Peachtree Pine update 11/23/2010
The new owner of Peachtree Pine shelter building is expecting a resolution to all legal issues and in obtaining unfettered access to the building before the end of this year. According to a plan presented last week, the current residents of the shelter will be transitioned out of Peachtree Pine and into a variety of existing structured services across the city. This new program, Uplift Atlanta, is a consortium of non-profits, corporate sponsorships, political support, faith-based institutions, United Way, Union Mission, Salvation Army, medical facilities, community volunteers, training and job resources throughout the City of Atlanta all working together to make this transition possible.
When the building is finally empty, it will be totally renovated into a multi-purpose building to be used for non-profit purposes. There will be office space built to rent to non-profit groups, a café (operated partly as a job training opportunity) located along the Peachtree Street side and space provided for 45 emergency or overflow beds for homeless. The emergency housing will be limited to a maximum of 45 days as a stop gap which includes assessment for needed services. Profits will be directed towards scholarships for homeless women with children.
Hopefully, we can soon look forward to the 500 + men, who leave there each day and come into the neighborhoods, to instead be in transitional or supportive housing and on their way to becoming productive citizens. It has been a long hard road….
NOTE 12/06/2010: The foregoing was the substance of a presentation by Manny Fialkow and Uplift Atlanta made to a closed group that included representatives from MPSA.
Dramatic Robbery
On Saturday (11/20) APD Zone 5 responded to a call of shots fired in the area of 46 Boulevard SE, and found that the clerks of a store had just been robbed. According to the clerks, several black male suspects drove up in a large SUV as they were putting the padlocks on the door. One of the suspects struck the clerk in the head and took $300 from him. When the other clerk then pulled a gun on the suspects, one suspect fled on foot and the other made his way back to the SUV. The clerk fired several shots at the SUV and one of the suspects fired back.
A short while later, Another APD unit coincidentally noticed a large SUV driving with an expired tag in the vicinity of North Highland & Ponce. The driver of the SUV refused to stop, and engaged the officer in a pursuit westbound on Ponce de Leon Avenue. According to the police report, the vehicle developed a flat tire and could not flee at a fast rate of speed. Then the offending SUV crashed with another vehicle at Ponce & Piedmont. One of the suspects attempted to flee on foot, but was quickly captured.
Officers capturing the suspects immediately found the SUV had two bullet holes in the windshield. APD officers brought the two victims to the Ponce & Piedmont scene, where they positively identified the SUV and the suspects.
Officers at the Ponce & Piedmont scene found a High Point .40 pistol in the SUV. In a routine check to determine whether the handgun is stolen, the one found in the vehicle yielded no hits in the system, but a Glock pistol accidentally dropped by a suspect at the robbery location was immediately determined to have been stolen in Fulton County.
Major Williams described this situation as a “menacing act, that ended with great work on the officers’ behalf.” Major Williams further wrote that he is “very grateful that the store’s employees were not injured with more severe injuries.
In other notes, Major Williams continues to stress the Clean Car Campaign and to report ALL suspicious persons to 911.
Thanksgiving Travel
Many of you will be traveling for the holidays, and we urge you to take advantage of our holiday home watch program by the patrol. Members leaving town can send us an e-mail with the following information:
* dates of departure and return
* street address (even if we know your house by sight)
* whether anybody should be at the home (housesitters, yard crews, etc)
* A contact phone number in case of emergency.
Please also stop newspapers and ask someone to take in your mail, and have a trusted neighbor check on your home during your absence; double check all windows and doors before leaving. We will have the patrol and trusted volunteers check on your home. Please also look out for your neighbors if you are staying home for the holidays…
MPSA Mailbag 11/19/2010
What the neighbors are telling us. As always, mailbag items do not necessarily reflect MPSA position.
Car break-ins – It seems that we may be seeing NEW criminals hitting the neighborhood. That car wash robber obviously was not a seasoned criminal – really clumsy. Another thing I have noticed lately: car break-ins where the perp broke in at the streetside of the car rather than the curbside. Car break-ins almost always take place from the curbside because every criminal knows that a break-in from the curbside is nearly impossible to notice by a cop or someone else driving by in a vehicle. Breaking in from the streetside indicates the perp might not have been doing that for very long. Could this be a trend to watch for?
Snatch & Run Theft – A friend and and I were having brunch at Blakes today around 1PM. Two young black males walked by on the sidewalk, reached over the railing to our table and stole my friend’s iPhone. We gave chase and they ran down Myrtle, jumped into a Dodge Charger and fled. Police responded quickly to the scene. My friend got the plate number. We later learned that the two kids wrecked the charger while fleeing at the corner of West Peachtree and Ponce. One perp was arrested at the accident scene but the other escaped. Please remind everyone to be careful about leaving phones, wallets, etc visible on tables when dining at such places as Blakes, Gilberts, Jasons, etc.
