Please Note: I've edited them a little, cutting out the various email addresses as well as irrelevant (to us) information, but have left in any and all details regarding the crimes themselves (since these details may help in crime prevention or future arrests).
Since this is an email chain, it likely will make more sense to read from the bottom up.
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Evans, Chris
Thu, Mar 20, 2008 at 11:29 AM
To: kellersglenALL@kellersglen.org
LOTS OF BREAKINS IN NEAR BY COMMUNITIES IN THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS/WEEKS (SELWYN FARMS, COTSWOLD, DILWORTH, MYERS PARK)…..BE ALERT
BELOW IS AN EMAIL CHAIN FROM SEVERAL COMMUNITIES/CO-WORKERS IN THESE AREAS AND THEIR STORIES. SEVERAL HAVE ALREADY BEGUN HIRING PRIVATE SECURITY FORCES TO PATROL THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS….PERHAPS THIS IS SOMETHING WE SHOULD EXPLORE WITH THE NEARBY NEIGHBORHOODS???
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From: Angela Hardison
To: rsprague@cmpd.org ; apharr1@cmpd.org ; jwing@cmpd.org ; jgilliland@cmpd.org ; gsmith@cmpd.org ; kdavis14@carolina.rr.com
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 10:46 AM
Subject: Selwyn Farms
Here's my story... I live 6 or 7 houses down from Katherine at 3415 Selwyn Farms Lane and I arrived home on Tuesday around 6:30 to find the door between my garage and house open. I didn't think I left it open, but thought it was possible so I went in the house to find several of my kitchen cabinets open. Still doubting myself, I thought that maybe I did that and didn't remember, because there is no way someone would break into a house with 100+ pound dog.
I went in my den and saw that my TV was there and thought I was fine. When I started to go upstairs I found a dust bag from a purse laying on the stairs. At that point I grabbed my dog and ran outside and called the police.
I told the police that I wasn't sure if someone was in my house or not and it took them 20+ minutes to get there. Good thing there wasn't someone in my house because in that amount of time they could have seriously hurt me.
The robbers kicked in my dining room window which is on the back of the house, off the deck. They basically just stepped off of the deck into the house through this window. They ransacked my entire house and threw EVERYTHING out of EVERY drawer in my house.
They also went in my attic and through all of the bags in my closet. I still haven't finished surveying the damage, but from what I can tell so far, they took a gun (which my father bought me after the last time my house was broken into), a very expensive purse and all of it's contents, diamond earings, a ring, and a necklace. They left all of my electronics, my laptop, and the rest of my jewelry.
It is so unbeleivable to me that they came into my house and apparently stayed awhile with my 100+ lb dog!!!! He generally scares people!! I think we should hire a security guard to patrol the neighborhood... I truly hope that this doesn't happen to anyone else. It is a terrifying experience to think about someone being in your house and going though your things, or worse.
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From: kdavis14@carolina.rr.com
To: rsprague@cmpd.org; apharr1@cmpd.org; jwing@cmpd.org; jgilliland@cmpd.org; gsmith@cmpd.org
Subject: Fw: URGENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TWO break-ins in Selwyn Farms Neighborhood on Wednesday, March 19th
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:45:55 -0400
I am on the phone with Angie Hardison right now and she was completely robbed at 3415 Selwyn Farms Lane on Tuesday. She lives about 6 or 7 houses down from me and they robbed her with her over 100 lb. dog IN THE HOUSE! They THEN came back and robbed her NEIGHBOR 2 houses up yesterday. SO that is 3 that I know of in 2 days.
So, who will it be today?
Angie is going to email you her story in detail right now.
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From: Katherine Davis
To: Sprague, Robert A. ; jgilliland@cmpd.org ; jwing@cmpd.org ; Pharr, Anthony ; gsmith@cmpd.org
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 9:07 AM
Subject: URGENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TWO break-ins in Selwyn Farms Neighborhood on Wednesday, March 19th
Good morning Officer's Smith, Pharr, Wing, Gilliland and Sprague! I hope you are well.
