Police Van

Jesse Chapman, whose death in the back of a Baltimore police van a week ago touched off days of community protest, was buried yesterday, remembered as a man with a great laugh who tried to work through his problems.His death -- some witnesses say he was beaten by police -- continued to occupy city officials, too.An aide to Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke said yesterday the mayor plans to meet with West Baltimore leaders in an effort to ease tensions between residents and Western District police officers.

Two Baltimore Police officers and a young police explorer were injured near an M&T Bank Stadium parking lot on Thursday night when the police van they were in was struck head on by an oncoming vehicle, police said. The collision occurred about 10 p.m. at the intersection of West Ostend and Warner streets, at the south end of the Ravens football stadium, police said. The driver of the oncoming vehicle was also treated for minor injuries, police said. Both officers and the explorer - a participant in a departmental education program for youth aged 14 to 20 - were taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center with what were believed late Thursday to be non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Two Baltimore Police officers and a young police explorer were injured near an M&T Bank Stadium parking lot on Thursday night when the police van they were in was struck head on by an oncoming vehicle, police said. The collision occurred about 10 p.m. at the intersection of West Ostend and Warner streets, at the south end of the Ravens football stadium, police said. The driver of the oncoming vehicle was also treated for minor injuries, police said. Both officers and the explorer - a participant in a departmental education program for youth aged 14 to 20 - were taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center with what were believed late Thursday to be non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

UPDATE, 1:20 PM: Police now say they expect to release the names of the officers involved in the arrest of Anthony Anderson. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the "department's naming policy applies now that the death has been ruled a homicide," but says that police first want to look into a threat against the officers. "If the threats are cleared, I anticipate they will be named," Guglielmi said. "The officer safety concerns are real. " Baltimore Police have shot 13 people this year - killing eight - during the course of their official duties, and, if history is a guide, most if not all will be deemed justified because the officers were reasonably in fear of their life.  In all 13 cases, police have identified the officers involved as a matter of transparency.

A Baltimore man who was critically injured in the back of a police van after a traffic stop has filed a $20 million lawsuit against the arresting officer and the city Police Department claiming negligence and use of excessive force.Jeffrey Adrian Alston, 32, of the 2500 block of N. Hollins St. has been in Sinai Hospital since the incident Nov. 3. Police had arrested Alston on suspicion of drunken driving.In the lawsuit, filed Friday in Baltimore Circuit Court, Alston alleges that he was beaten and thrown into the back of the police van, causing him to hit his head on an interior wall.

A $100 million civil trial opened Thursday with attorneys contending that Baltimore police officers purposely drove erratically while transporting a suspect, leading to the man's death. Dondi Johnson Sr., 43, had been arrested in November 2005 by officers Sendy Ferdinand and Michael Riser on a charge that he urinated at Pimlico Road and Loyola Southway. Officer Nicole Leake testified that she picked up Johnson in a police van. Johnson died Dec. 7, 2005, of a fractured spine, according to the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by his family against the three officers.

Trespassing suspect escapes during transferA man arrested while allegedly trying to break into his mother's Anne Arundel County home in search of a gun escaped from a prisoner transport officer early yesterday outside the office of the court commissioner in Glen Burnie.Mark Hugh Davis, 36, got away when the officer from the Wackenhut Security Services company was handcuffing another prisoner, police said.County police said officers arrested Mr. Davis Saturday night at his mother's home in the 100 block of Olan Drive in Glen Burnie.

Three Baltimore City police officers were ordered to pay $7.4 million to the family of a man who was arrested for urinating on a public street and died two weeks later in the hospital from injuries sustained riding in a police van. Dondi Johnson Sr., 43, had been arrested in November 2005 by officers Sendy Ferdinand and Michael Riser and transported in a police van by officer Nicole Leake. Johnson complained about being in pain in the van and officers took him to Sinai Hospital, where he died two weeks later of a fractured spine, according to the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by his family, which sought $100 million.

Three Baltimore police officers were ordered to pay $7.4 million to the family of a man who was arrested after urinating on a public street and died two weeks later in the hospital from injuries he suffered riding in a police van. Dondi Johnson Sr., 43, was arrested in November 2005 by officers Sendy Ferdinand and Michael Riser and transported in a police van by Officer Nicole Leake. Johnson complained about pain while in the van, and officers took him to Sinai Hospital, where he died two weeks later of a fractured spine, according to the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by his family, which sought $100 million.

Police charge woman after officer is dragged for 200 yards A 26-year-old woman who police say slipped out of handcuffs, stole a Baltimore police van and dragged a Baltimore detective for 200 yards when he tried to stop her has been charged with assaulting the officer, prostitution and car theft, according to charging documents. Police say Empriss Ross, who is homeless, agreed to give an undercover detective oral sex for $20 to $30 about noon Friday in the 400 block of S. Stricker St. The detective then drove Ross to a pre-arranged site where two other detectives were waiting to arrest her. Ross was then searched, cuffed and placed inside a white Dodge police van, charging documents stated.

