By Greg Reeves
Several people have told me my comment earlier today about methamphetamine minimized the seriousness of the drug.
Here are some pix that show what meth can do better than I could begin to describe it:
(Click on thumbnails for larger images. Caution: Graphic photos)
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Thursday, October 27, 2005
All The Star's crime stories today
Well, my request for improvement suggestions to this post got exactly zero responses yesterday. Oh well. That must mean this post is perfect! Here are links to crime-related stories in The Star and online today:
Kansas City to seek local control of police
Non-binding vote in April considered
Kansas City to seek local control of police
Non-binding vote in April considered
Blunt Crime Roundtable today. Whee!
By Greg Reeves
Widely-scorned yet popularly-elected Gov. Matt Blunt will be in KC at 2:30 p.m. today to talk to TV cameras about crime.
Specifically, the topics are 1) Meth, a drug worse than coffee, and 2) a possible new law to slap satellite-tracking ankle bracelets on sex offenders, tho without electric shock.
I know nothing about Matt Blunt except what I read in the papers, heh. Think I'll drop by the Crime Roundtable at police HQ announced by his office:
- "Gov. Matt Blunt will facilitate a roundtable discussion (blah blah)...statewide crime issues... (blah blah)...leaders...progress...meth-eradication...challenges...Missouri...enact...Florida’s Jessica’s Law..."
Meth. Does anyone care other than law enforcement and neighbors of meth labs? Sex offenders. Everyone cares, or should. Don't get me started on what they used to call aggravated rape, and how that used to be - quite Constitutional, thank you - a capital offense.
(Above: Jessica Lunsford, abducted in Florida and slain. Right: The registered sex offender accused of killing her.)
Thanks and a hat tip to Star legislative reporter Kit Wagar, who can't be blamed for this post
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
It's a right! A left! It's Tonya Harding!
By Greg Reeves
This is a local blog, loyal to KC and its crime. So I have no excuse for posting this photo of Tonya Harding and this Washington Post story:
VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Tonya Harding tussled in her home with a man she described as her boyfriend, prompting an emergency call by the figure skater-turned-boxer and an arrest of the man.
Christopher Nolan was charged with assault and pleaded not guilty Monday. He told deputies Harding threw him down and bit his finger when he said she had too much to drink on Sunday. The 27-year-old Nolan was ordered to stay away from Harding and to avoid alcohol.
Harding had a small cut over her right eye and an abrasion on her left cheek.
Initially, Harding called 911 and said she was attacked by two masked men who came to her home and assaulted her before she could escape.
Nolan said he and Harding were roommates.
The 34-year-old Harding was banned for life from competitive figure skating after her former husband hired a hitman to club rival Nancy Kerrigan with a baton as Kerrigan left the ice during practice at the 1994 U.S. championships in Detroit.
The attack prevented Kerrigan from competing, but she recovered to win a silver medal at the 1994 Olympics weeks later. Harding finished out of the running.
More recently, Harding has tried her hand at pro boxing to mixed reviews.
Hear Ye! m.toast has spoken!
By Greg Reeves
This makes my day: m.toast Hivemind (left) has commented on a post, as follows:
"We, the readers, demand animated smiley gifs for the drive-by shooting stories as well. That is all...-Toast"
She is referring to the dead-seeming, yet alive, animated GIFs accompanying the post on the Guns 'n' Hoses police-fire benefit boxing match Nov. 12 at Memorial Hall.
I don't know Toast. I do know I stopped and read her blog, The m.Toast Hivemind, for hours when I was trying to quickly scan 168 blogs on kcbloggers. Her Waldo-based battle with Whiskey-Tango neighbors and outpatient-like chat transcripts were hilarious.
She is also something like the regional director of the blogosphere, from what I can gather. Lots of friends, links, the occasional meet-up, etc. Anyway, her blog is anatomically correct and worth clicking on. Just bring back that shocking, um, double-digital image, Toast!
(Oh, and the drive-by smileys - I'll do those when they let me do "Inmate Babe of the Week")
State workers' woodsy booze party?
