View from the cop: Crime & punishment
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AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2005 > September
September 2005
Yeggs will give your wallet a workout at fitness clubs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There are two reasons most people become targets for thieves and burglars. Laziness and procrastination. (Uh, I’ll get to procrastination later.)
If you read this report often enough you’ll understand why I keep my day job. You’ll also read about thefts at fitness centers time after time. Regardless of how many times we see it or hear of it, most of us will ignore it until it happens to us.
We don’t like to change our routines without having a good reason, such as, having our stuff taken away from us.
People place watches and wallets full of credit cards and money into a locker protected by a locking device worth about $5. They come back to find the locker pried or the lock cut. Missing is the wallet, credit cards and cash, and the $10,000 Rolex Presidential Super Deluxe Limited Edition Really Fancy watch. The watch alone is worth the same as a down payment on a Third World country.
Fitness clubs are in the business of fitness and providing a place for young and fabulous people to look at one another in the mirrors after they look at themselves in the mirrors. I rarely see them. I’m over at the senior section where they have defibrillators next to the treadmill. That’s why the lights dim frequently.
I occasionally try to mix in with the younger fabulous workout people, but I’m not cut out for the really aggressive workout regimen. Let’s just say those crunches, that at one time were a way to get my abs tight, are now just another way to pass gas.
Fitness centers are not bank vaults. They know thieves do get in and do access the locker areas. That’s why they have those signs that say leave your stuff in the car. Thieves carry pry tool in their gym bags. They pry the locker, get in and out in a minute. They either take what’s in the wallet and leave or they take the keys and beep your car outside and go in it as well.
What’s the answer?
There is no one simple answer, but in terms of how you think or approach it, you need to look at the problem and ask yourself how you would commit the crime. If I’m a thief working a fitness club I’m going to watch who comes in and what they’re wearing. When they pick a locker I would note it and then return when no one is around. Pop the locker, take the wallet, keys, super expensive Rolex and drop them in my bag and go.
Motorist takes them for a ride
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Four men reported that they met a man who told them he would drive them to their home, in New Jersey, for $120 each. They placed their luggage in the car on Roswell Road.
The driver said he would temporarily drop them at a car dealership and return after picking up another man.
The suspect, of course, never returned.
In the luggage were clothes and cash that each man had earned here and planned to take to New Jersey. Each man had more than $1,000 in his luggage. The suspect is a Hispanic male, 30 years old, 5’-6” and medium build. His passenger was a Hispanic male about 18. The suspect’s vehicle is a red Dodge Ram pickup.
From the bad-behavior-in-a-store department:
— An employee reported that he was walking the floor area of the discount store on Peachtree Dunwoody Road when he saw a man with a new Sony PlayStation in his shopping cart. The customer pushed the cart to the aisle and stuffed the device into the back of his pants. He put the accessories down the front of his pants and walked out. To his [but nobody else’s] surprise, he was detained. The officer’s report said the man briefly tried to run but after a short — and rather silly —foot chase the man was apprehended. He had $350 cash in his pocket.
— A woman stole several clothing items from a Roswell Road clothing store by pulling off the tags and stuffing the clothes in her purse. She was stopped while trying to leave. She told the security person that she planned to pay for the items but had only $3.
— Security employees of a Johnson Ferry Road discount store said they watched an employee take a $20 bill from the register and drop it to the floor. Minutes later the employee picked the bill up, put in it a candy bag and concealed the bag. She was detained and charged with theft after the officer arrived. She said she stole the money because she had bills to pay.
Zip it! Make it tough on pickpockets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The pickpocket victim had dropped off a prescription at a Roswell Road discount store and then shopped for 30 minutes. When she returned to the druggist area, she discovered her wallet had been removed from her purse. There is no suspect.
It is best to minimize the stuff that you carry when shopping. Credit and debit cards are best secured in a front pants pocket. (Not back pocket.)
If you’re going to carry a purse:
A. Zip or snap it shut.
b. Strap it to the cart.
