View from the cop: Crime & punishment
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AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2007 > November
November 2007
It’s Hannah Eeeeeeeee Montana!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What in the heck is wrong with you people? It’s a 15-year old daughter of a guy with the most perfect mullet in the history of man.
Did you pay $1,200 for tickets to see Hannah Montana? Well if you did, why don’t you take time out of your busy day and let someone smack the %#@& out of you!
I know, I know, the pressure is there. You don’t want your kid to be the only one who didn’t get to see Hannah Montana and her amazing voice which none of these pre-teens have heard because they’re screaming too loud! Look, if you are backed into a corner on shelling out big bucks on this, here’s a suggestion. Offer $500 straight up—cash on the spot. You save well over half of what you would spend and chances are they’ll take the money and run. Granted, you might feel stupid afterwards but hey, feeling $500 stupid is better than feeling $1,200 stupid.
Besides, you will have insulated your guilt when your daughter comes up with those big sad eyes and gives you that song and dance about how everyone else got to go to the concert and she didn’t, leading into that “deprived” spin, “Oh pitiful me.”
Stand your ground! “Forget it sister! I paid good hard cash to you and I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty! Now put down that gun.”
I too was a parental victim of a pre-teen-mediocre-talented-obsessive-frenzied event. Five words: New Kids on the Block. The first time wasn’t so bad because we were at Bobby Dodd Stadium and the screaming was somewhat absorbed into the ozone, which I believe now has some effect on global warming.
But I actually took my daughter a second time, this time to the Omni, which, if you remember, had the acoustical clarity of a wash tub. Two hours of screaming equated to about six-inches of scar tissue on each eardrum. All of the daughters were screaming. All of the parents were passing the flask in what could only be described as a mass act of comfort. We were as one. I don’t remember how much I paid for the tickets but the fact that we went twice, and given how poor we were in those days, either meant the tickets were affordable or I had way too much guilt.
Here’s another problem. When the price of entertainment or alleged entertainment spikes to these heights, it automatically attracts counterfeiters who, with the aid of some really good ticket software, can print off and sell thousands and thousands of dollars of completely worthless paper that can only be verified at the night and time of said entertainment event.
This scenario, as a parent, is total Armageddon because now you’ve compounded the emotional impact of the excitement of seeing the alleged talent with the now devastating blow of realizing that said pre-teen cannot see the event thus spinning the already unexplainable hormone-driven behavior into the Netherworld of devil child for the next six months. I’m talking spinning heads and pea soup shooting out. On your end, your despondency will further sink into depths that only Dr. Jack Daniels will understand due to the fact that you just got ripped off for a couple of grand.
It isn’t a pretty picture.
Ride it out, parents, and remember that these events have checks and balances and soon we will return to a base line of musical talent and not just hype. When the craziness and frenzied hormone festival settles back down, people will once again return to their senses and welcome the music that we all know to be timeless.
Slim Whitman. Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute. Mott the Hoople. The classics. You can’t put a price tag on that.
Thanksgiving in a foreign place
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thanksgiving has arrived.
We have two Thanksgivings under the equal-time act of whenever it was that both sets of parents demanded time. Ours is usually the Sunday before Thanksgiving and then again on the traditional Thanksgiving Day. Sometimes we’re here and other times we travel to Cincinnati where this year we’ll sit down to an afternoon of good food and discussion on how lousy our football teams are doing.
Over the years I’ve enjoyed going to Cincinnati because I like the weather and I like the town. There is nothing named “Peachtree” in Cincinnati but there is a “Pete Rose Avenue” where I like to go and look at the street sign and reminisce how fun it was playing baseball having Pete Rose as my baseball idol. I like to go where Crosley Field was, out near the train station, and imagine Pete Rose giving odds to the clubhouse boys on bets on the horses that afternoon. That’s actually a fairly recent thought which is unfortunate because it really screws up the childhood stuff — too bad.
Thanksgiving up in Cincinnati is fun, though. For some reason I just like to go there on that holiday but I can’t stay much later because it snows. Nothing is worse than having someone from Atlanta in Cincinnati, or anywhere else when it snows.
The last time it snowed I assaulted the nearest grocery store and piled loads of bread and milk into my basket. I was ready for a fight but nobody seemed interested in these two food items. Odd how these people react! How do they survive?
