Business is booming for Decatur-based Entry Enforcer.
The company secures residential doorways and windows, and the Decatur area has seen a noticeable uptick in property crimes. Decatur police are currently investigating at least a dozen burglaries that have occurred within the last two weeks.
“People are scared,” said Entry Enforcer owner Duncan Cottrell, who has been in business since 2008. “I’ve been getting a lot more calls than usual.”
And they’re coming from a part of town known more for its progressive politics and pedestrian-friendly streets than for lawlessness.
Fears have been stoked by a trio of brazen incidents, starting Monday night, when an Oakhurst resident was accosted by two men while sitting in his front yard. He foiled the attempted theft of his laptop computer by kicking one of the suspects in the groin, but subsequent victims haven’t been so lucky.
On Tuesday, three women were robbed at gunpoint while sitting in the playground area of Oakhurst Park. Decatur police are still on the lookout for three teen male suspects, one of whom drove off in a maroon Honda CRV owned by one of the victims. The thieves also made off with an iPhone.
Police apprehended a 15-year-old in a carjacking Wednesday morning in downtown Decatur. According to Deputy Police Chief Keith Lee, the teen suspect stole an SUV at gunpoint, approaching the vehicle’s owner just before 9 a.m. in the 200 block of Swanton Way.
The 15-year-old led officers on a high-speed chase onto South Candler Street before losing control of the vehicle and flipping over, Lee said. The teen is charged with armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and numerous traffic offenses.
Winona Park and Oakhurst have both seen a steep increase in burglaries over the last month.
“It’s kind of a mystery why it’s happening,” said longtime Decatur resident Gardner Neely, former co-president of the Winona Park Neighborhood Association.
Lee said the department is assigning overtime shifts and redeploying officers to address “increased criminal activity in the area.”
Decatur Police Chief Mike Booker, who did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday, will be meeting with community groups from both neighborhoods early next week.
The most recent incidents have provoked some spirited discussion on local message boards and neighborhood listservs.
“Break-ins are one thing,” wrote a resident on the popular Decatur Metro blog. “But a line has been crossed when these guys are pulling guns on families in a park in broad daylight. Speaking of unimaginable tragedies, what if these thugs fired a shot and accidentally shot a child? They need to be stopped for good before someone else gets hurt.”
Neely said law enforcement doesn’t deserve all the blame.
“There is a sense of complacency among the newer residents,” he said. “These burglars are here for the low-hanging fruit, it seems to me. We’ve got to do a better job not making ourselves potential targets.”
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