Sleeping on the job
A Roswell Road resident called police, telling them his neighbor called and wanted to meet him at the apartment community mailbox at 6 a.m. The man met his neighbor, who said he needed to borrow $500 to settle a poker debt. The neighbor said that if he didn’t pay the two men, who were standing nearby, they would kill him.
The complainant said he didn’t have $500. The neighbor left the complex with the two men and supposedly they were headed out to find an ATM machine.
The officer later found the neighbor. He said the two men forced him into the car and drove around the area, ending up over near Windsor Parkway.
The bad guys forced the man into a house, where the man was sure he was going to be in for a bad time. The victim said the two men fell asleep and he escaped.
All that work and they just fell asleep? This guy was indeed lucky. The part that we may or may not hear is that this guy will probably go right back to the apartment. Bevis and Butthead will show up again — and this time they might kill the guy. If he’s smart (and so far it isn’t looking good) he will either get the money or hit the road.
Witnesses say attack was malicious
A security guard was assaulted while she placed a boot on a car that was apparently illegally parked in an office park on Peachtree Dunwoody Road. According to witnesses, the woman knelt down to place the boot on the wheel when the driver of the car approached and kicked her in the head.
The security guard sustained a cut on her lip and a head injury. The driver of the car worked for a messenger service. He removed the boot and left.
The messenger company was contacted. It told the officer that the driver had been fired after he told them of the incident. The suspect was later found at his home and arrested on a warrant for battery. The hospitalized victim suffered a bruised brain.
She apparently does not recall the incident.
Other things:
— Someone entered a Feather Sound Court house by forcing open a back window. Some jewelry was taken and the upstairs bedroom areas were ransacked. (Don’t forget that burglars will head right upstairs and look (a.) in the bedroom dresser and (b.) in the bathroom vanity area for jewelry.)
— The suspect in an Old Alabama Road gas theft was in a gold, late model Lexus four-door. Male, mid-20s, 5’ 8”, wearing a tan polo shirt and light colored jeans. He left southbound on Jones Bridge Road at about 12:15 a.m. Notice that the gas crunch has given us an upgrade in suspect vehicle descriptions and more stylish suspect-clothing descriptions?
The lowdown on sagging pants
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Legislature has passed into law an anti-sagging law that would make it an aggravated misdemeanor to wear one’s pants below what is considered a ‘normal’ rate of sag, that is, no more than two inches from one’s waist line and in such a way that a reasonable and prudent person cannot see one’s boxer shorts.
Anyone convicted of sagging will be sentenced to six months of mandatory wearing of carpenter’s suspenders in a manner so tight that they shall become a walking wedgie.
I wish.
Unfortunately, Georgia has not seen this law introduced. But if they do, they have my vote. I’d like to think that I’m rather open to the younger generation’s fashion statements. My children have their opinions on any number of things and although I may not agree, I am tolerant — mostly because they are older and I don’t have a say-so.
Sagging at my house? Yes, some. I still have grounding privileges, though, and I can take away cell phones anytime I want to.
Everyone wants to make a social statement at some point in their life but I don’t think this trend is on the list of “Needed Change” in our lifetime.
I gave some thought to how sagging would enhance my life, but I could only come up with how much this would restrict my running if I needed to run. The jails are full of saggers who couldn’t facilitate the getaway after the crime. Plan all you will but when you can run only six feet before falling on your face, you’re going to get caught.
I never once heard of anyone being turned down for a job for wearing their pants too high — with the exception of those applying for membership to the International Brotherhood of Tall Plumbers. That’s just my theory, but then again I also have a theory that men with large foreheads know things that they aren’t telling us. It’s just a theory.
We need to turn these people around and get their priorities and their pants in the right place.
How many confused parents are right now looking at their kids and pleading with them:
“Why can’t you just pierce your tongue like the other kids??!!”
Women who walk out, drive off
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Potpourri for $100, Alex:
— A woman came into a Hammond Drive establishment just after midnight and ordered the following: 8 white Russians, 2 glasses of cabernet, 1 glass of another brand of Cabernet, 1 Cuervo Gold and 1 Wild Turkey 101. The woman then walked out and got into a Jeep driven by a male. The vehicle was rented out of Tampa. The fact that she could walk out of the bar surprised me.
