The first robbery of 2011 was reported at 9:29 a.m. on January 1. An officer on patrol was flagged down by a man on the street who said that he’d been robbed by an unknown male and female.
The man told the officer that he and the man who robbed him had been drinking beer and smoking crack behind a house on West 39th Lane when they decided to walk to a nearby convenience store. The complainant was going to take some money out of the ATM, as he’d already done several times, to go buy more crack and beer. The unknown companion showed up with a female who offered to have sex with the complainant for $20. The man objected and said he only wanted to pay $15. At that point, the male suspect came up behind him and told him to hand over the money. The victim refused and a scuffle ensued. The man was restrained by the male suspect and the female suspect took the money out of his pocket. The two left together, but the complainant couldn’t say in which direction they’d headed. The man looked for them, but couldn’t find them, so decided to flag down a police officer.
• The first officially reported crime of 2011, and the last officially reported crime of 2010 were both false alarms.
• The third incident report of 2011 was a vandalism call. A man on West Waldburg Street called police to report that he’d heard a crash a few minutes after midnight. When he’d gone to investigate, he found a broken window and a bullet on the floor. The officer recovered the bullet off the floor and logged it as evidence.
• At three o’clock in the morning New Year’s Day, an officer noticed a large crowd gathered at the intersection of Whitaker and West Bay Street. The officer saw two men engaged in fisticuffs in the roadway. Upon seeing the officer, one man took off running and a foot chase ensued. He was caught several blocks away and both men were charged.
• At 11:15 p.m. on New Year’s Eve an officer saw a man enter a convenience store without issue and then several minutes later exit the store shouting at the store owner. “I don’t give a f*** about that gun on your hip. No one disrespects me or my mother like that.” He continued yelling unintelligibly. The officer spoke with the store owner, who proved he was legally carrying the aforementioned firearm. When the officer stopped the upset guy, he refused to stop yelling even after he was asked several times. He was handcuffed and the officer noted that he smelled strongly of alcohol. While searching him, the officer found a red plastic cup with traces of alcohol. The man’s eyes were red and glassy. The store owner reported that he had wished the man’s mother and father a happy new year. The officer guessed there was some confusion of the relationship to the man in handcuffs, whether it was his grandmother or his biological mother.
• 15 minutes before the New Year began a man was pulled over near Veterans Parkway. Using radar, the officer clocked the pickup going 70 mph in a 55 mph zone. The driver took a long time to pull over. When the officer approached the vehicle, she noted the driver had bloodshot eyes and he said he’d had a few drinks. He agreed to take a portable breath test, the results of which were positive. The man was placed under arrest and taken to the nearest precinct for the state test. The results were .166 grams, twice the legal limit.
