September 24, 2009

Racine police report two grisly crimes Thursday morning

The Racine PD put out two grisly press releases this morning. The first involved a fatal shooting in the 1700 block of Erie Street around 2:40 a.m. The second was about a boyfriend who repeatedly stabbed his girlfriend Wednesday night outside near DeKoven and Kearney avenues.

UPDATE, Sept. 29: Police reported the arrest of Jeremiah T. Brown, 25, for the homicide of Byers. He is charged with 1st Degree Intentional Homicide, Possession of a Firearm by a Felon and Bail Jumping.

UPDATE, 3:55 p.m.: Police announce the arrest of a "person of interest" in the homicide of Terrell Byers, 34, this morning on Eire Street. The suspect is being held in the Racine County Jail while the investigation continues. No name has been released yet.

Here are the releases:
Officers Respond to Shots Fired Call to Find Homicide Victim

Officers responded to 1718 Erie St at 2:39AM this morning for a Shots Fired call and located a 34 year old male suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to Wheaton Franciscan St Mary's Hospital in Racine where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Officers and investigators are conducting interviews of witnesses and persons in the area in an attempt to identify possible offenders and determine the exact circumstances surrounding the incident. At this time, there are no suspects in custody and there is nothing to indicate that this was a gang related incident.

No other information will be released at this time.

If you have any information related to this incident, you can call the Racine Police Department Investigations Unit at 635-7756, Crimestoppers at 636-9330, or by texting to CRIMES (274637) and referring to Tipsoft I.D.# TIP417 with your text message.

Man Arrested After Seriously Injuring Girlfriend

Officers responded to DeKoven Av and Kearney Av at 8:43PM on September 23, 2009 for a Civil Trouble. At the scene, officers located a 21 year old female victim suffering from multiple stab wounds. The injuries included wounds to her upper body and neck area. The victim was transported to Wheaton Franciscan St Mary's Hospital in Racine where she was treated for her injuries.

Officers and investigators were able to locate witnesses at a nearby home who indicated that the incident had started out as a boyfriend-girlfriend civil inside an apartment at 1848 Kearney Av.

The boyfriend grabbed a butcher knife and chased the victim outside where he caught up with her and began stabbing her. According to witnesses, the offender had been seen standing over the victim stabbing her repeatedly before fleeing on foot from the area.

Several hours later, James H Griffin III (03-25-85) returned to a family members' home at 1636 Morton Av and police were notified so that he could turn himself in. He was placed in custody without further incident and transported to the Racine Police Department where he was interviewed and arrested on the following charges:

Outstanding Warrant through Kenosha County Sheriffs' Department
Outstanding Warrant through Department of Corrections
Outstanding Warrant through Sheboygan County Sheriffs' Department
Attempted 1st Degree Intentional Homicide While Armed

The medical condition of the victim is not known at this time. Griffin is currently being held in the Racine County Jail.

If you have any information related to this incident, you can call the Racine Police Department Investigations Unit at 635-7756, Crimestoppers at 636-9330, or by texting to CRIMES (274637) and referring to Tipsoft I.D.# TIP417 with your text message.

27 comments:

  1. God Save Racine

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  2. What nice people we have living here. I can see why we are the "All American City". Don't worry folks - the KRM will fix all these problems!!

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  3. Tim the Shrubber9/24/2009 9:27 AM

    "Don't worry folks - the KRM will fix all these problems!!"

    That is a lame comment. I guess the city council should ignore all other issues until Racine is 100% crime free. (sarcasm)

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  4. I thought that the Post didn't publish "this kind" of news?

    Just wondering...

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  5. Lets change Racines name to Thugcine...

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  6. Let's build another COP house or put up another camera. I'm sure that will deter this type of crime.

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  7. Anon 9:27 - exactly my point - the city council is ignoring crime and instead focusing on a dirt lot in West Racine as well as an outdated train concept. They should be holding Kurt Wahlen accountable and demanding to know why crime is so high in this city and what his plans are to remediate the problem.

    A "COP House" or "Camera" is not the solution. Any law enforement official with common sense would know that. Racine is the laughing stock of the law enforcement community with some of these idiotic ideas.

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  8. Right, and we don't help by not making them responsible for their own actions.

    I supposed though their landlord made them do it.

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  9. Anon 10:46 -

    Even with these latest crimes, Racine's crime rates for this year are down over last year.

    How exactly do the council and police chief prevent a thug from stabbing his girlfriend or stop a guy getting shot in his house at 2:30 in the morning?

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  10. Anon 11:35 - Can we really trust the crime stats being shown for the city? Remember last year's fiascal where Wahlen reported the WRONG stats and had to restate them?

    Q: How exactly do the council and police chief prevent a thug from stabbing his girlfriend or stop a guy getting shot in his house at 2:30 in the morning?

    A: Enforcement. Our cemetaries and parking lots are plenty safe. Let's have the police out patrolling instead of sitting around there or watching cameras from some backroom. Drinking coffee in a COP house isn't correcting the problem either.

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  11. Like this stuff doesn't happen in other cities! Why is everyone so intent on trashing Racine on this site? There are horrible people EVERYWHERE.

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  12. Anon 11:43 - Great article.

