CRIME NEWS: Providence Commons at 3:00am

A Kellers Glen neighbor passed along the following email string to the neighborhood earlier this afternoon. As with the previous post of emails like this, it likely makes more sense to read this post from the bottom up.

I'd also like to bring your attention to the upcoming meeting on April 19th that Officer Cristy mentioned below. Might be a good opportunity to get some answers from people with the authority to accomplish something.

She wrote:

This is by far the worse one I have read! PROVIDENCE COMMONS at 3am while people were home. See the attached emails!

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From: McDaniel, Monica
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 12:15 PM
Subject: reply from CMPD - Ofcr. Christy

Below reply received from Officer Christy:

Thank you for the e-mail Monica.

We have been experiencing some B/E’s in the southern portion of our district and have been taking some steps to address them. I know of two officers who have been directed to spend a LARGE majority of their time focusing on the neighborhoods along Sardis Rd and Providence Rd(that falls within our district).

My duties have changed somewhat over the last three months and the two community officers in your area are Officer Brent Helms and Officer Jim Brown. These officers have been working with several neighborhoods in the Sardis Rd and Providence Rd area.

There has been a community meeting scheduled for Saturday, April 19th at 0830 am at the Providence Day School Gymnasium. The focus of the meeting will be on reducing crime with several representatives from the Criminal Justice system as well as ELECTED OFFICIALS!!

I want to invite you and your neighbors to the meeting.

Please let me know if you have any questions regarding anything.

For now, we need to stress the importance of calling 911 at the sight of ANY suspicious activity. Stress to neighbors to look out for each other, “the eyes and ears of the neighborhood”. Please know that the CMPD is aggressively pursuing all leads and attempting to identify and arrest suspects in these cases.

We encourage you and your neighbors to share any information they may get.


Dave

Officer David Cristy
Independence Division
Response Area 2 Coordinator
9315G Monroe Rd
(o) 704-841-1477
(f) 704-841-1873

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From: McDaniel, Monica
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 9:16 AM
Subject: RE: Neigh.Watch--BOLD Break-In Last Night--Garamond!

I wrote the below email to our CMPD liaison(s) this morning:

Officer Christy and Helms-

The Providence Commons neighborhood has experienced 4 home invasions/robberies in the past 10 days. The most recent occurred last night on Garamond Court at 3:00am while the family was home sleeping. Unfortunately, this same family was also robbed last week during daylight hours. We can only assume it was repeat offenders from the same ring.

During last night's robbery, the family locked themselves behind bedroom doors while being threatened with their life. Their home alarm was activated (front door kicked in) but it took the police 15-20 minutes to arrive. Having your home robbed while you are away at work is bad enough, having your home invaded in the middle of the night while sleeping is a nightmare. The frequency of occurrence and bold actions of the thieves really needs to be dealt with head on.

What can we do in partnership with CMPD to bring peace of mind to Providence Commons and surrounding neighborhoods?

Monica McDaniel

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From: Servicepeople@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 8:30 AM
Subject: Neigh.Watch--BOLD Break-In Last Night--Garamond!

Michael and Crystal's house was hit again at 3 am (last night/today). I believe it was two black men who kicked the front door in while Crystal, Michael and their 22 year old daughter Erica locked themselves in their rooms.

Michael yelled at the men and was told to "Shut up or I will f---ing kill you!" Crystal thought she would not make it out of the situation alive. They stole her 2008 Honda Accord right out of their garage.

They arrived in a Lexus which was later found in Grier Heights (Eastside of Charlotte) burned. As of this morning her car had not been found. While neighbors heard the door being kicked in and immediately called the police, it took the police almost 20 minutes to arrive.

We need to be vigilant and keep close watch around here. It appears the Char-Meck police are turning a blind eye to crime in our area.

Thanks.

Jill (from Providence Commons)