Crime Reports
The following crime reports are for weeks 32 and 33 of 2009, and are gleaned from our total APD Zone 6 reports, with emphasis on our Beat # 603, but with news from all over the Zone as it applies to us. These reports are not meant to scare anyone, but simply to make you aware of what happens around us everyday and to heighten your sense of alertness and help you avoid becoming another crime victim.
Aggravated Assault – This is an incident I am going to repeat the entire officer’s report. At 12:30 p.m. in the parking lot at PDL Avenue and PDL Place, the victim observed the suspect who appeared to be hiding under a delivery truck at Green’s Liquors. The victim tried to get the attention of the truck driver, but the suspect saw this gesture, came across the street and yelled “I am going to pop you”. The suspect ran at the victim with a brick, the victim ran across PDL to Greens and the suspect fled on foot on Maiden Lane.
Auto Theft – Vehicles were stolen from Amsterdam Avenue, Adair Avenue, Rosedale Road, with an unsuccessful attempt on Virginia Avenue. At both the PDL Avenue Kroger and Publix parking lots – 2 car owners left the keys in the ignition and yes, they were stolen. Elsewhere in Zone 6 scooters were stolen from a front porch and a front yard walkway.
Auto Theft Recovery – A stolen vehicle was found on Rosedale Drive.
Commercial Robbery – At 11 p.m. at the McDonald’s on Cheshire Bridge Road, the perp pointed a gun in the drive-in window and demanded money – the clerk ran (good for her!) and the perp unsuccessfully tried to open the register and fled in his car. At 8:30 a.m. on 8/6 in the parking lot of the Virginia Avenue Wachovia Bank, a Cactus Car Wash employee was tackled from behind grabbing his deposit bag – the victim fought back, but the perp escaped with $2800 in a gray Ford F150 pickup southbound on Todd Road. Wachovia Bank tells me they now have a security guard in their parking lot. Once again, I caution business folks making bank deposits to hide the bag, and vary your bank trip routines. You don’t know who is watching you!!
Commercial Burglary – A storage unit at the facility on Kanuga Street was missing contents – but no signs of forced entry.
Larceny From Auto – Vehicles were broken into on Adair Avenue, Amsterdam Avenue, Arlington Place (2), Barnett Street, Briarcliff Place (3), Frederica Street, Greenwood Avenue, Hudson Drive, Lanier Boulevard, Los Angeles Avenue (5), Maiden Lane, North Highland Avenue (4), Rosedale Drive, St. Charles Avenue, Virginia Avenue (8) and a license plate stolen from Highland Terrace. Of these 33 incidents – that’s 2.5 incidents per day! – 23 of the vehicle owners were visitors to the neighborhood, with 10 being residents. Of course, the Highland Terrace license plate theft could not have been prevented – but am pretty sure most of the others could have been avoided by simply taking out or hiding possessions.
All around Zone 6 in this two-week time period there were TWENTY GPS systems stolen, 7 license plates/stickers taken off, 6 in-dash radios ripped out, and three more hand guns added to the arsenal already on the streets!! Keep walking behind your car periodically to make sure you still have a license plate with the current sticker, and if you don’t, call 911 immediately to place a report.
Larceny Other – A patron’s camera was taken from the bar at the Dark Horse Tavern. In the PDL Avenue Kroger parking lot, the female victim was approached by the perp selling pot – she declined to purchase and he grabbed $20 from her hand and fled on foot. The PDL Avenue Blockbuster had an uncaught shoplifter. The PDL Avenue Kroger and Publix stores caught 5 shoplifters, and Green’s Liquors caught 2 nonpaying customers. The Target at Edgewood reported 4 shoplifting cases. At 9:15 a.m. a Fairview Road female pedestrian had her purse snatched while walking on PDL Avenue – the perp fled on foot. Around all of Zone 6 six more a/c units were stolen, which means there are still places to sell stolen copper parts.
Pedestrian Robbery – On St. Charles Avenue at 11:50 p.m. three young females and one male were robbed at gunpoint. The perp who only got $7 from them fled in a car, and was later arrested in Zone 3. A landscaper on Springdale Road fought with a perp stealing equipment from his truck – the perp escaped and fled in a car.
Residential Burglary – An Amsterdam Avenue tool shed was broken into. All around Zone 6 in this time period 9 residences were entered via kicked-in doors!
Now that area colleges are back in session, Officer Joe Head, of our VaHi security patrol, warns of increased pedestrian revelers in the bar districts, and to be VERY aware of your surroundings as you take an evening walk with or without a dog, and to not have an music device in your ear to block out noises around you, or be wrapped up in a cell phone conversation.
There are three of us VaHi residents enrolled in Citizen’s Police Academy – I hope to learn more about the workings of APD to further enhance my duties as public safety chair. We’ll be in these classes every Tuesday evening for the next 11 weeks.
Be alert and stay safe!!