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Keep your eyes open for suspicious behavior
A reader writes in with some bad news:
My house was broken into during mid-day on Thursday. They leaped over my fence, kicked in my back door despite being face to face with two pit bulls. They found the dog food and dumped it on the back porch to try and distract my dogs. They then spent quiet a bit of time in my home rummaging. They stole electronics, DVD’s, digital, film and video cameras, as well as videos of my children from birth. They stole piggy banks and also quiet a bit of food…non-perishables as well as 2 lbs of frozen meat, 18 eggs and a carton of OJ.
The crime map shows B&Es at 1900 E Franklin St, 2512 E Grace St, 3109 E Broad St, 1523 Oakwood Ave, 2031 Jennie Scher Road, 2001 Venable St, 1321 Mechanicsville Tpke, 2513 Rosetta St, and 2101 Fairmount Ave over the past month. In addition, I have heard anecdotally of at least one more incident that does not appear to be listed. This seems a much higher than usual rate usual — has anyone heard anything?
No, haven’t heard anything so far. Where did the incident headlined here (mid-day, with two pit bulls) take place?
I live right behind one of the addresses listed on your list, and had not heard about it. So much for neighborhood watch, at least in my block…
1523 Oakwood was my fault, I made the mistake of mowing the grass there in full view of the neighborhood on a weekend day using both a lawnmower/ weedwacker and then installing a brand new shiny padlock on the previously unlocked shed before I left.
In hindsight, I might as well have painted a bullseye on my shed.
First off, my condolences about your being victimized. It’s never a good thing.
I would point out, though, that a few burglaries within a small time frame does not necessarily mean anything but a few random burglaries during a short time period. It would really be too early to tell if this is a trend or not and it would be really ridiculous (and untruthful) for anyone to say otherwise.
Also, for the record, burglaries are as likely to or even more likely to occur during the day/morning compared to at night (or on Sundays…i.e. people away at church) and to homes that are not hardened. The unfortunate thing is they tricked your dogs.
Most burglars are opportunists who can move quite quickly in and out of a home.
Again, I am sorry to hear about your victimization.
I’m surprised they hit your place, given the dogs….. I’ve lived in the city for 20 years and have never heard of a house with pit bulls being burglarized before – dogs are typically by far the best “alarm” you can have.
Sorry this happened!
to the person above, the account of the burglary and the comments below are not both from the same person. one is from the owner of the blog, the other not.
thanks. it does make me feel a tad better knowing that this was random and they we weren’t the only ones. the cops said we were and that the only house that had been hit recently was a vacant property. strange…but clearly not true.
the cops were a bit suspicious thinking it was someone who knew my dogs…but i think someone who knew my dogs would know that dumping food on the back porch was no deterrent for my dogs. they are free fed so that would have been of no use.
the cops were confused they hit our home with the dogs and the fact we didn’t, until last night, have blinds on the back windows, so he was literally, through the glass face to face with them.
thanks for all the condolences. i can guarantee our alarm will be on at all times from here on out.
it saddens me, but doesn’t surprise me that crime is increasing (so it seems, but clearly isn’t indicative of a pattern yet, as a poster said.
stealing the food tells me this person was clearly desperate.
and the fact that they stole a breast pump tells me they weren’t clear on what they were stealing.
To “t…” Please, don’t for one second have any sense of pity “stealing the food tells me this person was desperate” for the perps who invaded your home and robbed your family.
Thieves are thieves, NO MATTER WHAT they take. Stealing food and liquor from the pantry is quite common in home invasions, especially when the criminals think they’ve got time to hang out for a while.
But believe me, they broke into your home not to steal food, but simply TO STEAL. Whatever you had in your home became fair game. They obviously had the energy and hands to keep grabbing for foodstuffs once they’d found your fence-able electronics and jewelry.
Please DON”T FEEL SORRY FOR THEM or think of them as “desperate”. They’re thieving, lazy, scumbags who deserve NO PITY.
Crooks are just as stupid as they are opportunistic. They often unwittingly grab things that in reality have zero street value (your family videos, for instance). It’s not ’til later they realize some of what they stole can’t bring cash.
Your family videos are now in a super can somewhere. Isn’t that deplorable? It’s impossible for me to have any empathy (“they must have been desperate”) for the good-for-nothing jerk-offs who violated the peace and sanctity of your home.
Unfortunately, being a victim of crime seems to be a right of passage for Church Hill Residents in general.