By Greg Reeves
Did Missouri Department of Conservation workers hold two on-duty booze parties in state offices back in April at the Seat Wildlife Area up in tiny Worth County, MO (pop. 2,382)?
A disgruntled and very nervous MDC employee says they did:
- "These were not stand around and visit for a few minutes after work type gatherings. These were planned in advance, with plenty to eat and even more to drink, type affairs. The refrigerator in the Seat office was full of beer and other intoxicants. Mushrooms were one of the menu items. Hunted, picked, and cleaned by Department employees while officially on duty."
The employee, who fears for his job if identified, has sent around two letters: The original complaint and a letter to MDC Director John Hoskins (Word documents, 1 page each).
MDC's PR chief Denise Garnier responds:
- "Director John Hoskins received these allegations through written correspondence from an anonymous source. Despite the Department's inability to speak with the complainant, the Director initiated a personnel investigation of the allegations.
- Where violations of Department policy were discovered, they were handled consistent with the organization's disciplinary policy. Due to the confidential nature of personnel matters, the outcome of any such actions can not be disclosed.
- Director Hoskins believes a credible investigation resulted based upon the information provided. If additional information exists that warrants further investigation, the Director encourages any person in possession of relevant facts to phone him personally at his Jefferson City office (573-751-4115)."
So there it is. Bless the Internet. The information, such as it is, is all here. I would only add:
- MDC workers in the woods may be partying all day and crushing beer cans against their foreheads. That would be wrong.
- Missouri state employees, among the lowest-paid in the nation, are almost uniformly helpful, friendly and to all appearances dedicated, in my experience.
Besides, I noodled over MDC expenditure data last year looking for wrongdoing as part of Star reporter Judy Thomas' series on the MDC, Bucks Unlimited. You can read what we found there. As usual, it wasn't the rank-and-file getting the bennies.
Fugitive suspect in brutal KC homicide
A fingerprint left in an abandoned car led to murder charges Wednesday against a 22-year-old Kansas City man.
Kansas City police are seeking John B. Parker (left), who was charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with the Sept. 30 killing of Jerald Blake.
Blake, 21, was shot to death at a house in the 2900 block of Highland Ave. Two other persons also were shot, including a pregnant woman who later lost her baby and had to have her right leg amputated because of her injuries.
Parker was charged with first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and three counts of armed criminal action. A judge set a $500,000 cash bond. Anyone with information about Parker is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS (474-8477).
Should the DEA leave private pill-poppers alone?
By Greg Reeves
If you've ever spent months or even years in the same chatroom or other online community, you know they can evolve into groups of intimate friends. A chorus of friendly hellos greets you when you enter the room.
Those circles can become cliquish and suspicious of outsiders. I think that's behind the shocked and angry reaction of the user forum of www.drugbuyers.com to my posts Sept. 22 about a major DEA bust of illegal online pharmacies.
I reported (DEA chills pill mills) that the DEA had moved against 20 doctors, 22 online pharmacies and 4,500 Websites for selling Xanax, codeine, Vicodin and other narcotics.
But it was posting these images that incurred their wrath:
(Left to right: bunnycats, Jadi, MrsDoodle. That's a lime on her head)
The pictures are avatars - images that accompany each user's posts. To forum users, my posts were akin to an invasion of privacy, even an invitation to the DEA to come snooping.
MrsDoodle:
- "I spent most of last weekend in tears and unable to walk because of pain beyond description. The kind of pain that even the most powerful of narcotics won't touch. You want to write about that? I'll even send you pictures of myself with joints so swollen that even the slightest movement feels as if I am undergoing amputations without anesthesia."
- "You want a story, reporter man? How about this one. How about the fact that there are people in the US of A who are in excrutiating pain that have doctors who are AFRAID to prescribe effective medications for them but instead prescribe DEADLY, ineffective medications."
MrsDoodle is so weak, in fact, she has been able to post only 555 times on the user forum. And surely she knows better than doctors about her drug needs. Still, should the DEA leave these private pill-poppers alone?
