Crime reports

The Urban Body Burglaries

As I reported in the last Report, Donald Rayfield was arrested on 6/17 for the many, many repeated break-ins at the Urban Body buildings on PDL Place. Since then, I have heard from Sharla Jackson, our Community Prosecutor, that his case was indicted on 6/23 with charges of criminal attempt burglary, loitering and prowling. No court date as of yet – but I will keep you apprised when there will be an opportunity for a Court Watch session.

Crime reports from APD

The following report is based on the crime stats from Zone 6 for our Beat # 603 for weeks 24 and 25 of 2009 along with news from around the Zone as it pertains to us. Once again, let me remind you that this is not meant to scare anyone – just to make you alert and aware of what happens around us every day.

• Aggravated Assault – On 6/10 at 7:30 p.m. a St. Louis Place resident saw a w/m sleeping in the new parkland and asked him to leave. The napper walked off but returned with a brick and made threatening gestures. He was apprehended by police. On 6/14 at 6:30 p.m. on I-85 near Buford Highway in the northbound lanes, shots were fired from a passing vehicle into another vehicle and struck one of the out-of-town occupants in the upper body. The police report was filed at Piedmont Hospital and did not mention as to whether this was a road rage incident.
• Auto Theft – Vehicles were stolen from Amsterdam Avenue, Arlington Place and St. Charles Avenue. The Arlington Place stolen vehicle was illegally parked in a resident only space, and no, it was not towed.
• Commercial Burglary – The final two break-ins at Urban Body were reported on 6/16 and 6/17 leading to the arrest of the homeless w/m Donald Rayfield. Dugan’s Bar on PDL Avenue was broken into on 6/11 by breaking a hole in the rear wall of the building, and yes, a flat screen tv was taken.
• Larceny from Auto – Vehicles were broken into on Virginia Avenue, Briarcliff Place and North Highland Avenue (2). Of these 4 reported incidents – all of the owners were from outside of the neighborhood. If you are in the hospitality business – please remind your patrons to clean out their cars before enjoying an evening in our neighborhood. Let’s continue to collectively eliminate the “bait for the rats”. Other Zone 6 communities were not as lucky as we were in that in this 2 week period there were eleven GPS systems taken out, 4 license plates taken off (including a state vehicle on Cheshire Bridge Road), 5 in-dash radios ripped out and one handgun added to the arsenal on the streets, as well as countless I-pods, cameras, cell phones, wallets, etc. In a restaurant parking lot in East Atlanta an unsecured delivery truck lost 3 cases of vodka. Another case of a cut-off catalytic converter was also reported.
• Larceny Other – At the Chevron store at Virginia and North Highland a bottle of wine was taken by a bicycle riding thief – he was chased by a store staffer and was caught by an alert patrolling officer. (Rajesh – were you the chaser?) Another copper theft from a rooftop a/c unit on Moreland Avenue, as well as two separate residential a/c unit thefts elsewhere in the Zone. Scrap metal prices are rising again and so are the copper thefts. Yet another wallet stolen from an Edgewood Kroger shopper. No reports of FedEx/UPS deliveries being stolen – are you using Intown Hardware as your delivery address?
• Residential Burglary – A North Highland Avenue apartment was entered via a kicked-in door, and a Virginia Avenue apartment was robbed with no signs of forced entry – though the sliding glass was open when the resident arrived home. All over Zone 6 in this 2 week period, entry was made via kicked-in doors twelve times and entry was made two times by removing window a/c units.
• Pedestrian Robbery – In a Piedmont Avenue parking lot on 6/17 at 5 a.m. – three victims were robbed at gunpoint, with the initial victim locked in the trunk of his vehicle.

Be Alert and be Safe!!