First and foremost, thank you for what you do and for protecting us and putting your lives on the line DAILY to protect our citizens and streets. This email is NOT directed at you personally, obviously, but I am BEYOND FED UP!
This robbery happened four houses down from my house (I am at 3317 Selwyn Farms Lane) yesterday. I actually drove by their house at 3pm and saw a police officer in their driveway and knew something was up. Great, now they are over here, again. Do you have any suspects, descriptions, cars you can identify, etc? I need to know. I always keep a watch out when I am home for strange cars circling the neighborhood and trust me, all of us in Selwyn Farms KNOW one another, our cars and who does and DOES NOT live here. I followed 2 cars around the neighborhood at 9pm one night this summer as they were casing houses until they sped out of the neighborhood. Stupid I know, but I wanted them to know that someone was watching them. I did call the police as well.
I can not accept an answer to just attend a neighborhood monthly meeting. While we are all there (and obviously these criminals know when we are, they AREN'T total idiots) they could just have a free for all in our homes. To me I would like to attend meetings, but that is NOT the answer as these neighborhood meetings have been going on for years and the crimes just get worse.
This has become a DAILY occurrence where I am hearing of a friend, neighbor, or work associate being victimized.
Do we have to pay out of our pockets like the folks did on Maryland Avenue and get cops to patrol the street all day? I need suggestions. Not the basic ones that we already all know about. What ELSE CAN BE DONE? Surveillance cameras? I am about to resort to that. I am just waiting for more of them to come back today as they ALWAYS do as they have been scouting out THIS neighborhood "Selwyn Farms" I am sure for some time.
Not to mention that this is Easter weekend/Spring Break so this ought to be a really successful weekend for these criminals victimizing innocent people.
What can you tell me about the robberies on my street yesterday. I have a right to know.
Thank in advance for the details, the report that you will be sending me and any advice on protecting our homes that you can give.
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From: Stephanie Sneed
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 12:39 AM
Subject: TWO break-ins in Selwyn Farms Neighborhood on Wednesday
Hi everyone,
I hate to spread more bad news, but TWO MORE HOUSES were robbed in Selwyn Farms neighborhood today. One house was on Selwyn Farms Lane and the other was on my cul-de-sac, Mill Creek Lane. The one in my cul-de-sac happened while the owner was at work. They came in the gate to the backyard and then broke a window to get in the house. The police were interviewing all the neighbors to see if anyone had seen anything.
Please be careful this weekend, especially if you are going out of town for Spring Break or Easter.
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From: Katherine Davis
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:39 AM
Subject: Fw: Break in-Criminal activity in our Neighborhoods. I am VERY concerned!!!
I am fed up with all of these break in's, attempted break in's etc... I mean, do we need to hire someone to sit in our homes during the day to stand guard to protect our home and belongings? These guys have NO FEAR and to even be ringing doorbells at 1:45 am KNOWING that people are more than likely home. It's just scary.
Also, being that many of you may have children and are traveling for Spring Break/Easter it would be a good idea to be EXTRA cautious and hire someone to stay at your home while you are gone and even notify the community officer in your neighborhood that you will be gone so that maybe they can do extra drive bys. I imagine this will be a BUSY weekend for the thugs.
Also Charlotte is now ranked 8th in break in's and burglaries in the US. NICE.
I think the more concerned emails that they get the better, so if you want to contact the Community Officer in your neighborhood, the information is below specific to the area in which you live.
Here also is an email that Jessica Shore sent me about yet another "crime", attempted break in, etc. in Cotswold on Saturday night...
"Heather, I think you probably need to hear about an incident that occurred last night at our home so you may make others aware of what happened. At about 1:45 am last night, our doorbell rang 4 times back to back. Our dogs went bonkers, and Patrick and I both jumped out of the bed immediately to see what was going on. As I peered through some blinds in the front of the house, I saw an African-American male standing at our front door. He was quite tall, fairly young, dressed in predominantly black from what I remember. We immediately called 911. As we waited for the police, we were not able to see where the man went - the police arrived, looked around, and found nothing (with the exception of the still wet footprints at our front door).
