Residents of a retirement community in southwest Atlanta are pleading for extra police patrols and other security measures after thieves broke into several vehicles Saturday morning, including one that belongs to Martin Luther King Jr.’s sister-in-law.
Atlanta police spokeswoman Kim Jones said five vehicles were damaged. Ruth Manson, resident council president at the retirement community, Big Bethel Village, said another woman who lives there was attacked Friday evening.
Naomi King, who was married to the civil rights leader’s younger brother, the late Rev. A.D. King, spoke in a video that was posted on YouTube Saturday about the incident.
Naomi King appealed for help from city leaders and police, saying she and fellow residents "do not deserve this type of violence." King was carjacked there in October. No one was arrested in that crime, family members said.
Several items were stolen from her vehicle Saturday. She was not in the car at the time.
Big Bethel Village, located near Fairburn Road and Benjamin E. Mays Drive, has about 120 residents. It has a security fence, but residents believe criminals are climbing over it.
Manson said better lighting is needed and more police patrols.
“For seniors, it seems like we are on the back burner,” said Manson, who is planning an emergency meeting at 2 p.m. Sunday. “You hear about Black Lives Matter. Senior lives matter too.”
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