View from the cop: Crime & punishment
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AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2008 > June > 05
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Crime & Punishment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well folks, this is May and many of you are leaving for vacations and so hopefully you have done some homework in getting ready to go.
Even as you prepare for the beach by purchasing ugly shorts and oversized flip-flops, crooks are gearing up for the summer as well. This is prime time for stealing—specifically from cars.
This is a metro-wide rise in crime numbers. DeKalb County, especially the perimeter area is showing an increase and Zone 2 Atlanta is showing a 29% increase mostly due to thefts from autos.
GPS units are very popular but believe it or not, we’re seeing an increase in thefts where the driver left a purse, wallet, camera, and so on, right there on the front seat and in some cases, left the door unlocked.
We are all guilty of this from time to time as our lives are so busy as evident by my increased speaking-engagement schedule. Today alone I spoke at two Waffle House employee reunions and the Georgia Chapter of the Moon Amtrak Club. (www.moonamtrack.org.) I must say, I’m in demand this summer.
Anyway, the point is that we’re going 90 MPH everywhere we go. One of the first things to fall in the cracks is how vulnerable we are to crime. We just don’t think it’s going to happen—until it happens, then, we go a little nutzo. As much as I hate to see people taken as victims, sometimes it’s a wake-up call and afterwards it is, at times, productive. Still, carrying expensive jewelry to a gym is nutzo and leaving expensive items in the car is nutzo. Don’t be nutzo.
Robbery A man reported that while he was standing near a dumpster at the rear of his apartment complex, a white mini-van approached, driven by a man described as white with curly hair. Two other males got out and one pulled a gun. The two men took his I.D. and $500 cash. The two men were described as 6-0” and around 160 to 180 lbs.
Burglary A complainant reported that while she was in her apartment around 11:45 a.m. a man kicked in the front door and yelled for everyone to get out. The man was armed with a gray handgun. As the complainant went for the door, the perp yelled “Never mind—wrong person!” and then left.
Someone entered the victim’s garage and took a chainsaw and blower, valued at around $700.
The victim said someone kicked the front door in and took $2,600 in property.
Someone entered the victim’s apartment and took items, valued at $600 from the apartment.
The victim reported that someone forced a kitchen window and entered his home. Property valued at just under $2,000 was taken.
Thefts A complainant reported that someone removed numerous sections of copper pipe from a construction area. Value of the theft is about $1,000.
Two men ate over $26 in food at the Northridge Road Waffle House and then left without paying.
A man gave the convenient-store clerk a bad credit card, probably stolen, and pumped $81 in gas and left. The clerk did get the tag and arrests are pending.
A man reported that he bought a laptop from a man on Craigslist for $1,000 and found later the computer had been stolen.
A man walked into a convenient store, took several CD’s and left without paying.
Forgery-Fraud-Identity Theft Someone used the victim’s name and DOB to open a credit account with MasterCard and attempted to open an account with Bank of America.
The victim said someone accessed her electronic account and paid money to Wal-Mart and a Circle-K store. Total loss was in excess of $800.
Someone used the victim’s credit card number acquiring over $8,000 in retail-store items in Chicago.
Bright Ideas *
• Most Convoluted Business Plan: Adolfo Martinez, 33, and Mark Anderson, 26, were indicted for fraud in Las Cruces, N.M., in April, accused of passing forged checks. The men’s plan was to buy Domino’s pizzas with the checks, then have one of the men put on a Pizza Hut shirt and resell the pizzas, by the slice, in a local park or at stores (even though the pizzas were still being carried around in the Domino’s boxes).
• A 31-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition in Salt Lake City, hit by cars after running into traffic to avoid paying for a taxi ride he had just taken.
• Three men were arrested in New Orleans in February and charged with possession of almost two pounds of marijuana after police were called to a car on fire, which they said started when the men stashed their dope under the hood, and it overheated. • Recurring Themes: Mr. Cash Burch, 24, was arrested in Waterloo, Iowa, in April after he broke into a truck and tried to start it but apparently ran down the battery doing so, which triggered a theft-prevention device that locked the doors, trapping him inside, where he was waiting when police arrived. Courtesy of Chuck Shepherd’s News of the Weird www.newsoftheweird.com