Here are my other posts that day on the topic (including links to the DEA's announcement and explanation of the drug bust):
Internet drug site faster than DEA in getting back to Crime Scene
Crime Scene narrowly avoids 2-5-year prison term
Online drug buyers buzzin' about DEA bust
All hail Lee's Summit PD's online data
Wouldn't you like to see a handy list each week of reported crimes in your neighborhood?
If you're a neighborhood leader, wouldn't it be nice to be able to go online and download that list into a spreadsheet - allowing you to keep track of all reported crimes?
There's one city and one city only in our metro area where that's possible - Lee's Summit. The brainchild of Sgt. Mike Childs (left), a new list appears each Monday on the city's Website. It went online July 1, 2004, Childs tells Crime Scene KC.
Q. How did this online presentation start?
A. I did it because we have four different papers that throw here in Lee’s Summit, and trying to make sure that every week I got the emaiil out to everyone was becoming such a pain, that I just said, ‘I’m going to post it and you can go on and get it.’
Q. What has been the public reaction, if any?
A. I think the public appreciates it, truly does. Because I am surprised at the number of calls I receive per week that are wanting a followup or clarification or just to gather more information. And I have to look at that as a positive, in the sense that people are looking at it and are informed about their neighborhood. I don’t think a week goes by where someone does not call about the blotter.
Q. And most of the calls, you say, are a request for further information, not a complaint, ‘Why did you put my burglary online?’
A. I have never had someone complain, because it is somewhat generic. We don’t put house numbers, we just put the 100 block. But it gives people that information. And people are always wanting information about where they live.
Q. Does anybody else in the metro area do what you do?
A. Not that I know of. I speak with all the other PIOs (public information officers), but I'm not sure of any others that do it.
Q. Have you found anybody anywhere that does this?
A. I know that there are some. I just came back from the PIO national conference, and I know that some do it, and some do it even in an expanded form. But I thought it was the simplest thing I could do each Monday morning, just come in and put it on there.
(Originally posted 9/19. I have plans.)
All The Star's crime stories today
This blog is meant to be your one-stop resource for crime-related stories from The Star. Over time, this could be useful for finding past stories, because these links should be good for months or years, I'm told. Comments welcome on how to make this post more useful, user-friendly, etc.
Stolen stuff filled 33 vans 
VIDEO
Clerk sprays would-be robber with mace
Lobbyist’s $3,000 returned by Talent
Swiped skeletons under police protection
Man held in shooting death dies in custody
Judge awards $75,000 to couple
State of Kansas sues two psychologists over BTK interview
Group home resident testifies
Group calls feud reminiscent of Mayberry RFD
Missouri inmate executed for two murders from 1991
METROPOLITAN DIGEST
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Homicide scene auto sought
From Kansas City police, 2:50 p.m.:
(Car pictured at the right is a Ford Contour, not provided by police)
- On October 23, 2005 at about 3:00am, a possibly dark colored Ford "Contour-like" vehicle, with the rear window broken out, was at the filling station (75th and Troost) when the homicide occurred there.
- Detectives have advised that the vehicle is possibly a rental car and either has not been turned back in or is being repaired.
- Anyone who has information as to where the vehicle can be located is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 474-TIPS (8477). For more information contact the Homicide Unit- Sergeant Niemeier at 234-5148.
Police-fire boxing match in KCK
By Greg Reeves
Police will box firefighters Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS in the first annual "Guns 'n' Hoses" boxing match in this area.
The event is a benefit for area public safety workers - police, fire, EMS - who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Tickets start at $10 and are available through Ticketmaster, or call Ringside, Inc. (913) 888-7766 x844. Download 1-page flyer PDF.
P.S. The cartoon figures are animated and should move if you click on 'em!
Anatomy of a KCK drive-by: 3
By Greg Reeves
North 27th Street, Kansas City, Kan., on patrol Friday night with PO Sandy Carrera (right):
A car drives past a home and fires bullets into the air. A teen in the home comes out and fires at the car, wounding an occupant.
People in the car, the teen believes, are the same ones who drove by the night before and fired into the house.
Is the boy a victim, a suspect, or both?
The youth, who had fled after shooting, returns to the scene and calmly approaches the police tape.
“I have the right to defend my home,” he tells officers.
At this point two things happen:
- The boy is handcuffed and placed in a police car.
