-light crime cameras."

Meanwhile, "Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon will testify in Annapolis today in favor of a bill that would reduce 'good time' credits for inmates serving sentences for gun convictions"

Update: yesterday's corpse was found near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge* in South Baltimore. The death is considered "suspicious"
* Apparently, the post-1993 name for the Hanover Street Bridge.

Kennard Pratt, 27, was arrested and charged for the triple shooting on Bond St. last month that killed Antoine Betts.
(Bless their hearts, those Examiner reporters are still on the grind!)

Officer Margaret Duffy, who admitted leaving the scene of an accident in her Canton neighborhood, got one year of unsupervised probation and was ordered to pay $250 in court costs

The Examiner ferrets out Madoff victims in MD.

JZiz! "A young boy was beaten by a school bully so badly that his teeth were knocked out."

Police want to shut down the Executive Inn.

A Court of Appeals decision filed Monday found that a building partnership related to prominent Baltimore attorney Peter G. Angelos has the standing to challenge the city re. the Westside "superblock."

"A trial judge does not weigh evidence before giving a jury instruction on entrapment, but rather decides enough evidence exists for the jury to make a determination, the Court of Special Appeals has held."

"An aggressive federal effort to keep track of sexual offenders is at risk of collapse because of objections from states and legal challenges from sex offenders and others."

Monday, February 9, 2009

100 years on the road to victory!

"This week marks the centennial of a fateful landmark in U.S. history, the nation's first drug prohibition law."
(thanks EP)

Miss Dixon's state of the city speech? Lucky for you, Meister was taking notes while you were smoking behind the gym.
also on the scene, A.F. James MacArthur, who asked about police overtime.
and here's TDR's take
And Annie Linskey's.
Who covered it best?

Real Body, Imaginary Bridge

The body of an adult black male was found under "the Patapsco River Bridge"
(no such bridge... maybe the Hanover Street Bridge?)

A man shot in the neck by four teenagers on a dirt bike, a pizza deliveryman robbed in Hampden in the blotter

Deeply depressing: Peter Hermann chronicles the suicide of former officer Edward William Eldridge Jr.

A man shot while riding his bike south of Greenmount cemetery

In the county, "Same-sex ex loses visitation battle"
Fun fact: between 6 and 14 million children live with at least one gay parent

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Weekend

WBAL: murder victim Lemuel Wallace was disabled and living in a group home, was probably killed by someone he knew

Former Air Force senior airman Rico Rodrigus Williams was indicted for second-degree murder and three counts of tampering with a witness in the 2005 beating death of Army sergeant Juwan Johnson in Germany

"Baltimore's crime lab suffers from inadequate funding, spotty recordkeeping and broken equipment, according to an independent audit"

QTD: "All these hundreds of DNA exonerations across the country have demonstrated to anyone who’s paying attention that there are far more innocent people in prison than anybody could imagine"

Dixon's "considering the first major shuffling of police resources throughout the city in decades."

"veteran prosecutors Donald Giblin and Doug Ludwig are being promoted to lead the homicide and police misconduct divisions, respectively."

Facebook & MySpace blocked at the statehouse! "'This is like China,' said Sen. James C. Rosapepe"

Maryland’s largest-ever pharmaceutical-trafficking case was built by Federal intelligence specialists working in a former department store in Johnsontown, PA
(FYI: hydrocodone= Vicodin)

Irony corner: "A state delegate who once proposed special 'DUI' license plates for drunken drivers has been convicted of a drunken driving charge."

MoCo police are asking for the public's help to identify a homicide victim