Coventry Road Break-Ins
Decatur Metro | December 16, 2008Fellow Ponce de Leon Heights residents take note.
Rebecca writes in…
Since we don’t have a formal neighbhorhood association in Ponce de Leon Heights, I just wanted to make everyone aware that there have been a series of break-ins on Coventry Road. Apparently they look for no cars in the driveway. The robbers smash in the backdoors and grab anything they can find — pull TVs off the wall, etc. and are gone in a matter of minutes. Please be extra vigilant and alert the police/neighbors if you’re going to be out of town.
What’s the number to notify police you will be out of town? I’d like to post it here. Is it just the non-emergency #?
UPDATE: Steve confirms my hunch. Call 404-373-6551 to notify police to keep an eye on your house if you’re going out of town this holiday season.
Latest from Decaturish
Call the non-emergency number 404-373-6551 to have the police make a vacation card for you.
What part of Coventry Rd? Are they just going up and down the whole stretch?
I hate this…especially in such a family community, kids could be at home…
is it happening during working hours, or at night? I guess alarms are not a deterant.
Just as important as telling the cops — make friends with your neighbors and tell them to keep an eye on your house. Get timers to your lights.
In my neighborhood south of the East Lake Golf Course, most of the breakins occur during the day. Rainy days are popular for these burglaries because the few DeKalb police officers out on patrol are likely to be busy with traffic incidents and response time is slower.
We leave a car in the driveway when possible, and we leave it unlocked to save the glass should someone decide to look for anything of value in it.
It also helps to leave a radio or television on when you are out.
Best place to leave a light on when you’re away is the bathroom. It’s the room most likely to be lit in the middle of the night.
Incidentally, if you do call to report a vacation or other absence, the officer working that zone will get a literal card with your information, and s/he won’t just do a cursory drive-by. S/he will routinely walk the property, check doors, look for anything suspicious or tempting to potential thieves, etc. It’s yet another fantastic advantage of our City and its great police force.
Twelve plus years ago when Decatur was a bit of a dump the house I bought had a big shiny prominent security sign in the front of it clearly indicating the house is protected by a security agency. psst…even though its not. Seems to work like a charm.
The economy tanks..crime goes up. We’re probably going to have to make some adjustments through this cycle. Hopefully it doesn’t scare good people off from living in the city. A cohesive community stays safe. People run and the criminals win. Actually I heard crime is increasing even more so in the suburbs. Perhaps its better to be in the city because our services are more centralized. Meaning…we know who and where our services are coming from and who to hold accountable. Not always so clear in the outskirts of town.
I’ve been told by two different police officers that the single best deterrent you can have against break-ins is not a security system or strong locks (though those are both good ideas). It’s a dog. A barking dog makes you something like 90% less likely to be broken into. And it’s not because the thieves are afraid of the dog, but because they’re afraid the noise will alert people.
If someone actually got into our house, our dog would be far more likely to lick them than bite them, but he barks his head off if anyone he doesn’t know gets within 20 feet of the house. This can be annoying (relations with our mailman are particularly strained
) but it sure does make us feel safer.
Notice in all of those security system commercials designed to scare you into buying their product that the family never has a dog.
I wish I could have additional information about the mode of break-in. Are they smashing glass doors? How do you run through Ponce de Leon Heights with TVs during the day with nobody seeing you? Do they park in the victim’s driveway? Is there any indication (besides cars in the driveway) that seems to protect one house over the other on Coventry? Should we flyer the neighborhood? Would it help if burglars thought that we all knew about them from the flyers or does it make us look like a good place to commit crimes?!? Does anyone have a $10 car I can buy to keep in my driveway?
Between Fellini’s, Kaleidoscope, and these burglaries I feel under siege. Have any of the perpetrators been caught?????
Altmod,
Rebecca sent in this note to you…
I will check with the police department; there are records on file about the break-ins and the time of day. Unfortunately, people with fenced yards were burglarized, they came into the backyard, and no one saw them. Don’t know how they escaped, but these individuals are savvy enough to scram quickly.
Please don’t be discouraged. These break-ins are HIGHLY UNUSUAL for our neighborhood, and I really believe they are a sign of the current economy. I’ve lived in the neighborhood for 22 years, and the last major incident was a robbery on our street 15 years ago. Give the police department a call about your concerns. It is my experience that they are helpful.
