VaHi Safety Team Report: June 2, 2014
By: John Wolfinger
Summerfest!!
I would think that everyone in VaHi knows that this weekend, June 6, 7 and 8 is our annual neighborhood celebration of summer – but this serves to notify anyone who is not aware. This weekend also serves as a great chance to get to know more of your neighbors by volunteering for a job spot – go to www.vahi.org/summerfest/volunteers if you have not already signed up. This also includes all of our neighborhood renters – you are as much a part of our community as homeowners, and you need to know your neighbors also.
Traffic Sign Visibility
Thanks to the ever diligent Mary Stouffer for bringing up this subject of low tree branches and new shrubbery growth that may be obscuring traffic signs. Now that we have leaves on the branches, signs that were visible in the winter are now covered with foliage. Please check your block and if you have such a situation, get your trimmers/pruners out and cut back the offending foliage for the safety of all. If you spot signs, traffic lights hidden by branches that are too high to reach – then send an e-mail with a picture to [email protected] along with a reinforcement report to PEDS at http://peds.org/get_involved/report-pedestrian-hazards/.
The following reports are taken from the APD Zone 6 (http://atlantapd.org/Zone6.aspx) VaHi Beat 601 reported incidents for the 2014 weeks 18, 19 and 20 (4/27 – 5/17). These reports are not meant to scare anyone, but to raise your level of alertness as to what happens around us everyday.
Aggravated Assault: No reported incidents from Beat 601.
Auto Theft: No reported incidents from Beat 601.
Commercial Burglary: No reported incidents from Beat 601.
Residential Burglary: No reported incidents from Beat 601.
Commercial Robbery: No reported incidents from Beat 601.
Residential Robbery: No reported incidents from Beat 601.
Pedestrian Robbery: No reported incidents from Beat 601. However, nearby there were a couple of incidents to note and learn from. On Boulevard, a car stopped at a red light with the windows rolled down, was approached on the passenger side by two males, one pointing a semi-automatic handgun at the driver, who took his cell phone and wallet that held $904 in cash. Then, at a Memorial Drive gas station, the suspect reached into the car while the driver was pumping gas and grabbed her purse – she fought back, but he still grabbed $250 in cash from the purse before he fled. Also – cell phones are still being grabbed from unsuspecting pedestrians around the Zone.
Larceny From Vehicle: North Highland Avenue (laptop and backpack), Maiden Lane (laptop, headphones, saddlebag), North Highland Avenue ($1293 in cash, 4 pair of Air Jordans, car keys, backpack, tablet and laptop – this thief really hit the jackpot!), North Highland Avenue (book bag, clothing, I-Pod, tablet and laptop), North Highland Avenue (nothing reported being taken), North Highland Avenue (prescription meds), St. Charles Avenue (backpack, overnight bag and pocket knife), Maiden Lane (camera and gym bag), Los Angeles Avenue (book bag), Frederica Street (catalytic converter), North Highland Avenue (2 purses and contents), Maiden Lane (camera, suitcase), Lanier Boulevard ( gym bag), Greenwood Avenue (backpack), Maiden Lane (laptop), Lanier Boulevard (nothing reported being taken), Maiden Lane (purse and contents), St. Charles Avenue (bags and camera), Virginia Avenue (bags and clothes). Also reported was the theft from the liquor delivery truck behind the post office that I posted the security camera film footage on the last report. This was 21 reported incidents for just our neighborhood in 3 weeks!
All over the Zone in this time period there were 130 such reported incidents and goodness knows as to how many that were not reported. All around the Zone – there were 29 laptops, tablets and I-Pads taken, along with 6 firearms to be added to the arsenal already on the streets. Also – for the first time in some time – there were 4 reported thefts of catalytic converters in all of the Zone. There must be a platinum buyer back in town again!
Larceny Other: On St. Charles Avenue a male ran up to a female seated on the ground counting her money and grabbed her $80. On Rosewood Drive, a trailer with lawn equipment was stolen. Please tell your lawn guy to lock his trailer at the hitch, as well as chaining and locking all of his equipment – those locks and chains are far less expensive than losing all of his equipment. At the Inman School, a purse locked in a classroom cabinet had the wallet taken out of it and a juvenile was arrested. A bicycle (evidently not locked) was taken from the front of the PDL Avenue library. A cell phone and personal information (which resulted in fraudulent accounts set up) was taken from a Greenwood Avenue apartment.
Nearby, a pickpocket was reported at the PDL Avenue Publix store and a victim left her purse in a dressing room at an Edgewood Retail District store and when she returned – (you guessed right) it was gone.
I hope that everyone enjoys a safe Summerfest weekend. Remember, there are going to be thousands of visitors here, so remember to lock ALL doors and windows while you are out of your residence. And – if you see visitors leaving stealables visible in their parked cars – remind them of the Clean Car Campaign.