Two activists who entered Baltimore City Hall on Monday afternoon and demanded to speak with the mayor about a wide range of issues affecting city residents were later arrested for trespassing and escorted out of the building in handcuffs. They never met with the mayor. The Rev. Cortly "C.D. " Witherspoon, of the Baltimore chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Sharon Black, of the Baltimore People's Assembly, had wanted to deliver a letter to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake that demanded an "emergency meeting" to discuss police brutality, the closing of recreation centers and fire companies, and the creation of more city jobs programs, according to the letter.

Defense attorneys for a pair of city police officers accused of kidnapping two West Baltimore teenagers nearly two years ago contended Wednesday that the boys concocted the story to avoid being branded neighborhood "snitches. " That version of the incident — that officers Milton G. Smith III, Tyrone S. Francis and Gregory Hellen were simply gathering sensitive information from residents on violent offenders and high-level drug dealers as part of the elite Violent Crimes Impact Division — differed greatly from the one offered by Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein, who said the officers took the teens because the officers believed themselves "above the law they swore to honor and uphold.

The family of a man who died three years ago while being chased by Baltimore police officers claims the cops forced him off a fence and sent him plummeting onto the highway below, where he was run over by a car. Then, the surviving relatives contend, the officers laughed. The owner of a South Baltimore used-car lot says city police towed his cars without a warrant. A female officer says she was discriminated against when male supervisors denied her request to work a second job. A man sought $50 million after he was arrested on charges of drinking in public and urinating in an alley, claiming white officers singled him out because he was black.

Three Baltimore police officers were ordered to pay $7.4 million to the family of a man who was arrested after urinating on a public street and died two weeks later in the hospital from injuries he suffered riding in a police van. Dondi Johnson Sr., 43, was arrested in November 2005 by officers Sendy Ferdinand and Michael Riser and transported in a police van by Officer Nicole Leake. Johnson complained about pain while in the van, and officers took him to Sinai Hospital, where he died two weeks later of a fractured spine, according to the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by his family, which sought $100 million.

Three Baltimore City police officers were ordered to pay $7.4 million to the family of a man who was arrested for urinating on a public street and died two weeks later in the hospital from injuries sustained riding in a police van. Dondi Johnson Sr., 43, had been arrested in November 2005 by officers Sendy Ferdinand and Michael Riser and transported in a police van by officer Nicole Leake. Johnson complained about being in pain in the van and officers took him to Sinai Hospital, where he died two weeks later of a fractured spine, according to the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by his family, which sought $100 million.

A $100 million civil trial opened Thursday with attorneys contending that Baltimore police officers purposely drove erratically while transporting a suspect, leading to the man's death. Dondi Johnson Sr., 43, had been arrested in November 2005 by officers Sendy Ferdinand and Michael Riser on a charge that he urinated at Pimlico Road and Loyola Southway. Officer Nicole Leake testified that she picked up Johnson in a police van. Johnson died Dec. 7, 2005, of a fractured spine, according to the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by his family against the three officers.

The city's Board of Estimates approved paying $6 million yesterday to a man paralyzed during a 1997 arrest by Baltimore police, but not before City Council President Sheila Dixon raised questions about why the officers involved in the incident were never disciplined. "It's my understanding that nothing happened to these officers," Dixon said. "It sends a message that police officers can do what they want to do." The three officers involved in the Nov. 3, 1997, traffic stop of Jeffrey Adrian Alston are still employed by the Police Department and have never faced criminal or administrative charges.

On Fairmount Avenue, a block north of Patterson Park in East Baltimore, the cops are putting handcuffs on these two slouched, rumple-haired kids and steering them into the back of a police van with blinking rooftop lights.''What's the problem?'' asks a guy driving up.''Drugs,'' says someone in the crowd of neighborhood people gathered to watch. ''Whatcha expect?''''And I think they found some guns in their car,'' says somebody else, standing shirtless in Tuesday's muggy evening air. In fact, the police say later, the two young guys were driving with stolen license plates.

Police charge woman after officer is dragged for 200 yards A 26-year-old woman who police say slipped out of handcuffs, stole a Baltimore police van and dragged a Baltimore detective for 200 yards when he tried to stop her has been charged with assaulting the officer, prostitution and car theft, according to charging documents. Police say Empriss Ross, who is homeless, agreed to give an undercover detective oral sex for $20 to $30 about noon Friday in the 400 block of S. Stricker St. The detective then drove Ross to a pre-arranged site where two other detectives were waiting to arrest her. Ross was then searched, cuffed and placed inside a white Dodge police van, charging documents stated.