It's a good thing I'm moving soon...

...because violent crime is seems to be occurring closer and closer to my house.

J. and I drove by on Forest Hills Street around 4:45pm on Saturday and wondered why there were so many cops and a medium-sized crowd of people gathered on the corner of Rossmore and Forest Hills streets. Not to mention the two or three police cars that were parked in the immediate area. I commented that the films crews I've seen in the area (mainly at Doyle's) did not seem to require nearly as many police officers. Then we spotted the yellow tape - definitely not a film crew.

Burglary in the 'burbs

Someone (or maybe several someones) broke into my workplace last night. Ironically, they chose to enter through the window which leads to an office with a door that is locked from the outside (well, really it's the hallway to be technical). Which basically left the master criminal(s) trapped in that particular room. (Which is probably for the better.)


A quick inventory of items that were taken:

• a framed photo of all the female employees taken at our holiday party two years ago
  
• a Rolodex
  
• a large poster of a Norwegian fjord
• a small poster of a castle
• a coffee cup full of pens
  
• a bottle of hand lotion

Items in plain sight that were not taken:

• an iMac
• a slightly older G4
• a printer
• a postage machine (it weighs mail and looks something like this)

From what I understand, the police said that they couldn't get any info from the fingerprints on the outside of the window. I'm no CSI, but even I saw a few partial prints. But I guess they're the professionals...

The smaller poster was later recovered on the other side of the parking lot. Late this afternoon someone from the company upstairs found the framed photo out back behind the building.

Kidnap encounter

I didn't blog about this until today because I've been busy. And because I had some trouble finding evidence of a real kidnapping until now.

Picture it, Allston, Massachusetts, a late Sunday night in June.

J. and I accidentally sort of drove by the scene of the crime. It began with me facing the wrong way on Harvard St. and trying not to be that asshole who pulls a u-turn in the middle of a busy street. I turned off of Harvard St. and was just trying to go around the block... bad idea. Glenville was blocked by a cop car and a bunch of fire trucks. And there we were on a one way street with no place to go.

Adding to the chaos was this white car in front of me. I thought he was trying to parallel park (badly). It seems that he was actually trying to turn around.. on a one way street! First I thought that maybe the cop told him to do that. But then I realized that if the cop was so keen on this guy driving out the wrong way, wouldn't he be trying to assist or attempt to turn me and the car behind me around too? By the time White Car Guy managed to complete the turn, said cop had driven away, allowing me free passage to Comm. Ave.

We must've gotten there towards the end of the action. Oh well. As I turned the corner heading towards Comm. Ave. I asked one of the people gathered on the street corner what was going on. "Kidnapping" replied a woman in her pyjamas. I sort of thought that she was just being flip. Until I ran across this.

Aftermath of violence

The Wake Up the Earth Festival took place today in the same park where a young man was killed recently. The basketball court where he died has become some sort of shrine to him.










More pictures can be found here.

Reflections on violence II

Every time a siren can be heard I see my neighbors outside looking around more, instead of ignoring them like we usually* do. There are more parents outside with kids, gripping their hands as the sirens blare. Their body language indicates that they're wondering if something violent has occurred even closer to home.


*We live in proximity of a police station, so sirens aren't terribly unusual.

Reflections on violence

What a wonderful thing to come back to after a trip to NY to visit the family - there was a shooting near my house on Monday.

In a park that I often drive or walk by. A park that tends to be filled with children – on the playground, playing baseball, shooting hoops, etc.

I realize that I live in a city and that shit happens.

But it just seems kind of ballsy and brazen to shoot someone during the daytime in a park filled with people. JP isn’t perfect, but the areas between the Green Street and Stony Brook T stops tends to be a quieter, feel a little safer… until Monday.

Neighborly hate crime in the 'burbs

A anti-Semitic hate crime where the victim is not actually Jewish. Fascinating.

Excerpts from the Milford Daily News:

Franklin - A 50-year-old King Street resident already charged with a hate crime against his neighbor stabbed the man in the hand yesterday with a knife, police said.

Wallace then cut a tire on King's car before turning to him and saying, "I'm going to (expletive) kill you," King said. He came at King with a hunting knife, aiming for his neck and face, but King, an ex-Marine, said he parried the blow and knocked the weapon lose.

In addition to the attack, Wallace is accused of slashing one of the tires on King's car, police said. In January, Wallace was charged with violating King's state constitutional rights for allegedly painting a swastika and the word "Jail" on his apartment door. King's ex-wife is Jewish, and he said he found the graffiti offensive.