After a short foot chase the other night, Baltimore police arrested a guy suspected of dealing drugs. And you're thinking, "This is news?"
Well, yes, because the cop doing the chasing was none other than Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III.
Bealefeld was out early Friday evening, riding with a two-man security detail in East Baltimore. He stopped to talk with some officers. Made an appearance at a block party. And, in the 900 block of N. Eden St., observed what looked like a drug deal going down.
"They got out of the truck," spokesman Sterling Clifford said. "The guy ran. The commissioner and one member of his detail ran after him. The third guy stayed with the truck and tried to cut him off. They chased him for about 31/2 blocks. In the 1400 block of North Caroline, one of the detectives was in front with the truck, the commissioner was running [from] behind. He figured he was caught and gave up."
With homicides down 35 percent over last year, Baltimore's top cop might be tempted to put his feet up on his desk. But apparently he's more inclined to run down bad guys.
Bealefeld has made "a handful" of arrests since taking the reins of the department a year ago this week. While out last fall, Bealefeld spotted some guys gathered around what appeared to be a drug stash in a vacant lot, Clifford said.
"Commissioner jumped out. Detectives with him jumped out," Clifford said. "He chased that guy into an alley somewhere. I think that was, like, four or five blocks."
Baltimore can always use another cop on the streets - especially one Pat Jessamy is willing to put on the stand.
He should know that elephants never forget
At a Towson shop called aParaDox Studio, Tom Doxanas sells a T-shirt emblazoned with the Republican elephant and the words "Greedy Old Pigs."
He didn't expect GOP cheers.
Neither did he expect their cease-and-desist order.
The Republican National Committee claims in a letter that the shirts constitute an unauthorized use of its familiar, three-starred pachyderm, otherwise known as "Official Elephant Logo (Federal Trademark Registration No. 1908397)."
Writing on letterhead topped with that very elephant, RNC Associate Counsel Troy McCurry warned Doxanas to quit selling the shirts or see them in court.
Doxanas, who just picked up the June 30 letter yesterday from his P.O. box, thinks the shirt is fair game as satire. He plans to consult a lawyer. "I'm definitely going to argue it, for sure."
