Crime Watch

Brian recently posted a comment on an old post about car prowls asking if the neighborhood was still having issues:

This thread went cold back in April. Over the months since we were the victims of a car prowler in early April, my level of vigilance has definitely increased. That being said, I haven’t heard much lately about either the car prowl/home burglary issue or the police response to it. Is crime down a bit recently? How have people responded to thievery in the neighborhood? I wonder whether longer days and shorter nights and more people out on the streets at dusk leads to fewer thieves roaming the ‘hood.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like things have gotten better, maybe just less chatter about it. We did report on a spate of break-ins between 42 and 43 on Sunnyside earlier this month (And We Don’t Steal American Express), and our friend Doug reports that there were several cars broken into recently around 46th and Bagley.

And last night, we got this report in from Tangletown:

A young couple is casing the neighborhood tonight (seen multiple times between 8:00 and 9:00 pm at 54th and 1st). They are (1) male, tall, caucasian, short blonde hair, 17-20 years old, and (2) female, short, olive complexion, medium length dark hair (pulled back in a ponytail), also 17-20 years old. They have been casing the neighborhood both separately and together, both carrying shopping bags (different bags, and different jackets, each time we’ve seen them – we confiscated one bag after they left it behind – it was empty), one has a backpack (shopping bags and backpacks all appear to be empty), and they are walking one small dog (the woman was walking it both times we saw her). They have been alternating between walking (separately and together) and sitting on corners or stoops. They shuffled off, heading west on 54th, when we started to approach them, leaving an empty shopping bag behind.

I assume that they are looking for cars and/or homes to hit for small items, based on the bags they are carrying. I have made a report with their descriptions to the police. Please call 911 if you see them.

Reporting this one makes us a bit nervous (the only crime these kids have been known to commit is shuffling and shopping bag abandonment, the rest is assumed), but it seems fair to be cautious.