— A man was arrested for placing an electric razor in his pants and trying to leave the Johnson Ferry Road store without paying for it. The loss-prevention officers detained him and the police officer charged the customer with theft by shoplifting.
— A man got out of his car at a Roswell Road parking lot and urinated. He did so in the presence of the off-duty officer working a nearby club. He was arrested and taken to FC jail. Tip: Look around first.
— An officer, on his way to work, stopped at a gas store on Roswell Road and saw a woman who was being disruptive and causing a scene. The officer told the woman to leave the store but she “stepped towards the officer in an aggressive manner” and raised her hands as if preparing to strike. She was arrested.
— There were about 6-7 thefts from cars reported each day. Believe it or not, purses and wallets were taken in many cases. Don’t forget to take those items inside.
— A woman at Sandalwood Drive asked her boyfriend if she could use his car. He said she could. He later discovered that she had packed her stuff. He has not seen her or his car since. Oh yeah, his credit cards are missing.
Angry Samurai, cringing shoplifter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two guys came into the Roswell Road service station to steal some stuff. The manager saw this and confronted one of the subjects.
An argument ensued and escalated when the other shoplifter intervened and pushed the manager away. A store employee came to the aid of the manager and, as the story goes, the offender grabbed a beer bottle and raised it up as if to hit the manager.
The manager grabbed a Samurai sword that just happened to be on a stand and raised it at the same time the offender was now raising his hands to protect himself.
In the process, the sword cut the shoplifter. The store video confirmed the story.
The manager and the offender were each charged with simple battery and released on a copy of charges.
Scum of the week
A woman called and said her recently ex-live-in boyfriend was visiting her in the hospital while she was recovering from back surgery. She had just broken up with him.
While at the hospital, the former boyfriend struck her in the head, causing a bump and a scratch on her face. He also threatened to stomp on her back. The two were living together but he is in the process of moving to another location while she recovers.
My cousin made me do it
A shopper at a State Bridge Road discount store was arrested for allegedly taking several items and putting them in her purse.
The woman told the officer that her cousin called her on her cell phone while she was at the store and made her steal the items.
Dealing with drunks: Charge of the light beer brigade
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Back in the days when I could bounce, I got into a number of skirmishes while working the late-night watch. In a given weekend, you could anticipate 3-4 good tussles with the local drunks and/or the drug addicts.
I won most but there comes a day, however, when you don’t bounce anymore. That’s nature’s way of telling you to take the detective’s test.
Mother Nature has a sense of humor. I know this because she gives us so much irony to work with. Alcohol, as you know, does different things to different people. It makes some people into lovers and some into fighters.
Just about the time the fighters are ready to fight they find themselves just behind the curve of C.M.F. (Coordinated Motor Functions). Arresting drunks is aggravating because it’s a sloppy task.
You can bet on verbal abuse. You get used to that after a while. You get the smell of four-hour old bourbon or, worse, beer that you swear the guy bathed in. You get the mood swings from nice guy to bad guy to nice guy to bad guy, all in 30 seconds and. Then there’s the puking.
My personal favorite is the drunken charge. (The charge of the light beer brigade.)
At a distance of more than five feet, it’s a proven fact that if a really drunk guy charges you he will do the same thing as when he is running from you: He will run anywhere but in a straight line.
One night, we flushed a drunk out of a ditch after he ran from us following a fight call. We were talking to the other guy when this fella ran all over the place but ended up hiding in a ditch. (Drunks hide very loudly.)
We stood in the road and pointed our flashlights and told him to come on out. He thought this was his last stand, sort of a kamikaze moment in life. He came up out of the ditch, yelling and screaming as he attempted to charge us.
Deep-dish disaster: Pizza patron ordered trouble to go
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Officers received a call to a Roswell Road pizza joint regarding a fight. They found an employee holding a man down to the ground. The employee said the man ordered a pizza and then began complaining about how long it took to get it.
