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NEIGHBORHOOD BREAK-INS Document: "Tips to reduce the chance of burglary" Reports From :
Please note that several home break-ins have occurred in our neighborhood in the past week. I understand some of the break-ins are specifically into homes whose owners are on vacation. I came home from the Sunday concert in Fred Fletcher park to be told that a "very clean cut young black man" had been sitting on my porch and then wandering up and down Wills Forest St. Two neighbors approached him to inquire if he was looking for someone, and he said he was looking for "Chris" and that his name was "Cameron". He pointed to my car and said that was Chris' mom's car. A young man of similar description was biking back and forth on Wills Forest and Hinsdale streets this morning. Each time he "seemed" to be looking all around as if surveying the homes. I called a friend who is a police officer for the downtown area and was told that there is an undercover operation currently underway in our neighborhood, as well as Cameron Park due to increased break-ins. Two unmarked cars are patrolling these neighborhoods looking for unusual behavior. Please keep a vigilant eye and take precautions, such as not leaving items in your cars, on your porches, or in view of the front door or windows. Please report any unusual behavior. - Jen Almekinder FYI!!! There were two more break-ins on Gaston St. One was while the people were out one evening. They made out with most of their electronics. The other was while the family was out of town. Unfortunately, the later was really bad, they made out with almost EVERYTHING! They cut off the electricity to the house and made off with jewelry, china, silver, they even tried to take the rugs! If you have an alarm, don't forget to use it.
After reading your update on the website I do have something to share that I saw in our neighborhood about 1 week ago. Two young men on BMX-type bikes hanging around on the corner of Washington and Filmore. As I drove past I thought, "That's odd, I have never seen them before in the neighborhood. I wonder what they are waiting for?" I had this weird feeling in my gut that I didn't want them to see where I lived, so I drove around the block, to find they had rode past my house and were now at the corner of Filmore and Adams St. It just seemed odd to me to see the young men/boys there at that time of the day (after 5pm). There is an alternative high school on Washington street, but usually the kids are trying to skip school and get out of the neighborhood, not "hanging" around. The boys looked a bit old to be on the bikes, but were wearing baggy pants (in the summer) and baseball hats turned backwards they were both African-American. Just wanted to let you know - if I see them or anyone else suspicious I'll keep you posted. - Jennifer Straw
- Captain Poteat 7-29-03 Thanks for the good advice to the neighborhood. We have put extra patrols in the area but still are counting on someone seeing a suspicious person and calling it in. Anyone sitting on a neighbor's porch who does not live there or a bicyclist riding through an area again and again are all reason to call us a 9-1-1. Give us a very detailed description and we'll come out and investigate. You can do this without giving your name if you wish. You have the eyes and ears we need to aid us in finding these thieves.
- Rod Brooks
The heist occurred at 12:42 p.m. inside Robert's Florist at 714 W. Peace St . No customers were inside the business during the robbery, said Raleigh police Lt. D.W. Salmon. A man wearing a light blue Nike T-shirt and khaki shorts walked into the florist and asked the attendant for flowers, police reported. "Then he said he was sorry, but it was a robbery," Salmon said. The suspect, believed to be about 30 years old, implied he had a weapon. He was last seen fleeing on foot toward Gaston Street.
