**EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE**
As the final bits of Mr. O's Restaurant went up in flames, The Baltimore Spectator's own James MacArthur was on scene.
The owner of the restaurant was so shaken up, he had to be taken away by ambulance, but before that happened, we have THE ONLY VIDEO of him on scene at the fire.
Once again, the quick and nimble team of Wallace and MacArthur are able to bring you breaking news coverage, rivaling the big guys.
ALSO SEE:
As the final bits of Mr. O's Restaurant went up in flames, The Baltimore Spectator's own James MacArthur was on scene.
The owner of the restaurant was so shaken up, he had to be taken away by ambulance, but before that happened, we have THE ONLY VIDEO of him on scene at the fire.
Once again, the quick and nimble team of Wallace and MacArthur are able to bring you breaking news coverage, rivaling the big guys.
ALSO SEE:
For the record, he didn't have to be taken by an ambulance. That's bullshit and just false rumor spreading.
ReplyDeleteThat's great, glad to hear that an ambulance was not needed. By false rumor, you mean information I learned from another reporter who remained on scene after I left?
ReplyDeleteWhen "Mr. O" showed up, I was the first to approach him and his wife saying I was sorry for their loss. I will never forget the look of shock and horror on his face. There is more video of him that I decided not to air in good taste and out of respect for him.
Further more, he could barely stand up, and I reached out my hand to help support him. Myself and the fire authorities escorted him back to the warmth of his car while waiting for the chief.
Having dined many times at O's I'm the last one who would deliberately spread a "false rumor." As a journalist I tend to take other reporters at their words on some matters.
My apologies if my reporting seemed to be unfair or inaccurate in any manner.
-- A.F. James MacArthur
Correction, Mr. Rana had to be taken care of by EMT's on the scene. So we weren't that far off, take your anger somewhere else Anonymous.
ReplyDelete--A.F. James MacArthur
It is very troubling to me that you are taken as a serious news journalist. I initially visited your site to hear about the fire at Rosewood. My first response to your presentation was one of a favorable opinion. In fact I was going to save the website on my computer. I am totally thrilled that I didn't. I am appalled at your sleazy attention grabbing insinuations that all police are lying, cheating, thieves. I for one, a retired Balto. Co. Police Officer, was never less than one hundred and ten percent honorable, straight, and honest in all calls I handled. And I would like to point out that I worked in the predominantly black, low income housing. Never did I, nor anyone I personally worked with, ever do anything that could be remotely called racist, corrupt, or less than honorable. If I had been in a position to observe anything that was not right, I would have immediately written the individual up for the violation, and removed him from the street, relieving him of his police powers. The truth is the one officer I removed, and was subsequently terminated, was a African American officer who was too violent against other blacks. He had no complaints from white offenders, but against other blacks he practiced a totally different demeanor. He made plenty of arrest and cleared cases. However his methods were not acceptable by me, or any other officer on the job. Am I naive enough to believe some things wrong do not occur, of course not! But how dare you lump all cops together. How is that any better than me lumping all blacks together based on the individuals who were arrested by me for violating anothers persons safety, or stealing their property. It is a fact that 90% of my arrest were of blacks. But try not to smear my statements as a racist cop. Almost everyone I dealt with in my assigned area was black, and the crimes were black on black. The victims were never given a color code, nor were they any less thrilled when I removed the criminal who had perpurtrated the crime upon them. When the victims picked up the phone and dialed 911, they knew that I, a white cop, was coming, but they didn't care, they just wanted justice to be done. And it did. Therefore Mr. MacArthur if you wish to be considered a real journalist, stop being so blantantly biased against the police. We are the ones that allow you the protection to espouse the false allegations against all police officers. I am disgusted to be lumped with any officer that is not 100% above board. And so are the other 3000+ officers who are Baltimore Counties finest. I am proud of my career, which was unfortunately cut short by a violent offender.
ReplyDeleteJerry,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your heartfelt comments sir, and thank you for your service. When I was at the police academy nearly 20 years ago, I looked up to guys like you black and white! You sound truly like you were one of the good ones.
Sorry to hear about the premature ending of your career, it happens to the best us.
A.F. James MacArthur
God knows why "anonymous" is as angry as his comment appears to be. Anyone who knows Shamim Rana ("Mister O") will tell you that he is a kind and considerate man who is never afraid to show his emotions. Although I will say that I have never seen him angry.
ReplyDeleteWhere "Jerry" is concerned I can understand his frustration. Cops represent a pretty fair cross-section of the citizenry. There are a few schmucks among them who make life difficult for the others, and a somewhat greater proportion on the job who withdraw from any unofficial contact with the public. This, I assume is because they don't know where a conversation might be leading.
It's a difficult job, and I have known many good police who ended up sidelined by stress-related illness.
But that Thin Blue Line business does exist, and I wish good cops would not feel defensive about their co-workers who are not so good.
A few coppers in both Baltimore County and City have saved my ass on more than one occasion. And on one or two occasions, someone in a police uniform made my life miserable, for no reason other than that he'd been having a bad day.
Good work on the O's story, BTW. I hope that when the place is rebuilt, I'll see you there some time.