The customer allegedly became irate and cursed the employee. The man was told to leave. Instead, he went to the cash register and attempted to open the cash drawer, struggling with the employees.
Finally, with the help of several customers, the man was forced out of the store and on the ground where he remained until the police arrived. He was charged with criminal attempt to commit robbery and two counts of simple battery. He was taken to FC jail.
Barrel peril
Around 2 a.m. an officer found several orange DOT barrels across State Bridge Road and a sign directing the traffic — into a brick wall. While the officer was removing the barrels he heard noises coming from around the Bridgestone Farms subdivision sign.
Two young males bolted from the sign and ran toward the subdivision. The officer yelled to the two: “Police! Stop running!” which, to the suspect, means “run faster!”
He caught one of the men, who immediately said, “I didn’t have anything to do with the barricades!” Meaning, to an officer, “I had everything to do with the barricades!”
The suspect was charged with reckless conduct, loitering, prowling and possession of alcohol by consumption and taken to FC jail.
Luckily, no cars followed the barricades prior the officer’s arrival.
Things got real ugly fast
Just before midnight at sports bar on Jones Bridge Road, a man’s girlfriend found him in a car, in the parking lot, with another woman. She said some obscene stuff to him and smacked him several times in the face. He said he could explain. The man wasn’t sure if he wanted to prosecute her.
It’s NOT who you know, really
Let me set the scene: Bar … 11 p.m … drunk guy.
An officer was called to the Roswell Road bar regarding the drunk guy who refused to leave. The officer determined the man had paid for his tab and so asked him to accompany him outside.
The man told the officer that he knew the chief of police and the officer was going to be directing traffic for the next 20 years. The officer took the man’s arm and the man, who knows the chief of police, took a swing at the officer. The swing missed, of course , and the officer took the man who knows the chief of police outside.
The patron said he had claustrophobia. He went limp and hit the ground right after he informed the officer that he wasn’t going to get into the back seat area of the car. The officer called for EMS personnel to check out the claustrophobic man who knows the chief of police, further wasting his, and now their time.
The man was taken to jail and charged with disorderly conduct, obstruction and criminal trespass.
Look for me Saturday at the fest
The Sandy Springs Festival starts this Saturday around 10 a.m. or so. Come out. I’ll be cruising around. We should have a booth in there somewhere. Cop Cards will be for sale for $1 apiece and the proceeds will go to the Katrina relief fund bucket.
Take advantage of this because we may even autograph them — which will actually bring the value down in my case. Look for McGruff, too.
Gas thieves must be fuming after not seeing cop car
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An employee of the a service station on Dunwoody Place said he saw a car pull into the far area of the pumps and park, leaving the lights on. The employee recognized the car as the same that has been involved in five previous thefts of gas.
There happened to be a police officer inside the store at the time. (Timing is everything.)
The officer asked the clerk if they would prosecute if, by chance, the car sped off without paying for the gas. The clerk said they would. The officer got in his well-marked FCPD car parked in the parking spot in front of the store and waited.
Sure enough, the car sped off without paying for gas. Soon on its tail was the police car. The car pulled into nearby apartments but didn’t stop. (The officer noted that the two men in the car were moving around a lot as if to be hiding something.)
The two men were ordered out of the car. One of the men told the officer there was a gun in the car. The officers also found a bag of pot in the car. The officers found a .40-caliber pistol as well as a .177-caliber BB gun that looks just like a .22 Glock. They were charged with possession of marijuana and theft by taking. They were taken to jail.
From the creepy department
A man reported that he met a man and later helped the man enroll in a technical school where he, the victim, worked at. The man invited the victim to his apartment for dinner. The victim accepted and drove to DeKalb County. When he got to the apartment, the man opened the door and told the victim that he, the victim, was God and that the victim should kill him to fulfill a prophecy.
This pretty much ruined dinner.
The victim told the man not to call him again and then left.
A day or two later the man called the victim at work and told him he was staying in a hotel across the street and again, invited him to dinner. The victim again told the man not to call him. The victim called DeKalb Police and made a report.
