I went to downtown D.C. this morning to take a look at the aftermath of last night’s George Floyd protests. I was early enough to be among the first sightseers watching bewildered store owners surveying the damage.
I went to downtown D.C. this morning to take a look at the aftermath of last night’s George Floyd protests. I was early enough to be among the first sightseers watching bewildered store owners surveying the damage.
The gayborhood feels considerably safer than it did last year, but we still have some bizarre crime stories.
Here’s a running list of notable crime stories in Oak Lawn.
Police documenting the scene of an officer attack in Oak Lawn.
Michael and I were walking the dogs on Easter Sunday when we noticed a bunch of police cars swarming the closed AT&T store across from Starbucks and Eatzi’s.
It was strange to see four Dallas Police cars and two Highland Park patrol cars around a closed store. We grabbed Starbucks and watched as a crime lab van pulled up.
I took a picture of the squad cars and sent it to our breaking news team to investigate. What they found out was hilarious: a Highland Park officer apparently came across a naked woman in the street around 9 a.m.
She was distraught and punched him.
It’s Sunday evening. My neighbors and I are on the patio of Havana’s nightclub when a fight breaks out on the sidewalk in front of us.
The chaos starts when several guys stumble out of Italia Express (a pizza place next to the bar). A heavyset guy in a purple shirt is screaming at a thinner man. Their friends are trying to hold the purple-shirted-man back when he shoves the skinny guy.
The skinny guy whacks his head on the pavement and then passes out with his hand hanging in the flooded street gutter.
Half the people on the Havana’s patio whip out their cellphones to call 911. Everyone gets a busy signal.
I run inside and ask the bar staff to call the police.
Here are the highlights from my first full year in Dallas.
Work: After seven years at Thomson Reuters, I made the jump to The Dallas Morning News in July.
Home: This spring, I moved into a new apartment in the same building. My building’s original management company also had a very ugly decline which culminated in a sale. (Sadly, the new company isn’t much better.)
ilume Park’s small dog park, covered in poop.
Life: I turned 30 years old this year, but celebrations were muted because of the Pulse nightclub attack and downtown Dallas police ambush. Around that time I also came across a dead body on the morning dog walk. So there’s that.
This fall, I also bought a new phone which happened to be recalled.
A reporter at the scene of a suicide near Katy Trail.
Celebrations: Here are some of the events that I made it to this year:
There were also countless drag shows and pageants, brunches with friends, and very long dog walks.
I’m probably leaving a lot out, but those were the high points of the year. Here are some of my favorite pictures:
Here’s what I’m talking about this morning.
1. The shit field: The small dog park in my apartment building has become a chaotic biohazard. It’s generally too filthy to use, and we can hear dogs barking long into the night.
The number of dogs some tenants have contributes to the problem. You have to be paying really close attention when you have four dogs running around.
2. Bank of America: The bank by my apartment keeps getting robbed. It happened earlier this year, and apparently again yesterday. I wonder what the security situation over there is.
The vice president of the University of Minnesota just sent out an email:
Yesterday, the University of Minnesota Police Department issued a Public Safety Alert regarding a shooting that occurred just off campus. This Public Safety Alert was the fourth issued in just over a week, and it’s unfortunate that this spate of crimes has occurred as students are returning to campus and the University community is preparing for the 2009-10 academic year.
The alerts are sent out because the University of Minnesota is committed to the safety of our students, faculty, and staff, and in compliance with the federal Clery Act.
Alerts are not intended to alarm or frighten anyone.
Really? Let’s see, here are some gems from the University of Minnesota’s public safety department:
The things one misses during law school!
Today’s project is taming my inbox.I have 36 pages of unsorted emails. 260 are unread.
As I sifted through the junk I came across a school police alert from 12/10 – there was a genital grabbing incident and an indecent exposure…
On Tuesday, December 9, at approximately 6:00 p.m., a University of Minnesota student was the victim of criminal sexual contact involving inappropriate sexual contact on Washington Avenue.
The victim was walking westbound on Washington Avenue in front of Moos Tower when the suspect ran up behind her and grabbed her genital area. The suspect then ran off. The suspect is described as a black male with a dark complexion, approximately six feet three inches to six feet four inches tall with a light build. The suspect had scruffy facial hair and was wearing a black, bulky jacket and a stocking cap.
Also on December 9, at approximately 7:00 p.m., a University of Minnesota student was a victim of indecent exposure near the Science Classroom Building on Pleasant Street.
As the victim walked toward the Science Classroom Building, a man approached and exposed himself to her. The suspect then fled north on Pleasant Street. The suspect is described as a white male in his mid-40s, approximately five feet seven inches to five feet eleven inches tall. The suspect was wearing round glasses, a navy blue jacket and a dark stocking cap.
