November meeting: Paint a Piece.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, Nov. 18th at 7p. PLEASE NOTE THE LOCATION HAS CHANGED to Stephanie Hubbard's house at 92 East Charlotte Circle. We switched locations so we could paint inside, due to weather. Did you not pay or not want to paint? No problem; we still want you to come and chat.

Crime alert: Robindale.

On Wednesday, Nov. 5, a homeowner on Robindale left to take her daughter to school and then go to work. Ten minutes later she got a call from her alarm company about a break-in. They took whatever they could grab easily, DVD players, a wii, they overturned drawers. It appears they moved quickly and didn't spend much time because the alarm was going off.

The police told her a few things:
-- there have been a lot of early am break-ins in East Memphis. It appears they are watching people leave for work. They said to be suspicious of parked cars, cars driving up and down streets, etc.
--- they said her front bushes were too high ( around her yard near the street)-- it gave the thieves privacy to break in.
--- they said to please call and report suspicious cars to 545-cops.

Crime alert: Mary Ann/Rich.

There was an incident around 4p yesterday on Mary Ann near Rich. A woman was at home, but there was no car in the driveway. She went out to a storage room and when she re-entered her house, a white male in his 30's was inside dressed in a Terminex shirt. He slit her wrist, but she is ok, not in critical condition. If you know anything else please post a reply here. Brooke will contact the police and ask them to attend our meeting next week. Please feel free to call her with any more info or comments: 246.5584.

MIssing dog: Travis.

Here is a picture of our beloved Travis. Your assistance is GREATLY appreciated. Missing since 11/4/08 from the area of Perkins Extended & Poplar. We realize he could be anywhere. Hopefully a kind caring person has our Travis and we will get him back.

Thank you,
Linda Reilly
848-0982

Crime alert: Normandy.

From email on Nov. 6:

At about 6:45 this morning I saw a truck stopped in front of my neighbor's house, directly across the street. I saw a BM get out of the passenger side, go to the garbage can, open the lid to look inside, then get back in the truck and continue to slowly drive down the street towards Mendenhall. I called my husband to come look, and he immediately got on the phone with the police. It didn't even occur to me that it might be the same people who were on Charlotte Circle, until a few minutes later. I also noticed that my neighbor had an empty TV box beside the garbage can, so I can only assume that's what caught their attention. I watched them as much as I could from the front door, but didn't see them stop at anyone else's house. I gave the police as much info as I could remember, but I will definitely be paying more attention to minor details.

Free infant massage class.

Jennifer Smith is teaching a Certified Infant Massage Training next week - Nov 9, 10, 11. We have a FREE infant massage class for parents and babies each day of the class from 10:30-12:00 at LeBonheur. Please pass this on to your friends and call me at 491.4575 if you have interest in attending!

Crime alert: Walnut Grove & Mendenhall.

From recent emails:

I live at the intersection of Walnut Grove and Mendenhall and my house was broken into yesterday. I work with someone who is a member of the Avon Normandy Neighborhood Watch and who had told me about the recent spree of crime in the area. I know that several houses around ours were also hit yesterday. The thief kicked in the door and took as much as he could in a short amount of time. It occurred around 10 a.m. after my husband and I had gone to work.

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As of 8:30 AM today, there have been two burglaries in our area on Robindale and Briarcliff.

Crime-fighting tips.

The following notes were from the Sycamore Grove Neighborhood Watch group meeting led by Col. Mark Collins along with Maj. Phillips and Dep. Chief Smith, all of the Central Precinct.

• The top problems in our area are 1) theft from motor vehicles and 2) residential burglaries.
• There has been a rumor going around that there are no police officers on duty after midnight in the area between Perkins and Yates and Poplar north. This is not true.
• The MPD’s holiday plan is being put together right now. There are three big events coming up that will tax them: Halloween is on a Friday night (please mind your children and know where they are); the COGIC convention is getting ready to start, and restaurants and hotels will be full; Election Day is next Tuesday.
• Officers like riding our ward.
• Go to MemphisPolice.org (I think this is correct) and click on Real Time Crime Center. It updates crimes constantly…right now. If you have specific info on cases, email them or call 545-COPS.
  
• Call the Central Precinct and tell them if you are going to be out of town, and they will check on your house.
• Many auto thefts are older vehicles, which were easier to steal.
• Thieves will look in a car, and, if they see nothing, likely they will pass it by. Never leave a weapon in a car, or, for that matter, anything else.
  