I wonder if people have alarms…and if they do, do they work (I mean-do the jerks breaking in take off after the alarms goes off).
I hear a lot of breakin stories, not many “attempted breakin” stories.
Similar break-ins are also happening in the Livingstone-Craigie neighborhood between Katie Kerr and Avondale Estates. When no one is home, the thieves break in via window or bust down the door, grab the flat screen tvs, laptops and blank checks. Six break-ins in the last 2 weeks.
Rebecca sends in this update….
FYI to my Ponce de Leon neighbors, and to all Decatur neighbors (and sorry DM, because this is a long post, but I hope it helps everyone ..)
Just got off the phone with Juanchella Francis, who is the community outreach go-to person with Decatur Police. She gave me specific details on the break-ins on Coventry: Forced entry on both; one was the back window, the other the thieves pulled the entire frame off the back door. Both occured sometime between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. — and in both incidences, the thieves ran out the back with loot — the same way they came in. One bright spot: The last break-in was Dec. 10, and there have been no more reported since then. (did I just jinx this?!)
She offered some tips, plus her e-mail, so you can be on her crime alert listserve if you want.
Big TVs and Flat screens are HOT: If you have a TV in your front room, pull the blinds or the curtains. If they see it, they’ll want it …
Get an alarm system — or a sign. Sometimes a thief will skip over a home with those security signs. And if you have an alarm system, ARM it when you’re gone.
If you see anyting suspicious, call the police. “Don’t worry if it’s nothing — let us figure it
out,” she says.
Secure back windows, and doors. (Although in these cases, it didn’t work)
Call the non-emergency line to alert police if you’re going to be out of town, or stop by the station to fill out a vacation card; they’ll check your home on a regular basis
If you’re calling from a cell phone to report a burgerly or suspicious activity call the non-
emergency line at 404-373-6551. The reason is that your cell phone 911 call may be directed into Atlanta or DeKalb police, not Decatur.
E-mail Juanchella Francis to get a full report on monthly crime in each zone of Decatur: . Her December report will be out in January. Stay safe everyone …
All of the above is good advice. Thanks, DM.
The middle of November we were broken into also. We live right on Clairemont Ave. I left the house for less than 2 hours. Unless they saw me leave or looked in the garage they would not know if we were home or not. I believe I scared them off as they only had time to go into a couple of rooms in the house and when I came home and opened the garage door I believe they ran. The kicked in the back door and left it wide open for my cats to run out also! They dumped out all of our dresser drawers and took electronics, all my jewelry including the jewelry boxes and sterling silver flatware, etc.
The good news is that the Decatur police were here in 3 minutes which I was happy to see. I hear that in DeKalb County and Atlanta it’s usually at least 45 minutes! So, we are fortunate in that respect but I sure would like to see these people caught!
The police recommended having cameras installed and they are not very expensive. That along with an alarm system and they can hopefully be scared off right away or be caught on camera and identified. The police also said that they are most likely living down by the railroad tracks and taking whatever they steal directly to the “drug house” and trading it for drugs. We need to push the City into clearing up the area by the tracks or patrolling it more often and running people off.
All neighbors should also keep an eye out for any unusual behavior or sounds. Our neighbors actually heard the door being kicked in but never got up from eating their lunch to see what was going on! Be good neighbors and watch out for each other.
Hi Everyone…
We were burglarized about 2 months ago behind Westchester Elementary school.. my car was broken into and our neighbors home was burglarized while she was sleeping.
We have each installed alarms since but the police told us that incidents such of this are increasing in our area. He stated there were a few factors including an increase in drug activity near downtown area.
All the suggestions regarding neighbors, lights and alarms are definitely suggested during this time in our economy.
LS
Everyone needs to read the Decatur crime stats for 2008 vs. 2007….don’t be fooled into believing that Decatur, like the rest of the metro area, isn’t getting hit hard by burglaries. Home burglaries up 80% yoy.
Beth
Sorry to here about your home. Can you be a little more specific as to where “down by the railroad tracks” refers to…near Avondale…near Columbia Drive…near College Ave?
Wonder if, since the police indicatd that they take it to “the drug house”, if they are watching “the drug house”?