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.

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.

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 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.

Crime alert: Charlotte Circle, Princeton, Walnut Grove Court.

The following have been reported in our area on Monday:

Break-in at 115 E. Charlotte Circle in the morning. The thieves pulled into the driveway and kicked in the side door to the kitchen.

Burglary in 4500 block Princeton Rd, also in the morning. Jewelry and electronics were taken.

Theft from vehicle in 100 block Walnut Grove in the evening. Credit cards and handgun were taken.

Crime alert: Lynbar

From Oct. 10:

Last night two tall thin white males came from my neighbor's driveway on Lynbar at 12:45a, crawled into a waiting neutral colored Mercury Marquis or Ford Crown Victoria, with at least two other people, and headed east down Lynbar, crossing at Mendenhall. I called the police and gave the description and within a minute, I could see several blue lights flashing across Mendenhall.
My neighbor is out of town, but locks her gate and sets her alarm, so the officers checked the doors and windows with flashlights and could not find anything amiss. They were probably looking for cash in cars. All of the 16- and 17-year-olds were issued a curfew violation, which I hope will be a hassle for the parents. If you have anything missing, refer to this e mail if you call police.

Crime alert: Kroger

From a recent email:

On Saturday, Aug 30 at 11:30 am, Suzanne Plyler was putting her groceries in car at Kroger on Mendenhall and Sanderlin when two men drove up, jumped out of their car while she was loading her groceries, and grabbed her purse that was wedged between her legs. Fortunately, she was unharmed. The police told her that Kroger has had many occurrences in the past. Apparently, they have only have security from noon to 6:00pm and they are a 24 hour store.

There are two things we should all take a few minutes to do. First, email Charles Cayce (ccayce@weingarten.com) and Justin Robertson (jrobertson@weingarten.com) at Weingarten, property managers for Mendenhall Commons, and demand 24-hour security.

Second, email Pam Cain (pam.cain@memphistn.gov) and Maria Fuhrmann (maria.fuhrmann@memphistn.gov) at Memphis City Council and request your email be sent to all the council men and women. Let them know how strongly you feel about the city fighting crime.

You may also want to ask for help with taking your groceries to the car, especially if you have small children with you.

Crime alert: Elwood, Summer, Verosa

From recent emails:

Elwood:
I came home from work this afternoon around 5:15 p.m. When I pulled into the driveway, I notice that a 15 speed Diamondback mountain bike was no longer in the carport. Our neighbor had noticed a truck leaving our driveway around 2:30 p.m. She was busy at the time, and did not have a good description. She says it was a large blue truck with an insignia on the side.

Kroger on Summer:
Yesterday morning (last Thursday), my mom was filling up my Suburban at the Kroger gas station on Summer. She had my two-year-old in the back seat and got out ONLY to put the gas cap back on the tank, forgetting this time to lock the doors. While she did that, someone reached in the passenger side and took my wallet and her whole purse while my son watched. She never saw anything or knew that anything had happened...my son was the one to tell her someone took our stuff. IT IS INFURIATING, but we are so thankful that she and my son are ok!!! PLEASE REMEMBER TO LOCK DOORS and be EXTRA CAREFUL at that station.

Verosa:
Early Sunday at 4998 Verosa (a house across the street from my son) burglars broke in between 1:00 and 3:00 AM. Four adults and one week-old baby were sleeping in the house at the time of the entry. The house has no alarm and the back door the burglars used for entry was possibly unlocked as there was no damage to the back entry. Two cars were parked in front of house on the street and a Lexus was in the carport. They stole the Lexus keys (in the kitchen) and then stole the car. Credit cards and money were also taken from the kitchen. Evidently they did not go any further into the house. Charges were already on the credit cards this AM. They found out about the burglary when the mother or baby had awakened near 3:00 AM. Police came and filed a report of the incident.

Last week my son’s car was broken into at 5005 Verosa. Burglars stole golf clubs that were in the rear of his car. They broke a side rear window which cost $300 to replace.

Crime alert: Mendenhall

From Cory Pratt on Peg Lane:

I had a confrontation with a man in a White PT Cruiser with a Coffee County license plate Friday around 1:45 who was stealing a bike out from under my neighbor's carport on N Peg lane.

He was a white male late 30s/early 40s with brown hair and he had a tattoo on his left shoulder/back area as he had no shirt on. He had put the bike in the back of the vehicle when I came out side and lit into him and it kind of spooked him. I made him take the bike back up under the carport as he was constantly trying to lie his way out of the situation.

He had another bike in the back of his car that was probably stolen too. He also had to climb thru the passenger side door to get back in his car which leaves me to believe that it was probably stolen. And he took off in a hurry. I called police but by the time I got thru I had forgotten the entire tag number but I did file a report.

Crime alert: Mendenhall

From Lauren Harkins:

I have heard about a white van on Mendenhall, south of Walnut Grove. This was at night, so they were not sure if it had sticker marks on it. My friends were walking and they live on Mendenhall near the curve. As they got closer to their house, a white van with a older BM was driving and a skinny young WF drove slowly past their home. They took a left onto Lake Dr. and the woman got out. She started walking to gate towards the house. She saw my friends walking towards her and she pulled out her cell phone and the van sped towards her and she jumped in and quickly drove off. They called the police. They had gotten the license tag #, but of course it was not registered to a white van. The officer said that they may have been casing the house and that the woman was probably planning to get in the home through the doggie door. A couple of days before, their alarm went off at 3 am. It makes you wonder if they had been testing ways to get into the house.

Crime alert: Lynbar and Mendenhall

From a recent email:

We were out of town Sat. night. About 7pm a neighbor saw an old white panel van parked on Lynbar (facing west on south side of street) in front of the house closest to Mendenhall that is for sale. Said it was an old Carrier AC van, that letters appeared to have been removed, had an older white male inside. As she was closing the gate he pulled up by our house and just stared at her. She made her male friend go back outside the gate and the van left. When they went back out at 9pm the same van was down on Sequoia (across Avon) in front of another house that is for sale. Told her to get the license plate and call the police next time.

Crime alert: Kirby and Poplar

From a recent email:

My assistant was robbed at gunpoint at a gas station near the intersection of Poplar and Kirby yesterday morning in broad daylight. She was at one of the gas pumps, saw the guy coming, and immediately locked her doors. Before she had time to do anything else, he busted through her window with the butt of his gun, held her back against the driver's seat with the gun to her head, and took everything from her wallet to her GPS to her kids' school uniforms to the necklace she was wearing. He then went and ran up over $600 on her credit cards before she could get them canceled.

Obviously, she was not in a "bad" part of town, but the police told her that it's happening often at that intersection, mainly because of easy access to I-240 and 385. As we all know, there are many other places in the "good" parts of Memphis where the same thing (or worse) is happening. Please be careful out there.