I stayed awake for a good while afterwards, as I was unable to settle down from the incident, and around 3:15 I heard a car door shut. When I got up to look outside, I saw a white Pontiac Bonneville (5-10 yrs old) slowing down on Andover Road heading up towards Danbury. Within moments, the car had turned around and came back to the 3-way stop at Ansley Court. While the car was stopped at the stop sign I saw a male figure running across the street from the Vest's house and up into the yard of another neighbor. The white Pontiac then pulled over in front of that house, I assume the man got in the car, and they drove on up Andover towards Providence. I called 911 again, one of the same officers came back out, and this time had at least a description of a car to look for. I never heard another word and have no idea what happened after that... please, please just know the car we should be looking out for... Thanks so much for getting this information out there."
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From: Sprague, Robert A.
To: Katherine Davis
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 2:15 PM
Subject: RE: Break in-Criminal activity in our Neighborhoods. I am VERY concerned!!!
[Non-Keller's Glen-related information deleted]
The crime stats for each of these neighborhoods can be obtained by going to http://www.cmpd.org/ and going under the crime mapping heading. Follow the directions and you can access all the information. The officers that cover this area as the community officer would also be able to access the information; however we would encourage you to check out the website first. I would encourage residents of Charlotte to go to the CMPD website as many of the safety/protection advice can be obtained from the website, printed off and distributed.
Officer R. Sprague
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
Providence Division
SWAT/CNT/PTO
704-943-2483
rsprague@cmpd.org
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From: Katherine Davis [mailto:kdavis14@carolina.rr.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 10:14 AM
To: Sprague, Robert A.; jmcneary@gmail.com; Pharr, Anthony; chrism@stevensoffice.com
Subject: Break in-Criminal activity in our Neighborhoods. I am VERY concerned!!!
Good morning Officer's Sprague, McNeary and Pharr! I hope that you are well.
I wanted to express MAJOR concern that I have about criminal activity going on in our neighborhoods that seemed to have gotten completely out of control as of late.
I am Katherine Davis and I grew up in Charlotte in Myers Park where my parents currently reside. I live in Sedgefield and my fiancé lives in Dilworth. I have MANY friends that live in Cotswold as well. The reason that I mention this to you AND that I forward you this email is that we all below are COMPLETELY worried, concerned, scared, FED UP, mad, and SICK of these break ins going on in ALL of our back yards.
I have known FOUR FRIENDS that have had either an attempted break in, been robbed face to face or had a home broken into in the last 2-6 months.
#1 A friend of mine's mom was robbed of her purse RIGHT IN front of her house on Poindexter, right in front of Sedgefield Middle School two weeks ago this past Tuesday. Two black males pulled up to her in BROAD day light when she was getting out of her car, acted as if they were asking for directions and then one got out of the car, pushed her down and took her purse.
#2 Another friend's boyfriend that lives on Wrenwood in Coltswold was COMPLETELY robbed in July 2007 about a week after he moved in his house. We can all put two and two together to KNOW that was in inside job with the movers. Sorry, but that one was too obvious.
#3 Another friend's condo was JUST robbed (the person in the email below) at Park West Drive on Tuesday at 10am. These guys had just broken in 6 weeks before and shocker, went back. They seem to not have ANY fear whatsoever, and know that they will not be caught. Jeff's alarm was going off, the police were called and Jeff was there in 20 minutes and he said it took the police from the time the alarm company notified them until when they arrived, 25 minutes to get there. Why would that be the case?
#4 A friend of mine that lives at 1337 WENDOVER PARK LN, had an attempted robbery at her home. The rang the doorbell, waited and when she yelled at them from an upstairs window, they left immediately. Two black males driving an SUV (here is description as you already know I bet) a dark grey SUV with a small yellow/orange oval sticker on the back left window. The tag had all red letters and numbers. I guess it was a Tahoe or a Yukon. It wasn't as big as a Suburban. It wasn't a Ford nor Cadillac for sure. One of the guys did have longer hair, that might have been dreads.
