Det. Troy Lamont Chesley Sr.

Det. Troy Lamont Chesley, Sr. 
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On this day in Baltimore Police History, January 9, 2007, we lost our brother, Det. Troy Lamont Chesley Sr., to gunfire based on the following: 

A 13-year-old veteran of the Baltimore Police Department was shot to death as he walked up to his girlfriend's home in Northwest Baltimore early this morning, shortly after he got off work. Det. Troy Lamont Chesley Sr., 34, suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at Sinai Hospital, police officials said. One or more armed individuals shot him as he was walking along the 5400 block of Fairfax Road in the city's West Forest Park neighborhood. The shooting came amid a spate of slayings—10 in the first nine days of the new year. Troy was laid to eternal rest January 16, 2007

Suspect In Killing Has Long Record ; Man, 21, Charged With Police Officer's Slaying Has Been Arrested Often, Convicted Several Times

Gus G. Sentementes, Annie Linskey

Jan 10, 2007

A 21-year-old man with at least 17 arrests on his criminal record was charged yesterday with first-degree murder in the killing of an off-duty Baltimore police officer during an apparent robbery attempt outside the officer's girlfriend's home in Northwest Baltimore. The suspect, Brandon Grimes, was being held under police guard at a city hospital, recovering from a leg wound that police said was sustained during an early-morning gunbattle with Detective Troy Lamont Chesley Sr., 34, who was struck several times and died at Sinai Hospital. According to police, Grimes escaped during the tumultuous moments following the 1:20 a.m. shooting on a quiet street in West Forest Park, which left cars and houses with bullet holes. Detectives closed in on the suspect after they learned someone had been admitted to St. Agnes Hospital with a gunshot injury. Police said they recovered key evidence, including a handgun and blood from the scene that did not belong to the officer.

The day, in which the city's homicide total for this year rose to 13, left Baltimore officers grieving and frustrated over Grimes' extensive record of arrests. Despite several convictions, he had not spent significant time in prison. Col. Fred H. Bealefeld III, chief of detectives, noted that Grimes had been arrested twice within the past year for handgun violations; court records show those cases are pending. "This is the third gun Brandon Grimes has had in his possession in less than a year," Bealefeld said. "We took two of them away from him. It's extraordinary, to say the least. This is the sort of mayhem and craziness we see all too often." Police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm said that officials who participate in the city's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council—a group of elected officials, law enforcement agency representatives, and others—"need"to start getting serious about getting people off the street." Hamm said Grimes' 17 arrests occurred over the past 3 1/2 years. "I think that what has to happen is that the city of Baltimore has to get fed up, because we are fed up," he said. Asked about the city's stubborn homicide rate, the commissioner said: "When this pager goes off at night telling me someone's been killed in this city, I die a little bit. Everybody dies a little bit." The officer's death highlighted another pervasive problem that city police have struggled with over the past year: robberies. In 2006, according to preliminary figures through mid-December, the city saw a roughly 8 percent spike in robberies—an increase that mirrored a troubling national trend. Chesley was attacked in the 4500 block of Fairfax Road, outside his girlfriend's house. Less than two months ago, and two blocks away, Andre Alexander, 21, was killed in front of his house by someone who shot him about 1:25 a.m. and then ran away. Police officials said yesterday that they are looking at that case, which remains open, to see if there are any similarities to yesterday's shooting, which left residents once again stunned. Kelly Lloyd, a neighbor who lives in the block, said she heard nine or 10 gunshots in what is a usually quiet neighborhood. "I was shocked," she said. "I thought it was firecrackers. They shot a lot of times." Chesley, who was in plain clothes and not wearing body armor, was pronounced dead soon after his arrival at Sinai, police said. Police said they believe that the suspect, after getting shot in the lower leg, limped away from the scene and was taken to St. Agnes Hospital by other unidentified people in a minivan. His condition was not available. The police said it was too early to determine whether other people would be charged in the slaying. Chesley, a Baltimore native, joined the Police Department in 1993. He served in the Western and Northwestern districts, and later in tactical and organized crime units. Most recently, he worked in the department's public housing section, doing undercover drug investigations in some of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods.

