gaithersblog.net

For those of you who haven’t been reading the comments, Freeman Klopott writes:

A Montgomery County-based MS-13 gang member and illegal immigrant who allegedly stabbed a man almost to death after being released on bond following an earlier attack is now in custody in Prince William County, where his immigration status may complicate his extradition.

Milton Calderon-Melendez, 25, of El Salvador, is awaiting extradition from Prince William to Montgomery to face charges of assault and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. Meanwhile, as Prince William’s policy dictates, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have already been informed of his illegal presence in the U.S.

The “earlier attack” referred to occurred near Odend’hal and Lost Knife — I imagine at the Lakeforest Transit Center — Calderon-Melendez is accused of punching a 15-year-old in the face, and was charged with 2nd degree assault. For those of you who think that the police tell us everything that goes on in their crime summaries, I have scoured my Gaithersblog postings from that time, as well as re-reading the police crime reports. I’ve not been able to find any previous mention of this incident. If anyone can find a contemporaneous record, please let me know.

On Aug. 20, he and Jose Gagoberto Flores Cardova allegedly assaulted Cardova’s roommate, known only as Salguero in court documents, in their 8200 Iron Clad Court apartment in Gaithersburg.

According to police, Cardova beat Salguero in the head with a baseball bat and Calderon-Melendez stabbed him in the sternum with a knife. Police found the bloody bat and a broken knife in the house after the two had already fled.

I did find a reference to this incident in the MCPD crime summaries. It says:

An aggravated assault occurred the Monday 8/20, time unknown in the 8200 block of Ironclad Court.

Keep this in mind the next time you see the words “aggravated assault”. Just for reference, the charges filed in that incident were attempted 2nd degree murder, 1st degree assault and conspiracy to commit 1st degree assault, 2nd degree assault and conspiracy to commit 2nd degree assault.

Now, a major point of the Examiner article is that Calderon-Melendez was here illegally, and if Montgomery County were more aggressive about checking immigration status in these cases, the second assault may never have happened. I don’t disagree with this point. However, I think that it is something of a distraction from the real problem, which is the extent to which people charged with crimes like this are routinely walking out of jail with a pittance for bond. In this one case perhaps the immigration issue could have forced the Court’s hand and kept them from letting Calderon-Melendez go. But citizen criminals are spinning around in this same revolving door on a daily basis, and people continue to be hurt because of it. In my mind, this is at least as much a criminal justice issue as an immigration issue..

Update: The man has returned home.

From the County’s website:

3/27/2008

Update:  Missing Gaithersburg Man Returns Home

Jonathan Oxenham, the 25-year-old missing Gaithersburg man, returned home unharmed early this morning. The family of Jonathan Oxenham and the Montgomery County Police thank the members of the media for their assistance in publicizing this missing person incident.

###

Press release via Connected Communities:

DEPARTMENT OF POLICE
MEDIA SERVICES DIVISION
2350 RESEARCH BOULEVARD ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND 20850-3294 240-773-5030
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2008 FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Media Services Division, 240-773-5030

Police Seek Public’s Help in Locating Missing Gaithersburg Man

Detectives from the 1st District Investigative Section are seeking the public’s help to locate a 25-year-old man who was last seen by his family on March 24 at approximately 1:00 a.m. at his residence in the 13800 block of Grey Colt Drive in Gaithersburg.

Jonathan Andrew Oxenham is described as a white male, 5’11” tall and weighing 225 pounds. He has brown eyes and short brown hair. He may have a few days growth of facial hair. He is believed to be wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and gray tennis shoes.

Jonathan Oxenham suffers from Bi-polar Disorder and may be suicidal. Family members do not believe he has his medication with him and are concerned for his welfare.

Anyone who has information about Jonathan Oxenham’s whereabouts is asked to call the Montgomery County Police

• Meghan Tierney writes, Man who fled police indicted for manslaughter:
  

  The man accused of killing a Gaithersburg woman while fleeing police last month has been indicted on vehicular manslaughter and other charges in connection with her death.

  Anthony James Kutten, 19, of no fixed address was indicted for leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury, failure to control speed to prevent an accident, driving without a license, two counts of fleeing to elude a police officer and two counts of failing to obey a red light, according to an online state court records database.

• Melissa A. Chadwick writes, Men indicted for three carjackings, murder:
  

  Three men have been indicted on first-degree murder charges for the stabbing death of a Wheaton man. Two of the men have also been indicted in connection with three carjacking cases in Gaithersburg and Germantown last month.

  Calvin Fitzgerald Currica, 22, of Clarksburg, Harrison Jay Bryant, 20, of Williamsburg, Va., and Randall Anthony Francis, 20, of New Carrollton, were each indicted on first-degree murder and robbery charges in connection with the Feb. 16 stabbing death of Gerald Lacayo, 22, who was found dead in an Aspen Hill apartment building.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, Former Baptist minister, choir director charged with sex offense, child abuse:
  

  A former Baptist minister and youth choir director in Gaithersburg has been charged with third-degree sex offense and child abuse of a female youth choir singer that allegedly occurred over four years in the 1990s.

  Timothy Chun-Chock Mann, 47, of Hoover, Ala., a former minister at First Baptist Church of Gaithersburg, and choir director at a Alabama congregation, turned himself in to Montgomery County police on Thursday, said Lucille Baur, a county police spokeswoman. He was released on $100,000 bond the same day.

• Meghan Tierney writes, Fire rescue budget takes hit to close deficit:
  

  Four new fire stations scheduled to be built in the upcounty over the next several years are still on track, but other rescue services may be eliminated in order to help close the county’s projected $296 million budget deficit.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, Gateway to Olde Towne will soon start construction:
  

  Following four years of planning and revisions, the Archstone-Smith development slated for Olde Towne Gaithersburg’s main drag was approved by the city’s planning commissioners.

  Demolition permits have been issued for 320 to 408 E. Diamond Ave. Building permits are expected to be approved in a few months and construction could begin in six months, said Greg Ossont, director of the city‘s planning and code enforcement department.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, County fairgrounds could be developed:
  

  After two years of study, county fair officials said economic considerations have forced them to entertain discussions of selling the 62-acre fairgrounds in Gaithersburg.

  While nothing is final, a possible site for a new fairgrounds has been identified: the 84-acre Linthicum farm located on West Old Baltimore Road in Boyds, Svrcek said.

• Sebastian Montes writes, Belward property questions center on deed:
  

  Some neighbors of a key piece of land where Johns Hopkins University plans to build a biotech and research campus say the proposal does not hold true to the wishes of the woman who sold the university the parcel.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, Of Note Around Gaithersburg:

  • City readies to revise election code

    Gaithersburg’s mayor and council has created the Ad Hoc Elections Ordinance Review Committee, facilitated by city staff and made up of residents, to revise city election code, which was last updated in 1998 and recently came into question during a campaign finance investigation.

  • Enterprise zoneapplication authorized

    The Montgomery County Council voted last week to allow Gaithersburg’s application to designate the majority of the city’s Olde Towne Central Business District as an enterprise zone.

  • New sidewalks in Olde Towne

    With help from a state grant, the city plans to build a brick sidewalk along the south side of Olde Towne’s East Diamond Avenue, from the Cannery to the old Fire House.