Problem Property – I would like to point out another problem of the same sort [as the KFC property] that has developed at the corner of Juniper and 5th Street, the former Avra restaurant. As you know, the restaurant left the building months ago. Oddly, the owner(s) left the hard to see through plastic enclosed porch open to anyone who wants to walk in. They also left tables and chairs formerly used by Avra. Vagrants are sleeping there, probably conducting drug deals there, out of sight of anyone, and doing whatever else a free, enclosed space in our area might invite. It will probably burn down this winter as the inhabitants try to keep warm – posing a serious threat to the neighborhood. I hope attention is paid to this problem. It has been reported before but nothing – at least not enough – is being done. Many thanks for all you do to help Midtown. MPSA Findings: Sgt. Cooper visited the property and confirmed these conditions there. One vagrant was found inside the wide-open building. Sgt. Cooper met with Midtown Blue since they cover that block – they will watch the property and take appropriate measures to eliminate these conditions that law enforcement permits. We also contacted the real estate agent for the property; the property will be shored up and the owner has signed a Letter of Agency for Midtown Blue. We will continue to monitor the conditions there and observations sent to us from the Midtown community.
Suspicious incident - I had an interesting incident occur early this morning. I was out at a dinner party and was coming home late. I was going south on Piedmont Ave and at 10th St an Asian male was almost standing in the middle of the road and appeared to be highly intoxicated. I was debating on if I should help him or not, but knowing the safety of the Midtown area at this hour I decided not to on my own. I circled the block and this time he was walking south down Piedmont Ave stumbling and almost dropping his cell phone, etc… It all appeared to be questionable. So, I circled the block again and the same thing. I decided to call Midtown Blue. It was 12:50 AM when I called Midtown Blue. About the same time a black male driving a red PT Cruiser pulled up on Piedmont Ave near him and got out of the vehicle. I had a sense the Asian guy was going to get mugged or harmed in some way. So, I circled the block again and this time the Asian guy was almost to 7th St. So, I stopped on 7th St at Piedmont. The black guy passes the Asian guy and comes and stands almost right next to the passenger door on my car. I get nervous and move on. I was circling the block again and see the Midtown Blue truck. Well, this time when I get back around the Asian guy is no where to be seen. Now, mind you before it took him 20 minutes to walk 2 blocks and now he is GONE. I circled the block 3 more times and still no Asian guy. Either the black guy was going to hurt him or they were working in a team. If he was going to help him he would have done so with me there. But, because he did not help him and then the Asian was gone while I was circling the block, I am very suspicious they might have been working in a team and if I or someone else did stop to help then I/they would have been the victim. Is this common?
Squatter issue (referenced in another post) – The driveway between me and the neighbor is shared property. There is a crappy garage at the end of the driveway which has no garage door and is owned by the neighbor. The problem is there has been a nasty old homeless man LIVING in that garage! He is such an annoyance – putting his junk everywhere; it’s very unsightly. He makes noise all through the night and plays his radio very loud. Since he is technically not on my property I felt there was little I could do legally to get him out of there.
[The owner of the property lives out of state, and never comes to town or has maintenance done on the house]. The house is split up into 2 or 3 apartments. The tenants are young, nice people who have never given me any problem. I went to them and ask for assistance in getting this homeless man off the property with no success. They felt sorry for him and basically said, “he’s harmless”.
FINALLY, recently, a new guy moved in and he completely agreed with me that it was ridiculous to allow this man to live on the property – using his electricity and water. So he contacted the rent manager who offered no help, and told the new tenant to just take care of it himself.
The new tenant took matters in his own hands. He removed everything from the garage (TV, Toaster, food, bedding, etc.) and put it out on the driveway (which is a terrible eyesore, but I’m not complaining). He then put fencing around the front of the garage to prevent the homeless man from coming back. This was little deterrent for the homeless man as he moved his items onto my property and continued to loiter on the driveway and under my deck. I repeatedly told him he was trespassing, and to get his items off my property or I would have it removed.
He still loiters back there and keeps his lawn tools and lawnmower on the property. He will not listen and the police won’t help.
Problem Tenants
We recently figured out that one of the regular druggies at Ponce & Boulevard was staying with someone living near 6th & Argonne. This particular female has an extensive criminal history of drug possession (including heroin), petty theft, and prostitution. She has also been known to squat in vacant buildings and construction sites. These kinds of individuals sometimes cause fires, and our experience has shown us that a burned-out house will likely remain a problem property for two to four years. Sgt. Cooper contacted the property owner, who was unaware that his tenant was letting others stay in the unit. Further, he told us of problems he has had in the past with prostitutes staying on his property. He promised to clear out unauthorized tenants immediately.
Meanwhile, we received word from a homeowner a few doors away of an area homeless man living in a garage next door to his home (see last mailbag item). He contacted the out-of-town property owner, who referred him to the property manager. The property manager and tenants all feel that the individual is “harmless” – and this is the first time we have ever fielded a complaint on this individual who has been around the neighborhood for a very long time. The homeless man agreed to leave, and we have had no further reports from that location.
We routinely receive information, though with decreasing frequency, of problem tenants. Most of the time it turns out that the tenant or squatter in question is not authorized to be living there. We have found that property owners are grateful to have been notified by us, and will typically deal with the issue immediately.
Sponsors
Many thanks for our community sponsors! While the majority of our funding comes from residents and small businesses, a significant portion of our neighborhood patrol funds comes from the following sponsors:
