Crime in Downtown Raleigh

[MireLanski]

A friend of mine and I went to Glenwood South tonight (Thursday 6/11/09). I have frequented Hi5 on certain nights. We found ourselves choosing that as our destination. We are in seperate vehicles and decide to park. I park on West Johnson Street and Boylan, pretty much as close to the intersection as legally possible. He parks further West on Johnson. I drive a silver 4 door sports sedan with very dark tints. Lets just say with the limited lighting you could not see activities within my car without intentionally peering in. As I am gathering my belongs I witness two younger guys, ranging in age from 20 to 25. I didn't think anything of their actions at first. They opened the door of a 3rd or 4th generation teal Camry. I was casually observing their actions every now and then as I usaually do with anyone I see in a dark lite area. I again focused on them when they left the Camry and walked across the parking lot to a late model black Porsche 911. They again entered from the passenger and driver side. My thoughts at this point were that they were dropping off vehicles or one of them were retrieving something from the black car. They exited the Porsche and began to walk East on Johnson towards the sidewalk intersection. By this time my presence was known as I was exiting my vehicle. When they were aware of me they spoke to each other basically asking if the other had the keys and locked the door as I approached. This is were I became suspicious.

I briefly interacted with them saying, "Whats up?" and proceeded cautiously East towards Hi5 only a block over. They proceeded to follow about 20 feet beyond. I then pretended to be on a cellphone call and stopped 30 feet in front of them, turning towards the street. They did not notice me stopping and turning immediately. By this time I am adjacent to Paramount condos on the Glenwood Towers side. I clearly saw the two pulling every car door handle they passed parked on the street. Once they noticed me they walked through the Glenwood Towers property towards a blue Ford Escape. They entered the vehicle as the doors seemed to be unlocked. While observing casually, my buddy called. I began to walk away from Hi5 back West on Johnson to meet him. On the corner of Johnson and Boylan I subtley pointed out to him the two as they were obviously checking the Ford Escape. The interior lights were on and I could clearly see them rummaging through the vehicles glove box and side comparments. I am 20 yards away. At this point I call 911 and warn my buddy to move his car.

I quickly jump in my vehicle while on with an emergency operator and gave the description of the perps while stressing the urgency. The call ends. I am driving down Glenwood South in search of an officer (where is one when you need one). As I am making a right on W. North street an operator calls back to get more information. I comply. I end the call and make a right on Boylan heading North. As I approach Tucker I see the perps on the right hand side cutting through a parking lot swiftly walking away. I drive past in a hurry. My buddy calls. I get back on Johnson and tell him what is going on. Down Johson there are several officers. I immediately u-turn and pull up next to one at the same location adjacent to Paramount Condos. I inform him that seconds ago I saw the perps. He asks me to circle and assist. I do. While circling I saw that there were officers on foot, bicycle and car encircling 5 to 6 blocks around the area. This happened about 4 minutes after I called.

Unfortunately, I believe the perps got away. They probably had a vehicle and high tailed it out of there. My apologies for the lengthy story and undue details but, I wanted to be clear that I was not mistaken and where this occured.

Frankly, this is an outrage. I am blown away that something like this happens in plain sight. I have parked on Johnson numerous times. This was happening while others were traversing the streets, however I believe I was the only one to pick up on it.

Please be cautious downtown. Lock your vehicles and secure your belongings. These guys didn't seem to target any specific vehicle types. The preyed on whatever vehicle was unlocked. Additionally, it is your civic duty to report things like this to the authorities. I for one feel that I should of stuck around and followed. For some reason I am really taking this to heart.

[Jones_]

I know what an adrenaline rush you must have felt. Someone tried to follow me into my gated parking lot a week ago at 2:30 am. When I asked who he knew that lived here he gave a name and unit number that simply did not exist. A police call was made but pointless as he sped away before I had sense to get a license number.

About 4 years ago my Jeep (yeah I know easy to get into) had a bunch of stuff stolen that was going to goodwill anyway.

Also about two weeks ago, my neighbor saw in broad daylight while seated in a CAT bus, a man opening doors in the gravel lot west of the Progress Energy Center parking deck. To the delight of those on the bus(her description of the event) the guy was stuffing a bag full of goodies.

So, this stuff happens. I would not call this a problem with downtown as the midtown news reports a hundred or so such crimes every week. We are a growing city, and its a challenge each of us will be up against each and every day.

Good job, trying to to stop these guys. I am of a mind to tackle them but you never know what they are packing.

[RALNATIVE]

Speaking of crime, did anyone happen to see this?

N&O Article

It is hilarious...

[miamiblue]

Sadly, I didn't see the Barrel Monster in person. I personally think things like that can give people a reason to laugh at an otherwise frustrating situation (major construction).

But also speaking of crime. Thanks to the OP for posting about your experience. I live in the area and always lock my car, but now I will be much more aware of what people are doing when I am walking around at night. With the amount of foot traffic Glenwood South gets at night, I'm sure most people don't think much about noticing behaviors such as what you described.

My boyfriend and I had our own crime-like experience last night on the R-Line. We got on the bus in Glenwood South and it had about 20 people on it. We sat up front and were talking amongst ourselves when the guy sitting across the aisle from us made a comment under his breath, but directed at us. My boyfriend acknowledged that he didn't understand what the guy said thinking he might just be asking for money or something. At that point the guy started insulting my boyfriend based on the conversation we were having amongst ourselves, and made a move to touch me. My boyfriend moved to keep him away, but not in a threatening way. At this point the guy threatened to pull a gun on my boyfriend, who was not afraid to call his bluff since he is trained in hand-to-hand combat. The bus driver promptly pulled over right where we were, got up and directed the guy off the bus and he complied.

We have no idea if the guy actually had a gun. He had his hands visible to us the whole time, but you really never know. This was the first time I'd ever had an experience like this in Raleigh.