Safety Team Report 5/1/09

Safety Team Street Captain Meeting

All Street Captains and interested neighbors are urged to attend this informative session on Saturday morning May 9th at 9 in the community meeting room at the Ponce library. Please come a few minutes early, using the back door via the parking lot, and get your pin on the neighborhood map for your street. Join us to discuss how we can collectively enhance our quality of life by reducing crime and promoting community neighborliness. We have to be out of the room at 11, so we will start promptly at 9. Be an active part of the Safety Team and help to make a difference in VaHi.

The Safety Team Distribution List

I keep getting a lot of requests to be added to this ever-growing list, and I am grateful for this. What I do ask, though, is that added names be willing to take on the responsibility of a Street Captain, connect with your neighbors and pass on this report to them. This enhances my theory of crime prevention, in that folks who know each other look out for each other, Granted, I could have a list of several thousand names – but these folks would still be strangers to each other. Being a Street Captain is not meant to be any sort of a huge time consuming job and is a win-win for all involved.

Neighborhood Cleanups

The regular monthly cleanup session will be this Saturday morning – meet at 9 in the parking lot of Intown Hardware for a couple of hours of worthwhile exercise on North Highland Avenue. Saturday morning, May 16th at 9 is the time set for a cleanup of the new parkland at St. Charles Place at North Highland. Both of these events give you the chance to show your pride for this place we call home.

Summerfest

Go to the neighborhood website at www.vahi.org , click on Summerfest to view the plans for this year and sign up for your volunteer time slot on this fun-filled weekend.

APD Thank You Notes

Attached to this VaHi Report is the current Midtown Safety Report which details the events of a recent Charles Allen Drive arrest. Please consider commending Officer Michael R. Carter (Badge # 4185) for this arrest by going to www.atlantapd.org and use the “Commend an Officer” section to express your thanks. In fact, use this system any time you want to make sure an officer receives recognition for a job well done. In spite of all the city budget problems – we have a wonderful group of folks looking out for our common safety.

Crime reports from APD

The following crime incidents are gleaned from the APD Zone 6 statistic reports, with emphasis on our Beat # 603, but with news from all around the Zone as it pertains to us. This report covers weeks # 16 and 17 of 2009. Read this with an eye as to how you can avoid becoming a victim and become more alert to your surroundings.

• Aggravated Assault – On 4/21 at 2:30 p.m. a b/m attempted to rob a victim who was sitting in his car in a Woodland Avenue parking lot – but his gun failed to fire and he fled on foot. The 4/19 three a.m. Taco Mac incident that was reported in my last report is in this category. The perp entered the business demanding money – the alert armed manager shot the perp and he fled in a stolen vehicle from Frederica Street, which he crashed on Highland View and escaped on foot. I have not heard of an arrest yet.
• Auto Theft – A vehicle was stolen from Virginia Avenue. Elsewhere – two Proof of the Pudding catering trucks were stolen from their parking lot on Monroe Drive. Cars with keys in the ignition or door were stolen on Piedmont Road and Chantilly Drive. This is an interesting story from Inman Park – on Waddell Street the victim honked his horn at skateboarders and they in turn cursed and spat on his car. The victim stopped his car, confronted the skateboarders and a fight ensued – the victim and his friend got golf clubs out of the trunk and in the meantime – one of the skaters jumped in the car and sped off, hitting another vehicle at Druid Circle and Dixie Street – the car was recovered on Old Wheat Street with the keys still in the ignition and the engine running. You decide what the moral to this story is.
• Auto Theft Recovery – A suspicious persons 911 call on Rockledge Road resulted in a stolen car recovered and one arrest. The license plate scanner in a patrol car on Moreland Avenue detected a stolen car with two arrests made after a foot chase.
• Commercial Burglary – A witness saw a perp breaking a rear window at Fontaines on North Highland Avenue. Pura Vida on North Highland Avenue in Poncey Highland was entered via a damaged front door. The Taqueria del Sol on Cheshire Bridge Road was entered thru a smashed front glass door, and Urban Body was entered thru a pushed in window.
• Larceny From Auto – Smash and grabs were reported on Amsterdam Walk, Frederica Street (2), PDL Avenue, Arlington Place, Greenwood Avenue, Los Angeles Avenue, Monroe Drive, North Highland Avenue, and PDL Place. Of these 10 reported incidents – 7 of the owners were from outside of VaHi. Please remind your visitors of the Clean Car Campaign to make sure their VaHi visit is not marred by a smash and grab. An arrest was made on Virginia Circle due to a suspicious person 911 call – the arrestee had been looking into cars along this street. All around Zone 6 in this time period there were TWENTY GPS systems stolen, 7 license plates taken off, 4 in-dash radios ripped out and 3 more handguns were added to the arsenal on the streets. Keep walking behind your car to make sure you still have a license plate.
• Larceny Other – The Eros Tapas Bar on Monroe Drive lost a lot of food when padlocks were cut on outside storage bins. A cellphone was stolen from an Amsterdam Walk bar patron. A package was taken from a Drewry Street front porch. A bike seat was taken from a bike parked in front of the PDL Publix – the perp was caught and arrested. The Ansley Blockbuster had a shoplifter. An MJQ Club patron on PDL Avenue lost items from her unwatched purse. A Briarcliff Road resident lost credit cards, and a Drewry Street resident lost her wallet from her purse in the choir room at St. Phillip’s Cathedral in Buckhead – no, nothing is sacred anymore. This story I really hate to hear – a 75 y/o/f victim on University Drive let 3 suspects who claimed they were from the water department into her home to check her system – after they left a watch and $1000 in cash was missing. Please, please, if you have elderly neighbors – make sure they understand not to let unknown persons into their home!! The Target store at Edgewood caught 5 shoplifters as well as an employee who took a gift card from another store, activated it and got caught using it.
• Pedestrian Robbery – On 4/25 at 12:30 a.m. two female Virginia Avenue residents were robbed at gunpoint in the 800 block of Virginia by a b/m and b/f who fled in a white vehicle. I had not been notified as to this scary incident – so do not know any other details. I hope the victims were not harmed.
• Residential Burglary – A Bonaventure Avenue residence was entered via a smashed window. On St. Charles Avenue, entry was made thru a smashed basement window at 2:40 a.m. – the victims who were at home, confronted the intruder and he fled. South of here, on Faith Avenue, S.E., entry was made into a residence by removing a window a/c unit. If you know of folks who have window a/c units – make sure they have the units bolted into the window frame so they cannot be easily removed. All around Zone 6 in this time period, entry into residences was made via kicked-in doors 12 times.

Be alert and stay safe!!

John