Not one TV station did a story on how the trucks will dispense sand on the highway and I saw a school bus with students in it. They act as if nothing is wrong. No car wrecks. Where am I?
Anyway, I enjoy the time. I eat what I can identify and I speak to people who are familiar looking although I’m not sure where I saw them before. Who cares, there’s football to watch. Detroit plays somebody.
Arrest report: Crimes involving cats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
These are some, but not all, incidents reported to the Sandy Springs Police over the past week.
Crimes involving cats
Cops were called to Windridge Drive late in the afternoon on the 12th. Angela said she went to her ex-boyfriend’s apartment. Her ex drove up in his car. Angela asked for the cat they once shared in their former blissful relationship. He said she owed him $60 for cat care. A friend of the ex named Taunna got into the argument and then slammed her hand in the car door. They left. Angela’s ex returned and gave her the cat.. He told her he met Taunna at a Roswell Bar and she gave him a ride. Angela had a bruised hand but refused treatment. The cat’s in therapy.
Scam of the Week (in progress)
A woman on Roswell Road received a check in the mail from “Trusted Alliance Reward Program” from a P.O. Box in Long Beach, California. She was given the good news that she had won $66,600. What do you think she did? She deposited the check into her bank account and later that same day, when she informed her friend, she was told this may be a scam. So far, no one had contacted her.
Sound Familiar?
A woman reported that while she was at the meat department at the Kroger on Sandy Springs Circle, a man approached her and shoved her cart out of the way while he began talking (loudly) about a ham. Later she found that her wallet was missing from her purse that was in the convenient ‘steal-me’ position on the shopping cart. The wallet contained $120 cash, credit cards, a check and her driver’s license. The man was dressed in a red coat. She did not see the second suspect.
Updates
Mr. Newton is in jail. He is the man we were looking for, who posed as a wealthy or semi-wealthy home buyer from New Jersey, who took a $5000 necklace from a high-end home in Sandy Springs. U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force arrested him late this afternoon in Richmond, Va. Detective Bailey is a happy detective.
Robbery
According to the victim, around 7 p.m. he pulled into his parking spot at his apartments on Treelodge Parkway and was approached by two men, one whom he recognized by his first name “Jamal.” One man pulled a gun and shot up into the air and then demanded the victim’s money. The victim ran from the men but they apparently took several items from his car. “Jamal” is a black male, 6-0” and 200 lbs, and was wearing dark clothing. The second man was slightly smaller.
The victim arrived home from work on Roswell Road around 9:30 p.m. When he got out of his car, a white Ford Expedition pulled up to him and three Hispanic men got out of the car. One of the men pointed a gun at him while ordering him not to look at his face. The men took the victim’s wallet and then left in the Expedition.
A man said that he came to Monterrey Parkway to pick up a friend. His friend called and told him that his assistance was no longer necessary. The man then turned around to leave and said that he saw “Frankie” coming from behind a building. Frankie and another guy pulled a gun and robbed him of his bank card and $200 cash. “Frankie” is a black male, light skin complexion, brown eyes, and corn-roll hair. He is 5-6” and 170 lbs. He wore a brown hoodie and dark pants. The second suspect is a black male, black hair, brown eyes, 6-3”, slender, and wore a red, white, and blue Braves cap, a black jacket, and dark pants.
Burglary
Someone forced entry into a storage shed behind a car rental business on Roswell Road. The burglar then entered the business up and over, coming down from the ceiling. He (or she? Could be; never know) tried but could not get into a safe.
Highpoint Road: Several items totaling over $4000 are missing.
Glenridge Drive: Apartment / door-kicker / i-Pod is missing.
Roswell Road: Apartment / door-kicker / $100 cash missing.
Roswell Road: Apartment / door-kicker / $1900 in electronics are missing.
Cedar Run: Apartment / door-kicker / an X-Box and a wireless box are missing.
Huntcliff Village Court: Door-kicker / apartment / electronic items totaling $4200 are missing.
Spring Creek Lane: Apartment burglary / door-kicker / $8 missing.
Someone entered the victim’s hotel room on Roswell Road and took three credit cards from his wallet. The cards were later used extensively in the 30080 zip code—that’d be Smyrna.
Theft
Two stolen water meters on Regency Circle.