A day or two later he received another call. The man told the victim he would pay for dinner and “would handle everything and it was time for him to move onto paradise.” The victim noted the man’s speech was heavily slurred.
It was a he-she said/she said situation
The assistant manager of a clothing store on Roswell Road said a man, dressed as a woman, hit her in the head during a dispute over returned items.
The woman/man-guy, accompanied by a man dressed as a man, became angry after being requested to show ID to complete the return transaction. The two suspects got into a silver Dodge Magnum and drove towards Hammond Drive.
Other things:
— The manager of a restaurant on Medlock Bridge Road reported that a man came in and had dinner. The customer apparently did not like the service; he verbally abused the manager and then left. The man then made about seven phone calls to the restaurant to further complain.
— Someone pried open a window and entered the closed Roswell Road service station just before 2 a.m. The entry activated the alarm system. The suspect attempted to shut the power off by turning the power box breakers off. The suspect left with a $2,700 cash register that contained $500 cash. Advice: Don’t leave that much money in the cash register. Post a sign that says “CASH REGISTER DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY OVERNIGHT MONEY.”
Relax already! Tubing the Hooch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve all got a lot on our plate now days. Everyone is at an all-time high stress level.
I can see from reading police reports that people, more and more, seem to be walking on the edge. My immediate family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and others on the planet will confirm that normality is not one of my more consistent traits. I’m not apologizing mind you; it’s simply a statement of fact.
We have the responsibility of trying to make a decent living in order to make the mortgage payment, car payments, the John Deer 18.5 HP Super-Deluxe Power Mower payment, and all of the other little things that make us suburbanites. This means that Monday through Friday is, to a great extent, not much fun at times. Home can be just as stressful sometimes because of kid issues, dog issues, neighbor issues, (see dog issues,) that last until the end of Letterman or whenever you drift off to sleep.
The events of the past week and a half in Louisiana and Mississippi should remind us that regardless of how south your week is going, it could be much worse. Much worse! That’s why I’m calling for all mortgage companies to impose a 3—year moratorium on house payments! However, if this falls short, I would suggest that you begin to incorporate some new things in your life designed to lighten the load a bit.
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| File photo |
| When in Helen, you gotta tube the river. |
I firmly believe that we all need to stay in touch with our juvenile mentality. When your last breath passes from your body and your life passes before you, it will not include a financial statement. In my case, it will probably show some late fees from Blockbuster, but the point is that stressed-out lives don’t create fond memories and you need fond memories to fall back on.
You can’t avoid the stress but maybe you can park it for a few hours. I like the beer commercial where the beeper goes off so the guy picks it up and skips it across the surf until it sinks. You and I probably wouldn’t do that; unless there was enough beer involved and it was a cell phone or a small farm animal instead of a beeper; not that I’m endorsing beer or cell phone drowning or small farm animals for that matter — but what Im getting at is the attitude.
It doesn’t matter that you wear a blue shirt, power tie and suit Monday through Friday. You do that in order to make a living and look fabulous. I’m talking about maximizing your down time. Find another route. Go to a concert or to a comedy club or go up to Lookout Mountain on the parkway and do some hang gliding — or if you want some “mellow time”, go up to Helen and hit the river on the tubes.
Tubing the river is fun. It’s a slow and easy pace. We went to Helen, got in the rather brisk waters of the Chattahoochee, and tubed down the river. Don’t let the cool water deter you. It was a lot of fun and involved nothing more than sitting on the tube and floating down river for a couple of hours.
The tubes occasionally hit small rapids and rocks, but the water usually remains no more than a couple of feet in depth. You can bounce off the rocks and if you balance on the tube, well, no problem.
Unfortunately, I decided to push off of a rock and in doing so, I lost that balance I spoke of and went heels up and backwards into the water right where the rapids increase. This resulted in two problems:
Pot in his car? Well, er, maybe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just before 3 a.m. an officer was dispatched to a suspicious car on Pinion Lane. He saw two men in the car and spoke to the driver. The officer noted the driver’s appearance as “nervous.” The officer asked him why. The officer also asked the man if there was anything in the car that he, the officer should know about.