Relatives of Chesley Decided to Comment.

Law enforcement officials yesterday scrambled to understand and explain Grimes' extensive and convoluted criminal record. The city's attorney's office released a timeline that showed Grimes pleading guilty to car theft in February 2004 and receiving a 10-year sentence. But that sentence was almost entirely suspended, and Grimes was put on probation. According to court records, a city judge sentenced Grimes to four concurrent six-month sentences in May of last year for violating an earlier probation. After Grimes served those sentences, the judge closed his case and terminated his probation, though the specifics of that decision were not clear yesterday. A handwritten letter that Grimes wrote to the judge before the sentencing indicated that he has a young son and has been working toward a high school graduate equivalency diploma. He asked the judge for leniency because his son needed him in his life. "I'm writing this letter to you to ask for mercy on the court," Grimes wrote in the letter, full of grammatical errors. "I know a lot of the choices I made in my life weren't the right ones. But I had to realize I'm not just living for myself any more. I have a 6-month-old son that needs me in his life, and I can't be there for him if I die or go to jail." In March and April of last year, Grimes was arrested and charged with separate handgun violations. Grimes posted bail for the March case, which is pending trial. For the April arrest, the state's attorney's office argued for bail of $500,000, but a District Court commissioner reportedly reduced his bail to $100,000. That case was postponed at least twice and is scheduled for trial today. A prosecutor argued in a court document that "Mr. Grimes' continuing insistence on illegally carrying handguns indicates the danger he poses to the citizens of Baltimore city, requiring the highest possible bail," according to the form. In that same document, a prosecutor stated that Grimes had been previously found guilty of obliterating the serial number of a handgun. According to court records, there were additional charges last year, including two separate arrests for drug possession and burglary in November, as well as second-degree assault and reckless endangerment in June that the prosecutors dismissed for an unspecified reason. Grimes also had an extensive criminal record as a juvenile. At age 12, in 1997, Grimes was charged with making a bomb threat. That same year, he would also be arrested as a juvenile and charged with extortion, second-degree assault, and a pyrotechnic violation, according to a law enforcement source with knowledge of his juvenile record. From 1999 to 2001, he was arrested four times in car-theft cases, the source said. The attack on Chesley was the latest in a string of dangerous assaults against on- and off-duty Baltimore police officers over the past year. Last month, Officer Momodu Gondo was shot and injured in North Baltimore in an apparent robbery attempt. The police made an arrest in that case. In November, Sgt. Christopher Nyberg shot two of four people who tried to rob him as he walked toward his home on Federal Hill. Police said Nyberg was held up at knifepoint. In September, Officer Robert G. Cirello was shot while patrolling Patterson Park, and police credited his body armor with saving his life. And in March, Officer Dante Hemingway was shot in the neck, chest, and stomach in Westport when, on his lunch break, he visited a woman he had met and was shot by a man recruited by the woman's jealous lover. The last officer to die in the line of duty was Officer Anthony A. Byrd, 31, an 11-year-old veteran. Byrd was killed in May in a collision with another officer, Raymond E. Cook Jr., who was speeding in his police cruiser. There were two young daughters and a wife left behind by Byrd. Paul M. Blair Jr., president of the city's Fraternal Order of Police union, said that an officer has been assigned to assist Chesley's family, and the union will help relatives with funeral arrangements. He said Chesley's death will be considered a "line of duty" fatality because he drew his weapon and badge. "It's bad enough we're targeted at work," Blair said, "but now it's so bad that you can't even go home safely at night." Lt. Melvin Russell, who was Chesley's boss for years in the close-knit narcotics unit in the public housing section, addressed Chesley's colleagues in the unit yesterday morning. "I told them to keep a careful eye on each other," he said. "As police officers, we tend to hold things inside. I reminded them that we're human beings first, and to try not to go through this by themselves."

As his brothers and sisters of the Baltimore Police Department, we will not let him be forgotten. His service honored the City of Baltimore and the Baltimore Police Department. May he rest in peace, and may God bless him.