I am told that there are a TEAM of guys doing this and they stand at posts on blocks up and down the street just to watch out for cops coming so they won't get busted.
These are just a few of many that I can mention.
What are we supposed to do besides, set alarms, reinforce doors, make sure you make it look like someone is home, etc...?
Thank you so much in advance for your advice. I want these guys CAUGHT and want to protect myself and my neighbors and there HAVE to be some solutions that we can come up with together.
Stay safe and best regards,
Katherine Davis
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From: Faino, Jeff
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 8:54 AM
Subject: RE: Today
I don't mind sharing at all.......
On Tuesday, March 11th at 10am my condo at Park West Drive was broken into for the 2nd time in 6 weeks. They kicked down my front door (although it took several attempts because I had the door frame reinforced after the 1st break-in). The alarm was going off and ADT called my cell phone. I was home in about 20 minutes, and waited another 15 minutes for the police to arrive. They stole my Apple laptop (new purchase since the last break-in), iPod, iPod speakers, digital camera, my work briefcase, and my backpack (they haven't taken my sanity yet but we're close). My neighbor to my right was also broken into, again by kicking in the front door. A laptop, jewelry, and a combo TV/DVD/VCR were stolen. She did not have an alarm.
The 1st break-in was on January 23rd, also at 10am. Three units were hit, all by kicking in the front door. One unit had a 50-inch plasma stolen (a neighbor saw two black men walk out the front steps and load it into a Blue SUV). The second unit had a laptop stolen. In my unit they stole $300 in change.
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From: Katherine Davis [mailto:kdavis14@carolina.rr.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 8:14 AM
Subject: Re: Today
For those that I just added to the email,..This was an attempted robbery in the Cotswold area off Wendover...A description of the SUV (probably stolen) and thugs below. Also someone was robbed on Tuesday afternoon in the new town homes on Park Road across from Dilworth Heights and that took practically all of their valuables.
I think that this is all gang related and an entire TEAM of guys doing this. Also it was brought to my attention that they have other guys standing at different blocks to warn the THUGS if someone is coming. This is not just two guys, HAS to be a LOT of them together working in teams. Nice.
I think if we all start emailing the officer's in our neighborhoods and express our concerns (ESPECIALLY that it took FREAKIN 20-25 minutes for the police to get to this person's home when they were robbed Tuesday with alarms going off and everything) and that we want to DO SOMETHING, whether it be an organized neighborhood meeting or what not, it would be a good idea. They need to hear our concerns, address what THEY are doing to protect our home and neighborhoods, and the more emails that they get the better!
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From: Anna Lemonds <annalemonds@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wed Mar 12 20:59:28 2008
Subject: Re: Today
It was a dark grey SUV with a small yellow/orange oval sticker on the back left window. The tag had all red letters and numbers. I guess it was a Tahoe or a Yukon. It wasnt as big as a Suburban. It wasnt a Ford nor Cadillac for sure.
One of the guys did have longer hair, that might have been dreads. I was at a funny angle so it was hard for me to see.
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From: Anna Lemonds <annalemonds@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wed Mar 12 20:08:56 2008
Subject: Re: Today
Yes, I am already a freak and now I am done. The guys were African American, no older than 35. They were dressed like criminals so I knew immediately they were up to no good!
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From: Anna Lemonds [mailto:annalemonds@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 5:02 PM
Subject: Today
I wanted to pass this along especially for those that are home alone during the day. This morning around 9:30, two men attempted to break in my house. I heard a knock at the door that I didn't answer. They left after I yelled out an upstairs window. The police told me I should park my car in the driveway and not in the garage. They suggested putting some of the kids' toys in the driveway. Also, they reminded me of how important it is to report everything-big or small.
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