- Phil Poe
Thanks, Andy 919-878-8747 -----Original Message----- After my break-in last week I shopped around for a Andy Felton came by and set me up with a wireless Andy was extremely helpful and honest. These guys Contact: Christina- A friend of mine in Cameron Park said they have also been the target of many Anyhow, just sharing. Hopefully the police will have this solved soon. We Cynthia
It's reported that on Tuesday, July 29th between 7-11 PM, the house at 503 Jefferson street was burglarized. -Mike Ruck For our neighbors who don't know us, we live at 1104 Glenwood. Today, Wednesday July 30, my wife LeAnne and I both had trouble with our housekeys while unlocking our back door lock this afternoon. Normally the keys slide in & out of the bottom lock smoothly, since the locks (there is a deadbolt also) are fairly new. Today, however, the keys seemed to "catch" somewhat in the bottom lock, as if they didn't "fit" exactly. The lock is still functional and apparently secure (the deadbolt wasn't apparently affected, if it was also tampered with), but with the rash of burglaries lately, we wonder if someone tried to tamper with the lock and get in. If so, it was probably in the afternoon, between 1-4pm, since I didn't notice the problem while I came home for lunch, but LeAnne did notice it when she used the lock at around 4:00pm. Just a heads up to everyone to remain vigilant about suspicious activities in our neighborhood, especially during the day. August 03 Another Break-in
-Catherine and John Mennear From Thomas Morris Some points I discovered from my break-in. I think it happened during the recent week, not the week before. * It was a daytime job. None of the interior lights were on. With increasing frequency, I have been seeing a man in our neighborhood - mostly on Glenwood - who at a glance looks remarkably like Barry Sanders of the N&O. This man sometimes wears a suit (yet always untidy) and usually a hat (he has a variety of styles) but is sometimes more casual. More frequently than not, he appears intoxicated. I used to see him often on Hillsborough, then I began to see him in Cameron village, next he began to appear along St. Marys and Washington St., and more recently I have been seeing him walking on Glenwood. I usually see him when in my car and would avoid him if on foot, therefore I have never heard him speak and have no sense of his accent. Could this be the same man? Mary Freeman Can you pass this on to everyone...My roommate Mandy saw the guy that someone else described on our street yesterday morning around 9am...she watched and followed him and he was going up and down the alleys off Devereux Street..by my house 510 Devereux. Black man, mid 30's...rhasta looking guy with dreads..has an accent..if it's the same one I've encounted at Fletcher park as well. He's a panhandler..but she mentioned that he had nothing in his hands at first, but then he came out of the alleyway beside my house with a box of power tools...looked like a handsaw and other stuff...She was on her way to work..and tried to follow him, but lost him...he must have cut through some other alley ways...I talked to the new neighbor beside me...Tony, I think, and he didn't have any missing, but David and Mary Knight..might. Please pass this on...and keep sending the alerts on this...I'm making sure we are all aware on my street. This guy is ALWAYS walking up and down Gaston Street to and from Peace Street Market. I talk to him all the time, but have never seen him with anything suspicious. We should probably forward all of this information to the police. - Jeff Roberts Just a clarification, the black guy with the accent I mentioned is a clean-looking guy, no dreadlocks that I noticed (but he wore a beret or Scottish-type of hat). He has been a fixture of Glenwood for the past 18-months, never seeming to be a bother (until recently). I think there may be confusion between the two descriptions. However, if someone is stealing grills they must have their own transport (stealthy and brave). I hope the police stay focused on the area. - Jeff Glenn Hello Neighbors, Our neighbor Linda forwarded the "FivePointsCAC" on to us. I believe this new info. should be shared with everyone.
If seen by anyone, it would probably be a good idea to notify the police. Kathy Johnson Thanks Nancy for bringing this up . . . In addition, this past Friday night we were out of town (620 Wills Forest st.) and we were called by ADT at almost midnight with a burglar alarm. Jonathan's dad went to investigate but by the time he got there, nothing was to be seen, and all the exterior doors were locked. However, when we got home, the pad indicated that the basement door was the one that had been tripped. Nothing was missing inside the house, and a burglar would have had to go through more locked doors to get in the main house, but we are assuming they heard the alarm go off and left the scene, closing the door behind them. Apparently the police were called and they registered the trip out there as a false alarm. What is so frustrating is that we followed up with a call Saturday AM to the police department. The dispatcher would not forward us to an officer and no matter what we said about the recent history of break-ins, she said it was considered a false alarm and furthermore was adamant that the probable cause was a big storm in the area. Do we have an officer we can call directly???? On another note, Jonathan confronted a young black man a few weeks ago who appeared to be casing Jennifer Almekinder's house, and in fact was seen sitting on her porch. Jonathan spoke to the guy and this guy made some strange comment that Jennifer's red Jeep belonged to someone he knew. Jonathan corrected him and the guy went on his way, but was seen around our street by several others. - Robin Anders
- Judy Ward
- Andy Felton
Thanks for keeping us updated on everything else. - Lori Byrd Friday night a friend of mine and I were on my front porch talking and saw 2 guys (caucasion, late teens/early 20s) walking down our street towards Glenwood. They were walking one in front of the other, not talking, and the other bouncing a basketball. It was around midnight, and I thought it was odd - basketball at midnight, not talking, one in front of the other, not to mention looking from house to house and their eyes spent some time on my neighbors. So I called 911 and reported it and 30 minutes later 2 officer came to my house and asked what happened. I told them and they went straight to my neighbor's house with their flashlights looking all around. So, perhaps, these officers set off the basement door alarm by accidentally tugging on it, or these 2 young guys were walking by as others were in your backyard trying to get in. Regardless, I doubt it was a false alarm. I saw a similar thing - 2 guys, one with a basketball - at lunch today and called 911 again. Please call to report if you see these young men, as it seems a bit too conincidental. - Jen Almekinder We were on vacation the week of July 19th-26th. Upon our return, the - Karen Cason This e-mail exchange is real helpful. Either last Friday or Saturday night, I saw the same thing. A couple of white guys (late teens-20s) dribbling a ball down Gaston heading toward Hinsdale or Peace. Thought it was a little odd considering the time, but then thought maybe they were playing b-ball late at Broughton and walking to Peace St. for some drinks. Now I know that's unlikely. I'm sorry that I didn't think to call 911 or to at least inform the neighborhood. That will not happened again. Thanks again for coordinating this. There appear to be two different individuals who are walking thru/around our neighborhood who are attracting attention. The first - a "well dressed but messy" black man who often wears hats and sometimes has an accent (French, Creole, Jamaican) or not - is familiar to my husband and myself. He is also well known to the many Glenwood Avenue merchants. We call him by the code name "half and half" in our store as we heard that he used to hang out at the 3rd place drinking cream and half and half all day until he was told that he could only be there if he purchased coffee. He is suspicious, but not "new." He doesn't appear to have a consistent accent, it comes and goes and he will agree to be from wherever you think he is from. Jamaica, France, Dominica, whatever. We have kicked him out of our store (Ornamentea) a few times for loitering and harrassing our employees. He doesn't seem violent, and by harassing I mean he attempts to pick them up, asks personal questions, etc. He often carries a brief case, often wears a hat. We have thought for a long time that he was probably a drop off guy for a drug dealer as he often met individuals in tricked out cars in the Snoopy's parking lot, shook hands, passed small bags on, etc. He has never been violent that we know and is more than happy to chat with you. Depending on how much of an accent he has that day, you may or may not be able to understand him. The second individual, the "man with dreadlocks" may also be familiar to us. I caught someone matching his description rifling through my car at our store on West St. early one Sunday morning last summer. Galen and I were at work and I was taking stuff into the office so I hadn't locked the car. I came out to find him eating my mints and pocketing my change and when I yelled at him and told him I was going to call the cops he told me (in a Jamaican accent) to "chill out baby" etc. I was mad, hot and not about to be babied by a thief, so I pursued him down West St. Unfortunately, he got away but the police told me that they would look out for him. Could be the same guy.... - Cynthia Deis
David, Captain Poteat Hey Dave, Friday night, 8-15 after 11PM, I believe, two cars on Wills Forest were broken into. In one, the Jeep Cherokee window was smashed (our neighbor at 618 Wills Forest) and a walkman type device was taken from the seat. The other was, I believe, Katy Weatherly's Jeep, a smashed window as well. . . I do not know what was taken from her car. The break-ins were not noticed until Saturday mid-morning. - Robin Anders
8-19-03 I was looking on the Vigilance link on G-B and there are no updates since August. I wanted to report that someone had been in my backyard at sometime just before Oct 18th. My back fence (wire + posts) to the apt. complex was bent badly (it cannot support any substantial weight before giving way), and the driveway gate was open in a manner that suggested exiting through the gate rather than entry. Nothing was taken or displaced (although it was weird to find a freshly dead squirrel in my kitchen--I think it got in via the attic). I was wondering if someone was seen fleeing from the apt. complex. - Thomas Morris Just when we thought they were finished with the Glenwood/Brooklyn area,
My husband discovered a lock had been cut off our utility trailer that was parked on Wills Forest, just off Glenwood, this past Sunday Morning.(Oct. 23) They either planned to return for it later or were scared off. Alan checks the utility trailer daily, so it had happened overnight. We live at 903 Glenwood Avenue with a back alley on Wills Forest. - Angie Trull 10-28-03 I wanted to alert our Cameron Park neighbors to what happened throughout Boylan Heights last night: Apparently a group of man in a large, loud truck drove throughout the neighborhood shooting the windows out of cars with an pellet gun. The current total is 12 car windows throughout the neighborhood. Thanks, Jeff Groves |
