MPSA Mailbag 12/02/2009
What the neighbors are telling us. As always, mailbag items do not necessarily represent the position of the MPSA.
Thoughts on car break-ins – I’ve seen the articles about the increase in vehicle break-ins and wonder why they all seem to show surprise of that fact. I think the fact that a lot of Midtown residents are being vigilant and keeping their cars clean was helping, but this time of year brings in so many visitors from outside areas for sports and other events, they are oblivious of what can and does happen in the in-town areas. During Georgia Tech games, people will park anywhere and everywhere, and especially seek out free parking, no matter how dark or obscure the street may be, and they do leave things visible in their cars.
I think the vagrants and thieves know “it’s feeding time”, and they are taking advantage of it. Somehow there needs to be a way to alert these visitors to our area of the Clean Car Campaign and what is at risk.
Just to show how people from other areas are oblivious. A friend and I had some friends visiting this past Monday. We had walked to a restaurant on Peachtree, at 6th street. On the way back to the Condo on 7th, one friend had walked ahead, and there were at least 4 vagrants begging for money, one giving some kind of flower then pestering people for money, one sitting next to a parking lot, and one was on a light blue bike. All three were young to middle age black males. When I noticed, the friend who had walked ahead had been approached by the person on the bike, and he already had his wallet out, in plain view, giving him a dollar. We quickly caught up to him and said, “what are you doing?”, to which he replied, “he looked like he probably needed the money”. We went on to explain that “you DON’T do this”, and how the guy was probably just going to use it for drugs or alcohol. Giving him money was not helping anything, plus the bike he was on was not a cheap one, which probably meant it was stolen. If he could afford a bike like that, he didn’t need money for MARTA, which is what he was claiming.
The moral, and what I learned from this, is the next time I have anyone visiting the area, either before they come, or when I first meet them, my greeting will be “hello, great to see you, and by the way, do not give to beggars on the street” and explain to them why.
During the holidays, many of us will have friends and family visiting, and probably won’t think about this, as I didn’t, until it happens, but it would be a good reminder to everyone to forewarn your visitors about these things before you go out, or they come to town.
MPSA Mailbag 12/22/2009
As always, mailbag items do not necessarily represent MPSA position
Forwarded to us from VaHi - I just had a conversation with a UPS delivery man and then an Atlanta police officer, and want all of you to know that the UPS delivery man saw a probable crime and was able to remember the license plate number. The police officer ran the tag, and it matches the description, a 1999 Green Chevy Lumina with tag number BGU-7453 registered to someone on the “South side of town, an area they have a lot of problems with”. The UPS man saw the car behind his truck, and the driver acted very nervous which made him suspicious. A young boy, African American and probably about 9 years old, ran up the street, then went up to a house with a package and then ran back and got into the car and they quickly drove off. Because the UPS man was suspicious, he went up to the house and saw that the package was opened and empty and had a different address than the house. The UPS driver did not report it, but at least he told me and I was able to report it. So, if you see a 1999 Green Chevy Lumina with Tag # BGU-7453, please alert the police so that they can follow them and hopefully pull them over for a traffic violation and then check them out…that is what the officer said they often do when they spot a car that has been identified as being part of a suspected crime…
Newswire 12/22/2009
* AOL: Thieves Target GPS Devices To Find Out Where You Live http://autos.aol.com/article/gps-thief-home-invasion
* AJC: Reed pledges to aggressively address panhandling http://www.ajc.com/news/reed-pledges-to-aggressively-243098.html
* CREATIVE LOAFING: Clermont Hotel condemned by county (BTW, it has new owners) http://m.clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2009/12/17/clermont-hotel-condemned-by-county-btw-it-has-new-owners
Court Watch: Candice Hughes
Candice Hughes, a very problematic individual on the Ponce & Boulevard scene, was arrested on 11/20/2009 for robbery and aggravated assault. For years she has plagued the neighborhood with prostitution, drug activity, violent conduct, criminal trespassing, and a wide range of other criminal and nuisance activity. She becomes violent when challenged. Officers familiar with her tell us that she abandoned a child to pursue crack use and prostitution at Ponce & Boulevard. We have requested that the DA’s office place her very high on their priorities, and put a stop to her presence in our community.
Profile sheet with photos: http://www.midtownponce.org/news/profile017.pdf
Court Watch: Damon Foson
Three MPSA members spent five hours in Court (Watch) on December 14, for the hearing for Damon Fosom, the subject who brutally beat a randomly selected woman walking to work. The incident occurred in the summer of 2006, about the same time as the similar incident with Ricky Love. MPSA was given the opportunity to speak out to beg the court to protect the neighborhood from this dangerous man and others like him who are mentally ill and prey on our citizens.
They also provided some comfort to the victim who bravely addressed the court – in the presence of her attacker – asking that he not be released on the streets.The defense wanted him to be sent home to Detroit to live with his mother and receive treatment, a totally unacceptable resolution given the brutality of the random attack in question.
After hearing the court’s intended sentence of 25 years to serve 10, the defendant elected to go to trial. The case was placed on the February 1, 2010 trial calendar. This means the case would be heard sometime during the course of the month, and not necessarily on the 1st. Sharla Jackson, our community prosecutor, pointed out that there are some specially set cases on that calendar. She expects the case go to trial after February 1st but definitely by March since it is one of the older cases in the division.
- Profile sheet on Damon Foson: http://www.midtownponce.org/news/profile104.pdf
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