Dear PoP – Witnessed a theft but Props to the Cops

Photo by PoPville flickr user Nikoo’s Photos

“Dear PoP,

I was walking south from the Columbia Hts metro along 14th between Irving and Columbia about forty minutes ago [Thurs.] when I heard glass breaking. I looked up, and a youth had broken into the back window of a blue Honda, reached in, grabbed a bag, looked at me, and sped off. There was another bag left in the car that he didn’t get because he noticed about ten people watching him. He wasn’t alone – there were a group of boys his age on bikes and they left in the same direction/at the same time he did.

I rushed the two blocks home, called the police and reported the theft, along with a full description of the youth and the direction in which he rode his bike. Two minutes later, I get a call back saying that they had apprehended a subject and that the police would pick me up and drive by to see if I recognized the subject. Unfortunately, I recognized the subject as one of the boys in the group, but not the one that broke the glass and took the bag. The officer took down my info and asked me to call if I saw the subject again – chances are that he lives nearby and they can apprehend him if I can do a positive ID. We drove by the car again and the owners returned and were assessing the damage.

I was amazed at how fast the police responded. The whole response and drive by took about 15 minutes total. I can’t emphasize for our community: 1) Be vigilant. This happened on a busy street in the middle of the day, and I made sure to get a good look at his face. 2) Please don’t leave anything in your car that’s visible from the street, even a busy street like 14th.”