If It Sounds Too Good to be True…
A woman reported that she met and agreed to purchase a 5-Series BMW from a man who said that he worked for a BMW dealer and could sell the car to her for half-price. They met over on Hightower Road. He took the money and entered an office building to supposedly get the title work done. He immediately tried to exit the back door. However, the victim had one of her friends posted at the back. He walked back inside and they did not see him afterwards. The police were called however they did not find the man.
Arrests
Isreal Cruz, 35 from Sandy Springs, and Jose Escobar-Vasquez, 33, from unknown, were arrested at the Target Store for shoplifting. One was the lookout and the other used a boxcutter to cut open small packages of electronics. They went to Doraville Jail. Why Doraville Jail you say? We contract with them, and if you want to know, they make the best peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for our customer’s lunches.
A man came home to his apartment and found that the front door had been kicked in. As he entered the apartment, he saw a man run to the bedroom. When officers arrived, they found the man exited the bedroom window. They were given a description of the suspect. One officer found several bullets and a Yankees baseball cap on a trail leading from the apartment area. Following the trail, the officer observed a man sitting on the back steps of an adjacent apartment. Next to the man was a backpack. As the officer approached the man, he took off. The man ran over to Osner Drive but was caught and placed in custody. After the man gave two fake names, officers found that his real name is 30-year old Lorenzo McQueen. In the backpack were several items from the burglary.
Antony Jerome Maddox, 43, from Sandy Springs was arrested for Shoplifting and Disorderly While Under the Influence at the CVS after he swiped a couple of cartons of Newports. The manger caught up to him, took the Newports back, and told Maddox to leave. Maddox got mad and belligerent and yelled some stuff and then left on foot. 911 was called and the officer found him a half-block away at the Chevron Station. He was arrested and placed in the back of the police car where he proceeded to bang his head against the screen and spit all over the place. If you choose to head-butt the protective screen in the back of the police car, remember that the screen has never finished in 2nd place. Stop that!
Overall, October and early November have not been kind to us. We saw a spike in property crimes, especially residential burglary and thefts from vehicles. The GPS is leading the league in being stolen. The pre-holiday trends have kicked in, evident by the number of game systems being taken in apartment burglaries. It really does make a difference if you take some time and do all that which I always ask which is take everything out of the car, even at night, at home, in the garage. Lock the garage door leading to the house and fire up the alarm system. This will make us happy and more productive humans.
Website on the Way
Sandy Springs residents have frequently asked about the department’s website. I’m happy to say that we have been cleared to begin our website design and have hired a company to begin production. We expect to have a top-notch site, compatible with other police departments of this size. We’re very happy about it and upon completion, you’ll be able to access much more information, downloadable forms, GIS mapping and many other features. The best part of this was that our funding is courtesy of our local drug dealers whose funds, after arrest and those funds seized were cleared for use, financed the project.
Have a good Turkey-Day!
Don’t mess with the Pray-for-Rain Channel
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We are in the aftermath of the Giant Prayer, conducted by Gov. Sonny Purdue, who has no scar tissue to his forehead because he took the high road and did not head-butt Florida Governor Charlie Crist or Alabama Governor Bob Riley.
Good for him. After all, he is the man we elected and quite frankly, he never made any campaign promise to head-butt anyone. (Personally I think his political advisors should watch more action films because head-butting does accomplish certain things quite quickly and quite convincingly.) Be that as it may, he did the Giant Prayer.
We have a water crisis on our hands. Note this is not a crisis involving selfish things such as winning Lotto tickets, new tool boxes, or Playstation 3s. I say this because Snake, whom I’ve known off and on for twenty years, wrote to me from his current address (B.O.P.) and told me that he used the giant prayer to pray for a winning Mega Millions ticket and cigarettes. That is so un-cool and bad timing to boot.
How many others diluted the Giant Prayer Channel with selfish thoughts of what they wanted instead of what we collectively needed, which may I remind you, is water? I think more selfish heathens are out there than we would like to believe.
To you I say this: Beware!
Why?
Mother Nature is no bimbo, kiddies! She is smarter than most of us including you smug math guys. I have stumbled upon a theory that seems to hold water.
