Decatur Police Alert: Reported Armed Robbery and Assault on East College Ave Overnight
Decatur Metro | August 1, 2014 | 10:39 amFrom Decatur PD…
On 08/01/2014 at approximately 1:50 am, Decatur Police responded to the 300 block of East College Avenue in reference to an armed robbery and assault. The victims reported they were walking eastbound on the sidewalk and observed a light colored sedan traveling eastbound turn around and begin traveling westbound on East College Avenue. The same vehicle turned around again and began traveling eastbound on East College Avenue and pulled up next to them.
Two young males exited the vehicle, demanded one victim’s purse and physically assaulted the two victims by striking and kicking them. One suspect was armed with a handgun. The suspects took a purse from one victim and a wallet from the second victim and fled eastbound on East College Avenue in the sedan. One victim sustained a laceration to her head and bruises to her knees and was transported to an area hospital for evaluation. The second victim sustained a contusion to his right eye and bruises and cuts to his legs but refused medical treatment. The suspects were described as follows:
Suspect #1: Young black male wearing a gray hoodie with the hood covering his head and armed with a handgun
Suspect #2: Young black male
Armed muggings. East College, West College, West Howard. Late night. A pattern is emerging.
So, this is near Trackside?
If I’m not mistaken the last mugging occurred after 1am also.
Unfortunately, it’s never been a good idea to walk around our city late at night.
We’ve come a long way in the 15 years I’ve been here, but we will never be crime-free until we get that moat!
but what does that pattern mean?
It means the bad guys come out looking for vics when the bars close. Most likely they follow them from a bar.
It means the criminals have a pattern that is opposite the police presence, at least on the south side of Decatur.
I don’t know the answer, but I do know this is very disconcerting. Don’t get me wrong, having your car stolen, your house broken into, etc is bad, but being accosted on the street of your town at gun point is downright horrific. Maybe it already is, but, to me, late night patrols, especially on these busy through streets, needs to be a priority for DPD. A lot bigger priority than sitting on 3rd Ave and waiting for somebody to roll through the stop sign at East Lake Dr. for example.
Yep. That’s what I’ve been saying, but be careful, folks will think you’re bashing DPD and call you ignorant.
Yep. That’s what I’ve been saying, but be careful,folks will think you’re bashing DPD and call you ignorant.
Yep. That’s what I’ve been saying,but be careful,folks will think you’re bashing DPD and call you ignorant.
Do you think perhaps it was the late night patrol that the robber was looking for as they went up and down the same street three times? Police can’t be everywhere at all times.
smith, i can only guess you live on third ave, and if so, you are aware that in spite of the speed bumps that were installed, people still, for some unfathomable reason, speed down this street—a street with tons of kids.
yes, guns and bullets kill, but i don’t hear that many gun shots around here.
on the other hand, i do hear and see these metal missiles speeding down my street almost every day and consider them a much more imminent and regular threat to us and our kids’ safety than armed robbers
when i saw that DPD car parked on the side of the street near our home, i gave him a thumbs up.
No, I don’t live on 3rd Ave. That is just an example of the many intersections around town where DPD lies in wait for rolling stops. My point is more fundamental. Preventing armed robbery of people walking our streets should be a higher priority for our police than traffic enforcement. Period.
Your point isn’t more fundamental; it is misguided. Police efforts to enforce traffic laws and their efforts to prevent armed robberies and/or break-ins aren’t mutually exclusive. Look at it this way. People bitch about their perceived lack of police presence and want the police to be more visible. When the police are sitting on the side of the road monitoring traffic, they are both visible and present, and I assure you they are doing more than looking for people rolling through stop signs. You may prefer they sit there and do nothing while they wait for a “real” crime, but since they have to be visible anyway, I am glad they are doing something productive. Besides, if the police knew exactly when and where the armed robberies would occur, don’t you think they would be thereinstead?
Agree that intense police visibility and local enforcement of even minor laws and regs can be effective. That’s one of the approaches Guiliani used to make NYC more livable in terms of crime in the 19-whatevers. (Not that I like what he did with the homeless.)
+1
(Believe me, I’m as surprised as you are!) 😉
I feel like the world is in balance whenever I agree with DawgFan. Makes me wanna break out the Martin and strum a few verses of Kumbaya.
