How long does it take the brain to process the absurd versus reality? How about something so surreal that you dismiss it as something you “couldn’t possibly” have seen? With the increase in theft, we need to take the absurd and surreal and accept it as reality.
Last week when driving home around 1 p.m., on Olive Avenue between South Westgate and South Brinker Avenue, I drove by two males on bicycles. I thought, it was odd that they seemed to be carrying things balanced on the handle bars.
My passenger pointed out that one of the males (white, aged 24-30, shoulder length stringy brown hair, overweight, riding an older racing bike with ram’s horn style handlebars) was balancing a miter saw on the handle bars. The other male (white, aged18-22, tattoos, short brown hair, skinny, shirtless) had a black box (like a drill box) and three black garbage bags on his handle bars.
What? By the time this had registered, they were down a block and we had to turn around, calling 645-4545. We followed them but they were obviously champs at this because as soon as they crossed Broad Street, they split up. One went down North Brinker with the saw, the other put on a shirt, ditched the bags, and went down Broad Street.
An officer arrived right away and canvassed the area but it was too late. The miter saw matched the description from a theft that morning from a construction site on the Hilltop so our hunch that the absurd was reality was correct.
This illustrates the fact that we need to register the odd and the out-of-the-ordinary as something to immediately pay attention to and take the time to investigate.
The endless progression of males on bicycles, sometimes with backpacks and cell phones, trolling the neighborhoods for easy pickings is a scene played out daily, almost hourly. Check it out! Follow them! Pay attention to where they are going because next time it may be your miter saw or your home.
Notice what is going on in your streets, alleys, driveways. Dumpster diving for identity theft is common. If you see people going through trash cans very carefully, reading papers, that is bizarre. Call 645-4545!
We are used to think that crime was something conducted under the cover of darkness. That still holds true – in some cases – but at this point in time, a large portion of the crime committed is in the daytime, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Just because it is light outside does not mean that what is being done is legal. Be observant and proactive and save your neighbor’s copper plumbing, aluminum siding, or truck from being stolen.
Join a blockwatch or start one and do what it takes to keep crime out of your neighborhood! Remember, crime is negative. Community input is positive.
Lisa Grazier is coordinator of Camp Chase Blockwatch.