• When asked if a sting could be done around here, Col. Collins said it is very labor intensive and hard to do in a large area like this, but it isn’t impossible. It is easier to do in a more confined area.
• What often happens with break-ins is that one person will drop another off and he will come back after they communicate by cell phone. Often they will knock on the front door, and, if no one answers, they will go around to the back door and break in. Good lighting will help.
• They cannot patrol for every large party but will try to check up if you are having one and notify them. But don’t count on them for your security
• Blake Elliot asked about possibly getting speed bumps on Oak Grove to slow up criminals as they try to speed off as well as others who generally drive too fast. This will take an organized effort, but Blake is going to look into it by calling the Traffic Engineer’s Dept.
• If you see a suspicious person, call 545-COPS or email Cyberwatch. Use 911 for emergencies. One of our neighbors who saw a burglary in progress recently and didn’t realize until too late what was happening was brave enough to tell us about it and was very apologetic. Col. Collins told her not to apologize, that police officers sometimes do the same.

Crime alert: various locations.

A wrap-up of recent crime-related emails:

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This morning I was leaving the house at 6:30am and saw a suspicious white truck driving slow onto E Charlotte Cir. I thought it was odd since those that cut through Charlotte Cir drive faster and why would you need to cut through at 6:30am?

Okay - he drives slowly past my house, David's house (Fyfe's old house), with his brakes on. He slows completely to a halt at Merrill's driveway, backs up and shines his lights at an angle into the carport. He backs up further to semi parallel park on the left hand side of the street - approx 10 ft from the curb & sat there.

I back out of my driveway and move closer to his location. He moves forward and around the corner. If he was cutting through the neighborhood, he would've turned left onto MaryAnn and out onto Walnut Grove. Instead he turned right onto MaryAnn. So (being stupid!), I followed him. He tried to park on the side of the street before N Charlotte Cir (so I could pass him)
but I just waited for him to move. He obviously knew I was behind him and watching his actions. Then he turned into the driveway next to Leah's house and sat. He was waiting for me to move forward and pass the driveway but I waited. I knew he didn't live there and thought I'd wait it out (Again, stupid!). He turned around and our cars are now facing each other. I sped past - took a right on Charlotte N and race around the corner to see if he exited the neighborhood or was heading back toward Merrill's house. I didn't see him so I guess he left?

I called David (husband) a few minutes ago (now 11:00am) and he said he noticed the same white truck slowly driving through the neighborhood. I'm tired of these guys casing/breaking in/stealing in our neighborhood. He was absolutely without a doubt casing houses.

I did not call the police. I was trying to memorize the plate when the incident on Mary Ann went down and I lost all train of thought. The truck was a White older model F-150/Silverado type truck. David said he saw BM driving and there was a black scratch in the bumper area.

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On 10/29/2008 a home was burglarized some time between approximately 9am and 5:30pm at 215 Avon Road. Door in the garage was pried open and they took a laptop, video camera, jewelry box, DVD player and digital camera. The videos and pictures on the cameras are the most important thing so keep your eyes peeled for any items possibly thrown out on the street.

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My friend's house was broken into 10/29 while he and his wife were at work. They live on Charleswood west of Waring. The back door was kicked in and they were completely cleaned out. The only item of value that was not taken was their securely mounted TV, though it was destroyed as they completely tore down the mantle and sheetrock while trying to steal it. This seems to be yet another break-in where the door was kicked in to gain access.

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I'd like to report a car break-in (broke rear driver's side window) on the corner of Elwood and Mendenhall. The package stolen from the vehicle was discarded on Mendenhall and recovered.

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Corner of Shady Grove & Mendenhall...
I wanted to inform you that our house was broken into Thursday, October 23 around 11:00 a.m. We have an alarm system that went off, an 80 lb lab, and baby gates that are an obstacle even if you do know how to operate them; but the burglar did come into the house and rummaged through drawers and closets. Fortunately, it does not appear that anything was taken.

This morning I was informed by our postman that yesterday, Thursday, October 30, there was a suspicious vehicle pulled into our carport at 12:44 p.m. The postman watched the car and the occupant, took down the car's description and tag number, and the car finally pulled out and left. Of course, these two instances could be related or completely exclusive of each other. Here is the car information:
Silver Grand Am
Shelby Tags - 399 LQM
Rear tinted window
Multiple decals on front windshield above the windshield wipers

Community Meeting.

There will be a meeting organized by Councilman Reid Hedgepeth regarding recent crimes in our area. Please plan to attend, November 17th at 5pm in the Galloway Golf Course Clubhouse. The purpose is to invite the many neighborhoods involved in increasing crime so we can begin to make all of our community safer.