The man said, “There may be some marijuana in the car.” He really didn’t want to commit but “maybe” under those circumstances means, “Yes, there is pot in the car and I want you to note my honesty here.”
The officer found a bag of pot between the front seats and a joint under the passenger’s seat. He asked the driver how the pot got to be between the seats and the driver told him he didn’t know. The passenger said he didn’t know, either. The two men were charged with possession of marijuana and released on a copy of charges.
Tales of marijuana, Part 2
An officer saw several men hanging around a known drug area on Dunwoody Place. The officer went around the block and when he returned, one man remained. The man saw the officer and got into the back seat. The officer asked the driver whether he knew the guy in the back seat.
The man said he did not know him; that he had just gotten in the car and asked for a ride. The officer told the suspect to get out of the back seat. He did so, but not before reaching into his pocket and taking a plastic bag (marijuana) and tossing it under the driver’s seat of the car — a place he believed to be magical and invisible.
As you know, we adults, when we really screw up, attempt to find this mythical place. To his amazement, the officer recovered the marijuana and locked him up.
Her story has no leg to stand on
A man was at the Roswell Road bank, using the ATM machine. He said a woman inched her car up to the point of striking him in the leg.
The man punched a hole in the woman’s windshield. The officer got a different story from the motorist, who said the man, for no reason, punched a hole in her windshield.
Two witnesses said the woman appeared to become impatient and then inched her car up to the point of hitting the man’s leg. The man sustained minor injuries. The driver was charged with battery and criminal damage to property.
This report is a good example showing that people, now more than ever, have a short fuse. Little things quickly turn into big things. Keep that in mind in your day-to-day interaction with these human beings.
Other things
— Witnesses driving on Ga. 400 near Abernathy Road saw a motorcyclist pass them at a high rate of speed. While the man was showing off doing wheelies, he lost control and hit the median wall. The man was taken to Grady and the pieces of his uninsured motorcycle were impounded.
— After closing time, an officer was in the process of clearing the parking lot of a Roswell Road club. One of the patrons ignored repeated requests to leave and decided to hang around and talk to some folks in a car. The officer arrested the man for disorderly conduct. Try to remember that the officers working the clubs get to go home after you leave. Here’s the formula. If you take more time leaving the club and parking lot than it does for the officer to write an arrest report, you’re in trouble. Go home. You’ve had all night to get your lame pick-up act over on the ladies. If you haven’t succeeded by 4 in the morning, then you need to go get a waffle and call it a night.
This item gives me the creepy crawlers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A woman at a Roswell Road discount store heard the anti-theft buzzer activate at the front door of the business. She saw a man look back at her and then run out of the store. She called police and reported the man’s description. An officer located a matching description when he stopped a man behind the store.
The man had several items that allegedly came from the store and the complainant identified him. The suspect had a container of anti-itch cream and a toothbrush on him; both in the original packages.
He was charged with the theft. You really don’t want to put your hands on a suspect charged with stealing anti-itch cream. It gives you that creepy feeling. You can’t get the shower water too hot that night.
We know where you’ve been
The Onstar company called and said they were tracking a stolen car on Roswell Road south of Spalding Drive. The car, a 2005 Chevrolet Suburban, was found at an apartment complex when the satellite activated the car’s horn. The suspect behind the wheel walked away while the passenger went another direction.
They were rounded up and later taken to FC jail. One of the suspects kad a seven-inch knife on him.
I really like the direction these satellite systems are going.
Let’s get them to the point where we can lock the car down and deliver these bums to the precinct.
How great would that be?
Don’t dare leave that purse!
A bargain store employee on Ga. 9 said someone took her purse, which was under her desk while she was away. She said the public had access to the area, but she put a chair in front of it to hide the purse.
It didn’t work. Later, she went to retrieve the purse but it was gone.
Never, never, never, park your purse under a desk. It is the first place to be checked by the thief.
What do you do to ensure your belongings are safe at work, other public places?