That doesn’t mean we can’t be angry as well as vigilant. It also means we have to live in such a way as to “expect” to be robbed and constantly be on the look out for suspicious persons. I don’t like living this way, but I don’t want to move. So I put up with it.
I have friends who used to steal food all the time…and sell/trade it for drugs. Stuff is stuff.
I’m happy they didn’t take your dogs too. Think about That!
It almost makes me feel like I’m better off leaving my d@mned door wide open so they think I’m home.
Seriously? Forget the alarm system. I’m getting a gun. Come to my house and I’m shooting first and asking questions later.
Several summers ago (maybe 3? I forget), someone was breaking into homes all over this area during daylight hours in Union Hill, St. John’s O&H, Church Hill North O&H…and staying long enough in some cases to eat stuff, then steal more food plus liquor and electronics. As memory serves me, the cops finally (after there had been at least a dozen cases) caught the guy. I hope that character isn’t freshly out of jail and repeating himself.
Really sorry for your loss, several friends were hit that summer and I know how absolutely violated they felt.
I agree totally with CapitalGal in #7, no sympathy for the creeps who did that, and that they didn’t know what they were taking until they got away and looked at it.
CRD – That was the summer of 2006. We had ~60 B&E’s in 2 months. CHPN had a few posts about it at the time: [1] [2] [3]
your right. i shouldn’t feel bad for them and today i’m just angry. and i don’t like feeling unsafe…but i do. i hate leaving my house for fear it may happen again.
i’m just ready for this feeling to subside.
Thanks, John, for the links. Had forgotten how bad it was that summer. I hope it doesn’t get that bad again this time.
There was a lot of back and forth about neighborhood watch organizing, don’t know what actually happened with that. Did anyone actually get organized?
t… #12. Sounds like you are having normal reactions if you’re angry. Feeling unsafe will eventually subside, time will help. Sorry you are going through this. Try spending some time with friends, that might help too. Take care of yourself.
I say “Shoot first, ask questions later” but here’s the reality of what happens when you shoot someone robbing your house: YOU become the criminal!
http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=11291764&nav=menu28_2
That what you get when you shoot an unarmed person who is breaking into your shed, yes. There is ongoing discussion of that event over on North Richmond News.
It goes back again to this story:
http://chpn.net/news/2009/04/22/shooting-at-21st-and-leigh_5556/
Same situation. You can’t use deadly force against someone for merely taking property. You have to be bodily threatened. Which I personally think is BS but there it is. I believe the Baskin Robbins shooting was prosecuted the same way too.
I have lived in Union Hill for coming up on 6 years now and there has not been a Summer/Fall that has gone by that something hasn’t been stolen from my property. As of yet, thank God, no one has actually broken into my house but the thieves have repeatedly come into my yard and stolen a lawnmower, mosquito magnet, various tools from my shed, a potted plant on my front porch, the American flag hanging on my front porch, 2 of my cars have been vandalized and the legs off my newest grill have been broken off (this one I chained down so it wouldn’t be stolen…I guess that just pissed them off so they broke the legs). Most, if not all, of this was done in broad daylight! Who do the residents in this area have to live with this crap year after year? I hear so often that “this is the time of year the natives get restless.” If this time of year does bring more theft, then perhaps a greater police presence is needed and everyone living in these areas should be more inclined to call the police when they see something…ANYTHING..that looks out of the ordinary. My partner and I have put up with this for almost 6 years and have recently thought that, perhaps, our time in Union Hill should come to an end. We love the area, our neighbors and friends up here but we do NOT love the property crime that riddles our area yearly. We don’t want to move but we may be forced to given the circumstances…
I feel sorry for anyone who’s a victim of crime. It’s an awful feeling, I was robbed at gunpoint when I first moved to church hill.
My house has security lights on at night, bars on my windows, security system, and a dog.
Some of my neighbors have complained about the security bars lately, but they’re staying in place. They have also laughed at my security lights at night, however, it makes me feel safe.
I do have to admit, it has crossed my mind more than once to move to the west-end. I have friends who live near U/R and they never have crime. It seems like a great place to live, but very stuffy.
My house has never been broken into partly b/c I work from home, and the bars I think are a deterrent. The element never knows when I might return.
However, it still doesn’t mean it can’t happen to me.
I can understand the feeling of constantly looking over your shoulder.
My life will never be the same after seeing a gun in my face.
View,
I was robbed at gunpoint once in the Fan and it did change my life quite a bit. I am much more aware of what’s going on around me (most of the time anyway).
On another note, I would rather stick white hot pokers in my eyes before I would move to the West End. Stuffy isn’t quite the word for that mess out there.
I believe if we and our neighbors were more aware of what’s going on in the area and more observant, then the crime would go down a bit… A note on the grill that was stolen above…The neighbor across the street was sitting on his front porch and saw what happened in my yard. A truck came down the road, parked around the corner, and 2 men walked around and into my yard. They wheeled the HUGE stainless steel grill through the yard, lifted it over the fence (yes, it was so big they would have had to lift it over the fence as that’s how I had to get it into the yard) down the street and left. A few weeks later as I was washing my car, the neighbor walked over and asked me if I had something stolen. He told me he watched them take it! When I asked him why he didn’t call the police…his response was (get this): “I thought you had given it to them”!!! WTF? Yeah, I give away $1000 stainless steel gas grills all the time. Thank God the ass hole moved away…
SEW,
I love your note on the west end, lol. I hate it out there actually, and being gay would be hard living there in my opinion.
However, I do have to admit when visitng my friends, I feel a lot safer.
Sorry about your grill, but it doesn’t surprise me (what your neighbor said).
My house could be broken into tonight or tomorrow, but I haven’t had that problem yet.
I do live across from Chimborazo park, and the police sit over there a lot during the day.
One of my neighbors also works from home, and is in and out all during the day.
Honestly, I worry more about home invasions than I do being broken into when I’m not home.
My definition of what is suspicious has broadened since this last rash of daytime break-ins. If you see a guy carrying something that generally you wouldnt see a guy carrying- get a good description and call 911.
To SEW about your #20 post, you basically just put up an argument against your statement, “I believe if we and our neighbors were more aware of what’s going on in the area and more observant, then the crime would go down a bit…” by telling a story about how your neighbor WATCHED this go down in front of him, but didn’t call the cops.
Not to bash CH neighbors, but this is frustrating and doesnt make you feel good about what could happen when you’re home or gone out of town. Our house was robbed in really early morning (my bf was out of town), and our neighbors did not call the cops. We arent in Pleasantville where someone is always going to watch your back or look after your place.
Perhaps I’m a bit too cynical, but after hearing stories like this and our own house robbery, its just so naive to think (and expect) that people will report anything to the cops in the area.
I’m sure some people do, and we always tell our neighbors when we’re going out of town, which I think just makes us feel better. However, we’re just basically relying on others to take action if something does happen to our house again.
I’m pretty much seen most people including myself be complacent and say, “Eh yeah, but its the city, all of us have been robbed/mugged at some point, it’s Richmond, whatdya gonna do?”
That’s when my friends/family out of town, just tell me, “No, wtf are you doing living there? You need to move.”
Lastly, you just cant rely on someone to just “watch” out for crimes in the area, especially if they’re at odd hours.
I live at 2512 E Grace – we were robbed 3 times in a 2 week span in October. Both of our cars were also stolen and taken for joy rides until they 1) ran out of gas and 2) towed for being illegally parked. We were home every time, sleeping upstairs. We have 2 large dogs too…
We’re told the suspects are already in jail for something unrelated and they do not have enough evidence against them for our break ins at this time. We have a lot more security in place now, but I still feel unsafe.
@ #20- I share your concern, I also worry more about home invasions than I do being broken into when I’m not home. I managed to live on 27th between Franklin and Grace for 3 years with nothing happening- there were times I blithely left windows open and once or twice, went to work with the back door open! All that ever happened was I had a ladder stolen, and we had a scare when my neighbor and friend nearly had her back door kicked in while she was home alone. But I felt “safe” there.
Now I live across from Chimborazo Park. There are loud dogs downstairs, but I’m starting to think it’s only a matter of time until something happens. The police do cruise by intermittently, but they’re no match for someone on foot with evil intentions. I want to see FEET ON THE STREET. I want to see cops walking a beat. I want to see bicycle police. What they’re doing is obviously not effective.
The worst thing about crime, besides the crime itself, is that is changes how you live and think about people. You don’t walk after certain hours, you stay away from certain blocks, you live as a prisoner in your own home, you don’t trust strangers, etc. It is a hidden cost that we all pay whether we are direct victims of crime or not. Crime is one of the many reasons people do not live in the city, come to the city or give up and leave the city.