August 7, 2005

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A lawnmower was stolen from a backyard on Parkmont this weekend. There must have been a least a pair of thieves because in order to retrieve the lawnmower, an eight-foot fence had to be scaled and the lawnmower had to be lifted back over the fence.
There seems to be a pattern of people roaming the neighborhood looking for things to steal, particularly lawnmowers. This particular machine was visible only by looking through the cracks in the security fence in the alley. It was not an easy target.
Please call 911 if you see anything suspicious.

August 3, 2005

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A house in the 5700 block of Victor was broken into on Monday, August 1. This same house has been broken into on the average of twice a month for the past year. The operational mode is always the same: a window is smashed and the burglar enters, usually during the daytime when the resident is at work. The house does have an alarm but the thief is quick and leaves before the police come or, on some occasions, has pulled the wires out and disconnected the alarm. The burglar may or may not live in the area but it appears that the resident’s movements are being watched because the house is vandalized when the resident is away.

The police have been able to get fingerprints several times and have been able to attach a name to the fingerprints. The suspect is a Hispanic male who has been released from prison in another state, where he was serving time for burglary. At the present time it is not know whether all of the burglaries at this location can be attributed to this suspect but it is likely that most, if not all, can be.

Incidents like this affect the quality of urban life for us all. There is no reason for Dallas to continue to have one of the highest crime rates in the nation. If New York can do it, we can do too. New York has been able to successfully bring down their crime so that now, statistically speaking, it is safer on the streets of New York than it is in Dallas.

We have a committed police chief and patrol officers in Dallas. They are working hard on the problem (they know the name of this suspect and are currently looking him) but they will need our help. If you see anything that looks out of the ordinary, call 911. You will get a quicker response if you report a “suspicious person” rather than a generic description.

If you see persistent patterns of suspicious activity, call Sergeant Gonzalez at 214-670-4413. He is very helpful. We have been able to get rid of two major drug houses in Junius Heights this year because of alert citizens. The tips can be made anonymously. Most of the burglaries in this area are caused by thieves stealing, and then pawning the stolen goods, to support their drug habits.

Get to know your neighbors so that you will know if and when somebody out of the ordinary is in your neighbor’s back yard. A phone tree on the block listing everybody’s home and work number is a good way to communicate should an emergency arise.

July 21, 2005

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Several thefts have occurred recently in broad daylight in Junius Heights:

In the 700 block of Lowell on Saturday, while work was being done on the air conditioner, tools were left on the front porch. While the resident was standing in the driveway and neighbors were on their front porch, a black man in a light blue Ford Taurus with Oklahoma plates, stopped his car, got out, walked to the house, up to the front porch, and grabbed two very expensive tools. The neighbors saw him and told him to stop. He dropped one of the tools, ran to his car, and drove away. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon. There were plenty of people around and he was not apprehended.

In the 5600 Block of Reiger, a generator was stolen. A new house is under construction and two guys diverted the workers attention while others stole the generator. No further description of the suspects is available at the present time.

In response to the alert about the young man who was banging on somebody’s door in the early hours of the morning, claiming he was being chased by a gang, the police suspected that he was under the influence of drugs. One JH resident reports that a while back she was with a group that was being harassed by a group of people, and they went to a house and knocked on the door for safety. The ruse worked and they were left alone. Another resident e-mailed back to say that she had a similar situation and somebody wanted assistance at her door. She called 911 and the police dispatcher wanted to talk to the victim to find out what the problem was. The police never responded.

I guess the bottom line is, use your own judgment but do call 911 immediately.

The Mill Creek Crime Watch Association reports that a suspect has been caught and charged with stealing lawn equipment, particularly lawn mowers, in East Dallas. If you have been victimized, please go to the website http://www.OldEastDallasVIP.us for information on how to contact the police department and hopefully claim some of your stolen equipment.