- A live, late-breaking TV news crew, recently arrived on the scene,films this - just another young African-American goin’ down.
The boy’s mother doesn’t like this one bit. She lets loose a stream of curses at the TV crew.
She tells them her son’s a juvenile and warns them not to put him on the air. Several neighbors standing around share the sentiment.
I didn’t see what the TV station aired, if anything. So I’m in no position to criticize.
I do know that
- Later, the boy was released from handcuffs and led police into woods behind his home in a search for the gun he acknowledged throwing there.
- Police, at the end, didn’t think anyone involved would press charges.
“These kids are going to end up J-1 (homicide victims/suspects),” an officer opines
Earlier posts in this series:
On patrol with the KCKPD
Anatomy of a KCK drive-by: 1
Anatomy of a KCK drive-by: 2
Comments welcome!
New: White murder defendant
By Greg Reeves
In what passes for press criticism in this city, this comment landed here last week:
- "...It seems like you’ve posted an inordinate amount of mugshots of Black men...The generalization of Black men as criminals is a common phenomenon in the main stream media. Is The Star trying to contend that all of the crime in this city is committed by Black men?"
No, I just seek one-world government. For the record, I try to post every crime-related mugshot The Star prints or - more often - provided by law enforcement.
In that spirit, here's a photo of Mark Mangelsdorf, who pleaded not guilty Monday in Johnson County District Court in what prosecutors say was a 1982 love-triangle slaying. Star reporter Diane Carroll's court coverage here.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Anatomy of a KCK drive-by: 2
By Greg Reeves
The woman, it turns out, has a son, 17, who ran out the back door when the shooting started.
Several things catch cops’ attention:
- No fresh bullet marks are found on the house.
- A fully-loaded pistol-grip Mossberg 88 shotgun is found on the ground next to the house behind two parked cars - a perfect firing position toward the street.
- Handgun shell casings are all over the sidewalk in front of the house.
- A bullet hole is found in the house across the street, and in a van in front of that house.
Police suspect - and the woman confirms, under close questioning by PO Sandy Carrera (above, right) ("No BS, OK?") that her son fired shots at the passing vehicle.
About this time police receive a call that a youth has shown up with a gunshot wound to the arm. At a separate location, police find the green Chevrolet Caprice the woman said was the vehicle used in the drive-by.
Soon the son will return to the scene, minutes behind a live, late-breaking TV news crew dipping into this drama. It's about to get ugly.
Previous posts in this series:
Anatomy of a KCK drive-by: 1
On patrol with the KCKPD
On patrol tonight with the KCKPD
Anatomy of a KCK drive-by: 1
By Greg Reeves
Police have a term for situations in which everyone is simultaneously a victim and a suspect – cluster.
That’s actually an abbreviation, but you get the point.
Police officer Sandy Carrera (right) and I rolled up on the scene of a reported drive-by shooting on North 27th Friday evening in Kansas City, Kan.
A woman in a red tank top comes running out the front door, near hysterics:
“I’ve got little bitty babies in there!”, she says. She names three youths who she says drove past their house firing guns.
“They started shooting and we turned off the lights and starting grabbing little bitty kids,” the woman says.
The front of her home is pockmarked by shotgun pellets – but she says that was from the previous night’s drive-by.
The attacks are part of a two-year-old feud involving a nephew, now in police custody, she says.
She describes tonight’s attackers as in a green Chevrolet Caprice. Police search and soon find the vehicle – empty.
Not everything is as it seems, police will soon learn.
Previous posts in this series:
On patrol with the KCKPD
On patrol tonight with the KCKPD
Police shooting victim ID'ed
From Kansas City police 11:20 a.m.:
The man who was shot and killed by the officer has been identified as Edward Washington, a 24yr old KCMO resident. His photo is attached. The shooting is under investigation.
We're not saying anything about the shooting of Edward Washington. But this series by the Washington Post on District of Columbia police shootings, which won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for public service reporting, is worthwhile reading.
Unlike a lot of commentary on the topic, it's not a screed against or for law enforcement - just a gripping account of a department with the nation's highest rate of police shootings.