    Something that important don't you think the chief would comment on himself personally instead of having a department spokesman do it?

    Wouldn't city council members question the chief on something like that when Racine is getting a bad reputation in the state news?

    Is there any leadership left in Racine?

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  13. A question for Dustin Block - are you or any other news agency in this city able to speak to the police chief for comments? It seems every news source only gets a spokesman and never the chief. Just curious if anyone asks or if you can only get a spokesman?

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  14. Ben Hendersen9/24/2009 12:13 PM

    Some of you are so quick to pass judgement and say the police or the city are not doing anything regarding crime. You haven't got a clue what goes on. Racine has a great police department. Also, cameras and COP Houses are a very effective tool. Try going for a ride-along with an officer. Just maybe, you'll begin to see what they have to deal with and how they do their jobs. Stop hiding behind your anonymous name and start being part of the solution.

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  15. Great discussion everyone. I do think that the KRM comments are valid because the rail proponents do insist that the train connection will solve our problems. When you make a statement like that you have to be prepared to defend it.

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  16. Q: How exactly do the council and police chief prevent a thug from stabbing his girlfriend or stop a guy getting shot in his house at 2:30 in the morning?

    A: Enforcement. Our cemetaries and parking lots are plenty safe. Let's have the police out patrolling instead of sitting around there or watching cameras from some backroom. Drinking coffee in a COP house isn't correcting the problem either.


    Enforcement of what? The only way to stop either of these incidents would be for a cop to be there when it happens.

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  17. 11:53 - that article isn't great, it's bullshit. They reported on year old numbers and didn't even ask about this year. If we are getting a bad rep around the state, the newspaper is doing their part to make it happen.

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  18. Tim the Shrubber9/24/2009 3:06 PM

    "I do think that the KRM comments are valid because the rail proponents do insist that the train connection will solve our problems."

    Really? I have never anyone claim that KRM would stop murders and domestic violence. Sure, the KRM proponents claim that it will solve many problems, but nobody ever says that it will solve every problem.

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  19. Concerned Citizen9/24/2009 3:45 PM

    Orbs:

    The two guys who run this "news" site are extremely inconsistent. The "rules" change on an hourly basis depending on who your commenting on, what you are writing, and if they are friends with the person.

    Nice to hear from you again buddy.

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  20. Positively Racine? This is it???

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  21. The police hardly ever drive through my inner city block. Once or twice a year. But all I have to do is drive through the city and see them parked in some lot.

    Maybe they are watching for speeders? I am far less concerned with traffic violations than I am with gangs, thugs, street fights and drug dealing. Going after those kinds of criminals doesn't bring in revenue from tickets and fines.

    We get tickets for not moving are cars from side to side every night. But try and walk the block at night and see if you don't get mugged.

    This police force has it all wrong and they are concentrating on the wrong stuff. I haven't ridden with them. But I have heard the scanners, I have made calls, I live in the inner city, and I have had one on one interaction with the finest.

    I get the idea by having these houses and cameras that they don't want to patrol. We have to be on the streets with the thug life, why can't they be there too?

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  22. And we need far less police to monitor cameras. A civilian could be trained to do it. So when do the firings start?

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  23. I have to agree I don't see the police connecting with the community. Our force is quite large. How is it so few are patrolling?

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  24. I'm also sure every cop that passes me who is on his/her cell phone is discussing a lead or talking to a tipster. Yeah right.

    What is to prevent a thug from shooting out the camera on a pole?

    Better yet, if they did shoot one out - would there be an officer on the otherside of the TV screen awake to notice or would they be taking the chocolate chip cookies out of the oven in their COP house?

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  25. Enforcement? That word seems to have little meaning in Racine. I have seen the cops let crackheads and dealers just walk away. I've heard how they call and threaten landlords for the actions of uncontrolable tenants. And I've heard the negative statements they make about the city and their own chief. Could the police do a better job and have a more positive attitude? Yes they could. But it isn't the police officers that I blame for this, it is their leaders and the judges who let the scum of Racine off. Why bother to arrest them?

    What can be done to stop these people from shooting and stabbing people on street corners or in their homes at 2:30 in the morning? The police certainly can't do that! The police can not prevent crime, they can only respond to it. If the judges and the slimeball attorneys that let these animals back on the streets would keep them where they belong, we'd have a whole lot less crime. We aren't hard enough on criminals. The death penalty should be implemented to include dealing drugs to a minor, pediphelia, and several other major crimes. Death seems to be the only thing these animals understand. And without the fear of it they will continue to do whatever they please. In my opinion, there aren't enough police shootings taking place. Let our cops wipe out these gangs and degenerates, then you'll see the crime rate drop dramatically. It would also help if the liberal idiots would get out of the way and let the state congress pass the conceal and carry law for law abiding citizens to protect themselves from the sub-human crap that the judges and lawyers put back on our streets.

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  26. Law enforcement is not omnipresent. Law enforcement needs community intervention as well. James H. Griffin had warrants for priors and had been living in the area for years with people that knew about his outstanding record. No one ever bothered to call the cops. That is the community Racine has. He likely terrorized his girlfriend til she couldn't take it anymore and when she tried to leave him, he tried to kill her. Stop blaming law enforcement. Blame yourselves.

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