The water is going down. There are fish and other creatures in the water that also know the water is going down. They have figured out that if the water goes to zero, they die. They are not stupid. They have called on Mother Nature and if my calculations are correct, they will evolve, almost fully, by December 10, 2007 around 7:30 p.m.!
That’s right. They will come right out of the water on Monday, December 10, 2007, and they will immediately start screwing things up for us humans—as if we don’t have enough problems—and of all days, a Monday to boot! There goes the week!
For me, give me fully evolved or not evolved at all. It’s controversial but it’s a stand. What in the hell are we going to have to endure now? Half-evolved mutant fish-people, really small ones at that, are going to be adapting to our human culture and the next thing you know there they are, standing out there at Abernathy Road and GA 400 with a sign that says “Will Work For Bloodworms and Algae Flakes.”
Where does the vicarious liability stop? How far back will the lawyers like Dilbert and Sputnik and Ted Nugent sue us for letting the fish-people evolve too soon? Who do we blame? I’ll tell you who. Those stupid mussels! I hate those guys!
In the mean time, you better not cloud those prayer lines with selfish requests like new tires, a set of wrenches, or satellite radio. We need a clear channel here boys!
Rats and snakes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m going to Raleigh to see my 22-year old daughter Lindsay. I don’t get to see her nearly as much as I would like but thanks to e-mail I can keep up with her latest cause. Linds champions many causes and is a natural activist. Her latest cause had to do with the way rats were treated in the pet stores. Ironically, when she called to tell me that she was protesting this particular pet store, I was holding the phone in one hand and the snake’s dinner, by the tail, in the other. I didn’t say a word to her about it.
We got a lot of responses to last night’s TV spot on our man Mr. David Allen Newton who’s posing as a wealthy guy looking to relocate. He’s here looking at homes in the $1.5 million neighborhood. He likes to check the attic, basement, and master bedroom closet very closely. He got a $5000 necklace early last month so he may be lying low for the moment.
It does bring up some awareness issues with a declining real-estate market and the need to sell a home to make some money. Real estate companies have very good guidelines and standards for showing houses to clients.
This guy specifically requested to see homes shown by only one female agent. He saw a bunch of homes through several agents but so far the only documented crime we have is the theft of the necklace. I think that most if not all agents record some info on clients including tag numbers and sometimes driver’s licenses. They also let other agents know where they are at all times when they are showing homes.
This guy had a flaw though. He said he’s a fat-cat from New Jersey and flew down on his plane but showed up in an older car. Aside from Ted Turner, who used to drive an old Toyota way back when, most younger folks (he’s 48) like the new and nicer cars. This guy’s car was a 2005 Honda Accord; nice car but not the first choice of guys who own their own big airplanes.
The other thing about this guy is that he looks like a goober. Some Internet millionaires have that goober look but sometimes the look can make you question things. Don’t be afraid to do that. Bottom line I guess is to try and verify everything you can.
My youngest son and future millionaire (he’s only 15, girls) has his account in a bank, in Cumming, that was robbed earlier in the week. The bad guy walked in, robbed the bank, walked out of the bank and got on his bicycle and rode it over near the Publix where the dye-pack exploded. He’s red now if you see him. A couple of years ago we had a bank robber, who I wrote about, who was the most ill-prepared robber I can recall. He had tight jeans so the money he took filled his pockets so fast he had no other place to put it. He left a trail of money, alongside the woods, leading towards his car. According to the blue dye all over the place and the witnesses, he was about to get in the car when the dye-pack exploded. It blew out his pockets and most likely burned his legs. The witnesses said the blue man limped to the car and drove away slow enough for them to get his tag.
Ya’ll have a good weekend. With any luck I’ll be protesting something like more parking places downtown or forcing fancy coffee stores to sell coffees in flavors that we can pronounce. I’m packing my “Free James Brown” T-shirt.
Take it inside
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I listed about 25 thefts from cars this past week. The total value of the items taken came out to about $15,000 in stolen items — and I didn’t count all of the thefts, just a sample. Add about 25% more to that. And then multiply that about 52 times so …
Whoa. That’s flirting with the million-dollar mark in about a year. That doesn’t really mean a lot to you does it — especially if you have never had the pleasure of coming out to a shattered window and your stuff gone. Even if you do though, it’s your loss, one time maybe, so the process is this:
a. get a police report and
b. report the items lost to the insurance. (For some of you less honest folks out there, add one Rolex and a set of $5000 golf clubs.)