The two crimes are believed to be separate and unrelated. Anyone with information about either incident is asked to contact the University of Minnesota Police Department at 612-624-COPS (2677).
I’ve never heard of a surprise genital grabbing before…nor have I heard of Moos tower. Hm.
* Note: while the times seem extremely early, remember it’s pitch-black in Minneapolis around 5:30pm.
And yet another crime email from the U of M police…apparently this attack left someone partially blind:
In mid-October, a University of Minnesota student was the victim of an unprovoked attack just off campus that resulted in severe and permanent injury. Despite an extensive investigation by Minneapolis Police, no arrests have been made in the case. Now, Minneapolis Police Investigators are asking the University community for assistance or additional information that may help generate new leads. The facts are as follows:
On Sunday, October 12 between 2:15 and 2:30 a.m. a University of Minnesota student and a friend were walking westbound on University Avenue at 18th Avenue. They were on their way to get something to eat and neither had been consuming alcohol that night.
As they walked, the two passed a group of approximately five to 12 black males and black females. The students and the group did not speak to each other.
After passing the group, one of the males came up behind the student and punched him on the side of his head knocking him to the ground. While the student was on the ground, a second suspect from the group approached as if offering to help him up. Instead, the
second suspect punched or kicked the student in the head, again knocking him to the ground and into a lane of traffic on University Avenue. The large group then ran and two or three of the suspects got into a car that was parked southbound on 18th Avenue. The car
was described as a white Dodge Neon four-door, possibly a 1997 to 1999 model year.
Unfortunately, witness descriptions of the suspects are less than complete. One suspect is described as a black male wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. Another suspect is described as a black male, approximately five feet, ten inches tall with long dreadlocks and possibly wearing a baseball cap and jeans. One of the women in the group was described as heavyset. All of the suspects in the group were 18 to 21 years old.
The random nature of the assault and the brutality displayed is especially unsettling. As a result of the attack, the victim has permanently and completely lost vision in one of his eyes. Anyone with information about the assault is urged to contact Officer Bill Kenow of the Minneapolis Police Department Assault Unit. Officer Kenow can be reached at 612-919-9005 or William.kenow@ci.minneapolis.mn.us.
Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest in this case.
Thank you in advance for any assistance you can offer.
We received this email today:
University Police are re-issuing to campus the following crime alert from the Minneapolis Police Department. Over the weekend there were four robberies of person in southeast Minneapolis. In three of those cases, University of Minnesota students were victims. These are Minneapolis investigations, however University Police in cooperation with Minneapolis are directing patrol resources into those neighborhoods.
*Minneapolis Police Department Crime Alert:*
*Facts:*
Over the weekend, the 2nd Precinct had six armed robberies. The
victims have been females who have had their purse or possessions
taken. They occurred at:
. 14th Ave NE and 3rd St NE — 11/15/2008 7:55 p.m.
. 20th Ave NE and 4th St NE — 11/16/2008 1:15 a.m.
. 2500 block of University Ave SE — 11/16/2008 2:53 a.m.
. 12 Ave SE and 7th St SE — 11/16/2008 3:07 a.m.
. 10 Ave SE and 7th St SE — 11/16/2008 9:25 p.m.
. 12 Ave SE and 4th St SE — 11/17/2008 12:52 a.m.
And no, the University of Minnesota isn’t some decrepit, dangerous place. The main campus is less than a mile from downtown. The list essentially includes all the muggings that happened in downtown Minneapolis and surrounding neighborhoods this weekend. It’s a city. People get mugged.
The University of Minnesota also has over 50,000 students. So if a 20-something gets robbed in Minneapolis there’s a fair chance she goes to the U…especially if she’s skipping around the streets from 1-3am on a weekend in 30 degree weather.
I spend a lot of time studying in the business school and the surrounding cafes. That part of campus is overshadowed by multicolored project towers that we affectionately call the Stacks.
I live in a different neighborhood, on other side of the river from the Stacks.
Law students make jokes about the Stacks and the supposedly seedy neighborhood that surrounds them…but the irony is that the last location on crime email’s mugging list is literally one street from the Gamma house.
The mugging didn’t happen by the Stacks, but in cutesy-little “oh so collegiate” Dinkytown, where all the Fraternities, Sororities, dorms and student orgs are.
Dinkytown is a pretty high crime area because it’s essentially a student-town (read: easy targets). Our fraternity house was already broken into this semester, and a housemate’s car has been robbed twice.
And yet we make fun of the Stacks.
I haven’t convinced the housemates to let me get a pitbull yet, but one more robbery might do the trick…