Guadalcanal version, natch.
smith, we all get your concern. It’s not a picking between priorities thing, though. Two more points to go w/ Dawgfan’s to hopefully make it less frustrating when you see officers monitoring traffic:
1) DPD has officers specifically assigned to traffic enforcement, so that’s likely who you’re seeing if an officer’s monitoring an area for long periods of time. However, if something major were to happen, that officer would definitely join the patrol officers (and everyone else available) in reporting to the scene.
2) DPD’s policy is to follow up on every reported traffic concern with an observation conducted in the same time frame within 7 days. Since stop sign(s) violations are a big concern for residents and something that folks will take the time to report, it stays high on DPD’s list to address.
Thank you. Since you have more knowledge about how things work, maybe you can answer this (or Steve – where are you when we need you, Steve?):
How many officers are on patrol between 11:00 pm and 2:00 am (approximate window for the 3 armed muggings in the last few months) compared with daytime or early evening?
It’s probably not info the DPD wants widely circulated, but if you’ll sign up for the upcoming Citizens Police Academy, they cover All Things DPD and are glad to answer questions. Can’t recommend it highly enough!!! :0)
All shifts generally have the same patrol staffing, usually one patrol officer per zone for each of 4 zones, which are (do the math) about 1 square mile each, which is far less area than, say, DeKalb County. There is the capability, of course, to increase patrols using supervisors and other means, when deemed necessary.
Thanks, Steve. I knew we could count on you. Hopefully DPD will consider beefing up patrols during the wee hours along the Howard/College corridor. I think the lighting is also something to look into.
I walk College A LOT. Generally (but not always) during the day. 1. I see cops (in cars) CONSTANTLY when I’m out walking the stretch between Avondale MARTA and Candler. 2. There are some REALLY dark stretches of the road. It could use more and better lighting.
This is a vent about DirecTV.
House-sitting for semi-Luddite relatives who have no cable TV and no broadcast antenna, and I’m bored with Netflix. Not to worry, since I have a DTV subscription including On Demand and a Mobile Access feature that I’ve never used before. Well, turns out the “Mobile Access” is only useful if I’m “mobile” inside my own house. Otherwise, it only lets me watch a few things including the Cooking channel and the Travel channel. In order to watch anything I actually care about, e.g., last week’s episode of “Falling Skies,” it’s necessary to log on independently to TNT, where it’s possible to watch a jerky, jittery stream up until about 8 min from the end. Then the whole thing crashes. When I log on again, it won’t let me fast-forward — if I want to see the end, I have to watch the whole thing over in real time including commercials. (And that’s another thing — if I were watching it recorded on the DVR for which I paid dearly to DTV, I could zap through the commercials. But not this way.)
I really thought that this was going to devolve into a screed about Law and Order or Criminal Minds.
I have consistently been at odds with STG’s posts, for years–though we have occasionally agreed on some things (Chris B’s lack ). If, and I mean IF, this is a sober and cognizant post then cheers to you babe, you win.
+1
She said that Falling Skies is worth watching. No way she was sober.
Hey, my afternoon beach reading was relatively cerebral yesterday. I earned my martini and my sci-fi soap last night.
I know, right? Last week I found myself in momentary solidarity with Dawg and DEM. Who says DM isn’t a community-building tool?
I am only mostly evil! There is a small part of me that only a few would find objectionable. 😉
i’d blame the parents and their unruly, insolent children.
Goes without saying.
This is an earnest question. I’d love feedback from anyone who’s vacationed in the Florida Panhandle in the past 2-3 years, between May and September, especially along Hwy 30-A in Walton County.
Are you aware that stretch of coast is an important nesting area for several species of sea turtles? Have you noticed any information provided to visitors about how to help protect turtles and their nesting sites? If yes, where did the information come from? From a visitor’s perspective, what would be a good way for Turtle Watch to share interesting and helpful information with the public?
ok, random. but i just got back from navarre beach. and when i checked into the rental condo, i was provided with written explanation and a verbal request to darken windows no later than 9:15PM because of the sea turtles. a request i happily complied with.
thank you
When did this thread turn into a FFAF appendix?
Oops. When I mistakenly put my DTV vent here instead in the FFAF thread where it belongs. Then I kept going. I’m going to copy my turtle question over to FFAF, where I meant to put it in the first place.