Rosedale

A 12th Baltimore police officer has pleaded guilty to being involved with a towing kickback scheme, prosecutors said Thursday. Rafael Concepcion Feliciano Jr., a 31-year-old officer from Baltimore, pleaded guilty to extortion and conspiracy in a U.S. District Court hearing Thursday, according to a statement from the Maryland U.S. attorney's office. Feliciano was among a group of officers who took money from brothers Hernan Alexis Moreno, 30, of Rosedale, and Edwin Javier Mejia, 27, of Middle River, in exchange for referring cars at accident scenes to Majestic Auto Repair, the siblings' Rosedale auto shop.

Thomas Leroy Griffin, formerly of Hagerstown and Rosedale, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to charges he sexually abused a child to produce child pornography. Griffin, 32, began committing the abuses against his victim when she was 5 or 6 years old, according to the plea agreement, engaging in sexually explicit conduct with the child in order to produce visual depictions on at least five occasions. The victim's mother discovered a videotape documenting the abuse last December.

Three men were injured in a stabbing Sunday morning at the Sunset Beach Bar & Grill in Rosedale, Baltimore County police said. A knife fight broke out at 1:49 at the bar, in the 11400 block of Pulaski Highway, said Cpl. George Erhardt. One victim was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, one was taken to Franklin Square Hospital Center, and a third "is running around somewhere and hasn't checked in anywhere," Erhardt said. The two who went to the hospital were in stable condition, he said.

Two more Baltimore police officers pleaded guilty Monday to accepting kickbacks from a Rosedale auto repair shop. Jerry Edward Diggs Jr. and Osvaldo Valentine were convicted of conspiracy and extortion in separate hearings. They each face a maximum of 25 years in prison at their sentencings, scheduled back to back on March 12. But they will likely be sentenced to terms of less than four years, according to their plea agreements. Diggs and Valentine join at least seven other officers who have pleaded guilty in the case, along with the two owners of Majestic Auto Repair Shop: brothers Hernan Alexis Moreno and Edwin Javier Mejia.

Fairmount Bancorp, the holding company of its namesake bank in Rosedale, announced Thursday that it had completed the acquisition of Baltimore's Fullerton Federal Savings Association. Under the deal, Fairmount sold $793,000 of its common stock to Fullerton Federal depositors and to Fairmount's employee stock ownership plan. Shares were also offered to the public. Hanah.cho@baltsun.com Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

After a teenage girl was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for beating a transgender woman at a McDonald's in Rosedale, some advocates for transgender people called the sentence too lenient. "The whole incident is unfortunate and demonstrates the lack of knowledge and understanding, and discrimination against transgender people," said Patrick Wojahn, board president of the Equality Maryland Foundation. "If anything, five years may have been too short of an amount of time for the attack and the amount of hatred that was shown in the incident.

A teenager pleaded guilty Thursday in the beating of a transgender woman at a Rosedale McDonald's, an incident that was caught on video and drew national attention after it went viral online. Teonna Monae Brown, 19, pleaded guilty in Baltimore County Circuit Court to one count of first-degree assault and one hate crime count in the April attack on Chrissy Lee Polis, 22, which became a rallying point for transgender-rights advocates across the state and nationwide. Prosecutors will seek a prison sentence for Brown of 10 years with five years suspended, said Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger.

A Rosedale man died Friday after his motorcycle hit a guard rail on Route 702 near I-695. Daniel Bowles, 37, was driving south at a high rate of speed on Route 702, also known as Southeastern Boulevard, when he left the roadway shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday, Baltimore County police said. He struck a guard rail near the southbound exit to the beltway and was thrown from the motorcycle. Investigators say the high rate of speed was a factor in the crash. Bowles was taken to Bayview Hospital, where he died about 1 a.m., police said.

A Baltimore man was fatally shot in the parking lot of a nightclub in eastern Baltimore County early Saturday morning, police said. George William Bryant Jr., 36, of Pentwood Road was shot multiple times in the head and neck in the parking lot of Club Baltimore at 8014 Pulaski Highway in the Rosedale area, according to police. Detective Cathy Batton said the shooting resulted from an argument that occurred inside the club around closing time. A security guard at the club called police at 1:51 a.m. to report shots fired and "people screaming," said Baltimore County Police Cpl. John Wachter.

As appalling as the video of the McDonalds altercation in Rosedale may have been, I can't help but wonder, what would have happened if the person hadn't filmed Chrissy Lee Polis being assaulted? The attention drawn to the incident has been largely due to the existence of that video. Yet the employee who taped the beating was fired. Isn't that a Catch-22? Donna Taylor, Baltimore