Still, with all this, once you get your money, you’re happy because you’ve found closure. Two months later, new stuff is in the car and you’ve forgotten what got you here in the first place.
We get a lot of report request from victims whose thefts occurred some time back. They found out they need a police report when they claim the theft with insurance.
Crime numbers, especially thefts, can only go down so far, even if you hit the mother load of arrests, which we sometimes do. We’ll arrest someone for a theft and clear 30 more on the background investigation. Even so, you can only get so far, and then you’re at the mercy of potential victims and your hope that they’ll use common sense. So far, it ain’t looking so good for common sense.
Here are a couple of misconceptions about leaving your stuff in your car. Many people believe:
Their car is a fort and nobody would dare break in because it would shatter the window and that wouldn’t be nice.
The car alarm will scare them away.
It’s parked in a public lot and people will see them so they won’t take the chance.
They believe that in fact, there is such as thing as a “trunk monkey” who protects the car.
The car is safe in the garage.
To respond to number one, cars are not forts. They can be entered easily in the amount of time it takes to shatter the window.
As far as car alarms, the car alarm is a good device to notify people that they should be annoyed that your car alarm is going off. It’s also a good signal to you that someone has already taken your stuff.
As for number three, you’d be surprised what people will ignore.
Number four, Google “Trunk-Monkey” and, like me, wish that you had one.
Number five is something that we see more and more. It involves a combination of things that someone didn’t do that allowed the opportunity for someone else, who isn’t afraid to take a chance, to gain from it.
You and I wouldn’t dare think of breaking into someone’s garage at three or four in the morning. That’s because you and I are relatively honest and work and we’re not up all night smoking crack or meth. (I’m assuming — if you are, no need to read further.)
Most people, who park in their own garage, assume that it’s locked down so no need to lock the car doors and no need to remove things like laptops, GPS, guns, etc.
A number of thefts mushroom out to burglaries simply because the opportunity was there and, surprisingly enough, many times the victim sleeps right through it.
A familiar scenario starts with a bad guy breaking into the garage through an outside door or window, not wired for the house alarm (or the alarm is, many times, off.) He gets inside and opens the car door and takes what is there. Just for the sake of it, he checks the door leading to the house and if it’s unlocked, he listens for movement and if he hears nothing, he creeps into the kitchen. Nine times out of ten he finds a purse on the kitchen counter. He takes it and he’s gone. In some cases, he opens the garage door from the inside and leaves. The victim never heard a thing.
Three things that would get you out of trouble here:
First, set the alarm every night when everyone is in. If you don’t have it wired, wire the garage.
Second, take the laptops, GPS, and other things out of the car and then lock the car.
3.Third, get a dog that barks at noises at night. If you have one, don’t scold them. We use the combo-method. The Shih-Tzu begins the barking and Roxy, the Rottweiler, born of Satan, whose life’s goal is to chase my goober neighbors around, follows up with a low-baritone bark and a loud gallop on the hardwood, on the way to the source of the noise.
In my case there is a fourth thing although it never works and I pay for it ultimately: Politely request my SWAT-certified wife to check it out. (This never works. I don’t know why I do it, but at 4 a.m. it seems to me that the SWAT person would want to go find what’s left of the burglar. I thought SWAT people liked to do all that creeping around the corner stuff but apparently, it’s only when they’re at work that they like to do this.)
By the way, If you hear a noise, don’t forget to call 911 before you start creeping around in your underwear. (For those of you sleeping commando, put something on in case the dog can’t tell you from the would-be burglar. There are enough tragedies in the world.)
The fact is there isn’t enough self-initiated motivation to inspire one to prevent these thefts by removing the opportunity, opportunity being your stuff.
What If:
What if we quit writing reports for thefts when you left your doors unlocked on the car and / or you left your laptop on the seat and you didn’t secure the GPS?
What if the insurance companies declined your claim, citing “Victim Compliance” leading up to the theft meaning the victims were too lazy to carry their things in? It is laziness. It’s not like folks have a phobia about returning to the car once it’s parked.
Insurance companies would love paying out less money and police officers would have more patrol time on the streets. Win win?
