Crime Reports
Now – on to the crime stat reports from our Zone 6, with emphasis on our Beat # 603, but with news from all over the Zone as it applies to us. As always, these reports are not meant to scare anyone – but to raise your alertness level as to what happens around us everyday so you can alter your activities to avoid being a victim. These reports are for weeks # 34 and 35 of 2009.
Aggravated Assault – On 8/22 at 10:15 p.m. 3 diners left El Azteca on PDL Avenue without paying – an employee chased after them as they got into their car, and the employee victim was bumped by their moving car and suffered arm abrasions. The non-payers escaped. There was a tremendous amount of e-mail alerts concerning the 8/23 Greenwood Avenue assault involving a female victim who had fallen asleep on her open front porch and the subsequent attack by an unidentified b/m. The victims took her to Emory Hospital the next day for treatment of facial bruises and that was when APD was notified of the incident. Since there was such a delay in reporting I doubt if the attacker will be caught. On 8/24 on North Avenue at 5 p.m. a dog walker was stopped by a b/m in a vehicle to ask a question – the pedestrian victim walked to the car at which time the driver hit him with the car, the victim held on to the car door handle and was dragged along the street. The perp escaped.
Auto Theft – Vehicles were stolen from PDL Terrace and from St. Charles Avenue.
Commercial Burglary – Three units were entered at the storage facility on Monroe Drive in Piedmont Heights, and one unit was entered at the storage facility on Kanuga Street with no signs of forced entry.
Residential Burglary – A condo unit on Rosedale Drive was entered with no signs of forced entry – but the spare key kept under the front door mat was missing. Please warn your neighbors that we don’t live in Mayberry, and of all places to hide a spare key – under the door mat is not the right place!! All around Zone 6 in this time period – entry was made to 8 residences via a kicked-in door. And another entry was made through a doggie door!! Is the convenience of a pet door really worth the risk??
Larceny from Vehicle – This is the crime category that keeps our beat officers overburdened with service calls. Vehicles were broken into on Barnett Street, Briarcliff Road, Drewry Street (2), Frederica Street, Lanier Boulevard, Los Angeles Avenue (3), North Highland Avenue (3), St. Charles Avenue (4), Vance Avenue, Virginia Avenue (2), PDL Avenue (2), Park Drive, PDL Place, Maiden Lane and Rosedale Drive. One of the St. Charles Avenue perps was caught by a suspicious person 911 call! Of these 25 incidents – 16 of the owner victims were from outside our neighborhood.
Keep warning your visitors of the dangers of leaving visible items in their cars!! And, yes, mundane items will be stolen also – the Briarcliff Road incident listed toilet paper as one of the stolen items. The most blatant Zone 6 incident was the theft of a radio phone from a fire truck parked in front of AFR Station # 29 on Monroe Drive!! Two more liquor trucks were robbed of goods on Monroe Drive and Krog Street. Bar and restaurant owners warn your delivery folks to keep their trucks locked while making delivery stops. All around Zone 6 in this time period 5 license plates were taken off, twenty-one GPS systems were taken, 5 in-dash stereo/radio systems were ripped out and another hand-gun was added to the arsenal on the streets.
Larceny Other – UPS delivery packages were stolen from Virginia and Seminole Avenues. Remember to have your intended UPS and FedEx deliveries made to the safe address of Intown Hardware on North Highland Avenue. Stop by the store for details. At Urban Outfitters on PDL Avenue – 3 males entered the store – two wearing female clothing, one left and the other two grabbed merchandise and fled in the waiting vehicle. A PDL Kroger shopper was pickpocketed and lost his billfold. Green’s Liquors caught a shoplifter with beer under his shirt. At the Edgewood Retail District Office Depot – a bolt cutter was used to free three laptops from a counter display. Our PDL Avenue Kroger and Publix stores caught 4 shoplifters and the Edgewood Target caught 2 non-paying customers.
Pedestrian Robbery – On 8/17 two neighborhood males were held up at gunpoint at 10:25 p.m. – they had no money so the perp hit one victim on the head, then dropped his gun which discharged, and escaped in his vehicle. On 8/20 an out-of-towner flagged down a cab at the Marriot Marquis downtown to take him to the Westin Hotel – when he finally figured out the cabbie was not taking him to the Westin, he asked why – at that time the cabbie turned around with a drawn handgun and demanded his money. The victim complied and jumped out on Briarcliff Place at 11:30 p.m. losing $700 in cash. That’s a Brownsville, Texas, resident that will never return to Atlanta! On 8/29 at 7:30 p.m. yet another Woodland Avenue resident was robbed at gunpoint while exiting his car.
This next incident report is another which possibly could have been prevented by simply hiding deposit bags on your person when going to the bank. On 8/28 at 10:50 a.m. there were two separate incidents in the parking lot of the Wachovia Bank on Virginia Avenue. A female victim had her deposit bag taken, but a male victim held on to his bag, reaching into his pocket as if pulling out a weapon and the perp fled to a get-away vehicle. The vehicle quite obviously had a stolen tag as the tag did not match to the vehicle description.
Hide your deposit bag under your clothing before leaving your business – don’t let the world know you have ready cash all neatly bundled up in an identifiable bank bag. Our beat # 603 officers report that a large percentage of business depositors are sitting ducks with deposit bags openly visible as they walk to the bank door!!
Be alert and be safe
John