Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Inmate Escapes


Monday, August 06, 2007WBAL Radio and The Associated Press
Maryland correction officials say that a Baltimore inmate has escaped near the downtown courthouse after getting out of his leg restraints.
Spokesman George Gregory says 24-year-old Marvin Jordan was last seen running in the 100 block of South Guilford Avenue.
He says the Baltimore man was serving a four-year sentence for robbery with a deadly weapon.
As Jordan was being escorted back to a prison van, Gregory says he got out of his leg restraints and got away from the officer. He says the officer pursued him but lost sight of Jordan in the downtown area.
more here

Officer Involved Shooting

Tuesday, August 07, 2007WBAL Radio and The Associated Press
A city police officer is on administrative duty after an early morning shooting following a call to a domestic disturbance.
A woman reported to police she and a 1 year old were assaulted by her boyfriend at a home on Thorndale Avenue.
Police spotted the suspect based on a description.
The officer fired at a suspect on Garrison Avenue. But the circumstances surrounding the shooting are still under investigation, according to Sterling Clifford of the city police department.
Police say an officer shot a man in his 20s in the leg after he ran into an alley.
The shooting victim was taken to a hospital. The injury is said to be non life-threatening.
The officer was not seriously hurt.
more here

Friday, August 3, 2007

Elderly Woman Raped in SE Baltimore

As police continue their search for the rapist who targeted an 88-year old cancer patient in Southeast Baltimore, many are left wondering who could possible commit such a crime. "I just can't imagine someone doing something like that," said Virgil Harvey, a taxi driver who has served elderly customers in the area for 38 years, “He wouldn’t be playing with a full deck I wouldn’t think.” Psychiatrist Jack Vaeth says like most rapists, the man responsible for Wednesday morning’s attack did not commit the crime for sex. "You have an individual not for sexual desire, but powerless in society and very angry so looking for victim so for once in their life they're in control." Vaeth says each year in this country, about 10,000 people over the age of 65 will become the victims of rape, and in two-thirds of those cases, the rapists elect to rob the victims as an afterthought. The rapist in Southeast Baltimore demanded money from the victim after the assault, and left the house with $6. Vaeth offers a detailed, criminal profile of the rapists capable of targeting one of the most vulnerable segments of our society. "They're individuals who usually commit their crimes a few blocks from their homes. They tend to be unemployed, undereducated, socially inept and sexually incompetant, and many suffer a drug addiction where they grab every nickel and dime they can get ahold of." Vaeth says rapists who target the elderly tend to strike again, but are often easier to catch than other sexual offenders. He says they are compulsive and pay little attention to the evidence they leave behind.
more here

City's Top Attorney Chides Kraft

BALTIMORE - Baltimore City State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy has a message for Councilman James Kraft.

Grow up.

“Councilman Kraft, please grow up,” Jessamy wrote in a letter dated Tuesday. “Stop being a petulant ‘do nothing’ politician and represent the interest of your constituents. I am willing to work with you, but will not under any circumstances tolerate your attacks.”
Kraft drew Jessamy’s ire with a series of letters demanding she get tougher on violent crime in his Southeast District.
document.
Kraft wrote a July 16 letter to Jessamy that he later released to the media under the title “Councilman Kraft calls on State’s Attorney for full prosecution of violent crimes.”
more here

National Night Out

by Mary Helen Sprechernewsroom@baltimoreguide.com
If the latest trend in crime prevention is that of that of civilians being proactive (citizens on patrol groups, auxiliary police programs, etc.), then National Night Out must be those civilians’ annual convention.This year’s event, scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 7, is described by the National Association of Town Watch as “a unique crime and drug prevention event,” which involves neighbors holding events outdoors, thereby making their area less hospitable to the criminal element.The following local organizations have contacted the Guide in response to a request for information about NNO activities. (Note that unless otherwise specified, events are to be held on National Night Out, Tuesday, Aug. 7).
more here

Southern District's Officer of the Month

The Southern Police District’s Officer of the Month is Officer Kareem Reed. According to Major Michael McDonald, district commander, Reed has been a member of the Department for less than two years and “has consistently displayed excellent instinct and ability.”Reed is assigned to the Southern District Operations Unit, Flex squad, responsible for enforcement and investigations in areas of the district in response to violent crime.
more here

Candidate Mitchell's Father Quits Campaign

By John Fritze Sun reporter
August 3, 2007
Dr. Keiffer J. Mitchell, father of Baltimore mayoral candidate Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., spent more than $40,000 of his son's campaign funds for personal expenses over several months and resigned yesterday as his campaign treasurer after the errant spending was discovered, according to a statement from the campaign released to The Sun.In one instance, the elder Mitchell spent more than $14,000 to pay for his wife's stay at a Towson hotel as she recovered from knee surgery, Mitchell campaign sources said.An additional $19,000 in checks were made payable to cash or wound up in unknown hands. Additional money was spent on insurance and house repair work.
more here

Fatality Becomes City's 190th Murder

By Gus G. Sentementes Sun reporter
8:00 AM EDT, August 3, 2007
Baltimore police reported that a man was fatally shot early this morning in East Baltimore, the city's fourth homicide victim within 24 hours, and another man was seriously wounded in an unrelated shooting.The fatal shooting occurred about 1:30 a.m. in the 3600 block of E. Lombard St., in the Baltimore Highlands neighborhood. Officers found the man suffering from at least one gunshot wound to his head, police said. The man's name and additional details were not immediately available.He was the city's 190th homicide victim this year.
more here

Witness Murder Suspect

Police investigating the fatal shooting of a Rosedale man who had been a key witness in a Baltimore murder case announced yesterday the arrest of a third suspect -- a man who had previously been charged numerous times with drug-related offenses.Marcus Antwan Pearson, 26, with no known address, is charged with first-degree murder in the July 2 killing of Carl Stanley Lackl.Pearson is accused of calling Lackl about a car that the Rosedale man was selling to lure him outside of his home, according to charging documents. After showing the way to Lackl's house, Pearson and his girlfriend looked on from a shopping center parking lot as Lackl was shot, and they remained there as police and paramedics arrived at the home, the documents state.
more here

Three Fatally Shot

Three men were fatally shot yesterday in apparently unrelated incidents, bringing to 189 the number of homicides in the city this year, police said.About 7:45 a.m., Keenan McCargo, 28, of the 3700 block of Lyndale Ave. in Belair-Edison, was shot in the upper torso near his home. He died less than 30 minutes later at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.An 18-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was shot in the head about 1:30 a.m. in the 2400 block of Marbourne Ave. in the Lakeland neighborhood. He was pronounced dead less than an hour later at St. Agnes Hospital.
An unidentified man was shot in the back shortly before 11 p.m. last night in the 500 block of E. 23rd St. in the Barclay neighborhood. He died a short time later at Johns Hopkins Hospital, police said.Also yesterday, police released the name of a man fatally shot Wednesday night in the 2400 block of Westwood Ave. in Coppin Heights.
more here