In 2006 we defined our Part 1 crime problems and began to address them. The result was a 32% drop in overall Part 1 crimes in the first year. (Part 1 meaning the 8 most serious crime categories including larceny.) We found that the major culprit for our Part 1 crimes was the “Entering Auto” category or, thefts from cars.
We’ve combined prevention information that we’ve put out on television, radio, and print media along with a planned city-wide mail out, reminding people how easy it is to remove the opportunity by just taking your stuff out of the car. But, in all reality, we ain’t in Mayberry folks. It’s a big town with plenty of Bozos to go around. Crime displacement is a much-more practical strategy than eliminating it. We won’t go to zero on crime stats because they do it less. We just want them to do it less here.
When you get home and you dread making a hands-full trip or maybe two trips from the car, and you start to listen to that voice telling you it’s much more convenient to just leave it there because nothing is going to happen, stop and think of what it’s going to feel like the next morning when the first thing you find is glass on the driveway or worse yet, the garage. You’re going to wish you had taken those things out and and you’re going to blame everyone in the world, but your stuff, most likely, ain’t coming back.
It is fair to say that if you take the extra one or two minutes to remove those things you like so well, you will go on to lead a productive life and perhaps win the Lotto. Win, win.
Beware of shirt-tearing knuckle scrapers!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We have a tip sheet for narcotics violations complaints located on our section on the website at www.sandyspringsga.org. Go to Emergency Services-Police.
These are some, but not all, incidents reported to the Sandy Springs Police over the past week.
Craigsllst Con
A woman said that she bought two tickets to the Kid Rock Concert (Live at the Waffle House) on craigslist, from a man described as a black male, mid 20’s, short hair, wearing a diamond earring. She met the man at the Powers Ferry Landing Shopping Center. The tickets turned out to be fake. She said that six others were scammed as well.
If you have not been on craigslist, it’s a buy and sell and a bunch of other things, site on the Internet. The site is crawling with scam artists trying to rip you off on fake checks, money orders, etc. I tried to sell something on it a couple of years ago and I received twelve offers, all forgeries. Fake checks, money orders and a postal money order were offered but all of them wanted the product shipped prior to final payment, which is the big tip off. The site warns you of scam artists and they are there, especially with tickets and electronic sales. Be careful and save yourself the grief and buy concert tickets from reputable companies with those ridiculous service charges.
Robbery
A man and two women came into the Subway on Roswell Road and robbed the manager of $20 worth of food, which is about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. FYI: Armed Robbery is Armed Robbery whether it is money or food. What are you going to tell the guys in the slammer? I got 20 years for stealing the number-four combo?
A white male, about 34 years old, 5-10” to 6-0”, skinny with blond hair, blue eyes, wearing a dark colored suite with a white and blue striped shirt entered the Kroger at Fountain Oaks Shopping Center and robbed the Bestbank branch, located near the front of the store, of an undisclosed amount of money.
An employee of the Arby’s on Roswell Road said that a man walked into the store just before 10 p.m. and ordered a drink. A few minutes later he jumped the counter and pulled out a box-cutter and forced the manager to turn over a small amount of cash. The suspect is a black male, 6-4”, short hair, goatee, late 20’s, wearing grey sweatpants and a sweatshirt, hooded and heavy work boots.
Thefts
A woman on Waterford Place reported that a man, whom she allowed to stay with her for a few days, stole two suitcases and her dog.
A man went to a checkout line and pulled his wallet from his back pocket and paid for his items. He put the wallet back into his pocket. A man behind him in line, reached into his pocket and took the wallet and then walked out of the store. The victim then went back to the pocket for the wallet and found it was gone. The theft was captured on video. The suspect is a black male, 35-40 years old, wearing jeans, a white shirt and shoes, and a blue-jean jacket with some sort of graphic on the right side. He had a goatee as well.
Someone stole copper wiring from several different condo units on Perennial Drive.
A woman said a white male came into her business on Roswell Road and bought a bottle of water with a $20 bill. He then asked for change for another $20 bill and in doing so, confused the employee. The man became belligerent and walked out. She later discovered she was short $130 on the register.
Fraud / ID Theft
A woman on Spalding Trail reported that someone opened a $30,000 line of credit in her name. She said that she reported her purse, wallet, and credit cards stolen about a year ago.
Arrests
Matthew Nicholas Horton, 23,of Atlanta, was arrested for Public Indecency in the 600 block of Cimarron Parkway after neighbors complained that he was standing on his 3rd floor apartment balcony naked, talking on his phone. Horton said he was standing on the balcony, talking on the phone, naked, because he was doing his laundry and it was relaxing. Unfortunately he was in view from a public area where children play so Horton was arrested, clothed, and taken to jail. Neighbors told the officer they asked Horton to put some clothes on when they saw him. He apparently ignored them.
Mario Smith, 28, from Palmetto is charged with a number of criminal and traffic charges after he eluded police following the attempt to arrest him on a warrant, following a traffic stop. Smith fled south on Roswell Road and struck a 22-year old man who was attempting to run out of the way of Smith’s car. The victim’s leg was severed on impact. He remains in North Fulton Hospital. Smith is in jail. He is facing traffic and criminal charges in Roswell, GA as well, from a previous incident.
Ashley Ashabranner, 30, from Atlanta, who ought to know better, didn’t, and was arrested after she put several items in her purse and a bag, and then tried to leave without paying. During the interview with the police officer, he found some small white rocks, suspected to be crack cocaine, on the suspect who was then charged additionally with VGCSA.
Kathleen Elizabeth Clarke, 32, of Sandy Springs was arrested for Criminal Trespass (damage to property), DOC, and Obstruction after officers answered a complaint about an unruly female. She was intoxicated and said she smashed the windows of a car belonging to a man who she said sold crack to her girlfriend. Clarke told the officers she had been smoking crack.
Isai Hernandez, 20, of Sandy Springs, was arrested for Participation in Criminal Street Gang Activity and Carrying a Concealed Weapon after officers checked an area known as a place of criminal activity. The suspect had a .38 caliber pistol on him and several gang markings and tattoos signifying that he was involved with a local “Riverside Locos” gang, also known as RSL-13.
Reasons to Reduce Job Stress
Officers were called to an apartment on Peachtree Dunwoody Road regarding a stabbing. They arrived and found out the following: Two delivery men, who were delivering furniture to an apartment, got into an argument with each other. During the argument, one of the men pulled a knife and stabbed the other. The victim was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and Tyrone Emanuel Venzen, 29, from Decatur, was arrested. Officers and detective found blood on the floor of the apartment. The poor guy who lived there had lost almost everything in a fire at his previous residence and was trying to start over. I don’t think he needed all of this drama right now.
Lucky Lottery Winner
A man named Ronald Lewis called a resident on Allen Road and stated that she had won a foreign lottery and there was a certified check for $587,000 waiting for her at the airport. The caller ID showed that he was calling from “International Gateway” (404)492-8488. He told her to call him back at (514)247-8244. He claimed that “514” is the special area code for the airport. When she called back, he instructed her to go to Wal-Mart and get a cashier’s check for $2800 plus $25 for handling. When she stated that she did not have that much money, he promptly hung up. The number comes back to a Metro PCS cell phone. The “514” number is registered in Montreal, Canada.
A woman on called Sandy Springs Police and reported that she received several phone calls from a woman accusing her of having an affair with her cheating husband. She didn’t comment on the validity of the complaint nor if she knew any of the parties involved therefore, unfortunately, no gossip to report.
Victim Compliance
We could knock down part-one crimes easily, maybe 40%, if we could somehow convince people to remove their steal-able items from their cars. If you read this silly report each week you read me ranting and raving about this in some far-fetched hope that someone will actually listen. I do get some feedback from folks who said they do look at it differently now but couldn’t tell it by the numbers.
The act of removing items from your car is often overcoming procrastination. As we all know, procrastination, also known as P.O.S., (Putting-Off-Stuff) is a type of avoidance behavior which is characterized by deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. It is often cited by psychologists as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. I’ll get into this in detail—but not now.
Tons of folks are getting hammered on thefts from cars. At least several hundred thousand dollars in laptops, GPS devices, wallets, purses, guns, cash, and just about anything else, are being stolen each day.
Finally
A man on Pitts Road said he was visiting a friend when a woman came to the residence and confronted him, tore his shirt, and scraped his knuckles. These perpetrators are known as shirt-tearing knuckle scrapers and you’ll stay away from them if you know what’s good for you.
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